Chapter 44

Rumsdale Island in Paradise, Grandline, was perhaps one of the most beautiful Islands they had seen in their lives, and for the likes of Nami, Nojiko, Kuina, and Bart, it was the most beautiful place they had ever been to.

Despite its breathtaking autumn beauty, the Island was sparsely populated thanks to the highly venomous and powerful animals that resided on this Island.

The only settlement was the Rumdum Town on the western coast, which was run by the natives of this Island who had lived there for over a thousand years.

When the Blackstar Crew arrived here six weeks ago, the islanders were very pleased to host them but were dismayed when the crew expressed their desire to go deep inside the Island.

The people repeatedly warned them about the venomous and powerful animals, but they were not the ones to listen to these warnings.

However, to show their gratitude for their concern, Bonney bought their entire stock of Rum for the year.

In her defense, it was indeed the best Rum they ever had in their lives.

The Rumsdale Rum was made from naturally red-coloured sugarcanes, which were found on this Island, and Sin, Bonney, and Bart fell in love with it just after their first sip.

After staying for a day in Rumdum Town, the Crew embarked on their Ship and sailed around the Island before deciding to dock their ship on the East coast where a beautiful white beach existed.

However, they were not there to have fun. Their Hellish training started as soon as they set foot on the white sand.

Everyone was going to suffer... And suffer they did for the days to come.

Well, except for Nami and Nojiko, who were responsible for searching for the Hard-Hard Fruit on the Island, and they were always accompanied by Robin and Hancock as they ventured deep into the Island every morning.

Sin gave the two sisters six weeks to hunt the Hard-Hard Fruit, and if they failed, he told them that their share from their Holiday Island Heist would be halved.

It was not something that Nami wanted to see, and she was determined to secure her Berries at all costs. Though Nojiko had no real interest in money, she did not want to see her little sister sad, so she too was determined to find it in time.

Bonney joined them on the tour too from time to time, but she had been tasked to train Bart, so she could not spend every day with the little girls on their hunt for the Devil Fruit.

For the first week, Sin personally trained Hachi and Kuina in Sword Training, and he made it utter hell for the two of them, forcing them to go beyond their limits each day.

By the end of the week, Hachi and Kuina were totally burnt out, and the girl was in way worse shape. They were thanking their lucky stars that their training with Sin was over when the sun sank on the seventh day.

They spent the eight-day only resting on the ship, but the next morning, they joined Bepo and Augur to train in combat and work on their teamwork.

It was also the day the hell began for Bonney and Bart. They were being trained by Sin in Hand-to-hand combat, and though he usually doted a lot on Bonney, she was not spared from his beatings that left bruises on her beautiful skin.

Kuina, Nami, and Nojiko understood Bonney better that week. She never once complained to them or Sin about how harsh he was to her in their training.

There was never a sign of grievance on her face when she smiled and chatted happily with him at the dinner or when she turned herself into a child and nuzzled her face in his chest, falling asleep in his arms.

It was so clear to everyone now that Bonney loved Sin with all her heart, and she cherished every moment with him.

She particularly enjoyed sparing against him, as it allowed her to go all out without any fear of doing serious harm to him. He was just too good.

Bart, on the other hand, was just as scared as he was excited as the days passed.

To him, Sin's strength was unfathomable, and with every beating he received at his hands, his admiration for his Captain grew.

He had also started admiring the other crewmates.

The large man saw how hard they all worked and how focused they were on getting better and stronger. And just something about being in their midst fanned his desire to improve himself and earn their respect too.

When the second week came to an end, Bart and Bonney joined Kuina and Hachi in their teamwork training, and Augur and Bepo joined Sin to receive a week-long beating.

Unlike, Bonney, Bepo complained every night about how cruel Sin was to him, but he was also the one who wore the brightest smile in the morning, looking forward to facing Sin again in their training spars.

At the end of the third week, the Crew gathered at night to hold a feast. But not everyone was in a good mood.

"Sin, we can't seem to find the Devil Fruit," Nami told their Captain, a little depressed. "Maybe some animal ate it."

"Maybe." Sin shrugged. "Just keep looking. We have four more weeks before we leave, so you can take another week to search for it."

"Mhm.." Both Nami and Nojiko nodded to his words, and they looked quite determined to find it before the time runs out.

Sin had left the task to them, and so they did not want to let him down.

Though it seemed like they were having fun in their Devil Fruit hunt, it was not the truth.

Every night the little girls returned with all their strength depleted. Walking around the Island was full of danger, and Robin and Hanock were teaching them how to survive and take care of themselves in the wild.

Since there were venomous creatures everywhere, they could not be carefree and reckless, and the Beasts on this Island were very strong too. Strong enough for Hancock and Robin to get in some training as well.

But for the older girls, their true training was protecting Nami and Nojiko from small venomous creatures, and so, they were always fully utilising their Observation Haki, ready to prevent any accidents.

The morning after the feast, after the Devil Fruit hunters left on their hunt, Bonney and Augur were put in charge of Kuina, Hachi, Bepo, and Bart for their teamwork training.

Since they planned on hitting the Holiday Island, which was a business hub and well-guarded by Marines, they needed to improve their teamwork a lot.

There was no room for mistakes.

The first day was quite fun as they engaged in various exercises, and they ardently looked forward to tomorrow, hoping that it would be another fun day.

Tomorrow came, and their happiness turned into sadness as this day was another day they had to bear beatings. This time, at the hands of Bonney and Augur.

Though Augur was not as harsh as Bonney, as soon as his hand touched them, they felt their energy being sapped out. And it was not a pleasant feeling in the least. And then he just seemed to never get tired and was even faster than Bonney, a true headache for all of them.

That was also the day Sin disappeared from the beach, and no one saw him since.

However, they all felt his presence in the dark and rumbling clouds that covered the sky over the Island.

At first, when the clouds started gathering in the sky, they thought that it was a natural phenomenon, but the sky had not cleared in nearly four weeks now, and the clouds kept rumbling and weeping.

It was just a drizzle so it did not affect their training, but it made them curious about what Sin was up to. But orders were orders. and the six of them were strictly told to only focus on their training in his absence.

Bonney, despite her curiosity, always respected Sin's words. And he had told her that he was going to train too, so she did not want to disturb him.

Unlike the rest, she knew where he went. She did not know his exact location, as she could not reach that far with her Observation Haki, but she knew that he was somewhere in the centre of the Island.

She was right, Sin was indeed at the centre of the Island. In fact, at the very centre of the island, lying on top of a large and slanted boulder, hugging his two swords and keeping his eyes closed.

He had stayed in this very position since the day he left the beach, and he had not eaten or drunk anything too, which was why his complexion was pale right now.

Others might have died by now over not drinking water for so long, but he was built differently.

He knew that he excelled the most when he put himself in the jaws of death. And he wanted to push himself to his limits to achieve what he wanted.

In his mind were all the movements happening around the Island, and though his crew could not see him, he was keeping tabs on each one of them, and also the other living creatures on the Island.

It was a state he had achieved after clearing his mind of all the thoughts and only focusing on utilising all four of the techniques of basic techniques of Observation Haki.

His goal was to reach a balance between them, but despite making great progress, he was far from achieving a balance between all four of them.

The reason was that he had found out that he had not touched the limits of each basic technique yet, and over the last few weeks, he had made progress in all four of them.

Suddenly, he felt himself being locked by two people, but he was not alarmed by it.

It was Robin and Hancock who had located him with their Presence Sensing. And they were now heading his way.

An hour later, four of them arrived by his side, and his haunting grey eyes opened with electricity flickering in them.