Chapter 24

Watching the spar, Hakai actively gave tips to both of them.

"Kaya, don't be scared of your weapon. Tell your weapon what to do, not the reverse."

"Makino, keep your hands up, there are holes in your defense."

"Use the long range of your weapon to your advantage and try to not let your opponent get close, especially when Makino uses her fists to fight."

As the friendly spar between the two continued, the two got better with their weapon. Makino's proficiency in controlling the air got better, and Kaya got better with wielding her scythe although she did mess up a few times, leaving tiny cuts on her body which she quickly patched up.

Hakai looked out to the sea as the two continued their spar. If they kept on going with their pace, they should arrive at Baratie in about 2 days, and since he was done creating what he wanted to create, he had a lot of free time.

'Damn, the show never shows you how boring it gets out on the sea with nothing to do.'

---

"Usopp! You coming?!" a man with a straw hat yelled out as they boarded their new ship, the Going Merry.

"You better come quick or we're leaving you behind!" an orange-haired woman said, standing beside the man.

Another man was also on the ship, leaning against the railing. The man had 3 swords by his side and had dark green hair as he watched Usopp climb aboard the ship.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Jeez!" Usopp replied in response.

The 3 individuals were obviously Luffy, Nami, and Zoro. Nami smiled as she set their course for Baratie, the same place that Hakai and his crew were going to.

Originally in the story, Luffy and his crew would receive the Going Merry from Merry by saving Kaya, but since Hakai already did that, they received the ship in another way.

Klahadore or Captain Kuro might've been killed by Hakai, but his crew didn't know that. As far as they knew, their captain was still alive and he told them to raid the village that Kaya lived in and that was what happened. Thankfully, Luffy and his crew arrived on time and saved the village, and as thanks for saving the village, Merry gave them the Going Merry.

Usopp also joined Luffy in his adventures for another reason which was to steal Kaya away from Hakai.

"Where are we going again?" Luffy asked as he stuffed his face with meat.

"We're going to the Floating Restaurant, Baratie, and stop eating so much or else we'll starve," Nami said, punching Luffy's head.

Luffy clutched his head in pain. "Oww! It's a celebration. I mean we just got our first real ship!"

"Luffy's right. It also wouldn't hurt to eat a bit more and we could always catch some fish if we really ran out of food," Usopp said.

"Ughh fine. Just don't eat too much or I'll make you never eat again!"

Zoro laughed at the side, grabbing a piece of meat for himself.

"Oh yeah!" Luffy exclaimed. "Can't we get a chef from that restaurant Bappy, or something to join our crew?"

"Ba-ra-tie, not Bappy. That would be nice, but who in their right mind would join a crew like yours?" Nami argued.

"Who wouldn't join? I mean I'm going to be the Pirate King! Speaking of other members, a musician would be good," Luffy said, laughing. "Can't be a pirate without singing a pirate song!"

---

The next few days passed by pretty fast, with some minor interference here and there like a pirate crew trying to attack them. Hakai used these interferences as practice for Kaya, sending her out alone, but keeping an eye on her.

Through this, Kaya's scythe, which she named Shi, absorbed its first of many souls allowing her to use the soul's energy to release energy attacks and also strengthen herself and the scythe.

Other than that, Hakai also started teaching Kaya haki, and while her progress was pretty slow, she would get there eventually.

Kaya also got much better with her scythe skills with Hakai teaching her and it was becoming increasingly rare that she would hurt herself as she trained. Her strength also increased as a result of Hakai making her train harder so she could wield her scythe easier.

"We're here! Finally, we can eat some good food!" Kaya yelled out as Hakai dropped the anchor and docked the ship.

"Wow, do you hate my cooking that much?" Hakai said, chuckling a bit.

"It's not that I hate it... It's just... Let's say I prefer Makino's cooking more," Kaya answered.

During their time on the sea, Hakai sometimes cooked from the crew, and while it wasn't the worst food they've tasted, it wasn't any good either, so most of the time, Makino cooked for them, becoming the cook of the ship since she has had experience in cooking and was much better than Hakai.

Makino laughed, jumping down and landing at the entrance of the floating restaurant. There were a lot of people on the floating ship. Some people were eating outside in the sun, while some people ate inside the restaurant.

Inside the restaurant, a certain person with yellow-hair and a curled eyebrow looked out the window, staring at Hakai's ship and crew. "Pirates... but look at how pretty the women are!"

"Sanji, don't cause trouble or the boss will be mad again!" one of the head cooks yelled out. "Anyway, come over here and deliver this food."

"I'm not going to cause trouble. In fact, it might be the other way around once they see how handsome I am," Sanji said, grabbing the tray filled with plates of food.