After a brief day of rest.
The Moya Adventure Group's small fleet set sail. Four ships, all painted the same color and flying the same flag, slowly left the unnamed island.
Why not look for Woonan's golden treasure?
Because Moya didn't want to waste time, so he "reluctantly" told Nami and Buggy the truth.
Amid their wails, Moya decisively ordered them to continue their voyage.
The fleet was growing by the day. Four ships and more than a hundred and fifty people.
After training, during their rest.
"Next, we're heading to the sea restaurant Baratie. If we're lucky, we might even run into a big shot!" Moya told everyone.
"What big shot?" Nami asked curiously.
Kaya and Rika looked just as eager to know. Buggy and the others pricked up their ears, wanting to hear which big shot in the East Blue Moya was talking about.
"The World's Greatest Swordsman, one of the Shichibukai, known as Hawkeye. His name is Dracule Mihawk," Moya said softly.
Everyone's eyes widened in shock. Nami and the others had never heard of Hawkeye, but the title World's Greatest Swordsman alone was enough to impress them.
"Um, um, Captain, why are we going to look for Hawkeye? Someone that terrifying is way out of our league!"
Buggy, with only his memories from when he was a teenager, trembled as he spoke.
"Yeah, Moya, why are we going to Baratie to look for him? It's too dangerous! I don't want to go!" Nami cried in a panic.
"Come on, Buggy, what are you afraid of? You're immune to slashes, and Hawkeye is good friends with Red-Haired Shanks. You're an old friend of Shanks's,
so for Red-Haired's sake, Hawkeye won't hurt you!" Moya said.
"What are you talking about? Who's Shanks? Why do I feel like that name has ruined my dreams of finding treasure?" Buggy asked, looking confused.
Oh, I nearly forgot. Buggy had lost his memories.
"Buggy, just remember that Red-Haired Shanks was your good friend when you were kids."
"All right, Captain."
"Moya, then who's Red-Haired Shanks? Anyone who can be friends with the World's Greatest Swordsman must be really powerful, right?"
Nami continued to act like a curious little kid.
"Speaking of Red-Haired Shanks, he should be a little stronger than Hawkeye."
Moya spoke gravely, and the atmosphere around them immediately turned tense.
"Of course, in pure swordsmanship, they might be evenly matched." Moya paused, drawing out the suspense.
"Stronger than Hawkeye? Buggy, your good friend is amazing!" Nami gazed at Buggy with shining eyes.
Buggy's face reddened. He turned away with a snort, seemingly displeased that his half-forgotten good friend had stolen the spotlight.
He was also shocked that he had such a powerful friend he couldn't remember, and that his friend had made such a huge name for himself so quickly.
The other crew members were just as stunned that Buggy knew someone so important.
"Then what kind of big shot is Red-Haired Shanks, Big Brother Moya?" Rika asked in her little-girl voice.
Everyone looked at Moya, all wearing the same eager, curious expression.
"You all know the Grand Line, which is known as the pirates' graveyard, right?" Everyone nodded...
"The second half of the Grand Line is called the New World. The pirates there are all ferocious, powerful pirates,
and Shanks is one of the four pirate emperors who rule over the New World—the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks!"
After speaking, Moya looked envious, though he also hoped that one day he could reach such a position.
It was a little like Xiang Yu and Liu Bang witnessing the grand procession when Qin Shi Huang toured the east.
"He can be replaced!"
"A real man should be like that!"
Everyone was astounded. Buggy, meanwhile, looked as if he'd swallowed a fly. At the mention of Shanks, he couldn't help showing just how annoyed he was.
"Buggy, who would've thought your good friend was so powerful? We'll have to count on him in the future. Maybe he'll give us a fortune in treasure!"
Nami looked greedy.
"Hmph! I don't want to see him!" Buggy said indignantly.
Nami grabbed Buggy around the neck and spoke threateningly.
"Buggy, we'll split any treasure we get fifty-fifty. Right?"
Buggy broke into a cold sweat. This captain's woman was even crazier about treasure than he was! Intimidated by Moya, he could only say,
"If there's treasure, we'll split it fifty-fifty. Definitely fifty-fifty!"
After the shock wore off, the fleet continued on its way.
Moya was altering El Drago's memories, while he left the other underlings to the Adventure Group to train. He didn't want to waste time on minor grunts.
He carefully extracted only the part of El Drago's memory in which he saw Moya as his captain, without scrambling his memories.
El Drago had now become a rough young man who had just eaten a Devil Fruit and gone out to sea.
Moya talked El Drago through things, telling him that he'd found him in distress at sea and rescued him. He also said that El Drago seemed to have lost some of his memories.
Grateful to Moya for saving his life, El Drago immediately decided to join the Moya Adventure Group.
Moya also told him frankly that he recognized El Drago's Devil Fruit and was willing to help him develop its powers. He shared a number of techniques and training methods with him.
All these methods had been stolen from El Drago's memories.
El Drago was deeply moved and praised his captain as a wonderful man.
Meanwhile, Kaya had taken the swordsman Golass as a test subject and was putting him through inhuman treatment. He was suffering miserably.
The next day, in the ship's hall.
Moya stood at the head of the group and surveyed everyone, feeling a little proud. His crew seemed to be growing into something substantial. He spoke up.
"From now on, El Drago is one of our crew. He'll be our gunner, and Golass will be the sword squad's captain. Whatever grudges you have, put them behind you. From now on, we're one big group!"
"That's great, Captain! We've got another strong fighter!"
Dis shouted happily. Everyone had seen El Drago's strength for themselves, and Dis was proud to see the Adventure Group growing bigger and bigger!
"Then let's keep the party going!" Moya said cheerfully.
Everyone ate and drank merrily. El Drago, whose memories had been altered, and the rest of his crew gradually began to fit in with the Moya Adventure Group.
After that, in addition to training himself, Moya used his knowledge to explain how to develop Devil Fruit powers to Buggy and El Drago, helping them find more effective directions for their training.
The squad captains aboard the ships could also practice Kuro's Silent Step, as well as the swordsmanship training Moya had compiled from Zoro's memories.
Moya also began basic Haki training with the officers Nami, Buggy, and El Drago.
Even Rika and Rim began training alongside everyone else, and even Richie the Lion was working out.
"Baratie is in sight!"
Up in the ship's rigging, Nami looked ahead through a telescope and shouted happily.
Having a connection to a big shot like Hawkeye through Buggy seemed extremely "profitable" to Nami. Even if she couldn't get any treasure, she could still gain protection!
"Do you see any damaged pirate ships near Baratie?" Moya asked.
"Damaged pirate ships? Let me look... I think there's one!" Nami replied.
"Then let's make full speed for Baratie. We're going up for a meal! Hopefully, we'll get something out of this," Moya said with a soft laugh.
"Yay! The captain's paying!"
There were four ships—the Yanhuang 1, 2, and 3, plus Number Four, a refitted version of El Drago's ship—and more than a hundred people. It looked like Moya was about to take a hit to his wallet.
The Moya Adventure Group's small fleet quickly approached Baratie.
They also saw more and more wrecked ships and splintered planks, and even quite a few corpses floating in the water.
The world of pirates was truly terrifying.
Before you continue