As far as Xie Wen was concerned, a map ought to have a rigorous mathematical basis, a system of symbols, and written annotations that gave you an intuitive understanding of a region's terrain and geography.
But this thing in front of him used a few circles to represent islands, with a scale that was obviously all wrong. And instead of giving the distances between islands in kilometers or nautical miles, it had descriptions like "2-3 days of sailing"...
Xie Wen did not even need to open the Hunter's Notes to know this piece of junk would never help him make progress on his dynamic map.
No wonder it was so cheap...
The corner of Xie Wen's mouth twitched, but he did not throw the map away. Although it was not accurate... or, more precisely, had absolutely nothing to do with the word "accurate," it could at least point him in the direction of those islands.
Besides, some of the islands and countries marked on it might jog his memory.
For instance...
So the Flower Country was in the West Blue too?
Xie Wen remembered the Happo Navy fairly well, since they leaned toward a Chinese aesthetic in One Piece... though that supposedly Chinese style was something of a mishmash.
Unfortunately, it seemed they would only teach their martial arts-like fighting technique, Hasshoken, to people who joined the Happo Navy. Otherwise, Xie Wen would have quite liked to learn it.
After putting away the deeply disappointing chart of the West Blue, Xie Wen leafed through the outdated newspapers. Some of the events they reported were genuinely interesting, but unfortunately, they were not much help to him. Still, he had never expected much from them in the first place, so he tossed them away after reading them.
By the time they finished shopping, it was nearly mealtime. Xie Wen immediately took the two cats to a restaurant in the center of town. Naturally, meals were included in his employment as Cody's guard. Before they parted ways, Bax had already told him where to go for dinner.
Once they entered the restaurant, a waiter soon led them over to Uncle Bax.
"Mr. Cody still has some business to discuss, so we can eat without him," Bax explained as he ushered Xie Wen to the table.
"Is it all right for you to leave Mr. Cody's side, Uncle?" Xie Wen asked, a little surprised.
Bax laughed heartily. "There's more to Mr. Cody's reputation than the money he's earned. He's managed to make a name for himself in the gang-ridden West Blue despite being such a nice guy."
Did that mean Mr. Cody might actually be stronger than Bax, his butler and bodyguard?
You really couldn't judge a book by its cover...
Xie Wen smacked his lips in surprise, but on second thought, it made sense. If Mr. Cody did not have sufficient ability, how would he dare leave his fleet with only Bax, a reasonably capable guard, at his side?
Bax had not told him that yesterday. Perhaps it was only after hiring them that he had truly started treating them as part of the group?
With that suspicion in mind, Xie Wen tried asking Uncle Bax for more information over dinner.
And things really did seem to be as Xie Wen had guessed. This time, Bax even volunteered extra details when answering his questions.
For example, accurate nautical charts did exist, unlike the one Xie Wen had been duped into buying earlier. Most people simply had no use for them. Commoners who never went to sea or only fished close to shore might go their entire lives without needing a chart, while pirates only needed a general bearing. Rather than spend time drawing charts, they were better off finding a more reliable navigator.
Even merchants like Cody generally sailed along a few fixed routes, so having charts made little difference. They would only prepare more detailed charts if they planned to expand their business.
Xie Wen thought back carefully, and that really did seem to be the case. Apart from Nami drawing charts for Arlong early in the manga and the occasional treasure map, he could hardly remember seeing any nautical charts. Especially after entering the Grand Line, everyone relied on Eternal Poses, rendering charts unnecessary.
So...
What did Arlong, who had come from the Grand Line, need charts of the East Blue for? He was a Fish-Man, too, which made their usefulness even less apparent.
Aside from the matter of nautical charts, the well-traveled Bax told Xie Wen quite a few things that the manga had never mentioned.
For example, the fine blades in this world were not limited to the so-called "Twelve Grade" and "Twenty-One Grade." There might only be twelve Supreme Grade Swords, but there were plenty of weapons at the Great Grade Sword and Skillful Grade Sword levels. The so-called "Twenty-One Grade" and "Fifty Grade" were merely the more famous blades within those grades.
Xie Wen could understand that easily enough. After all, no matter how exceptional a famous sword was, it had still been forged by a swordsmith. As long as swordsmiths existed, new fine blades were bound to appear.
Surely all the swordsmiths in the world had not died overnight, taking every forging technique with them?
He just did not know whether the weapons page in his Hunter's Notes required famous swords specifically, or whether any fine blade of Skillful Grade or above would do.
There was another thing Xie Wen had not expected: Bax actually had a connection to Brook...
More precisely, he and Brook came from the same country, and he had learned his swordsmanship after joining that country's Guard Corps.
However, Brook had already set sail by the time Bax joined the Guard Corps, so he had only heard legends about Soul King Brook.
"Let's have a fight, Uncle Bax."
The moment Xie Wen learned that Bax's swordsmanship shared its origins with Brook's, his interest was piqued.
"Oh? Sure."
Bax stroked his chin and readily agreed.
Although Klee Meow's earlier performance had been impressive, she had used immensely powerful explosives. Aside from her speed when throwing them, she had shown little of her own strength, while Xie Wen had never fought at all.
Bax knew, of course, that Xie Wen could not be too weak if he had managed to "win over" Klee Meow. But despite calling himself a swordsman, Xie Wen did not even own a decent sword and had to pick up weapons from those gang members. Add to that his obviously youthful face...
It was only natural that Bax would underestimate him somewhat.
After dinner, Xie Wen and Bax headed to an open patch of ground outside town, surrounded by a crowd of sailors.
"Go, Big Brother Xie Wen, meow!" Klee Meow waved her little paws, cheering Xie Wen on from the sidelines.
"Boss, Xie Wen's still a kid. Make sure you go easy on him!"
"Kid! I believe in you, Xie Wen! Give Boss Bax a good thrashing!"
The other sailors laughed and shouted, and someone even took the opportunity to start a betting pool. Yet for all their fine words, not one of the sailors cheering for Xie Wen actually bet on him to win.
Just as the betting looked ready to fall apart, a furry little paw reached out toward the sailors.
"I bet a hundred Beli on Xie Wen to win, meow." Sanji Meow took out all the pocket money Xie Wen had given him earlier.
"Here's a thousand Beli! Klee's betting on Big Brother Xie Wen too, meow!"
Well... girls should be raised in comfort. That was wisdom handed down by the ancestors, not favoritism on Xie Wen's part.
The crowd's noisy antics did not affect the two men preparing to face off. Bax did not even draw the Rapier at his waist. He merely beckoned to Xie Wen with one finger. "Two-Sword Style? More weapons don't necessarily make you better, kid."
That was... a bit too dismissive.
Xie Wen had originally wanted a proper sparring match. He fell silent for a moment, then drew the two Pirate Cutlasses he had picked up that day and raised them high, crossing them overhead.
Demon Mode, activate!
It's fanfiction... naturally, I have to add a little fanon.
Also, I didn't just make up those crude maps. Plenty of maps in ancient times were like that, with no precise scale, only general directions.
Given One Piece's wildly uneven level of technology, I think it's entirely possible that ordinary commoners would use maps like these.
Thanks to Atmos for the tip.
Before you continue