25 Chapter 25

Third Person's PoV:

Slowly, the greatest swordsman in the world stopped his charge towards his ride. Dracule Mihawk turned around and examined the youngster standing before him.

From his initial estimation, the kid didn't look like a swordsman. Then why was he asking for a duel? There had been several people that had challenged him simply to test their strength against himself, so Mihawk came to his own understanding.

"And why do you wish to challenge me? You don't seem to be a swordsman." Mihawk said as he looked at the peculiar gun on Josh's hips.

"I wish to test myself against you. I wish to know where I stand in this world." Josh resolutely responded, he had a serious expression on his face as he said this. The rewards were very tempting but he knew his limit to an extent. There was no guarantee that Josh could beat Mihawk, so he aimed for a different goal.

Mihawk just made a ponderous sound before turning around to leave again.

"Wait..wait! You're not even gonna consider!?" Josh panicked for a bit as he stretched his arm out to stop him.

"I've already had my fun here. There's no reason for me to accept your challenge." Mihawk simply said. Although Mihawk's interest was peeked a little, the man wasn't even a swordsman. There was no need for him to even consider.

Josh furrowed his brows as he heard what Mihawk said. He was right. There really was no need for him to accept his challenge. So...should he just straight up attack and force him to fight? Nah..Josh didn't want to leave a bad impression of himself on Mihawk.

"What if I told you that my captain is more or less related to Akagami Shanks?" There was no choice. Josh had to pull the 'red-haired' card even if it's only to interest Mihawk.

He knew from the anime that Mihawk and Shanks were good buddies and had dueled many times before. By telling him this, he hopes to attract Mihawk's attention.

Sure enough, Mihawk's interest grew a bit more after he heard this. He momentarily stopped walking again.

"This ossan knows Shanks!?" Luffy interrupted their conversation. As soon as he heard the word "Shanks", his ears perked up immediately.

Mihawk twitched a bit when he heard Luffy call him an "ossan". He was only 41 this year! He wasn't old enough to be called an ossan.

"Take a good look at his straw hat." Josh baited once more.

Mihawk then took a look at Luffy's straw hat. Indeed, it looked just like the hat Akagami always had on. Some decade ago, he went to look for Shanks to duel. That was when he found out the man was missing 2 things. His straw hat and an arm!

"Ossan, you know Shanks!? How is he doing? Where is he right now!?" Luffy energetically questioned him. His face had on a brilliant smile and he seemed to be glowing a bit.

"What is your relationship with that man?" Mihawk questioned back instead of answering. Luffy began to enthusiastically explain to him about the time Shanks came to his little Fusha village.

"I do indeed remember Akagami telling me about that once." Mihawk concurred. His face was neutral, not showing any emotions at all. His eyes, however, gleamed a bit more than usual, but nobody noticed. He was very good at hiding his emotions and there weren't a lot of things that could make the experienced man react.

"What are your names?" Mihawk asked. At this point, his interest was peeked enough to ask for their identities. He didn't really have any sort of impression of them just yet, only information.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy. The man who's going to become the Pirate King!" Luffy stood up straight and pointed at himself. He was very proud of himself and his dream.

"Pirate king? That'll be even harder than surpassing me." Mihawk said in a slightly more amiable tone. His gaze then turned to the other person in the conversation.

"I guess I'll follow the cap's introduction. The name's Joshua. I'll be the person who has the most fun in the world!" Josh also introduced himself. 'Maybe I should come up with a last name of my own..' he thought. He didn't want to use his own family name out of respect. After all, Josh is now a pirate and will be deemed a vile criminal in the future. There was no way he was going to drag his family name through the mud.

'How odd. He says he wants to have fun, yet became a pirate.' Mihawk thought. It felt weird to him. Normally, being a pirate is not a very fun thing to do, and very little pirates have the strength to enjoy the open seas, especially on the Grandline. However, everyone's view of 'fun' is different so he didn't judge.

At this moment, something happened that annoyed all of them. "Hey Mihawk, did you come to take my head!?" An arrogant voice came from on top of the wreckage. This voice belonged to none other than the most despicable pirate in the East Blue.

Mihawk narrowed his eyes slightly in displeasure. He was currently having a conversation with the two in front and that ant dared to interrupt them? There was a limit to how ignorant a person can be.

However, at this moment, someone was even more displeased than Mihawk. Josh's whole body convulsed a bit in rage. He had been trying so hard to garner Mihawk's attention and now this idiot was getting in his way.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything to the man himself. Josh knew the importance of this fight with Don Krieg was for Luffy. Not only will Luffy gain the respect of Sanji through this fight, it'll also harden Luffy's resolve. He had also previously decided to not interfere with important fights for the crew's growth.

"Damn fool...! Luffy, hurry and shut that guy up, would ya?" Josh commented. The man was just becoming a nuisance. He turned his head to Mihawk and spoke, "Could you stay for a little while longer to witness the fight? You'll have something to tell Akagami when you see him again."

Josh had to try and keep the man from leaving so he could get the opportunity to fight him before he does. Mihawk looked at the ongoing situation and seemed disinterested. There was no reason for him to stay.

'System, what is the best wine I can buy from the shop?' Josh asked the system mentally. According to his memory, Mihawk should be somewhat of a wine lover, so if he could have him stay by giving him some divine tasting wine, he'll gladly do it.

[Ding! With the Host's current points, the best wine Host can purchase is the Godly Wine.

Godly Wine: A wine brewed for the gods. Able to make even the most alcohol haters fall in love with wine.

Cost: 1,000,000 System Points.]

'What the fuk! That's too much for just some wine. Something less costly please.' Josh almost exclaimed out loud when he saw the price. It costs the same as having the ability to be immune to seawater for a devil fruit user!

[Ding! Acknowledged. System suggests Host to buy the High-Tiered Wine. Although it is vastly inferior to the Godly Wine, the High-Tiered Wine is better than any wine that this world can produce.

High-Tiered Wine: A high class wine that can even captivate someone who has tasted some of the best wine a mortal can produce.

Cost: 10,000 points.]

'Yes! That's the one. Wait, how come I can buy things like this? I don't think there are such things in the world of One Piece.' Josh asked. He was puzzled. According to the System, he couldn't buy anything special that was out of the One Piece world, unless it is through missions.

[Ding! Correct. These items are unrelated to the world of One Piece. There are items on the shop that are system exclusive.]

"What!?" Josh accidentally shouted out in surprise. How come the System never mentioned this before? He quickly shut his mouth again after getting suspicious looks from the people in earshot.

'What is this System exclusive items? How come you've never told me about this before!?' Josh asked with a bit of fury. Right now, he felt like beating the tarp out of this "Void" for giving him such an irresponsible system.

[Ding! Host never asked. The System Exclusive Items are items on the shop that are preset, meaning it has nothing to do with any world. Host is able to purchase any of them no matter the world.]

The system's reply only strengthened the budding feeling Josh had in his guts to beat a certain something up. However, he calmed himself down with a sigh.

'I'll have to look into those items later. Right now, just buy the wine.' Josh commanded with a defeated expression. If anyone observed his expressions during his short conversation with the System, they would definitely think that he had a screw loose.

Josh covered his hand with his cloak to prevent the light from showing. After a while, Josh felt a bottle on his hand and he smiled.

"How about I offer you some wine while you observe? I promise you won't regret it." Josh finally spoke again. Mihawk was about to leave again for the third time and Luffy already ran off to fight Don Krieg.

When Mihawk heard "wine", he didn't even stop to turn back again. He had a massive collection of the best wine in the world back at home so it didn't really interest him. However, the next words he heard managed to stop him again, and hopefully, it'll be for the last time.

"I can guarantee that it'll be the best wine you'll ever drink in your life." Josh also added.

"That's a bold claim. I've tasted all sorts of wine during my life."

Dracule Mihawk thought for a bit and then came to a decision. There was no reason not to humor the youngsters and stay for a bit longer if his claims are indeed true. "Come on then. I'll have a taste." He said.

Josh smiled. He was happy. His efforts weren't for naught and Mihawk took the bait. Now that he bought himself some time, he could slowly think of a way to convince him to fight. If it was absolutely impossible, he'll just risk angering the world's greatest swordsmanand sneak attack him.