34 Chapter 34: Don’t 'sYo” Me!

Third Person's PoV:

Josh examined himself closer. He noticed that there were bandages all over his body, especially his abdomen area. His face, hands, and even legs all had some sort of wrapping over them.

Josh got up from his small bed and made his way into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, a heavily bandaged up man with a disheveled mess of hair stared back at him. Small patches of dried blood can even be seen here and there.

Josh's face scrunched up into an ugly expression. He wouldn't want anyone to see him in his current state, let alone his friends.

"I need a shower ASAP." He said.

Josh entered the shower immediately after ripping off all of the bandages. There was slight pain, but he didn't mind. Strangely, most of the wounds had already begun to close up even though it had only been a few hours. Even with all of his injuries, Josh felt more energized than an injured person should.

[That is because the Host's regenerative capabilities have increased greatly due to Host's immense vitality. If Host's vitality attribute reached over 3,000, the passive skill 'Regeneration' can be unlocked.]

Josh wasn't startled anymore by the random voices that seem to pop up whenever they wanted inside his mind. He simply nodded and took the system's words in face value.

Inside the shower, Josh washed away the remaining smell of blood and sweat on him and his mind relax a bit more.

Thinking back on the fight he had with Mihawk, the benefits he gained were incomparable. However, the fight also showed him how green he still was.

'I need strength...if I want freedom, I need the strength to keep it...' that thought circulated in his mind over and over.

In the shower, an odd scene occurred. A naked man, drenched in water, had a resolute expression on his face as if he just decided on the fate of the world.

After getting out of the shower, Josh put on a plain black T-shirt that had "I ❤️ New York" written on it. He also wore black shorts that extended a little past his knees. Evidently, Josh was feeling very relaxed.

While the clothes he had on previously made him look cool, they weren't exactly something one would wear to relax or sleep in.

Glancing back towards the Cloak of Levitation that had been placed beside his bed, Josh finally left the room and made his way up towards the deck.

On the deck,

Some of the crew members were worried for Josh and Zoro's conditions, while others were feeling slightly uncomfortable.

The reason for their discomfort? Well...that is because the man who single handedly defeated and gravely injuredtwo of their nakamas was sitting nonchalantly right outside of their ship.

Out on the sea, a small boat shaped as a Coffin was stationed right besides the Going Merry.

On the boat sat a man in his 40s. Right now, the man was feeling slightly hurried. He had been waiting patiently for over two hours now and the wait was starting to bore him. Surely, there must be things the world's greatest swordsman needed to attend to as well.

Dracule Mihawk stayed near the Merry after the fight was over. His only goal was to get the promised reward by the blonde youngster and then immediately make his way back to the Grandline.

Mihawk's mind wandered back to the fight in his idle and a toothy grin couldn't help but appear on his face. Such promising youngsters were about to brave the entire world. There was no doubt in Mihawk's mind that the little crew of interesting brats would cause massive waves. A little bit of excitement washed over him as he thought this.

Flash back,

Right after Josh passed out, the over-sized bolt of dense yellow lightning continued it's descent down towards Mihawk.

With a grave expression on his face, he readied himself to taste the full might of a lightning logia.

Swinging the Yoru with most of the strength he had, a massive arc of red...yes...red, slash went flying towards the opposing force.

As the two forces clashed, the biggest wave of torrential shock ran amok all over for dozens of miles. The wind howled incessantly, causing the spectators to cover their ears in pain.

Just as the attacks seem to implode on themselves from the excessive force, something that made Mihawk's expression even graver happened.

With a loud boom, there was a bright yellow and red light that encompassed everything in Mihawk's view. As the light cleared up, a shocking scene occurred.

The originally single bolt of lightning that looked like a massive pillar falling down from the sky actually split into five parts. Although they weren't as strong as before, each of them still contained monumental amounts of energy.

The red flying slash was magnificently negated and the Iudicium Dei split into five different strokes of lightning that still charged towards Dracule Mihawk.

With continuous waves of both his hands that are holding the Yoru, green arcs of razor sharp sword slashes also charged towards the bolts of lightning.

There was another bright light, although not as intense as the previous one. Unfortunately for Mihawk, one of the lightning strikes actually managed to escape from the net made out of flying slashes and struck squarely on Hawkeye's chest.

End flashback,

Back on the Merry, in the kitchen.

"What do we do now? Just wait for them to wake up?" Nami asked with trepidation. She wanted to hurry over to her home island as soon as possible, but it didn't look like it was possible with the two boy's injuries.

"I-I don't know! That monster is sitting right outside of my precious Merry! What the hell was Luffy thinking at a time like this.." Usopp responded with a fearful tone. The bounty hunter duo nodded twice in sync.

All of them let out defeated sighs. This scene had been repeating for a while now.

About an hour earlier, Luffy ran off on his own back inside the Baratie. He wanted to recruit Sanji no matter what. After fighting together with Sanji and the others, Luffy's gut feelings were telling him to get the guy to join no matter what.

Just then, a blonde man in a casual black T-shirt and black shorts came into the room. He had a towel draped over his shoulder as well so it made him look like he just came out of the pool. His hair was slightly moist and it was still as wild looking as ever.

"Yo. What're you guys doin?" Josh said nonchalantly. His expression was peaceful and calm. It was as if the fight of his life didn't occur not long ago.

"DON'T YOU "YO" ME!" Nami and Usopp immediately retorted back with giant fangs in their mouth. Their pent up frustration, fear, and anxiety was released all at once in that instant. The unlucky recipient just happened to be poor Josh.

Usopp walked up to Josh with a threatening demeanor. Pointed a finger at Josh and poked nonstop on his chest as he let out his frustrations. "What the hell is wrong with you!? That monster is still here, hurry and go shoo him away!! Or I won't be able to sleep at night."

"Why did you even challenge him in the first place!? Do you know how worried we were!?!? We thought you died!" Nami also came up to him and pinched his nose and pulled on it.

The indignation Josh felt at that moment was incomparable to any other time in his life. However, a warm smile was on his face, even though he was being scolded by two worried hens.

Josh felt warmth inside. 'So this is what having friends who worry about you feels like...no wonder Luffy wants to protect them no matter what. I, too, will do the same..' he thought. Although Usopp's demands sounded a bit more selfish, Josh understood that it was just his nature and couldn't fault him for it.

"I'm alright. Sorry for worrying you guys." Josh said amiably with an eye smile. He raised both of his hands up to show his admittance of defeat. "So Hawkeye is still waiting for me, huh? I'm slightly surprised."

From what Josh can recall about Dracule Mihawk, he seemed to be a man who did whatever he wanted and without any restrictions. However, Josh also remembered how business-like he was...always straight to the point. He guessed that Hawkeye probably doesn't like to waste time.

And yet, he was waiting patiently for over two hours just to get five bottles of High-tiered wine? How much of a connoisseur was he? Just imagining what would happen if he decided to fork out the Godly Wine sent shivers down Josh's spine.

Just then, two people suddenly barged into the dining room with a loud bang resulting from the door slamming against the wall. One of them was a lanky teen with raven hair, while the other was a bit older and also had blonde hair. A cigarette was placed in his mouth and his curly eyebrows twitched occasionally.