Just as Ray was about to peace out, he felt a hand land on his shoulder.
He turned around and saw Hawkeye, who looked super conflicted, like he really didn't want to say what he was about to say.
"Could you... uh... carry me to land or a ship?"
Ray physically recoiled.
What the hell? Carry him? Hard pass.
No way.
He'd never been big on physical contact, even before this whole new life, and he definitely wasn't about to start with some middle-aged dude he'd just fought.
The mental image of himself giving Hawkeye a piggyback ride flashed through his mind, and he shuddered, instantly hopping back a good ten feet.
Hawkeye looked just as mortified, his face completely stiff with awkwardness.
"Look, I've got no choice," he said, sounding annoyed. "My compass, my Log Pose, and my boat were all destroyed by you. And I can't fly."
He had a point.
The Baratie was out in the middle of nowhere, probably a hundred kilometers from the nearest island.
If Hawkeye tried to "fly" by slashing the air the whole way, he'd be totally gassed before he got halfway there.
Swimming was even dumber—with no way to navigate, who knew where he'd end up?
…
The vibe between them got super weird.
The mutual respect between two badass warriors had just taken a bizarre, awkward turn.
Both of them were proud, lone-wolf types who hated dealing with people more than necessary. But when you've got a problem with only one, very awkward solution… well, they were stuck.
…
About a kilometer away, Luffy and the others were getting more and more worried.
Finally, Zeff and Luffy made the call to turn the Baratie around and head back toward where the fight went down.
"This doesn't make any sense," Sanji muttered, completely baffled. "How could two guys that strong just disappear in an explosion?"
Just as everyone's anxiety was peaking, they saw a strange figure flying through the sky.
Luffy squinted. "Hey, I think that's Ray."
Usopp pointed, his jaw dropping. "Wait—is that a person he's dragging behind him? Is that... Hawkeye?"
"No way! The strongest swordsman in the world is getting dragged through the air by Ray?!"
A few moments later, Ray landed on the deck of the Baratie.
Hawkeye landed with a thud beside him, glaring daggers at Ray.
Are you kidding me? Hawkeye fumed internally.
Not only did he not carry me properly, he dragged me like a dog!
What kind of humiliation is this?!
And he couldn't find a deserted island? He had to land right in front of everyone!
What about my reputation? Do I not get any respect here?!
He was so embarrassed he seriously considered fighting Ray to the death right then and there.
Meanwhile, Ray just dropped him, looked disgusted, and immediately walked away to go wash his hands, not even giving Hawkeye a second glance.
Flying even that short distance with him had been an ordeal.
No way was he taking him all the way to an island
. If Ray hadn't been the one to slice his boat in half, he would've just left him there.
The whole scene left the Baratie crew completely stunned, confused, and trying very hard not to laugh.
"Pfft—their faces are priceless," Usopp blurted out.
The second he laughed, two ice-cold death glares locked onto him, and all the color drained from his face.
He didn't dare say another word.
The rest of the crew just sucked in deep breaths, trying to keep their composure.
...
Later, when they found out what had actually happened, they all lost it again.
Luffy, especially, took it to another level.
He was rolling on the floor, crying with laughter.
"AHAHAHA—RAY, YOU'RE SO FUNNY WHEN YOU'RE EMBARRASSED! PFFT HAHA!"
In the end, after annoying Ray one too many times, Luffy ended up with a big, swollen lump on his head.
After that, things finally started to calm down.
…
The whole mess was finally over.
The Straw Hats had helped the Baratie get rid of the Krieg Pirates, and they learned that Hawkeye had actually gone easy on Zoro.
With the crisis averted, the chefs invited everyone inside for a huge feast to celebrate.
At Luffy's urging, the party kicked off.
Hawkeye didn't say no—after losing all that face, skipping a free meal would just be adding insult to injury.
The food was amazing, the booze was flowing, and the smell of it all was enough to wake Zoro from his coma.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Hawkeye calmly cutting into a steak.
"Huh? What's going on?" he asked, confused.
He grabbed a drink while Usopp gave him the full rundown of everything he'd missed.
After a moment of silence, Zoro looked over at Ray, who was feeding some bones to the dog, Choucho.
His expression was complicated.
Sighing, Zoro took a deep breath and shouted, "Ray, Luffy—my bad! I'm sorry!"
After that, he shut up and went back to his drink.
"Just enjoy the party," Ray replied without looking at him, which made Zoro crack a grin and dive back into the celebration.
He probably had no idea what kind of hellish training Ray had in store for him later.
"Hey, moss-head," a voice said.
Sanji, done serving for the moment, lit a cigarette and sat down next to Zoro.
"Got a question for you."
"What is it?" Zoro shot back, already annoyed by the cook's presence.
Sanji originally wanted to ask him why he was so willing to throw his life away for his dream, but Zoro's attitude instantly set him off.
"What's with the look, you jerk? You wanna fight?!" Sanji roared, a vein popping on his forehead.
"Bring it on, curly-brow! Let's go!" Zoro yelled back, not backing down an inch.
…
The rowdy party went on well past midnight.
Eventually, things wrapped up, and Ray, Hawkeye, and Zoro found themselves standing together on the Baratie's balcony.
Hawkeye spoke first.
"Roronoa, I get you've got guts, but that move back there was just reckless. If you had run into anyone other than me, you'd just be a dead guy who ran away from reality."
Zoro already knew this, which is why he'd apologized earlier.
He still felt like a complete idiot.
His whole "honor before death" stunt would have gotten him killed if Hawkeye hadn't, for some reason, seen potential in him.
Not only that, but it would have dragged Ray, Luffy, and the others into a pointless revenge quest for him.
It was passionate, sure, but it was also impulsive and shortsighted.
He drew his sword and looked at the two monsters standing with him.
"I'm going to live long enough to surpass both of you."
Both Ray and Hawkeye just smiled.
A moment later, Ray walked to the edge of the balcony, looked up at the moon, and murmured.
"Good. As long as you learned something."
…
The next day, Hawkeye borrowed a small boat from the Baratie.
After saying his goodbyes, he set off for the Grand Line.
Before he left, he made a point to tell Luffy, "I hope you don't disgrace that hat."
Luffy immediately got it—this guy must know Shanks.
Just like that, he felt a little warmer towards the world's greatest swordsman.
As Hawkeye disappeared over the horizon, Ray thought back on their duel.
'Solid dude. Unbreakable will, a really pure sword spirit. And surprisingly soft on people he respects. He didn't have any real killing intent during our whole fight.'
He turned to Luffy. "So, should we get going?"
Luffy was quiet for a second before answering, his voice a little disappointed.
"Yeah... it's time to go."
During last night's party, Zeff had told them all about Sanji's past and their crazy "father-son" bond.
Zeff had basically begged them to take Sanji out to sea so he could be free to chase his dream of finding the All Blue.
Luffy was all for it, but no matter how many times he asked, Sanji kept refusing. Luffy decided not to push it anymore.
Just as he walked past Sanji, the blond cook, who'd been smoking quietly with his head down, suddenly spoke up.
"Let me be the cook on your ship."
Hearing that, the expressions of every Straw Hat lit up—well, everyone except Ray.
Luffy let out a huge cheer. "HELL YEAH! HAHAHA!"
Nami was just as thrilled. "We're going to eat delicious food from now on!"
Usopp started doing a happy dance, relieved that he wouldn't have to hunt seagulls for dinner anymore.
Even Chouchou barked happily.
In his excitement, Luffy being Luffy, celebrated by raiding the Baratie's kitchen for a mountain of meat and stuffing it into the Going Merry's pantry, completely ignoring the twitching faces of Zeff and the other cooks.
Finally, after the tearful scene where Sanji knelt and bowed to Zeff until his forehead hit the deck, the Going Merry set sail, heading for their next destination: Cocoyasi Village.