Training

After the lunch, everyone relaxed.

"So, who are you seriously? You don't seem be with the pirate boy." Vash came in front of the shifty duo and asked.

"We, we are agents from Baroque Works. We came here for a mission to kill that whale, It would have been used to fed the minions of our syndicate." said the light-blue haired woman. Vash had his color of observation on, so he caught some lies in her dialogue.

"You aren't telling the truth, are you? I'll ask once again, but this time out with the truth, otherwise, I'll feed you to the same whale which you have come to hunt. Think about it, how ironic it would be when you'd become its food instead." Said Vash in threatening manner.

"It's true!! We are really agents from Baroque Works, I'm Mr 9 and her name is Ms. Wednesday. We really came here for the whale, what she said is all true." The supposed Mr 9 said in a panic. He was afraid of getting killed unnecessarily. This time Vash's color of observation registered the man's sentences as true. He was really baffled, he thought this woman must be not what she is pretending.

"Baroque works, hmm.... I seem to have heard of them before." Zoro said at this time, he was paying attention to their talk from the distance. "Ah, I remember now, in the past, they had once invited me to join them, although, I had killed the one who was sent. Their agents are very secretive, and all of the top brasses go by their code names." said Zoro after recollecting some information of the organisation. The duo of gangster panicked hearing 'kill' word from Zoro. They started fearing for their lives.

"Anyway, these two idiots are you five's responsibility." Said Vash deciding to not care about them anymore.

"Hey, Why us? Why don't you take care them." Sanji said in a tone which suggested that they were treated unfairly.

"You want me to take care of them!!? Very well, be still you two, it'll be over in a second." Said Vash preparing a hand chop.

"Stop!!! you maniac, you won't be hurting that beautiful woman in my presence. We'll take them with us." Sanji shouted in loud voice. But his crew facepalmed at his idiocy and perversion of women.

"Now that it's settled, you do your things. I will be away training." Said Vash getting out of camp site. Mihawk also went to the library of Crocus for his research.

Crocus explained Straw Hats everything they needed to know about grandline before they set sail. He told them about the navigation system, weather conditions, types of island and power structure of grandline. Crocus also gave a log pose to Nami. Straw Hats were just amazed at the dynamics of the world. They were really surprised when he revealed to them that Vash, who beat them effortlessly before had such a high bounty, except Nami who seemed to had known it already.

"No wonder he is so strong. He chops like my grandpa, even my rubber body can't defend against his attacks." Said Luffy, he was the one who got beat up the most by Vash. Then they continued their discussion throughout the day.

Meanwhile, Vash had stolen some chains and handcuffs from the store room of Crocus. He carried the borrowed stuff to the base of reverse mountain. There Vash sized up the stones that fell from whale's rampage, he carved the big ones with thick handles, then he attached those rocks to his limbs using chains and cuffs.

'That much should do it.' thought Vash, he had tied twenty or so number of rocks. He started climbing Red Line in those conditions. Vash wanted to increase his stamina and strength, this exercise was also benificial for the devil fruit training and haki. He made himself weigh 1 kiloton while ascending the mountain, he also had to predict in advance which protrusion to step on if not, it would be destroyed due to immense weight of his body. Vash fell down the cliff many times when his prediction was incorrect, in that case, he would just float using color of Supreme Kings, and again get back to it. He made overall improvement with the practice which he did till the night came.

He went back to the lighthouse where Mihawk was reading some books in one of the room.

"So I have decided to train here for a week, I'm thinking of buying some cloths after that." Said Vash pointing to his torn gi and tattered gauntlets and continued, "Do you know any place where I can get these types of wear?"

"The closest place where you can get those stuff is Kingdom of Alabasta. It is four days journey with an eternal pose. In fact, I'm also going there for something. You can tag along." Mihawk said.

"It's obvious I'll go with you. Remember, I don't have a ship, and you let the pirates get away with the ship which I had digs on." replied Vash.

"I think your age is catching up with you cause your becoming grumpy by the day." Mihawk said in provocative tone. Vash got mad and almost destroyed the light house by starting a fight but calmed himself real quick.

"Alright fine, I'll also stay here for a week for reading. You'll do your training in the meantime. We'll set sail in the morning of eighth day." Said Mihawk after teasing.

It was the new morning and Straw Hats began their journey, they also took the two Baroque Works agent with them. Vash, Mihawk and Crocus all three of them came to the seaside, waving goodbye to Going Merry ship.

Vash had gone back to his training of scaling cliff. Mihawk went and holed himself up in the library. Crocus made all the necessary preparation for his own travel. Somehow he also decided to go when the duo of Vash and Mihawk would sail. Like that a week passed by.