69 Interrupted

Mihawk stood calmly in his place, his piercing eyes locked on his opponent. Ashen stood several meters away, flames flickering around his sword and arm, before they both dashed towards each other unleashing their Advanced Conqueror's Haki.

*SWOOSH*-*BAM*-*BAM* their sword clashes caused the air around them to vibrate with their immense willpower. The ground shook beneath their feat, and the rocks around them began to crack and crumble.

Ashen's sword attacks sent waves of flames towards Mihawk, while the latter countered with his own Haki, dispersing them with his powerful swings.

The two continued their dance, their swords clashing and sparks flying with every strike. Ashen's movements were fast and unpredictable, but Mihawk was able to keep up with ease with his strong Observation Haki, his own swordplay precise and calculated.

"So that's the power he was talking about…" Calvin uttered to himself while clenching his fists in excitement 'I need to quickly get stronger so I don't fall behind…He said the first step to acquiring it is to learning emission…I shall find a worthy opponent to help me do that' he though while observing the fight from a distance.

10 hours later,

The sun was about to set, while the two swordmen were still fighting each other, with no one having the upper hand on the other.

<Ittoryu: Ichidai>

Mihawk proceeded to hold his sword with both hands, before he channeled a green aura and his Haki into it and slashed towards Ashen with a tremendous power. The latter didn't dodge and took it head on.

The attack was blocked and both of them got pushed away.

"Huff…Huff…Hahaha! I feel like you keep getting better while we are fighting" Ashen stated while panting heavily, he was exhausted from the continuous fighting, and he was also covered with serious injuries all over his body. Mihawk was standing in the opposite side of him, in the same state.

"Huff…Huff…The same for you" He calmly replied before he pointed his weapon at Ashen "I won't have mercy on you, I will end it in the next attack...'Demon of The Sea' Ashen, show me all you've got!" He said as he got ready to attack.

"Hmph, don't get cocky Hawk-Eyes you're still far away from beating me"

Just as they were going to dash towards each other someone interrupted them.

"Ashen!" Calvin called for his captain while carrying a Den Den Mushi on his hand.

"Calvin what did I tell you about interrupting?" Ashen asked looking pissed.

"It's something important" Calvin replied with a serious expression. Ashen slowly turned back to Mihawk while still on guard "I can't, can't you see I'm in life and death duel right now?".

Mihawk gazed at Ashen for a moment before he put his weapon away "I don't want to fight a distracted person…Finish your matter first" he said before he sat on a tree bench with his legs and arms crossed.

"Appreciate it" Ashen said with a respectful tone of voice before he approached Calvin "What is it so important that you had to stop the fight?"

"It's a call from Ayden"

"Ayden? Did something happen?" Ashen questioned as he took the Den Den Mushi "This is Ashen, what's going on?"

"This is Ayden, we have a situation…"

…

[New World, Water near Hachinosu],

A massive galleon adorned with vibrant candy-themed decorations was sailing towards the island followed by two other ones. The ship is painted in shades of pink and white, with spiraling candy cane poles and sugar-coated turrets. The sails are a bright pink color with a pattern of peppermint candies, and the figurehead at the front of the ship is a carved representation of Big Mom's own face, complete with her signature top hat and a wide grin.

"We finally reached it--perorin" said a very tall and slim man with brown eyes, a pointed nose, pink lips, and a very long, thick tongue he was standing on the ship's deck with.

"But to think a brat like him have a billion berries on his head, he must be quite strong…We should be careful brother Perospero" said an extremely large and muscular man, with spiky beard. His hair color is a gradient that resembles something being baked, starting out blond and turning into a dark orange.

"That's why we came along Oven, if things go wrong, we can handle him, after all he needed to ally himself with another pirate to take down Wang Zhi, it's not like he did it by himself" stated an extremely tall and broad man with a shaved head with short blonde hair, and some wrinkles on his face, as well as a small mustache.

"You are right Daifuku, let's land on the island first and see what happen--perorin"

A few minutes later,

"*SLAM*…Kai-san!!" a man slammed the door open.

"What's going on?!" Kai asked with frown.

"B-Big Mom Pirates are attacking us!!" He declared "They just docked their ships on our port!".

"One of the three emperors of the sea is attacking us?!…What could be her reason for doing such a thing?" Ayden said while sweating nervously "Ashen is not here, this is bad"

"Big Mom you say…" Kai was also shocked at the man's statement, but he maintained his cool before he turned to Ayden "Call him with the Den Den Mushi he gave us and inform him about the situation, in the meantime I will try talking to them"

…

"We have a situation…"

"A situation?" I questioned him.

"It's Big Mom's Pirates…They brought three ships here" Ayden stated and paused for a second before he continued "Father is talking to them right now. They don't seem to be here for a fight thought"

'Big Mom? What the hell does that old hag want from me?' Ashen though in his head before he calmly responded, "Can you describe me the most prominent individuals among them?"

"Okay…"

"…"

"I see, I want to talk to them, go pass the Den Den Mushi to their leader"

'So, Perospero is leading them, and he brought with him Oven, Daifuku, some other officers along with an army of soldiers…They are certainly a bunch of powerful individuals, they are also near their prime since they must be in their thirties at this timeline…I guess Big Mom isn't dumb enough to send Perospero alone' I thought, before I heard a familiar voice from the Den Den Mushi.

"Mushi Mushi, this is Perospero an officer of Big Mom Pirates, you must be Ashen righ?--perorin"

'What a disgusting voice he has, I want to cut that fucking tongue of his' I proceeded to answer him "The fuck do you want?"

"Mind your words unless you want me to kill these little subordinates that you have here" he said with a deep voice.

"Go ahead, I'll recruit other ones" Ashen replied calmly.

"I see, so your real crew is not here" he said while smiling behind the Den Den Mushi.

'This fucker is quite crafty, he did that on purpose. I should watch my words'

"I'm going to keep it short, mama wants you to become her subordinate, she will let you marry one of my sisters and you will join the Big Mom Pirates after that" Perospero said and then added "If you don't want to bring the wrath of an emperor of the sea, I advise you to think about it carefully before you answer, after all we can always find someone else like you to serve mama"

"Someone else like me?"

"Yes, the world is bigger than you think kid"

"No matter how many legs are spread, or beds are shaken…There could never be a second Ashen"

"*GUNSHOT*-*GUNSHOT*…AGHHH!!!" A couple of gun shots and screams were heard behind the Den Den Mushi "I told you to mind your words if you don't want me to kill your little subordinates"

"Alright, stay there I'll come back in a couple of days and discus the terms" I said to him.

"You finally came back to your senses. I'll wait for you here…Don't think about doing anything stupid--perorin"

"…"

"*GATCHA*-You fucking insect…No matter how strong or weak you are, once you join me you're not only a crewmember or under my protection, you are also my comrade" Ashen uttered to himself while his bulging forehead and arm veins became more visible "Perospero, I swear to god…I'll chop you up to little pieces and send you back to you mama in a box!"

"What should we do?" Calvin asked Ashen while he was looking furious from Perospero's attitude.

"That bastard! I'll shatter his head into pieces!" Ian declared while clenching his fists from anger.

"Are we going to fight Big Mom?...That monster isn't someone who could be defeated by power only" Moria stated while standing near Ashen "Her indestructible body is comparable to that of Kaido"

"I don't give a shit, there is one thing I want to do…Make that ugly bitch wish that she never fucked with me!" Ashen stated before he turned to Mihawk who got on his feet and was ready to leave "Sorry, about this"

"We will finish our duel another day demon" he said before he put his sword behind his back "You're going after Big Mom?...Don't die before that ,or slack off" he said while walking away.

"Don't worry I won't" Mihawk proceeded to board his raft after that and sailed away from the island.

"Let's get moving as well"