"What impressive swordsmanship." Clover praised, then lunged at Dracule Mihawk with a straight thrust of his sword.
Mihawk simply tilted his head slightly, effortlessly dodging Clover's attack. Clover followed up with over a dozen rapid thrusts, but Mihawk dodged them all.
"You can't use Kenbunshoku Haki, can you?" Mihawk remarked, noticing Clover's impressive mastery of Busoshoku Haki, but his lack of proficiency in Kenbunshoku Haki.
"Heh, sounds kind of embarrassing, huh?" Clover scratched his head awkwardly.
Mihawk was speechless, then removed the sword he had pressed against Clover's chest and sheathed it behind his back. "If you can't use Kenbunshoku Haki, you're not my match."
Mihawk had lost interest in continuing the duel. From his perspective, Clover's movements were in slow motion, and although his Busoshoku Haki was strong, there was little either of them could do to the other. Continuing the fight would be pointless.
"Wait..." Clover started to protest, but before he could finish, the voice of an old computer echoed in his head.
[Didi Didi... Battle against Mihawk complete. Reward: 1 modification point!]
"Nice!" Clover felt a surge of happiness.
"What's that?" Mihawk raised an eyebrow at Clover, mistaking his exclamation for a challenge.
"No, no, nothing." Clover shook his head. "If we're not fighting, then we'll call it a draw."
"…You really have no shame."
Mihawk rolled his eyes. Busoshoku Haki weakens over time, while Kenbunshoku Haki does not. If they kept fighting, Clover would eventually fall into his hands. He'd become as insignificant as an insect. But now, this boy was calling it a draw. Shameless.
Little did Mihawk know, Clover could unleash his full power and reduce Mihawk to a molecular state with a single blow, leaving no trace behind.
"Let's go… By the way…" Mihawk turned back toward his small boat.
Just as he was about to leave, something seemed to occur to him, and he turned back to Clover. "The World Government and Marines are closing in. Your bounty is five billion beli, higher than the Yonko."
He added, "I heard the bounty was set by the Celestial Dragons."
"Well… I already knew about the five billion." Clover nodded.
He hadn't expected to have such an outrageous bounty. It was higher than the Yonko's and almost rivaled the bounty of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. Whitebeard's bounty was 5 billion 64 million. Clover was just shy of that, making him the second-highest bounty in the world.
"There's also word spreading that you're weak, powerless even. So aside from the Marines and the World Government, bounty hunters and pirates alike are searching for you. Be careful."
"Why are you telling me this?" Clover asked, puzzled.
"You're a promising swordsman, much better than Roronoa. I look forward to the day you become a true rival. Grow stronger, boy." With that, Mihawk turned and sailed away on his boat.
"I forgot to mention that Boa Hancock is also looking for him," Mihawk mused as he sat on his chair. "Oh well, let's see what happens."
It wasn't until Mihawk was far off that Clover snapped out of his thoughts. "Damn it, he sailed away. Now how am I supposed to leave?"
"Oh, looks like I'll be swimming again." Clover sighed and leapt into the sea with a splash.
As he swam, Clover thought about where to allocate his newly earned modification point. Reflecting on his earlier failure to match Mihawk's skill, a realization struck him.
"I'm an idiot! I shouldn't have wasted my talent points on Busoshoku Haki!" Clover berated himself. "If I had maxed out my learning ability, I could just learn anything by watching it! And if it's maxed out, I can learn it at its peak!"
This meant Clover could learn Kenbunshoku Haki's future sight by merely observing someone use it. He could master advanced Busoshoku Haki in a glance and, if he had the potential, even conqueror's Haki by seeing someone use it.
"That way, I could master Haoshoku Haki's advanced technique just by watching someone wield it."
With that thought, Clover immediately used his modification point to max out his learning ability!
"Let's see…" After allocating the point, Clover immediately wanted to test it, but in the vast sea, what could he possibly learn?
Just as he was contemplating, a fish swam past him. In that instant, Clover felt something click in his mind. He dove into the water, his body straightening, then twisting at an incredible speed as he shot through the sea like a fish.
He had learned how to swim like a fish in one go.
Clover leapt from the water, somersaulted in mid-air, and then splashed back into the sea. Remarkably, he could now breathe underwater, fully adapting to the aquatic environment like a fish.
"This is insane. I can even breathe underwater?" Clover marveled as he tested his body.
If anyone had seen this, they'd think Clover was some strange sea creature and try to catch him in a net.
As Clover swam back toward Baratie, he spotted a small boat, overloaded with a group of pirates. Recognizing them, Clover's eyes narrowed. It was the Krieg Pirates.
The battle on the Baratie must have ended. Clover remembered that Gin had bid farewell to Luffy, promising to meet again on the Grand Line, and had taken Don Krieg and the surviving crew with him. But after that, they were never seen again.
Many speculated that Admiral Ryokugyu was actually Gin, but Clover didn't believe it. Gin was loyal to Krieg. If Krieg hadn't died, Gin would never have joined the Marines. And if Krieg were to die, Gin would have died first.
So, Gin wasn't Ryokugyu.
Perhaps, after entering the Grand Line, they had been wiped out by another pirate crew.
"Well, whether or not you've been defeated, I'll destroy you today," Clover thought, then launched himself toward the Krieg Pirates' ship, capsizing it with ease.
"What... what's happening?!" Gin yelled, clutching Krieg as they both plunged into the sea.
"There's something… something in the water!"
"Ah! Help!"
"Save us! Please! Don't come any closer!"
One by one, Clover cut down the Krieg Pirates in the water. Neither Gin nor Don Krieg were spared. In the end, the sea turned red with blood as Clover calmly walked away with five jewels in hand, leaving the carnage behind.