It has been two weeks since Oliver and Baki saved Naruto.
Currently, Oliver was training his swordsmanship; his sword was dancing in the air like a viper, and the air was whistling with every sword swing Oliver did.
While Oliver was training he suddenly smirked when he remembered his talk with Baki last night.
Flashback
It was late at night when Naruto was sleeping after a gruesome training session with Baki.
Oliver and Baki were drinking booze while chatting with each other.
Oliver then looked at Baki and asked, "Baki, how is Naruto's training coming along?"
Baki smirked when he heard Oliver's question; he then answered him, "The kid reminds me of myself a lot, Oliver."
Oliver was surprised by Baki's answer, and when Baki saw Oliver's surprised expression, he started explaining to him, "The kid is not a genius when it comes to martial arts, but he only needs a small tip to learn the stances and katas."
Oliver nodded his head after hearing this, and Baki continued, "But he is very stubborn; his drive to improve is unreal, and his willpower is very impressive. He reminded me of myself when I was a kid."
Oliver couldn't help but smile after hearing this, and Baki continued saying, "The kid will grow strong in the future, Oliver, but right now he needs to strengthen his body."
Oliver nodded his head and then he said to Baki, "I will leave Naruto to you for now, Baki. We will not sail to the Grand Line unless we are sure Naruto could protect himself."
Baki nodded his head seriously after hearing this, and he said to Oliver, "Leave it to me."
Then Baki and Oliver continued drinking the booze while chatting with each other.
End of Flashback
After sheathing his sword back, Oliver heard Naruto calling him, "Captain, we are arriving to Desolate Kingdom soon"
Oliver smiled after hearing this, and he looked straight; he could see the island ahead.
Baki walked towards Oliver and said to him, "Oliver, when we deal with Revy, we should be careful."
Oliver raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard this, and Baki started explaining his reasoning to him: "There is no denying that Revy is the most talented person I ever met with firearms, but she is hotheaded, stubborn, rowdy, and a battle freak."
When Oliver heard this, he couldn't help but chuckle. He then said to himself, "I have a feeling things are going to be interesting in Desolate Kingdom."
The ship then sailed forward at top speed towards the Desolate Kingdom.
_______
In Black lagoon gang main base
A beautiful young woman with slightly tan skin who appears to be in her mid to late twenties. She is 5'5 feet tall and has upper back-length burgundy hair that she keeps in a low, loose ponytail, including rather large bangs falling onto her forehead on either side along with two shoulder-length side locks framing her face. Moreover, she has amber-brown eyes, a tribal tattoo on her upper right arm that reaches all the way up to her neck, and a slightly muscular build that she does not conceal in the least.
The young woman is wearing a black tank top that leaves her stomach exposed, very short cut-off jeans that she never bothers buttoning, a belt to keep them up instead, jungle boots without socks, and a pair of black fingerless gloves.
Suddenly, the door of the base swung open, and a young man wearing a white shirt and black pants rushed in. He then said urgently to the young woman, "Revy, a merchant ship just docked in the Eastside next to the rocky part of the Kingdom."
Revy narrowed her eyes when she heard this, and then she said to the young man, "Don't worry Rock, I will go to investigate the ship now. Have you found any information about where Dutch and Benny are? It has been a month since they disappeared."
Rock sighed and shook his head. He then said, "I have a theory, but I need to confirm my theory. I hope I am wrong."
Revy nodded her head. She opened her bag, tossed two pistols with some ammo to Rock, and said to him, "Be careful; things are not right here. Many people have been disappearing lately. I have a bad feeling about this. I will go and check on the ship you mentioned. Be safe, Rock."
Rock nodded his head in understanding, then Revy grabbed her bag over her shoulder and left the base.
_____
After 10 minutes
The merchant ship that Oliver, Baki, and Naruto were onboard docked in the rocky part of the Desolate Kingdom.
Oliver smirked at Naruto and said to him, "I never thought you were that good at steering the ship, kid."
Naruto smiled happily after hearing Oliver's compliment, and he said to him, "My father taught me how to steer the ship, Captain, and I love steering the ship. I steered all kinds of ships when my father was alive."
Oliver nodded his head in understanding after hearing this, and he said to Naruto, "In that case, you will be our helmsman from now on."
Naruto beamed happily after hearing this, and then the trio disembarked the ship.
When the trio started walking, all of a sudden they heard multiple gunshots that came out of nowhere.
"BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG."
Baki grabbed Naruto from his collar and started dodging, but Oliver kept standing in his spot, unsheathed his two swords, and started swinging his swords elegantly in the air.
"SHING, SHING, SHING, SHING, SHING."
Oliver effortlessly cut all the gun's bullets in half with his two swords.
Revy, who was hiding behind one of the rocks, was stunned when she saw Oliver's swordsmanship skills.
She then smiled widely in interest; she opened her bag and took out her shotgun rifle.
Baki then yelled loudly in anger, "Revy, are you out of your mind? Come out; I know you were the one who shot at us."
Revy smirked when she heard this. She walked out of her hiding spot carrying her shotgun rifle over her right shoulder and her bag over her other shoulder.
She looked disdainfully at Baki and said to him, "Baki, what are you doing here? Leave now or I am going to make a Swiss cheese out of you."
Oliver chuckled when he heard this, and Revy looked at Oliver in interest and said to him, "However, you are unlike any swordsman I met before. All the swordsmen I fought in the past died miserably by my hands, but you were able to cut my bullets in half. You are very interesting."
Oliver looked at Revy in interest after hearing what she just said, and he was smiling broadly at her. Revy, too, was smiling broadly at Oliver. She then said to him, "How about a duel, swordsman? If you win against me, I will let you, Baki, and the kid stay here; if you lose, I'll kill you all by filling your foreheads with bullets."
Baki's eyebrows twitched in annoyance when he heard this, and he yelled at her. "You are as insane as I remembered, Revy. What kind of duel terms are these?"
Suddenly, Oliver heard the system notification in his head.
The system detected that the host need to make a choice
Duel Revy, the reward is the newest collection of firearms package
Refuse to duel Revy; reward the firearms engineering book collections
Oliver looked at Revy with interest while smiling; he then thought, "When she shot at me, her aim was flawless and precise. She is incredibly talented, just like what Baki told me. She must join my crew."
After making up his mind, Oliver said to Revy, "I don't mind dueling against you, but how about we change our dueling terms?"
Revy got interested in hearing this, and she asked Oliver, "Oh, this is interesting. What do you have in mind?"
Baki and Naruto looked at Oliver in curiosity, and Oliver just smiled and then started answering Revy's question, "If I win our duel, you must join my pirate crew; if I lose, then you can kill me however you want, but you must let Baki and Naruto go."
Baki and Naruto widened their eyes in shock when they heard this; even Revy was surprised after hearing what Oliver just said.
Baki then yelled at Oliver, "Hey Oliver, are you out of your mind? Do you think I will stand here and let her kill you?"
After hearing Baki's words, the air around Oliver shifted, and he exuded an aura that demanded respect.
Revy's eyes were widened in shock when she sensed that aura that Oliver was exuding.
Oliver looked at Baki in the eyes and firmly said to him, "This is my decision, Baki."
Baki started getting angry when he heard this and yelled at Oliver again, "Like I care about your decision! I will not stand by and see one of my friends die."
After overcoming his shock, Naruto also yelled at Oliver, "Me too, Captain. I owe you a lot for saving my life. I will not stand and do nothing while you are getting killed by this woman."
Oliver chuckled after hearing what Baki and Naruto just then the aura around Oliver ceased and he said to them, "Baki, as a captain of a pirate crew, protecting my crew is my responsibility. Besides, you are my best friend. What kind of man will I be if I let my best friend die?"
Baki widened his eyes in shock, and Oliver continued, "Naruto is my responsibility to protect since I accepted him as part of my crew there is no way I let him die ."
After finishing saying this, he looked at Revy and asked her, "So do you agree to my terms?"
Revy burst out laughing after hearing Oliver's question, "YAHAHAHA, you are really an interesting man but I will have to disappoint you I refuse your term."
Baki got enraged when he heard this and yelled at Revy, "why you?"
Revy gave Baki a cold glare, then looked at Oliver and started explaining her reasoning to him: "You earned my respect, swordsman, so I will explain my reasoning to you. The Desolate Kingdom is not affiliated with the world government. The life here is very chaotic. In order to anyone to survive here, they will need to join up with others, I and my friends formed up a gang to survive in here. It's called the Black Lagoon gang."
Baki, Naruto, and Oliver was surprised when they heard this and Revy continued, "in order to earn money we did many shady businesses and bounty hunting but things recently became very strange."
Oliver asked Revy in curiosity, "what do you mean?"
After hearing Oliver's question Revy gazed seriously in his eyes and said to him, "recently, the people here started disappearing men, women, children they all started disappearing even my two best friends Dutch and Benny disappeared a month ago, I have a bad feeling in my guts telling me things are not simple I need to know what is really going on here."
Oliver, Naruto, and Baki widened their eyes in surprise when they heard this then Oliver smiled and he said to Revy, "then how about this? we will help you find your friends after we find them we will have a duel if I win in our duel you will join my crew."
Revy first smiled then she sighed, "fine, if you beat me I promise I will join but only after I believe my friends and the people I care about are going to be safe here."
Oliver nodded happily after hearing this Revy then started walking away and she said to them, "follow me we are going to my gang main base."
The trio nodded then they started following Revy.