The dust finally settled after the building collapsed, revealing the rubble that remained. Figuring it was safe now, I set Nami down from where I'd been holding her.
"What's going on?"
"Is Luffy alive?"
"Arlong Park collapsed..."
"Luffy..."
Thud, thud, thud!
Suddenly, debris from what seemed to be the top floor shot upward, and I saw Luffy rising to his feet. Nami, Yosaku, and Johnny all shouted his name at the top of their lungs.
"Luffy!"
"Boss~!!"
Luffy looked to be in rough shape. Blood was pouring from the wounds on his chest and arms where Arlong had gotten him. Seeing that, Usopp said worriedly,
"Is that guy going to be okay?"
Luffy stood there for a moment, breathing hard from his injuries and exhaustion, then shouted loudly.
"Nami!!! You're my crewmate!!!"
Hearing that, Nami wiped her tears and answered.
"Yeah!!!"
With Nami's reply, the villagers erupted in cheers.
Woooah~~
"Arlong Park fell!!"
"We won!!"
Just then, a loud voice rang out from behind the crowd.
"Everyone, freeze!!! Kihihihihi!"
The villagers stopped cheering and all turned around. There stood what looked like Marines, and in front of them was an officer who resembled a rat.
"Today's my lucky day. Good work, all of you. I watched the whole fight from the start. Coincidence or not, I never thought punks like you would actually take down the fish-men."
That man was Colonel Nezumi, a corrupt Marine officer who had been in collusion with Arlong's crew.
"But thanks to you, all the treasure Arlong hoarded is mine now, and the credit for capturing Arlong will be mine as well. Kihihihihi!"
Since we'd arrived in Cocoyasi Village early, it seemed he didn't know about the money Nami had saved up. I immediately grabbed Colonel Nezumi by the neck.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
"Keh... keh!"
Seeing that, the Marines pointed their guns at me, but Zoro and Sanji subdued them in an instant.
Thud! Thud! Whack!
"Kugh!" "Ugh!" "Gah!"
Nezumi, still in my grip, spoke up.
"Keh... keh! You think you'll get away with this?!"
"Yeah, we will."
I immediately contacted Garp through the Transponder Snail.
Brulelelele
—Tae-jin, what's going on? I still have plenty of that liquor you got me last time.
"Vice Admiral Garp, this is Cocoyasi Village. Colonel Nezumi and some Marines here are threatening the villagers in collusion with pirates."
—What did you say!? Is that true?
"Yes. They were in league with a pirate named Arlong who set up shop here. There should be more than enough evidence at the Marine base."
—Those rotten bastards!! Disgracing the name of the Marines!! Got it. I'll handle it immediately.
Hearing that, Nezumi said in shock,
"How... how did you know that? Garp? Did I hear that wrong? The Marine hero Garp??"
"That's right. The person I just contacted was Vice Admiral Garp."
"Hiiik!!!"
At my words, Nezumi wet his pants in fear. The villagers cheered again and ran back to the village to spread the news. We tied the Marines up tightly with rope.
"Vice Admiral Garp's men will be here soon. Make sure they can't run away until then."
Genzo took the rope from me and answered.
"Got it."
Once things had mostly settled, Mihawk approached me.
"Looks like it's over."
"Yeah. There's an uninhabited island nearby that I've had my eye on. How about it?"
"Good."
Just then, Zoro suddenly cut in between us and said,
"Wait! Before that, fight me, Mihawk!"
Mihawk looked at Zoro and said,
"Don't rush your own death! You have great comrades and adventures waiting for you."
"I have an ambition to become the greatest swordsman and a promise I made to a friend."
Mihawk glanced at me and said,
"Wait a moment."
"Got it. Don't kill him."
At that, Mihawk gave a faint smile. Then we moved to a wide, open clearing. Zoro and Mihawk stood facing each other. Luffy, the others, and I watched from the side. Johnny and Yosaku couldn't come because they were helping take the captured Marines back to the village.
"Today was rather interesting. So I'll give you one more chance. Give up now."
"No. If I run from this place today, I feel like I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
"Hoh, is that so?"
Zoro tied his black bandana around his head, put one sword in his mouth, and drew the other two, taking up his fighting stance. But Mihawk simply took hold of the cross necklace at his throat and pulled. Gripping the long part of the cross, he drew it out, revealing a tiny knife that looked like it was meant for peeling fruit. Seeing Mihawk draw such a small blade, Zoro asked,
"Hey, what's that for?"
"I'm not a fool who uses his full power to hunt a rabbit."
Zoro, angry at being looked down on, tightened his grip on his swords.
Creak!
"Don't underestimate people too much! Don't regret it after you die!!"
With that, Zoro charged at Mihawk.
"A frog in a well, shouting loudly. Let me show you how wide the world is."
Zoro swung all three swords at once, trying to cut Mihawk down.
"Demon! Decapitation!!!"
Clang!
Mihawk calmly extended the small dagger and stopped Zoro's slash.
"What..."
Luffy and the others watched in shock. They hadn't realized the gap between them was this wide.
"No way!"
"Zoro..."
Zoro tried to push harder, but when he couldn't budge Mihawk at all, he jumped back for a moment. Sweat beaded on his brow and his expression hardened. He had worked hard, so he couldn't accept that the gap was this huge, but he couldn't deny reality either.
"Uwaaaaaah!!!"
Whether he was trying to shake off his fear or confirm the difference in their skill again, I couldn't tell, but Zoro shouted and charged at Mihawk once more, swinging his swords.
Clang! Clang! Clang-clang! Clang!
Mihawk lightly blocked Zoro's blades with his dagger. Then Zoro, too worked up, swung wildly and misjudged Mihawk's deflection, losing control of his own strength and tumbling to the ground.
Thud!
"Tch!"
Zoro got up immediately, steeled himself, and shouted again as he swung at Mihawk.
"Uwaaaaah!!!"
Mihawk received the blows as he spoke.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang-clang!
"Quite the reckless swordsmanship."
Zoro was swinging with everything he had, but he was the one getting tired. Mihawk blocked and redirected his attacks effortlessly, looking no different than when he started. Zoro felt it too, and realizing this wasn't working, he stepped back slightly and prepared to use a big technique.
"Tiger Hunt!!!"
But before Zoro could finish his move, Mihawk stepped into his space and stabbed him in the chest with the dagger.
Stab!
"Zoro!!"
Luffy and the others cried out his name in panic.
Press!
"Huh?"
Even with the dagger buried in his chest, Zoro tried to push forward.
"Do you want me to pierce your heart right here? Why don't you step back?"
"Well... I don't know... If I take even one step back from here, it feels like all the vows and promises I've made will break, and I'll never be able to come back to this place again."
"Yes. That is what it means to lose."
"Haha, then I definitely can't back down."
"Even if you die?"
"Dying would be better."
Mihawk pulled the dagger from Zoro's chest and hung it back around his neck.
"Kid, tell me your name."
"Roronoa Zoro."
"I'll remember it."
Mihawk drew the massive cross-shaped black blade from his back and said,
"As a courtesy to a fellow swordsman, I will end this with the world's strongest black blade."
It seemed Mihawk acknowledged Zoro's resolve. Zoro knew this would be the final blow and readied himself.
"Kid, dodge."
This time, Mihawk closed the distance quickly as he spoke. Zoro ignored his words and met him head-on.
"Three Sword Style Secret Technique!! Three Thousand Worlds!!!"
Cla-clang!!!
Naturally, he couldn't overcome the difference in skill, and all of Zoro's swords except the Wado Ichimonji in his mouth shattered under Mihawk's slash. Only then did Zoro seem to accept the gap between them as he said,
"I lost! I never even imagined I'd lose."
Zoro sheathed the Wado Ichimonji, turned to face Mihawk, and spread his arms wide. Mihawk looked momentarily taken aback.
"What?"
"A wound on the back is a swordsman's shame!"
At those words, Mihawk smiled faintly.
"Admirable."
Slash!!
Zoro took Mihawk's slash without any resistance.
"Zoro!!!" "You idiot!"
Thud!
When Zoro collapsed, Luffy and the others stopped watching and all ran to him. Seeing that, Mihawk said,
"Relax. That one is still alive."
I went to Zoro, wrapped his wound in bandages, and cast a weak Heal on him. I could have erased the wound completely, but that would have insulted Zoro's resolve, so I just stopped the bleeding. Mihawk asked Luffy,
"Kid, what's your goal?"
"To be the Pirate King!"
"Hoh! That's an incredibly treacherous path. Even more so than climbing over me."
"Heh! I don't care about that!! I'm going to be it from now on!"
Just then, Zoro seemed to regain consciousness slightly and raised his sword toward the sky while lying down.
"Lu... Luffy... can you... hear me?"
"Yeah, I hear you!"
"Did... I make you anxious? If I'm not strong enough to be the world's greatest swordsman... it'll be trouble for you!"
Usopp tried to stop Zoro.
"Zoro! Don't talk anymore! It's dangerous!"
Zoro ignored him and continued.
"I... won't! Ever! Lose again!! Until the day I beat that man and become the great swordsman!! I absolutely won't lose again!!! You got a problem with that? Pirate King?"
At that, Luffy smiled and answered.
"Shishishi, not at all!!"
Mihawk smiled as well and said,
"Haha, what a fine crew."
I finished treating Zoro and stood up, saying to Mihawk,
"Let's go now."
"Right."
Mihawk and I started walking toward where the ship was. Looking back, I saw Luffy and the others following us.
"You guys should stay with Zoro. You'll just get caught up in this."
Luffy answered.
"I want to see the fight between the people at the top of the world. I left Zoro with Usopp."
"Is that so? Do as you like. Just don't get too close."
We took a ship and arrived at a fairly large island near Cocoyasi Village. Luffy and the others stayed on the Going Merry and watched from the sea. Mihawk and I stood facing each other.
"Honestly, it was getting a bit boring. There were a few strong people, but fighting the same person over and over gets dull."
"And that's when I showed up."
"Exactly."
Mihawk drew his black blade and took his stance. Since he wasn't an easy opponent, I pulled [(SS) Lightning God's Longsword] from my inventory.
"Oho~ That sword is a black blade as well."
Being a swordsman himself, Mihawk showed interest in the sword I drew.
"Yeah. I don't get many chances to use it against worthy opponents, so it's been a while since I've drawn it."
[(SS) Lightning God's Longsword] was the strongest sword I had, created by synthesizing excellent blades while enjoying my life of play. In terms of performance, it's definitely a cut above the black blade Mihawk carries.
"Interesting."
There was a reason I didn't refuse this fight. Mihawk is one of the few strong people who can fight on par with Shanks. It wouldn't hurt to see how far my power holds up here.
"Let's begin."
"Right."