[Loguetown, in a Secluded Cobblestone Alley]
Jingle!
The old wind chime above the door gave a crisp ring as it was pushed open, and a wave of air mixed with the smell of gun oil, rust, and moldy old wood rushed out.
Zoro stepped into the dimly lit weapon shop first, his hawk-like eyes sweeping across the walls and the weapon racks.
Usopp followed behind him, looking around curiously.
Nami patted the bulging money pouch at her waist and strode forward in her little boots with the proud air of a wealthy patron inspecting her territory.
Everything Zoro bought today would be paid for by Big Sis Nami.
The weapon shop owner, Ipponmatsu, had been sprawled out on a rocking chair taking a nap. Hearing someone enter, he lazily lifted his eyelids.
With the sharp instincts he'd developed over years of doing business, he immediately saw that although the three looked like pirates, the orange-haired girl's money pouch was definitely packed.
He instantly put on a flattering smile, rubbing his hands together as he walked over.
"Welcome, customers. Looking for swords or guns? My shop has been operating in Loguetown for over two hundred years..."
Zoro ignored the owner's endless sales pitch. His attention had already been drawn to the storage area in the back of the shop.
He walked straight over and began rummaging through a pile of junk.
Suddenly, he stopped.
His fingers closed around a sword hilt. As he slowly pulled, the blade slid free.
Shing!
A cold gleam flashed through the dim shop.
The blade was covered in eerie flame-like wave patterns. The moment it left the sheath, a bone-chilling cold crept up Zoro's arm.
"Oh? Quite a sharp aura. But... it seems to be rejecting me."
A hint of interest curled onto Zoro's lips.
"H-Hey! Customer, put that down!"
The moment Ipponmatsu recognized the sword, his face turned deathly pale.
"That's Sandai Kitetsu! A cursed blade! Every swordsman who's ever used it has died a horrible death! I threw it into the back storage because I didn't want that bad luck. Don't—"
"A curse?"
Zoro chuckled, the defiance in his eyes burning like fire.
He suddenly tossed Sandai Kitetsu high into the air.
The cursed blade spun rapidly overhead, its edge slicing through the air with a shrill whistle as it dropped straight toward Zoro's outstretched left arm.
"Have you lost your mind?"
Ipponmatsu collapsed onto the floor in fright.
Usopp and Nami, meanwhile, simply watched with amused expressions.
Zoro stared upward without moving.
Swish!
Sandai Kitetsu's edge skimmed past the skin of his arm, missing it by the narrowest margin without leaving even the slightest scratch.
Then...
Thunk!
The blade buried itself deep into the wooden floor at his feet.
Its hilt continued to tremble with a low hum.
"Looks like my luck's good. I'll take this one."
Zoro pulled the cursed blade free as if taming an unruly beast.
A swordsman needed a fine sword.
And a fine sword chose its own swordsman.
At this moment, both sides had clearly chosen each other.
Smack!
Just as Zoro was about to pay for it himself, a slender fair hand slammed down on the counter.
A heavy money pouch landed with a thud.
Its opening loosened, revealing the golden shine of berry inside.
"Boss, I'll take Sandai Kitetsu, and the best sword in your shop!"
Nami waved her hand boldly, flaunting her wealth.
Back at Arlong Park, she'd dirtied Zoro's sword, and she'd always felt a little guilty about it.
Besides, with her current fortune, this amount of money wasn't even worth mentioning.
As far as she was concerned, anything that money could solve wasn't a problem.
She might refuse to spend an extra Beli on Luffy or the pirate crew, but that didn't mean she was unwilling to spend money on the other three.
"Y-Yes, ma'am! Such generosity from a beautiful lady."
Seeing a money pouch that clearly held several million Beli, Ipponmatsu's eyes nearly popped out. He hurriedly prepared to fetch the treasured sword from the back room.
Jingle!
The bell above the door rang again.
This time, it was accompanied by a fierce gust of wind that somehow pierced through the heavy wooden door.
In the dim light, a tall, powerfully built figure stepped silently into the shop.
The man wore a heavy dark green hooded cloak that concealed most of his face beneath its shadow.
Only the strange dark red square tattoo on his chin was faintly visible.
The instant the man entered, it felt as though all the stale air inside the weapon shop had been sucked away.
An indescribable pressure, like standing before a raging storm, instantly enveloped everyone.
The excitement on Zoro's face froze.
His grip on Sandai Kitetsu tightened so hard that his knuckles cracked.
Usopp raised an eyebrow. On the surface, cold sweat covered his face, but inside he found it rather amusing.
So this man had actually come.
And he'd come looking for them.
His strength wasn't bad either...
"That cursed blade. And the treasured sword you're about to bring out," The man's deep, hoarse voice carried an air of commanding the winds and clouds.
Without even glancing at the money on the counter, he calmly looked at Ipponmatsu, "I'll pay double. I'll take them all."
"Double?", Nami frowned.
The man had an overwhelming presence, but on this sea, she wasn't afraid of anyone, especially not when it came to money.
"Hey, mister. First come, first served, isn't it?"
With a cold laugh, Nami took out another money pouch from her waist and slammed it onto the counter.
"I'll pay five million Beli."
Dragon didn't even turn his head, his tone remained calm and steady.
"Ten million."
"Twenty million!", Nami snapped.
"Fifty million."
Dragon answered casually, as though he were talking about a pile of dead leaves instead of money.
"One hundred million!"
Nami slammed her palm down hard enough to crack the counter.
"You picked this fight on purpose, didn't you?"
As the two drove the price of two swords all the way up to an outrageous hundred million Beli, Ipponmatsu had already collapsed behind the counter in terror.
This was no longer a business transaction.
This was a contest between two giants, and he was nothing more than a tiny boat that could capsize at any moment.
Dragon finally turned his head slightly.
From beneath his hood, he glanced at Nami before looking toward Zoro, who stood ready for battle with sword aura pouring from his body.
Naturally, he could tell these young people were far from ordinary.
But today, he had deliberately come to test the people traveling with his son.
"Two hundred million."
Dragon's voice remained calm, yet undeniably domineering.
"You..."
Just as Nami was about to raise the price again, Zoro reached out and stopped her.
Carrying Sandai Kitetsu, Zoro walked toward Dragon one step at a time.
Their presences collided silently within the cramped shop.
Even the weapons hanging on the surrounding racks began to tremble.
"If you want the swords, fine."
Zoro locked eyes with Dragon.
"But not with money. We'll settle it by a swordsman's rules. Draw your weapon."
"I'm not a swordsman. I only wanted to—"
Before Dragon could finish, an angry roar suddenly came from behind the counter.
"Enough!"
To everyone's surprise, Ipponmatsu, who had been trembling in fear moments ago, suddenly leaped to his feet.
He shoved aside the mountain of Beli in front of him and stared at Dragon with bloodshot eyes.
"Sir in the cloak! The price you're offering is enough to buy my life and this shop. But!"
Taking a deep breath, Ipponmatsu pointed toward the hand barely visible beneath Dragon's cloak.
"Swords choose their own masters! Your hands are covered in thick calluses. They're the hands of someone who's survived countless life-and-death battles, someone used to controlling the bigger picture, even stirring the tides of the world! But they're not the hands of a swordsman!"
He turned to look at the arm that Sandai Kitetsu had nearly struck moments earlier.
His eyes were filled with admiration.
"I may just be a down-and-out shopkeeper, but I'll never sell a sword with a soul to someone who knows nothing about swordsmanship. Not even if you offered me a billion."
With that, Ipponmatsu rushed into the back room and returned carrying a katana in an elegant black sheath.
"This sword is called Yubashiri. One of the Fifty Skillful Grade swords. It's also my family's heirloom."
He placed Yubashiri beside Sandai Kitetsu and pushed both toward Zoro.
"Young man, your sword test just now showed me the soul of a true swordsman. I'm not charging you a single Beli for either of these swords. Just take them and make their names known across the seas."
The situation reversed instantly.
Zoro paused for a moment before grinning, "Since the boss has this much backbone, I won't stand on ceremony."
He tucked both swords into his waist, "I'll make sure these two blades become famous throughout the seas."
Dragon watched the scene without showing any anger over being refused.
He stood quietly where he was, his gaze passing beneath the hood as he looked deeply at Zoro, Nami, and Usopp.
With that single glance, an extremely subtle burst of Conqueror's Haki exploded in their minds.
BOOM!
Zoro's vision went black, and he nearly drew his sword.
Nami and Usopp's faces turned pale as they clenched their teeth to keep themselves from taking even a single step back.
None of them revealed anything out of place.
The only difference was that Nami and Usopp were acting, while Zoro genuinely wasn't strong enough yet.
"Since you've been chosen by the sword, then take care of yourself."
Dragon left behind one final meaningful sentence, "The waves of the new era devour the weak."
He turned and pushed open the shop door.
A fierce gust of wind swept through, and his figure instantly disappeared into the maze of Loguetown's streets.
Jingle! Jingle! Jingle!
The old wind chime hanging from the eaves shook in the lingering wind, producing a chaotic mournful ringing.
Zoro remained where he stood, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath.
His hands gripped the two new swords at his waist, Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu.
Veins bulged across the backs of his hands, and his palms were slick with cold sweat.
He slowly raised his head.
His hawk-like eyes pierced through the dim light of the weapon shop, fixed on the cobblestone street where Dragon had vanished.
Deep within his pupils flickered the fierce light of a starving wolf guarding its prey.
He would never forget today's humiliation and overwhelming pressure.
That man had clearly come to provoke and test them on purpose.
Zoro wasn't stupid.
On the contrary, his instincts in battle and survival were as sharp as a wild beast's.
He didn't know the cloaked man's true identity, but after a brief moment of thought, he had a pretty good idea.
That man was definitely one of the players in this whole performance.
The reason was simple.
If that clash of presences just now had come from a real enemy, then Usopp and Nami behind him could never have simply stood there watching.
Others might not know.
But Zoro knew perfectly well.
Those two companions who usually acted greedy, cowardly, and loud...
Were far, far stronger than he was now.
Whenever he hit a bottleneck in his training, he would even privately seek advice from those two monsters who kept their true strength hidden.
If Dragon had truly intended to kill them, Nami and Usopp would have revealed their trump cards long ago.
Since they hadn't moved, it meant everything was still within the acceptable margin of the script.
"Phew!"
Zoro let out a long breath, released the hilt of his sword, and turned toward the other two.
"Let's go. The air in here is suffocating."
Leaving the oppressive weapon shop behind and stepping back into the lively, sunlit streets of Loguetown, the most important objective of their trip had been completed successfully.
The three walked side by side through the bustling streets, browsing the roadside shops while chatting casually.
Nami sniffed a bottle of orange-scented perfume she'd just bought.
Usopp fiddled with some mechanical parts at a street stall.
Zoro walked with both hands behind his head, occasionally joining the conversation.
From an outsider's point of view, it looked like the perfect picture of a pirate crew.
They truly were companions who trusted one another enough to entrust each other with their lives.
The only exception was that, within this close-knit circle, they'd long since reached an unspoken agreement to exclude the idiot captain in the straw hat.
Laughing and chatting, the three made their way toward the central plaza of Loguetown.
Since they were already here, they naturally had to visit the city's landmark, the execution platform where the previous Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, had met his end.
But as they looked up at the towering steel platform, there wasn't the slightest trace of reverence or fanaticism in their eyes like ordinary pirates would have.
Because they knew better than anyone.
The Great Age of Pirates had truly come to an end the moment Rosse ascended to rule the world.
The pirates of today were nothing more than ornamental fish raised by the World Government in a giant aquarium.
———
At the same time, on the edge of Loguetown, inside a dark alley that never saw sunlight.
After parting ways with Luffy and the Straw Hat crew, Shanks adjusted the black cloak over his head and followed the signal Beckman had left behind, arriving there alone.
Creak!
Shanks pushed open the door to a long-abandoned supply warehouse.
The air inside was thick with mold and dust.
He stopped.
His Observation Haki had already spread silently through the area, while his sharp eyes locked onto a shadowy corner at the deepest part of the warehouse.
"Come out, Beckman!"