"BOOOOM—!!"
Amidst a world-shaking roar, the flagship of the East Blue's overlord was split into three without any warning!
The massive wreckage of the hull kicked up towering waves several meters high, and under the tearing pull of the whirlpool, slowly sank into the unfathomable depths of the sea.
"W-what… what is that?!"
The diners inside the restaurant collapsed to the floor in terror. What they were seeing was far beyond their understanding.
No cannon fire. No explosions. In a single instant, a sea fortress was destroyed?
"So this is… the power of the world's top-tier monsters?"
Ronan stared fixedly at the chaotic sea, his expression more serious than ever before.
His body trembled slightly—not from fear, but from an overwhelming longing that rose from the depths of a martial artist's soul.
Within his Observation Haki, the will contained in those two slashes was vast as the sea, sharp as the heavens.
"A casual strike… yet it resembles a natural disaster."
Ronan murmured to himself. The heavy zhangba iron spear in his hand seemed to sense its master's fighting spirit, letting out a faint hum.
"Hey, Ronan…"
Luffy pressed down on his straw hat. The eyes that were usually filled with laughter were now heavy with gravity as he looked at the sinking warship.
"What was that? A monster?"
"Was it… a slash?"
Zoro's hand was already gripping the hilt of Wado Ichimonji.
Sweat slid down his forehead and dripped onto the deck.
As a swordsman, he was the most sensitive to that kind of edge. In that brief instant, he had felt like an ant standing at the center of a storm—pathetically insignificant.
"Yes."
Ronan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"That was… a casual strike from a great swordsman."
The smoke and mist dissipated.
On the raging sea, a completely out-of-place, minimalist one-man boat slowly entered everyone's view.
It was absurdly small—so small that a single wave could probably capsize it.
The hull was pitch-black, shaped like a floating coffin.
The mast and crossbeam formed a massive black cross.
At the bow and stern, several green candles burned quietly, their emerald flames unmoving even in the sea wind.
And beneath that cross sat a man.
He lounged casually, legs crossed, seated upon a throne-like chair.
Beneath the wide brim of his hat, a pair of golden eyes as sharp as an eagle's gazed indifferently upon everything before him.
Strapped to his back was a massive black blade.
The blade was dark as night, its edge radiating a chilling gleam. The enormous guard spread outward like a cross—magnificent and solemn.
One of the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades—Yoru.
"That is…"
Ronan stared at the figure, an invisible pressure crashing over him.
"The world's greatest swordsman… Dracule 'Hawkeye' Mihawk."
He was really here.
No longer black-and-white lines on a page. No longer colored pixels on a screen.
But a living being—someone standing at the very pinnacle of this world.
"Hah… hah…"
Zoro's breathing grew ragged and unsteady.
As he watched the small boat draw closer, cold sweat poured down his face, his body trembling uncontrollably.
He couldn't tell if it was tension—or exhilaration.
"Could it be… that's really…"
Zoro's voice was hoarse, each word squeezed out through clenched teeth.
"The world's greatest swordsman… Hawkeye Mihawk!"
"That's right."
On the second-floor terrace, Red-Leg Zeff crossed his arms and looked deeply at that man.
"That is the one who stands at the very summit of all swordsmen in the world."
Luffy turned to Zoro, sensing the explosive aura building within his crewmate.
"Hey, Zoro. Is that the guy you've always been looking for?"
"…Yeah."
Zoro reached up and untied the dark green bandanna from his arm, fire blazing wildly in his eyes.
"I never thought… I'd meet him this soon."
"The moment of destiny… has finally come."
As the boat known as the "coffin ship" slowly approached the sea restaurant—
Usopp trembled like a leaf.
"Is that something a human can do? Cutting a ship that big…"
"Thud!"
A dull sound cut off Usopp's cry.
Zoro moved.
Without hesitation. Without retreat.
He leapt forward, landing directly in front of Mihawk's small boat, standing on the sea restaurant's deck less than five meters from the world's strongest swordsman.
The sea wind tugged at Zoro's clothes as he tied the dark green bandanna tightly around his head, his gaze sharp as a blade as it locked onto those golden hawk eyes.
"I set sail to meet you!"
Zoro's voice was firm, echoing through the air.
Mihawk slowly raised his head. There wasn't the slightest ripple in his golden eyes—as though he were looking at a speck of dust.
"What is your goal?"
Zoro's hand rested on the hilts of his three swords as he answered with two words:
"To be the strongest."
Mihawk narrowed his eyes slightly, a faint trace of mockery and boredom in his voice.
"Foolish."
"What did you say?!"
Those two words pierced straight through Zoro's nerves.
He drew Wado Ichimonji in a flash, the sharp tip pointing directly at Mihawk on the boat, his fighting spirit boiling over.
"You've got time to kill, huh?! Then fight me!!"
"H-hey! Who's that?! Is he suicidal?!"
"Good heavens—that's Zoro! That's the famous pirate hunter, the three-sword style—Roronoa Zoro!"
The restaurant's guests and the surviving pirates cried out in shock. They never imagined that at a moment like this, someone would dare challenge the monster who had just split a giant warship apart.
Mihawk looked at the blade pointed at him, the corners of his mouth lifting into an almost imperceptible smile—one filled with pity for a weakling's ignorance.
"A duel? Hmph… pitiful weakling."
Before the words even finished, Mihawk didn't even stand up.
With nothing more than a release of intent, Zoro felt as though he'd been targeted by some prehistoric beast—every hair on his body standing on end.
"If you were truly a first-rate swordsman, then even without crossing blades, you should already be able to see the gap between our strengths."
Mihawk's voice was calm and refined, yet every word struck directly at the heart.
"To dare point your sword at me—should I call that courage… or ignorance?"
That question slammed into Zoro's chest like a hammer.
Of course he felt it!
With his newly awakened Observation Haki, Zoro understood more clearly than anyone just how terrifying the man before him was.
A mountain towering into the clouds—so high its peak couldn't even be seen.
But he couldn't retreat.
"It's because of my ambition!"
Zoro clenched his teeth, placing Wado Ichimonji in his mouth as he drew the other two blades, assuming his strongest three-sword stance.
In his mind, Kuina's defiant smile flashed by.
"And… for the promise between me and my closest friend!"
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