Shiiing—
The world’s strongest black blade, Yoru, slowly descended as it cleaved through the air. This was no mere slash. An uncanny pressure seemed to bear down on the entire atmosphere from the sheer presence of the man gripping its hilt.
If I meet that head-on, sword and body alike will be split in half.
If I tried to honestly receive that man’s blade with swordsmanship, every bone in my body would surely be crushed to dust. The strength I could squeeze out was no more than a candle flame before that overwhelming power.
To survive, I had to throw conventional methods overboard.
Craaaash—!!
As Mihawk’s black blade came down diagonally, I angled the flat of my cutlass and slid it aside.
Rather than take the force head-on, I twisted my body with my distinctive loose-footed movement, redirecting the impact toward the sea.
Craaaack!
The aftershock of the diverted slash alone split three or four of Baratie’s thick oak pillars on the outer deck clean in two, sending the fragments flying.
"That bastard’s footwork...?!"
On the small boat atop the water, Zoro—bleeding as he was supported by the others—stared with eyes as wide as fists. It was not the practiced gait of a conventional swordsman. It was an eerie suppleness, like a drunken sot staggering in zigzags, impossible to tell where he kept his center of gravity. But merely deflecting his attacks would not buy me enough breathing room.
Bang—!!
Using the momentum of my spin, I drew an old flintlock pistol from inside my coat with lightning speed.
Right in front of Mihawk’s nose, at a distance of less than half a step.
Haki flowed from my fingertips and heavily infused the tip of the bullet as it burst from the barrel amid a flash of fire.
"He fired a gun from that distance?!"
The watching cooks cried out in alarm, but Mihawk’s golden eyes did not so much as waver.
Clang!
Mihawk lightly twisted Yoru and knocked the bullet away with the flat of the blade. The Haki-infused lead round crumpled as it bounced into the air, but I did not even wait for the recoil.
Whoosh!
I hurled the empty pistol straight at Mihawk’s face.
In the tenth of a second it took for him to shift Yoru slightly and bat aside the flying gun, I rolled low across the floor and savagely swung my cutlass up from below. Its sharp, Haki-laden point drove coldly toward the underside of Mihawk’s chin.
Clang, clang, clang—!!
A fierce exchange followed.
I kicked up a loose coil of rope to block Mihawk’s vision, sprang off shattered planks, and stabbed from his blind spot. With all dignity thrown to the dogs, I fought with the desperate struggle of a man rolling through the mud to survive.
"I-I can’t see them...!"
"He’s trading blows evenly with Hawk Eyes?!"
To Sanji and the cooks watching from outside, it must have looked like a fierce clash that utterly surpassed the common sense of East Blue. But inside, I was burning black with despair.
That fucking monster...
Not one attack lands.
No matter how I racked my brains, played dirty, and squeezed out every last drop of Haki to exploit an opening, Mihawk’s massive black blade gracefully deflected every trajectory. He was not even fighting at full strength. He was merely playing along with the rhythm of some bizarre uninvited guest from East Blue, leisurely peering into the depths of what I could do.
Craaaash—!
Another brutal collision sent me staggering back five or six steps.
"Hah... hah...!"
The hand gripping my sword had torn open, blood dripping steadily from it.
The ligaments in my wrist screamed as if they were about to snap, and the Haki I had forced out was showing its limits. This was truly the end of the line.
And yet—
Shiiing.
As I braced for the next strike, a clear, cold ring of steel sounded beside my ear. The massive black blade, Yoru, was calmly sliding back into the sheath on the man’s back.
"...What?"
As I stood there staring blankly and gasping for breath, Mihawk’s golden eyes glinted beneath the wide brim of his hat, and he let out a low chuckle.
"You are an interesting one."
"...What did you say?"
"First, a fledgling swordsman seeking the pinnacle of the sea... and now, an insolent and amusing pirate as well."
There was neither ridicule nor contempt on Mihawk’s face.
Rather, in the eyes of the strongest man, accustomed only to standardized swordsmen, lay a deep curiosity toward the ferocious and entertaining aberration he had encountered for the first time in a long while.
"I had thought the East Blue a dull little pond, but it seems some rather promising sprouts have been growing here."
Mihawk adjusted Yoru on his back, slowly turned around, and walked toward his coffin boat.
"Come to the Grand Line, Jack Sparrow. I shall watch and see what sort of commotion a man like you causes in those savage seas."
When the man boarded his boat and lit its blue ghostly flame, the monstrous bloodlust that had weighed upon the waters before the restaurant scattered into the mist as though it had never existed.
...I lived.
All strength drained from my body.
I hurriedly hid my trembling wrist inside my coat, then flashed a swaggering grin at the man’s back.
"An excellent choice, Hawk Eyes! Mind you don’t spring a leak in that cramped little boat!"
The instant Mihawk’s boat vanished completely from sight, a deep silence fell over the restaurant deck. The cooks and Zeff stood frozen in a daze as they looked at me, perfectly alive after crossing swords and gunfire with Mihawk himself. Then a frantic, piercing scream shattered the stillness from the direction of the dock.
"This is bad—!!"
Johnny and Yosaku, both covered in blood, came running over while tearing at their hair.
"The ship... the Going Merry is gone!!"
"Nami ran off on her own with all the treasure aboard—!!"
"Whaaaat—?!!!!!"
Luffy and Usopp’s jaws dropped to the deck, while Sanji’s eyes rolled white after he had been striking such a fine pose moments earlier.
"N-Nami?!"
In an instant, the place descended into utter chaos.
Luffy adjusted his hat and fumed for a moment before suddenly whipping his head in my direction.
"Mister! You saw it, right?! Our ship got stolen! And your ship sank earlier too!"
With sparkling eyes, Luffy grabbed the hem of my old coat once again.
"Since you don’t have a ship anyway, this works out perfectly! Come with us and chase Nami!"
"Now, now, unhand me, you rude little fellow."
I flicked my wrist like a snake and brushed his hand away.
Then I tipped up my battered tricorne at an angle and raised my chin with an exceptionally dignified and proud expression.
"What an insulting thing to say. How could a man called ‘Captain’ possibly have no ship? My vessel is moored there, in all her elegance."
"Huh? Where?"
The place I pointed to was the dock beside Baratie.
There floated a sleek little sailing ship with pristine white sails upon the blue waves.
A luxurious sloop, perfectly suited for one or two people to sail.
"Wow! That’s your ship?! It’s amazing!"
"Indeed. A very swift and lovely little thing."
As I nodded and strode confidently toward the sailboat,
a nobleman in silk robes, who had been watching from inside the restaurant with a glass of wine in hand, nearly leaped out of his skin and flung open the window to shout.
"Wait a moment—?! That’s my ship!! That’s the boat I rode here to Baratie on!!"
"Whaaat?! That’s not your ship, mister!!"
Luffy and Usopp cried out in collective shock, their jaws hanging long.
"Oh, dear."
Without looking back, I vaulted over the railing and landed lightly atop the small sailboat’s deck.
Then I drew the cutlass at my waist and severed the thick rope tying it to the dock in a single stroke.
"This is an emergency requisition and a temporary lease upon the high seas, my noble fellow! On a captain’s honor, I shall return it later, so have no fear!"
"Like hell you will—!! Thief! That pirate’s stealing my ship—!!"
The nobleman jumped up and down, tearing at his hair, but the rope had already been cut, and the sailboat’s white sails began to fill tautly with the refreshing sea wind.
"Mister! Where are you going—!!"
Clinging to the railing, Luffy waved his arms wildly and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"If you’re going to the Grand Line, come with us—!!"
Carried by the wind, the sailboat swiftly glided out of Baratie’s dock, throwing up white spray.
With one hand casually resting on the helm at the stern, I tipped the brim of my tricorne at the people of the receding restaurant and Luffy’s group, their mouths hanging wide open.
Then, with my usual sly and shameless smile, I cheerfully waved through lips crooked around a cigar.
"I’m simply going wherever the wind blows, friends!"
Along with the tails of his old coat fluttering in the wind,
the man’s loose, charming voice carried far across the waves.
"A gentleman never blocks a lady’s path... and a wise pirate never gets involved in another household’s family quarrel! Fair winds to you, little captain!"
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