"Pop!"
Sensing something was off, Buggy's snot bubble burst on the spot. He jolted awake and sat up.
He was already back at his headquarters. The room was empty. Only one underling was waiting outside.
"Captain Buggy, you're awake!!!"
"Where's Ozz?!"
Buggy couldn't be bothered with small talk. He demanded the answer immediately.
These past few days, he'd been with Ozz nonstop. Feasts every other day, and sometimes Buggy Balls for blasting Sea Kings, like they'd been thrown back into childhood.
"Uh… Ozz has already left."
"What?!"
Buggy's mouth fell open. Anger exploded across his face. He seized the underling by the collar and started roaring.
"You bastard!!! Something this important, and you didn't wake me up?!"
The underling trembled as Buggy sprayed him with rage, not daring to say a word.
But honestly, he felt wronged too!
When Ozz was leaving, they had tried to wake Captain Buggy. But with only a single look, they were frozen in place. They couldn't even make a sound.
In the end, Ozz simply took a barrel of "Perfect Orange Juice," told them to pass on one sentence to Buggy, and then left on the back of a giant bird.
"Captain Buggy… Ozz asked me to relay something."
Even under Buggy's fury, the underling finally forced the words out.
"What? Then say it, hurry!!!"
Buggy paused, startled.
"Ozz said:
We'll meet on the Grand Line sooner or later. When that happens, you're not allowed to go back on your word!"
Hearing that, Buggy released the underling's collar. He staggered back a few steps, completely blank.
"Go back on my word? I… what did I even say?"
At that moment, the rest of the underlings popped out from who knew where, staring at Buggy with worship.
Some of them were even crying.
"Captain Buggy!!!"
"Did you forget?! When you were feasting with Ozz, you told him you…"
"One day, you'd definitely become the Pirate King!!!"
"What?!"
Buggy froze.
But inside, his soul had already shattered into stone and cracked apart, pure despair flooding him.
Him? Pirate King?
Competing with monsters who could casually tear the sky and sea apart?!
He'd die just from getting grazed by the aftershock when Ozz fought those freaks!!!
"Yeah!!! Even Ozz acknowledged you!!!"
"Even a legendary figure who ruled an era said it! That means he believes in you that much, Captain Buggy!!!"
"Pirate King! Pirate King!!! Pirate King!!!"
The underlings erupted into cheers.
They didn't notice at all that Buggy, forcing a smile, had tears shimmering at the corner of his eyes…
…
"Ahahahaha, so this is the sea restaurant?!"
After punching a hole clean through the Baratie, Luffy, as carefree as ever, got dragged into the kitchen by the cooks. After a round of threats, he could only work off his debt as a handyman.
There, they met Sanji, who ran the floating restaurant alongside Zeff.
The group bickered and laughed, completely unaware that a massive pirate ship was sailing straight toward them.
"What a joke!!! My grand fleet!!!"
Battered all over, stripped of his pride and his armor, Don Krieg clenched his teeth as he stood on his ship, staring at his panicked men in disbelief.
In a single instant…
Whoosh!
A short, piercing sound tore through the air.
An unbelievable sight followed.
The entire ship was sliced neatly in half from the middle.
The deck collapsed. Pirates rolled and screamed as they fell into the sea. A handful clung to wreckage, barely steadying themselves as their eyes searched frantically.
Suddenly, someone shouted.
"Look over there!!!"
"It's him!!!"
All of them stared in terror at a tiny raft, no bigger than a wooden plank.
An underling screamed.
"Boss, it's him! That man, the one who crushed our entire fleet!!!"
That shout also drew the attention of the Straw Hat crew, who were standing outside Baratie. The Sword Saint and the Blade God were there too.
Everyone looked toward the distance.
Especially Zoro.
Sweat had already spread across his face, his expression heavy and tense.
"T… that man…"
Gulp.
Everyone's faces went pale. Even Krieg, known as the strongest pirate in the East Blue, didn't dare make a sound.
Only Luffy looked confused, turning his head left and right.
"Who's that guy?"
He completely missed the change in Zoro's eyes.
"Dracule Mihawk, Hawk Eyes. The world's strongest swordsman."
Even Zeff, who had once traveled the Grand Line, spoke with his arms crossed.
"The Great Swordsman Mihawk, the man standing at the very peak of all swordsmen in the world!!!"
On that lonely little raft, Mihawk sat with one leg crossed over the other. He lifted his head and revealed eyes as sharp and terrifying as a ruler of the skies.
"Bastard! Why did you destroy our fleet?!"
One underling finally snapped, standing on the broken hull and shouting at Mihawk in desperation.
But someone as cold as Mihawk didn't care in the slightest.
"Just… passing the time."
He was searching for that man.
He simply happened to run into a fleet along the way.
"Look, someone's rowing a wooden plank on the Grand Line, and he's using a sword to steer, hahahahaha!"
"Not like us! We've got a grand fleet with multiple big ships!!!"
Mihawk tilted his head to glance over, then drew his blade without hesitation.
And then…
He chased them from the Grand Line all the way to the East Blue.
He hadn't killed them instantly because, honestly, he was bored.
It really was just a way to kill time.
But Zoro stepped forward anyway.
If he defeated Dracule Mihawk here and now, he would become the world's strongest swordsman before Kuina, and fulfill the promise he made with Ozz!!!
Even when anyone with eyes could see the gap between them, he still drew his swords.
"Did you split the ship with that black blade?"
"That's right."
Zoro wiped sweat from his face, yet still smiled.
"I see. No wonder you're a swordsman worthy of being mentioned alongside that man."
"I went out to sea for you!!!"
Mihawk showed a trace of interest.
"Why?"
Zoro tied on his bandanna. His gaze turned fierce, and he drew all three swords from his waist.
"To become the strongest!!!"
"And for a promise with the one who taught me swordsmanship!!!"
At that, Mihawk finally looked at Zoro properly.
But the moment his eyes fell on the blade clenched between Zoro's teeth, he fell silent.
Those razor sharp eyes narrowed slightly, like they could cut the world itself.
The pressure of the world's strongest swordsman was enough to chill anyone to the bone.
"That black blade…"
"Where did you get it?!"
…
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