Far across the shimmering sea, Ryan Quinn sprinted over the waves, his eyes locked onto his mission target and the man standing atop that eerie coffin-shaped boat.
"...!!!"
"Wait a damn second that's Dracule Mihawk!" Ryan's jaw nearly hit the ocean. "WTF! What are you guys doing?! How does an 18-million bounty idiot have the guts to pick a fight with the world's greatest swordsman?"
"Seriously... what are you doing?"
Thankfully, Mihawk hadn't drawn his sword yet. If he had, the poor fools and their ship would already be neatly sliced in half and Ryan's mission target would've gone straight to the afterlife before he even got there.
Panic kicked in. Ryan pumped his legs harder, the surface of the ocean rippling beneath every step.
Meanwhile, on the pirate ship.
The moment Mihawk nonchalantly sliced an incoming cannonball in two with a flick of his wrist, Captain Awei the so-called "Tiger King" of the sea realized just how screwed he was. He hadn't even seen Mihawk move. That alone told him everything.
"This guy... he's a monster," Awei muttered through clenched teeth.
But it was too late to back down. The cannons had already fired. The blood debt was sealed.
"What now, boss?" one of the crew shouted.
Awei gritted his teeth so hard they nearly cracked. "What else can we do? RAM HIM! Let's see if that bastard can cut through my whole ship!"
He waved his arm wildly. "Load every cannon! Keep firing! Don't stop!"
Mihawk stood silently on his coffin-boat, his sharp, hawk-like eyes half-lidded in boredom. He casually swung the tiny cross-shaped knife hanging from his neck, cleaving incoming cannonballs into harmless debris that splashed into the sea.
Then, with a faint tilt of his head, Mihawk's golden eyes flicked toward Awei.
Awei froze. His whole body went rigid as if struck by lightning. Cold sweat trickled down his neck.
"Turn the ship around!" he shouted, panic finally overwhelming pride. "NOW! TURN! RUN! THAT'S MIHAWK!"
The entire crew went pale.
The name alone was enough to paralyze every soul aboard.
Mihawk the World's Greatest Swordsman. The living embodiment of "don't mess with me unless you want to die."
Awei's voice cracked as he yelled again, "Move! TURN THE DAMN SHIP!"
The pirates scrambled in chaos, turning the massive vessel around as fast as they could straight toward Ryan's direction.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..."
Ryan, still sprinting over the waves, watched the pirate ship suddenly change direction heading straight for him.
He blinked. Then smirked.
"Well, talk about delivering my quest right to me."
Gripping Excalibur Morgan tightly, he exhaled slowly. "Alright, let's test this power out."
A dark aura began to ripple around his armor.
Magic Release. The ability to channel raw mana through body and weapon, amplifying physical strength and destructive force.
A black tide of energy erupted from Ryan's body. The air trembled with pressure, and the sea around his feet warped as though the ocean itself feared to touch him.
His golden eyes glowed brighter, reflecting the black blade that pulsed in his hands.
Excalibur Morgan thrummed with unstable power, its dark energy swirling and twisting like a living thing.
Ryan could feel it raw, feral, intoxicating.
He raised the sword high above his head.
"Let's see if this works!"
With a shout that echoed across the open sea, he brought the blade down in one swift, devastating swing.
A streak of obsidian light exploded from the sword, tearing through the sky toward the oncoming pirate ship.
On the ship's deck, one of Awei's crew members was frantically pulling on a rope to adjust the sails when something caught his eye.
He froze.
His pupils dilated.
The rope slipped from his trembling hands.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Awei roared, marching over and slapping the man across the face. "You wanna kill us all?! Keep those sails steady!"
The crewman barely heard him. His lips trembled as he pointed a shaking finger ahead. "C-Captain... look... in front of us..."
"Huh? What's in front?" Awei turned, impatient.
And there he was a black silhouette standing on the water.
The dark figure didn't waver. Didn't sink. Just stood there like the ocean itself bowed beneath his boots.
"Captain! What is that thing?!"
"Is... is that a ghost?!"
"Why is he walking on the sea?!"
Panic spread across the deck like wildfire.
The crew huddled together, murmuring prayers, eyes wide with terror.
Awei's gut twisted, but he forced a grin, desperate to regain control. "Calm down, idiots! It's just a trick of the light! A reflection caused by this cursed weather, that's all!"
He puffed his chest out, pretending to sound confident. "No ghost could stand on water! Keep going!"
The pirates hesitated... then nodded.
"Wow, the boss is so smart!"
"Yeah! A reflection! I knew it!"
"Haha! You idiot, scared by your own shadow!"
Laughter rippled through the crew again, the earlier panic briefly forgotten.
But Awei's forced smile twitched. He knew that explanation was total nonsense.
Between the unknown figure ahead and Mihawk behind, his pirate crew was sandwiched between two disasters.
Still, he thought grimly, maybe he could steer around it.
"Alright, men!" he barked. "We're changing course! Just swing wide and avoid that shadow!"
He had no idea that "the shadow" was watching him with cold, glowing eyes.
"Captain..." one crewman whispered, voice trembling, "that shadow... it's moving."
Awei turned slowly.
Then he saw it.
A blinding black arc like a slash of darkness itself cut through the sky, racing toward them faster than lightning.
"WHAT THE—"
BOOM!
The explosion ripped through the sea, engulfing the pirate ship in waves taller than towers.
From the distance, Ryan Quinn stood calmly atop the churning water, Excalibur Morgan still humming in his hands, black mist swirling around him.
"Mission target confirmed," he said with a small grin. "Now that's what I call progress."
The wind carried away his laughter as the smoke from the shattered pirate ship spread across the horizon, marking the beginning of his legend on the Grand Line.