Chapter 15 Zoro's Defeat and Vow to Become the Strongest Swordsman"To become the strongest in the world, or to embrace death?"
This single thought remained in Zoro's mind as he hurtled towards Mihawk like a cannonball.
*Clang!*
A crisp, heart-wrenching metallic clang rang out.
Zorro's two ordinary longswords instantly shattered into countless fragments, scattering through the air.
A gruesome gash stretched from Zoro's left shoulder to his right abdomen, blood gushing out.
"Did I lose…?"
Zorro stared blankly at the remaining hilt of his sword, his consciousness beginning to fade.
Luffy breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, it seemed Mihawk had held back; he hadn't cut him in half.
Just then, Zoro suddenly opened his arms, facing Hawkeye directly, a relieved smile on his lips: "Come on!"
Hawkeye stopped, puzzled, looking at this guy who seemed determined to die: "What are you doing?"
Zoro chuckled nonchalantly, his eyes clear: "The scars on my back are a swordsman's shame!"
Hawkeye's lips twitched violently.
What a lunatic! When did I say I was determined to kill you?!
Hawkeye slowly sheathed his black sword, looking at this stubborn genius (and idiot), a strange emotion welling up inside him.
He shouted at the swaying Zoro:
"Don't rush to your death, young strongman! Your future shouldn't end here! My name is Dracule Mihawk!"
"See yourself clearly, understand the world, become stronger! No matter how many years pass, I will be waiting for you at the strongest position! Come with me, let's surpass the highest level of swordsmanship!"
With that, Hawkeye gave Luffy a meaningful look, casually picked up a slightly larger plank, jumped onto it, and paddled straight out to sea.
Luffy: "???"
What the heck?
Did I do something really outrageous?
Why does it feel like Hawkeye's life goal has suddenly become to conquer me?
Upon hearing this, Zoro could no longer suppress the excruciating pain in his chest and the dizziness from blood loss, and collapsed to his knees in a pool of blood.
He trembled as he raised his last remaining sword, Wado Ichimonji, tears mingling with blood as he gasped for breath, shouting:
"Luffy! Did you hear that? If I... can't become the world's strongest swordsman, you'll be very troubled, won't you?"
"That loneliness of being unmatched! That desolation of having no sword to draw! Don't worry, I swear, I will never lose again! Waiting for me at that highest level!"
Luffy: "???"
Damn it, bro, your dream's gone astray!
I'm not troubled at all! I even want you to be an ordinary person!
What the hell!
What if one day these two martial arts fanatics suddenly feel enlightened and come to challenge me to a duel?
Did I dig myself a huge, unfillable hole?
No, stay calm.
No sword in the heart means never drawing a sword.
If they challenge me to a duel, it means they haven't truly understood!
Hmm... From now on, I'll stick to this excuse. I'm so clever.
Luffy watched Mihawk disappear into the distance, a wave of emotion washing over him.
As expected of the world's greatest swordsman, his style is truly impressive.
Even without a ship, he wouldn't use that prestigious black sword as an oar.
Look at his paddling style! His arms are rocking like propellers—so different from those ordinary, down-on-their-luck pirates.
I, Luffy, hereby call you—the King of Pacing in the East Blue!
...
"Hawkeye Suffers a Crushing Defeat at the hands of a Mysterious Man in the East Blue!"
"The Mysterious Man in the East Blue is Suspected to be a Supernova of the Navy!"
"The Navy Gains Another Admiral, His Strength Rivals the World's Strongest Swordsman!"
The next day, news of Luffy's "battle of the century" with Hawkeye dominated the headlines across the seas.
On the most prominent page of the newspaper was a perfectly captured photograph:
Luffy, draped in a justice cape and wearing a straw hat, is looking down, seemingly deep in thought, while the backdrop is the terrifying ocean, cleaved in two by Hawkeye's sword, with towering waves.
"Damn it, this is ridiculously handsome! But thankfully, it doesn't overshadow my own dashing good looks."
Usopp, newspaper in hand, boasted smugly.
"Huh?"
Zoro, his body wrapped in bandages, leaned closer, looking at the photo from left to right. "Where's your shadow in this picture? I can't even see a single pixel."
Usopp excitedly pointed to a blurry black dot in the corner beside Luffy—the edge of the wide-angle lens:
"Look! My distinctive, handsome long nose!"
Zoro: "..."
Hopeless, might as well bury him.
Zoro decided to ignore this self-important idiot and turned to Luffy, who was munching away, his brow furrowing slightly:
"Hey, Luffy! What on earth is Nami doing? Why did she take the best ship without telling us?"
"Oh, I sent her to scout the enemy."
Luffy, his mouth full of meat, chuckled indistinctly as he replied.
"Huh? You're sending a weak navigator to scout the enemy?" Zoro gave him a "you're kidding me" look. "Do you know the way? Or do I, you idiot?!"
Luffy chuckled, pointing to Johnny and Joseph, who were doing the hard labor nearby:
"Aren't there two guides here? Aren't your two underlings known as the 'Know-It-All of the East Blue'?"
The two quickly and excitedly gave a thumbs up, though their legs were still trembling:
"Don't worry, Boss Zoro! We have Arlong's bounty poster too, we've already figured out everything about those fish-men."
Zoro frowned, sensing that things weren't as easy as Luffy made them out to be.
Actually, Luffy knew perfectly well what was going on.
Nami had actually taken advantage of the chaos to grab the ship's treasure and go alone to Arlong to redeem the almost impossible bet on redeeming the village.
Nami had been too deeply brainwashed by that villain Arlong; it was an absolute suppression of race and strength. She simply couldn't believe that weak humans could be strong enough to subdue those naturally powerful fish-men.
Luffy understood this too.
Back in Shells Town, Luffy had planned to head straight to Arlong Park and make sashimi out of that shark.
However, Nami changed the subject by mentioning the Grand Line chart that Buggy had, refusing to let him go.
You see, Luffy is now a full-fledged Marine Captain; he doesn't need to steal a Grand Line chart from Buggy. A simple call to his grandfather Garp, and a warship would deliver it the next day.
Luffy saw through Nami's concerns and fears at that moment.
To truly resolve Nami's inner conflict, simply defeating Arlong with force wouldn't suffice. Nami needed to see Arlong's treacherous nature clearly, forcing her to genuinely seek help from her crew.
Therefore, Luffy remained inactive until the Baratie incident concluded.
That night, Nami, once again aboard the Going Merry, headed alone to the nightmarish Arlong Park.
Luffy, preoccupied with cleaning up the mess he'd let Krieg escape, naturally didn't immediately give chase.
As a result, Krieg and his crew were unlucky enough to be completely wiped out in the aftermath of Luffy's "sparring" with Mihawk, without even a ripple.
Zoro, meanwhile, fulfilled his promise to Mihawk. Although his goal of becoming stronger had slightly deviated, he was still racing towards becoming a powerful figure.
At this point, thanks to his superhuman regenerative abilities, Zoro could finally move freely despite the excruciating pain in his chest.
It's time to head to Cocoyasi Village and take on Nami, the final obstacle.
Thinking this, Luffy slowly stood up and shouted into the restaurant, "Hey, are you guys done yet? Stop dawdling!"
"Shut up! It's so noisy!"
Sanji stormed out of the house, carrying a bundle.
After being shunned and driven away by everyone in Baratie, Sanji was deeply moved and cried his eyes out when he learned that they were just putting on an act to force him to pursue his dreams.
He was preparing for a heart-wrenching farewell with Zeff, his tears already welling up.
But Luffy's shout completely shattered all his sorrow, ruining the atmosphere.
Zeff limped slowly out of the restaurant, bowed deeply to Luffy, and said earnestly,
"Anyway, I'm entrusting this brat to you from now on, Colonel."
This was different from before.
Both Luffy's terrifying background and his astonishing strength were enough to earn the highest level of respect from Zeff, the "Red-Leg" who had once escaped unscathed from the Grand Line.
Luffy waved to Zeff with a smile, "Don't worry, old man, we're the righteous Marines. Hey, Usopp, are you done carrying the food?"
Usopp, carrying a bundle twice his size, struggled out of the kitchen and yelled in frustration:
"Why do I have to do all this hard labor?! This isn't fair!"
Luffy replied matter-of-factly, "When you joined the crew, didn't you fill out the job description as general helper and sniper?"
Usopp: "...Ugh! I'm speechless!"
Sanji, seeing Zeff's unusual humility, felt his eyes redden again.
He silently walked to the edge of the Baratie deck, facing the man who had raised him, and solemnly knelt down, his head slamming heavily against the wooden planks:
"Thank you for your care all this time! I will never forget this kindness!"
...
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away on the Going Merry.
Nami stood alone at the bow, the sea breeze ruffling her short orange hair.
She gazed at the seemingly calm sea in the distance, her eyes filled with endless sorrow and resolute determination:
"They're really a bunch of good guys… If we can redeem the village, will I still be his subordinate when we meet again?"
As she spoke, Nami's tears streamed down her face, dripping onto the deck.
Although their time together was short, the days she spent on that ship, playing and joking with Luffy and the others, were the only moments of ease and joy in her eight years of hellish existence.
"Will we… meet again?"
Nami collapsed weakly, hugging her knees, burying her face in her chest, her shoulders heaving violently.
"This time we'll definitely be free, right? As long as we have enough money…"
"Bellmere… bless me."
Meanwhile, on the other small boat.
Luffy, sensing something, looked in surprise in the direction of Cocoyasi Village.
It was an extremely faint, yet incredibly sorrowful voice, carried to his ears by the sea breeze.
"Is this... the Hearing of All Voices?"
Luffy murmured to himself, gazing in that direction, his brow furrowed slightly. "This feeling of despair is truly unsettling."
As an aside, let's discuss whether Luffy joining the Marines is reasonable.
Regarding Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit, according to current manga information, the Five Elders, those old fogies, didn't fully confirm that Luffy was the reincarnation of Joy Boy until Luffy's final battle with Kaido in Wano Country.
Therefore, before Luffy fully reveals his "Nika" form, with Garp's backing, joining the Marines is perfectly reasonable.
Moreover, Garp has always been grooming Luffy as the Marine's ace.
Given Garp's monumental achievement in saving the Celestial Dragons at God Valley, as long as Joy Boy's identity remains hidden and the Gum-Gum Fruit doesn't awaken, the Five Elders wouldn't bother targeting the grandson of a Marine hero.
"Hey, Luffy, are you really sure All Blue exists?"
On Johnny and Joseph's cramped little boat, Sanji excitedly approached Luffy and asked.
Luffy, a cigarette he'd swiped from Sanji, dangled from his fingers, his face etched with the weariness of time (and the system).
"You've asked this eight hundred times already, bro. Even if we can't find All Blue, I'll personally go and carve a hole in the Red Line, let the seas of the four seas converge, and create an artificial All Blue for you. How about that?"
Luffy blew a smoke ring at Sanji with a look of utter despair.
Sanji looked at Luffy with disgust, his expression as if he were looking at a scumbag who'd tricked him and then abandoned him.
Looking at Sanji's goofy, resentful face, Luffy took a deep drag of his cigarette, feigning seriousness:
"Hiss... Jessica, I guess I still like you the most..."
"Hey, you perverted cook, it's lunchtime, what do you want to eat?"
"Huh!? Who's the perverted cook? You green-haired idiot! You're injured like this, your intestines are practically spilling out, you can only eat some bland, specially made health porridge."
"What?! I'm a carnivore! I want to drink! I want to eat big chunks of meat!"
"Shut up! On this ship, I'm the cook, I decide what we eat! Do you want to die?"
Usopp, munching on sunflower seeds, remarked, "Hey? Sanji, you're really all bark and no bite. You're clearly concerned about Zoro."
Sanji instantly bristled, "Shut up! Who cares about this green-haired guy?!"
Usopp: "Haha, you're blushing! You're definitely blushing!"
Luffy continued solemnly, "Ah, my dear Jessica, where are you..."
"Hey, Joseph, we're almost there, aren't we?"
At that moment, Usopp glanced at the faint outline of an island appearing in the distance and asked Joseph, whose face was ashen.
Joseph, who had been trembling, suddenly slapped his thigh, as if provoked:
"You guys, do you even know what we're going to do? You're all so naive!"
"Do you know we're stepping into Arlong's territory?! That's hell!"
Seeing the agitated Joseph, everyone stopped their playful antics and turned to look at him.