Ulti skillfully jumped onto Page One’s shoulder, while Page One transformed into Garchomp. Their coordination was seamless, as if they had practiced many times before.
With training, Page One’s flying skills became increasingly proficient. At first, he needed to climb to a high place before leaping off, but now he had already mastered the skill of catapult takeoff.
“Sister, take it easy, don’t end up falling into the sea.”
“Pay-tan~ Have you finally learned to care about your sister?”
“No, it’s just that if you really fell, fishing you out would be a hassle.”
“Ugh, you’re not cute at all now that you’ve grown up. Change back to how you were when you were little!”
As they playfully bickered, the siblings approached the two pirate ships left behind by the Krieg Pirates. They seemed completely casual as none of the pirates they have encountered here could pique their interest in the slightest.
The outdated weapons on the ships made it clear that this group of pirates was of low quality. Ulti and Page One’s arrival was nothing short of a massacre—the pirates didn’t even have the ability to break through their defenses.
Compared to them, the real highlight was the battle between Yamato and Hawk Eyes.
“All right, now no one will interrupt us. This is my Takeru. I heard from the samurai that when facing a worthy swordsman in battle, you should announce your weapon’s name.”
“Black Blade, Yoru.”
Hawk Eyes answered, then assumed a sword-wielding stance.
“I don’t know why you’re here, but I assume you have your own reasons.”
“Something like that. Is there a problem?”
“I also have some personal matters to take care of. It may have started out of boredom, but some things can’t be left unfinished. Let’s make this quick. How about we use the time it takes for your companions to finish their fight as the time limit?”
“Sounds fine to me.”
Yamato just wanted to maintain her condition to avoid being caught off guard when she got home. She has no intention of going all out against Hawk Eyes, so she readily agreed to the suggestion.
……
Sword energy shot out from Hawk Eyes’ blade. Compared to the flying slashes he had used against Krieg, Mihawk was now more focused, no longer swinging his sword casually. His opponent might not be a swordsman, but she was still worthy of his attention.
At the same time, lightning crackled around Yamato’s kanabo. Swordsmen could feed Haki into a Black blade to enhance its hardness. Likewise, after her weapon was finalized, Yamato had also been feeding her Haki into it.
Takeru 7.0 was a weapon that inherited the will of its predecessors. With its special materials and forging techniques, its quality was on par with any Famed Sword. Due to its unique properties, it even had certain advantages when clashing against bladed weapons.
“Thunder Bagua!”
Hawk Eyes’ moves generally don’t have names. Kaido’s basic attacks were commonly referred to as Thunder Bagua, and Yamato’s Thunder Bagua was inherited from Kaido. Since neither of them intended to fight to the death, the battle had turned into an exchange of basic attacks.
After blocking Yamato’s swing, Hawk Eyes smoothly rotated his wrist, skillfully redirecting her power. Clashing head-on was unwise—against a heavy weapon and the enhancements of a Zoan user, he wouldn’t gain anything by facing her head-on.
Without excessive probing, after several simple exchanges, the battle quickly intensified. However, it didn’t last long, as the two ships Krieg had left behind to “cover retreat” were no match for Ulti and Page One.
At this moment, on those two ships, Ulti and Page One were like heavy tanks charging into a medieval phalanx. Their massive bodies only needed simple collisions to defeat their enemies.
While, the enemy’s attacks couldn’t penetrate their scales. Instead, the attackers ended up getting scratched by the scales.
“So weak… How did these guys even enter the Grand Line?”
“No idea. Even people from the Four Seas should at least know what a devil fruit user is, right? These guys act like they’ve never even heard of Devil Fruits.”
After casually tossing an enemy aside, Page One spewed flames at a nearby wooden ship. Amid the chain explosions from the cannonballs, he and Ulti returned to the iceberg where Yamato and Hawk Eyes were fighting.
Their return signaled the end of the battle between Hawk Eyes and Yamato. However, instead of going back to his small boat, Hawk Eyes remained standing silently on the iceberg.
“It’s over, isn’t it? Why are you still here?”
“I’ll leave in a little while. Just do whatever you need to do.”
“What a strange guy… but I guess it’s not really a problem.”
She knew many of the Shichibukais. From what she understood, one was always lost in romantic fantasies, one always wore a fake smile—she didn’t even know what his eyes looked like under those sunglasses—one was overly serious, doing everything in a rigid, by-the-book manner.
It wasn’t really a problem if Hawk Eyes was acting a bit strange.
After Yamato and the others left, Hawk Eyes didn’t move immediately. Only after confirming that they were far away did he sit back down in his coffin boat and continue his pursuit.
Meanwhile, after leaving, Yamato belatedly realized a problem.
“There wasn’t much sea breeze for a while earlier, right?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“I saw he was alone and didn’t have any oars. That small boat of his can’t handle rough waves either. How on earth did he manage to chase others in that boat? When there’s no wind, he doesn’t seriously just drift, does he?”
Yamato’s question successfully stumped the siblings, sparking a series of discussions. In the end, they even brought the question to Uta, who was preparing for a performance.
According to rumors, Hawk Eyes and Red-Haired Shanks communicated often, so maybe Shanks knew the secret behind it.
Unfortunately, Shanks refused to reveal anything about how Hawk Eyes moved around.
Hawk Eyes continued his pursuit of Krieg, while Yamato, after reuniting with the Millennial Dragon group, continued toward Dragon’s Nest, waiting for that moment to arrive.
Meanwhile, sometime earlier, something else happened in East Blue.
……
East Blue, in Foosha Village, on an ordinary little boat, Luffy and his Heracross were ready to set sail. His adventure was officially about to begin.
After bidding farewell to Dadan, Luffy, just like Ace had three years ago, arrived at the port and sat in the small boat he had prepared.
“Stay safe, okay? If the boat sinks, make sure to protect him.”
“Yeah, this boat doesn’t look like it’ll last long. He wouldn’t take my old fishing boat, so it’s all up to you to protect him.”
As Luffy was about to depart, the residents of Foosha Village were bidding farewell to Luffy and offering him some advice, though their words sounded a bit ominous.
“I got it, I got it! I’ll take good care of it.”
“Don’t get too full of yourself, Luffy. We’re not talking to you. We’re talking to Hercules. Hercules, it’s dangerous out there, so we’re entrusting him to you.”
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