Kozuki Hiyori's Current Situation

"Something feels off..."

Against a backdrop of a gloomy sky, a pitch-black and murky sea, a massive, island-like wrecked ship, a chilling cemetery, and bats, a stunningly beautiful young woman appears.

However, the girl now had a furrowed brow and a puzzled expression, tightly gripping the two long swords in her hands, as if she was pondering some difficult problem.

"Hiyori- neechan, Hiyori- neechan!"

Just as Kozuki Hiyori was pondering, a clear female voice from the sky interrupted her thoughts, Kozuki Hiyori reluctantly raised her head.

"Perona, what happened again? Did Absalom peep at you while you were taking a bath, or did you lose your teddy bear again?"

"No, Hiyori- neechan, look at this newspaper, there's Big News Morgans!"

A girl with pink hair, jet-black pupils that made up a large portion of the whites of her eyes, descended from the sky, looking like a strangely exquisite doll. She was waving a newspaper around in her hand.

Kozuki Hiyori reached out and took the newspaper Perona handed her, while also praising Perona in the process:

"Perona, you're progressing quite quickly! Even in your spirit form, you can now pick up physical objects!"

"Hehehehehehe, of course, thanks to your guidance, Hiyori- neechan! By the way, Hiyori- neechan, are you really unwilling to be the Unit 4 Monsters on our Ghost Ship? Then you'll be the leader of all the Monsters!"

"I don't consider myself a Monsters... Besides, Moria can't even beat me. If I really wanted to stay here, I should be the captain!"

Kozuki Hiyori muttered a complaint, opened the newspaper, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

The first page of the newspaper featured a picture of the Red Line, which had been largely collapsed!

"A once-in-a-millennium earthquake struck the Red Line, causing devastating damage to the Holy Land Mary Geoise?"

"Well, they were all ordinary slaves who died, no Celestial Dragons died! That's right, even if there were Celestial Dragons who died, the newspapers probably wouldn't dare to report it!"

"But is this really a natural disaster? Could it be that some Devil Fruit User is trying to destroy the World Government?!"

Although World Government have always adopted a strategy of covering up their various losses and mistakes, they never report them in the newspapers.

However, this time, a significant portion of the entire Red Line collapsed. Anyone with normal eyesight who came to the Red Line could see the damage, and naturally, the World Government could no longer cover it up.

Even so, the World Government claimed it was a natural disaster and did not report the Celestial Dragons' losses. In reality, with earthquakes, meteorites, and suddenly appearing bombs, even the World Government, if it were stupid, would know that it was a sudden attack.

However, even the World Government couldn't find any clues about the attackers. Therefore, the World Government wouldn't report on something that would greatly diminish its prestige if the culprit couldn't be found, and instead reported it as a natural disaster.

Of course, ordinary people are fine with it, but those pirates with some skill, the Shichibukai, or the Revolutionary Army, high-ranking officials of the country, etc., will not believe the World Government's propaganda.

Not to mention that while the World Government verbally proclaims that this is a once-in-a-millennium natural disaster, its CP Organization agents are actually investigating everywhere like madmen, without making any attempt to conceal it.

Although Kozuki Hiyori didn't have many subordinates or much power, she had at least seen a bit of the world and didn't really believe the World Government's propaganda. However, she didn't care too much about it, as the World Government and such things didn't really concern her.

Returning the newspaper to Perona, who was flying in the sky, Kozuki Hiyori and grasped her two Great Grade Swords, preparing to go for her daily sword training.

The two swords in her hands are Ame no Habakiri and Black Blade Shusui. As for the most difficult Enma to subdue, Enma, even now, Kozuki Hiyori is still unable to fully utilize it.

Although Kozuki Hiyori's current fighting strength and swordsmanship may be no less than Zoro's during the Wano Country period, it must be admitted that in terms of her unwavering pursuit of swordsmanship, her own spirit, and her temperament, Kozuki Hiyori is far inferior to that future Green Algae Head swordsman.

This is precisely the biggest reason why she couldn't subdue Enma. Fortunately, she found the Black Blade Shusui here, which replaced her other sword in her Two-Sword Style.

Kozuki Hiyori sought out Gecko Moria in order to find another sword worthy of her Two-Sword Style, and also found a zombie named Ryōma who had been stolen by Gecko Moria.

Naturally, upon discovering that the National Treasure and the body of a national hero had been stolen, Kozuki Hiyori gave the now dejected Gecko Moria severe beating. It wasn't until she later discovered the hatred between Gecko Moria and Kaido that Kozuki Hiyori refrained from killing Gecko Moria outright.

Upon learning that Kozuki Hiyori also harbored a deep hatred for Kaido, Gecko Moria and Kozuki Hiyori quickly shook hands and made peace. Although the two of them together probably couldn't withstand three blows from Kaido, it didn't stop them from constantly training with Kaido as their hypothetical enemy.

Gecko Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit has amazing effects; he can even use the shadows of other sword masters to help Kozuki Hiyori train, which is why Kozuki Hiyori has stayed here all this time.

Thinking of this, Kozuki Hiyori felt an urge to shake her head and sigh. The Shadow-Shadow Fruit, a fruit that has an incredible boost to training, was used by Gecko Moria as a support-type ability. While it can't be said that Gecko Moria developed it poorly, it was clearly a waste of a large part of its potential.

However, Kozuki Hiyori understands Gecko Moria quite well, after all... he was defeated by that person!

"Kaido of the Beasts..."

Although I only saw that terrifying man once when I was very young, and then my mother and I were sent to Vegapunk's Research Base, that horrible monster still left a very deep impression on me!

That was a terrifying beast that even his godlike father had defeated, and to this day, it is still Arlong the entire Wano Country.

Even someone who has never fought him can feel their heart pounding and find it hard to calm down just thinking about his demon-like figure.

It's perfectly normal for Moria, who suffered a crushing defeat at Kaido's hands and even lost all his companions, to no longer believe that his training could defeat Kaido.

However, Kozuki Hiyori knew very well that the so-called Shadow Army alone could never defeat Kaido, the Demon King. This was precisely why, even though she possessed the Soul-Soul Fruit, a fruit with the powerful ability to generate troops, she still chose the path of self-cultivation.

"Ame no Habakiri, Shusui, let's go train!"

"Yes, Ms. Hiyori, let's go!"

Kozuki Hiyori spoke to her two swords, and surprisingly, the two swords responded to her.

This is naturally because she used the Soul-Soul Fruit to give these two Famous Sword their own thoughts.

Moreover, the two swords also possess the swordsmanship memories of their owners. It is precisely because of these two swords that Kozuki Hiyori over the years, gradually stepping into the realm of Great Swordmaster.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to defeat Gecko Moria so easily.

No matter what, this Gouketsu of the West Blue once fought against Kaido. Even though his strength has greatly declined, he is still a force to be reckoned with, and he is not someone that an ordinary expert can easily defeat.

Carrying two swords, Kozuki Hiyori headed towards the cemetery, where her teacher, Ryōma, who was also a zombie, resided.

But just then, Kozuki Hiyori and vaguely heard a roar in the distance, coming from the direction of the clinic where Hogback was. It seemed to be the sound of some stitched beasts.

"Is there any trouble coming over? Never mind, I'll go check it out!"

In this Florian Triangle, every now and then some foolish pirates get lured by the treasure chests thrown out by Gecko Moria.

As the first half of the Grand Line, a place referred to as Paradise by pirates in the New World, the quality of pirates here is naturally not very high.

Most pirates, even when facing zombies and stitched beasts, were powerless to fight back and became mere shadow resources in Moria's hands.

Kozuki Hiyori didn't comment on Gecko Moria's actions, since while Moria wasn't a good person, most of the pirates weren't good people either.

However, there are occasionally some troublesome pirates that even the Three Monsters cannot deal with. At those times Kozuki Hiyori will conduct some practical training depending on the situation.

Following the direction from which the sound came, Kozuki Hiyori frowned slightly. Before her were quite a few stitched animals that had been beaten down, and even some Homies that she had given soul power to.

Despite the somber atmosphere of Thriller Bark, the abilities of the crew members actually complement Kozuki Hiyori's Soul-Soul Fruit powers to a great extent. Otherwise, Perona wouldn't have chosen Kozuki Hiyori be one of the Four Monsters.

Aside from that one invisible idiot, Moria's shadow abilities, Hogback's ability to create stitched beasts, and Perona's Ghost-Ghost Fruit abilities can all synergize extremely well with the Soul-Soul Fruit.

Therefore, among many of the stitched beasts, ghosts, or bat zombies, some were the creations of Gecko Moria and his crew, while others incorporated elements of the Kozuki Hiyori and Soul-Soul Fruit. There were also quite a few zombie Homies, ghost Homies, and stitched beast Homies on this ship.

Having been imbued with the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit, these chaotic creatures have become significantly stronger, making them far beyond the capabilities of ordinary pirates.

However, these modified creatures are now scattered all over the ground, indicating that Hogback has encountered considerable trouble again.

The Three Monsters are all trash. The Transparent Idiot only had some human modifications done. If you don't count his Devil Fruit, his pure combat power... I reckon any artificial Devil Fruit User under Kaido could easily defeat him.

Hogback was just an ordinary person who relied on a modified Stitched Beast to protect himself.

Perona's abilities are very troublesome, but she is just an ordinary, weak little girl; otherwise, she wouldn't have been scared unconscious by Usopp.

In this situation, if they encounter an enemy capable of defeating all the stitched beasts, these three Monsters will certainly not fare well either.

"I wonder where this pirate came from..."

Muttering something to herself, Kozuki Hiyori arrived at Hogback's clinic and went straight in.

However, when she looked up and saw the person sitting in the clinic, she was still slightly surprised:

"Cavendish?! What are you doing here? Haven't you learned your lesson from last time?"

Sitting at the very top of Hogback's clinic was a handsome, radiant young man with blond hair. Kozuki Hiyori naturally remembered him well; he was the captain of Beautiful Pirates known as the "White Horse Prince," with whom she had once met.

The reason is quite funny; it seems to be because his own bounty poster is more popular than his... Journalists in the Pirate World are all top-notch paparazzi, and their ability to capture images is first-rate, far superior to most photo studios.

Therefore, the bounty posters of some good-looking pirates are often collected as items such as posters. The one with the most bounty posters collected is Kozuki Hiyori, who far surpasses Cavendish ranks second.

Well, after Hancock was rescued by Vegapunk, she stayed by Vegapunk's side and never went to sea to be a pirate. So Kozuki Hiyori took away Hancock's original title as the number one beauty.

Of course, there are fewer women among pirates, and even fewer who are beautiful. So Kozuki Hiyori easily became the most beautiful woman among pirates, but she certainly doesn't have the status of the world's most beautiful woman like Hancock in the original work.

In reality, without the Love-Love Fruit's bonus, even Hancock would only be considered one of the top beauties, without any overwhelming advantage compared to other beauties.

After all, beauty is only a subjective impression, and different people have different preferences.

Getting back to the point, Cavendish was originally a narcissistic guy who loved attracting fans. Although Kozuki Hiyori and Cavendish had different fan bases, Cavendish still felt that Kozuki Hiyori had stolen a lot of his thunder, and that's why he caused trouble for Kozuki Hiyori.

Naturally, Kozuki Hiyori didn't hold back either. In terms of talent, Cavendish, who could become Kozuki Hiyori Supernova ever training, was definitely superior to Kozuki Hiyori ate Devil Fruit, she was still inferior to Cavendish.

However, driven by her deep-seated hatred, Kozuki Hiyori trains diligently almost every day. In the early stages, she receives enhancements and training resources from Vegapunk, and later she can use the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit to receive swordsmanship instruction directly from the Famous Sword in her hand. Compared to Cavendish, who has always been unwilling to train, she is far superior.

So the result was quite normal; Cavendish suffered a brutal beating. If Kozuki Hiyori, and Cavendish n't just acted like a goofball, he might have even lost his head.

However, Cavendish hadn't bothered Kozuki Hiyori since then, so why did he come over again today?