Sound-Sound Fruit User and the Good Blade Hana Shu

Kuro had no interest in arguing with Zoro, a man whose brain was half muscle. He preferred a style of speed and one-hit kills, emphasizing precision, ruthlessness, and efficiency; there would be no room for the passionate, mutual-respect style of dueling.

However, he did have the stamina for a day of fighting, though he certainly couldn't sustain a battle for several days straight at his current level.

"Daddy, are we really going to launch an attack on the Krieg Pirates? We could easily toy with them for a while longer and slowly erode their forces!"

Kuro had many methods in mind to cripple the Krieg Pirates, but Daddy had suddenly lost his mind and wanted a head-on, life-or-death struggle, which left him baffled.

Logic told him this was the most brainless choice possible!

"Kuro! The Worst Generation has arrived, and the Four Emperor Whitebeard doesn't have many years left to live. We need to grow rapidly!"

"To live by facing death—that is the fastest way to grow!"

Daddy grinned. He knew his own strength wasn't increasing fast enough.

Playing around with these ants all day didn't even force him to reach his limits, so how could he possibly grow?

"I thought you had become reckless, but it turns out you are still that same devil!"

Kuro understood Daddy's meaning immediately and promptly discarded all the plans he had been harboring.

The weaklings he had slaughtered this past week were indeed meaningless!

Then let it be a grand, spectacular slaughter; he would take down Krieg, the hegemon of the East Blue, amidst the protection of thousands of men!

"Krieg with a bounty of 17 million Berries, and Gin the Man-Demon with 12 million. This Gin has a good look in his eyes; I'll make him my opponent!"

Zoro looked at the wanted poster of Gin the Man-Demon, feeling a slight sense of kinship from that beast-like gaze.

He could sense that this would be a worthy opponent.

The guy's strength should be on par with Krieg, perhaps even stronger.

That was Zoro's own intuition!

"Let's just cut our way through these pirate minions first!"

Kuro said indifferently. Two years ago, he was a pirate with a 16 million Berry bounty, after all; he hadn't expected that now he couldn't even snatch a decent opponent!

The captain of the second division of the Krieg Pirates, Pearl, had such a low bounty that he wasn't even worthy of being his opponent!

Kuro felt no fear even facing the East Blue hegemon Krieg. With his 16 million bounty from two years ago against this year's 17 million, he already had plenty of ideas on how to kill Krieg!

"Captain Daddy, there are pirate ships ahead!!! It looks like two pirate ships are fighting!"

Butchie the Spotted Cat, who was doubling as a lookout while adjusting the sails, shouted loudly. He wasn't afraid this time; after all, there were only two ships, and with the powerhouses on their own vessel, they had no reason to fear two pirate crews.

But if they had encountered dozens of pirate ships, he might have been a little scared.

"Then let's go up and cut them down!"

Zoro's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran to the bow to see what they were dealing with.

"One of the ships looks familiar, I think I've seen it before!!"

Zoro frowned as he thought about it, then his eyes widened as he finally remembered.

Zoro recalled a guy who had come to recruit him earlier, only to be sent flying by a punch.

"That style of ship and flag looks like something from an organization called Baroque Works. A bastard named Mr. 7 came to recruit me, and when I told him I wanted to be their boss, they got angry and attacked me, so I had no choice but to cut them down!"

Zoro continued as he watched the battle over there; it seemed they were trying to recruit someone else, and when that failed, they started fighting!

"The other pirate crew should be the El Drago Pirates. Captain Daddy, that guy is also a Devil Fruit user—any interest in taking him down?"

Kuro's eyes brightened. Since he, the captain of the Black Cat Pirates, had been beaten into submission, there was no reason those guys shouldn't get a beating too!

"We ran into people from Baroque Works so soon?"

Daddy put down his one-ton dumbbell and walked forward, his eyes lighting up as he watched the sonic laser cannon firing from the opposite side.

"Then what are we waiting for! Kill them!"

Daddy had briefly thought he'd run into Admiral Kizaru, but he dismissed it immediately since the opponent was just a pirate ship.

"Yes! Captain Daddy!"

The Cat Brothers shouted immediately, pulling the sails and turning the rudder to steer the ship, speeding toward the fray.

On the other side.

The captain of the El Drago Pirates, El Drago, was a Paramecia-type Sound-Sound Fruit user with a bounty of 16.6 million Berries. He had a volatile personality, loved gold, and enjoyed exploring and plundering.

He had been heading toward the location of a treasure map today when he was intercepted by a black-market merchant ship. The people on board claimed to be from the Grand Line's Baroque Works and wanted to recruit them.

El Drago refused without a second thought. He was doing just fine as a captain; why would he ever want to be someone else's lackey? If not for his wariness of their strength in the Grand Line, he would have seized their ship on the spot!

The other side, however, didn't know when to quit and even tried to intimidate him with the name of the Shichibukai, threatening to drag him back to the Grand Line.

The hot-headed El Drago couldn't take it anymore and started fighting them directly. To hell with the Shichibukai—he'd never even heard of them!

The two sides began to clash, and to his surprise, the guys on the other side actually had some skills, jumping around like fleas.

This swordsman named Mr. 11 was several times stronger than his own subordinate, Gollas; he was truly worthy of someone who had spent time in the Grand Line.

"Captain El Drago, more people are coming!"

Even as both sides engaged in battle, there were still underlings observing the sea, terrified that reinforcements for the enemy or the Navy might suddenly descend upon them.

"Damn it, you bastards, go to hell!!"

Blue light erupted from El Drago's mouth, shattering the mast of the opposing syndicate merchant ship.

"El Drago! You'd best not set foot on the Grand Line, or you will surely die!!"

Seeing that the situation was unsalvageable, Mr. 11 had no choice but to retreat. These backwater pirates had no concept of the true power of the Shichibukai; they were nothing but a bunch of ignorant bumpkins!

"Then I'll just kill every last one of you!!"

El Drago grew even more enraged. In all his years roaming the East Blue, no one had ever dared to threaten him like this!

Perhaps the name of Baroque Works carried great weight on the Grand Line, but in the East Blue, no one took them seriously—whether out of ignorance or sheer arrogance.

The berserk El Drago terrified Mr. 11, who scrambled to flee his own ship; this hotheaded fool was truly frightening.

But the next moment, he spotted a sailing ship appearing from behind, and a green-haired man leaped onto his deck, eyes suddenly gleaming as he stared at him.

"The Hana Shu, one of the 50 Wazamono grade swords?"

The moment Zoro jumped onto the ship, he spotted the long sword in Mr. 11's hand. It was a unique blade with a hamon pattern resembling flickering flames.

"I happen to be short a sword. I'll be taking this Hana Shu! Let's have a duel, swordsman!!"

Zoro grinned at Mr. 11. He had been searching for a fine blade for a long time; he had even entertained the idea of taking Daddy's Sandai Kitetsu.