Hawkeye Arrives, Zoro Suffers Crushing Defeat

Moya protected the women as he walked out onto the deck.

In the distance, a small boat resembling a coffin drifted toward them. Sitting upon it was a man wearing a European-style swordsman hat, a massive, exaggerated black blade strapped to his back. His gaze was piercing, his eyes strikingly similar to those of a hawk.

Moya and Zoro spoke in unison, "The world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye!"

The members of the Straw Hat Pirates and the Moya Adventure Group trembled as they looked at this world-renowned figure.

Zoro would not abandon the reason he set out to sea simply because of Hawkeye's reputation. He quickly ran to the spot where Hawkeye was landing, suppressing his fear of the man.

"I challenge you, the world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye!"

"The East Blue is such a weak and pathetic place; there is no one here worth drawing my sword for!" Hawkeye glanced at Zoro and said indifferently.

At this moment, Krieg also stepped onto the deck and loudly questioned Hawkeye, "Why are you hunting us down? We never offended you! You devil!"

"There is no reason. I was just drifting on the sea, feeling a bit bored, and you happened to disturb my nap."

Hawkeye remained cold and detached, the very image of a peerless master.

The strong of this world are truly terrifying.

Simply because of boredom and a disturbed nap, he had cut down the entire Krieg Pirates fleet, the number one pirate armada of the East Blue, consisting of over 5,000 men.

"Hey, don't ignore me! I set out to sea specifically to challenge you!" Zoro said, already beginning to draw his swords.

"To dare draw your sword against me... it seems you have prepared yourself. I have no blade smaller than this."

With an arrogant and flamboyant air, Hawkeye slowly drew the tiny dagger hanging at his chest.

"To look down on me like this... damn you!" Zoro was furious at being so humiliated by Hawkeye.

"That is all you are worth, you weak and ignorant man of the East Blue!"

Without another word, Zoro lunged forward with Tiger Hunt.

However, it was easily blocked by Hawkeye with his tiny dagger.

Three Sword Style: Three Thousand Worlds

Even after unleashing his strongest technique, it was to no avail; Hawkeye shattered two of Zoro's ordinary swords.

Zoro's pupils trembled. He stood frozen in place, slowly closing his eyes, his face filled with unwillingness.

"I have lost!" Zoro turned around, spread his arms, and faced Hawkeye directly.

"Come! A swordsman does not let his back be wounded!"

At this moment, Hawkeye began to look at Zoro with a hint of respect. "State your conviction!"

"I promised someone that I would carry her share of the effort and climb to the position of the world's greatest swordsman!" Zoro shouted loudly.

"Very well. I look forward to your growth. Do not die!"

Hawkeye drew his black blade, 'Yoru', and with a single stroke, cut Zoro down.

He sheathed his blade and turned to leave, the corners of his mouth slightly raised; it seemed he found it interesting to have encountered such promising talent.

Yosaku and Johnny shouted, "Luffy, let us go! We have to kill that bastard Hawkeye!"

A legendary scene of the sword god and saint.

Luffy, who had been holding Yosaku and Johnny back, released them and sprinted to the side of the injured Zoro, asking anxiously, "Zoro, are you okay?"

"Captain, I will never lose again until I become the world's greatest swordsman!" Zoro cried, covering his eyes as he shouted.

Luffy revealed his signature grin. "I believe in you! A companion of the future One Piece certainly cannot be too weak!"

"One Piece? Ignorant!" Hawkeye said flatly.

"My name is Luffy, and I am the man who will become the One Piece!" Luffy grinned with his trademark smile.

"Hmm? This hat?"

"This hat was given to me by Shanks. I will find my own powerful crew, head to the Grand Line to become the One Piece, and then return this hat to him!"

"He actually entrusted this hat to you? And he even lost an arm in the East Blue... how truly boring," Hawkeye whispered.

Ignoring Luffy further, Hawkeye turned and walked away. He had encountered two interesting people on this trip; it was time to return.

At this moment, Moya suppressed his nervousness and spoke to Hawkeye, "I wonder if Senior Hawkeye might have the time to join us on my ship for a gathering?"

"No interest." Hawkeye didn't even look at Moya; he was that simple and direct.

"I believe Senior Hawkeye would be interested in the sword theories of an extremely powerful sage of the blade. Furthermore, a good friend of Shanks is also on my ship. I hope you might meet him, Senior."

Moya directly dangled the bait of the theories and Buggy.

"Oh? Sword theories and a good friend of Shanks? I hope you aren't lying to me! Lead the way!" Hawkeye said with genuine interest.

Zoro, injured on the ground, heard Moya mention discussing the theories of a sword sage. Enduring the immense pain, he asked with a tremor in his voice.

"Captain Moya, would you allow me to board your ship as well to listen in?"

"Zoro, your injuries are too severe; you need to rest!" Usopp and the others said with concern.

"It's fine. Nothing is more important than this opportunity to become stronger!" Zoro looked at Moya with a determined expression.

Moya looked at Zoro, then glanced at the indifferent Hawkeye.

"Fine, you guys carry Zoro onto the ship. Luffy, I'll leave Krieg and his crew to you!"

"Yosh, no problem! You guys take good care of Zoro. I'm going to defeat Krieg to pay off my own debt, and I'm going to make Sanji our cook!"

Luffy patted his chest, taking on the task with great confidence.

"Senior Hawkeye, please~"

Moya wore a look of deep respect on his face.

The group boarded the Moya Adventure Group's flagship, the Yanhuang.

···

In the reception hall of the Yanhuang, Moya and Hawkeye sat opposite each other, with Buggy and Nami standing behind Moya.

The injured Zoro sat leaning against the wall to the side, looking as if he were listening intently to a lesson.

"Speak. What is your primary objective?" Hawkeye spoke first, getting straight to the point!

He knew Moya must have been asking for his help for a reason.

He was also curious to hear someone else's theories on the way of the sword. As for being a good friend of Shanks, Hawkeye guessed that Moya was likely just one of the many casual acquaintances Shanks had met along the way.

"Hehe~ Senior Hawkeye is certainly direct!" Moya said, feeling a bit embarrassed at being seen through.

"Actually, I want to learn Haki—specifically Observation Haki and Armament Haki. I've been studying the basics of Haki lately, but I've hit a bottleneck. I was hoping Senior Hawkeye would let me experience the sensation of Haki firsthand," Moya said with burning eyes.

"Oh? I didn't expect you to know about Haki while in the East Blue. Your background must be quite extraordinary, then?" Hawkeye swept a glance over Moya and said calmly.

Zoro and Nami were hearing the word "Haki" for the first time and felt incredibly curious, while Buggy seemed to have fallen into a trance of memories.

"Senior Hawkeye, I am just an ordinary person. I simply heard a few things from a friend who returned from the Grand Line and the New World."

Moya said, mixing truth with lies.

"Is it that good friend of Shanks?" Hawkeye asked skeptically.

"Uh, yes, that's the one. Buggy, who served as an apprentice pirate on the One Piece Roger's ship alongside Shanks!"

Moya took the opportunity to push the spotlight onto Buggy.

"What!!! Buggy was a crew member of the One Piece Roger??"

Everyone looked at Buggy in shock.

The amnesiac Buggy was completely bewildered, but he forced himself to suppress his panic and put on a calm, pretentious act.

"I didn't expect everyone to find out. That's right, I was indeed a crew member under Captain Roger back in the day."

Inwardly, however, he was screaming: You bastard captain, what are you spouting? I don't know the One Piece, and I don't know Shanks!!

Before he could finish, Nami familiarly grabbed Buggy by the neck, her eyes wild with the greed for gold and treasure.

"Then where is Roger's treasure?"

As she spoke, she kept shaking Buggy's head back and forth.

"I don't know! I never went to Laugh Tale! Shanks and I left the ship before it reached the final island!"

Buggy managed to choke out the words while under Nami's assault, and somehow, his blind guess had hit the mark.

As expected of Buggy and his Conqueror's Haki-level luck, Moya breathed a sigh of relief.

Hawkeye frowned as he watched the two clowns, asking, "Then why doesn't he know Haki himself?"

"Uh..." Moya looked at Buggy, feeling that he was beyond saving.

"I'm not going to bother with the hard work of learning Haki! I'm a Devil Fruit user!" Buggy barked.

The training Moya had put him through these past few days had been absolutely brutal.

"Actually, Buggy has been too busy treasure hunting and has neglected his Haki training," Moya explained awkwardly.

"To think that a crew member of the One Piece Roger would be rotting away here in the East Blue, the Weakest Sea. It is truly disappointing," Hawkeye said with a hint of disdain.

"What did you say! You are not allowed to talk about Captain Roger like that!"

Buggy stopped and said solemnly, continuing to use his imagination to put on a tough front.

The atmosphere suddenly turned tense.

"Senior Hawkeye, you should know how the East Blue came to be called the 'Weakest Sea' in the first place, right?" Moya forcibly interrupted the tension and countered with a question.

Hawkeye's eyes narrowed, as if he were thinking of that great man who had laughed on the execution platform.