The Road Ahead

Watching the scene, Lu Zhuo finally gained a glimmer of understanding of the Sword Domain. He even saw the road ahead!

The Sword Domain, Sword Intent, and Heart of the Sword!

They corresponded to High-Level Swordsman, Top-Level Swordsman, and Great Swordsman!

Watching Hawk-Eye's two moves, Lu Zhuo murmured, "I see. Sword techniques and the sword.  Sword techniques exist only for the sake of the sword; the sword doesn't exist for the sake of sword techniques."

"Exactly!" Hawk-Eye said approvingly, glancing at Lu Zhuo. Then he leaped off the ship, landed on the ice below, and quickly disappeared into the distance.

"I am Dracule Mihawk, the World's Greatest Swordsman! I'll be waiting for you at the top!" His voice drifted over from far away. Lu Zhuo slowly tightened his grip on his sword.

"I will, Hawk-Eye. Since I've come to this world, I'll definitely become the World's Greatest Swordsman!"

A sharp glint flashed in Lu Zhuo's eyes. His sword sprang from its sheath, and he slashed at a distant chunk of ice.

As he slowly sheathed his sword, two separate sword marks appeared on the enormous block of ice, one above the other!

The Sword Domain... I'm close!

Lu Zhuo smiled faintly, turned, and headed for the cabin.

Meanwhile, the Marine Base in the distance had finally received the news.

Aokiji had failed to capture Lu Zhuo and his companions and had left. The Marine Base in the distance had received no orders, so it hadn't sent out any troops.

"What? Admiral Aokiji failed?"

The Marine Base erupted in an uproar. Everyone looked shocked.

Someone had actually escaped an Admiral?!

But once they learned that Hawk-Eye had intervened, they understood.

The Marine Base commander wiped the sweat from his forehead and said gravely, "We've just received a report that Hawk-Eye has left the target ship. Admiral Kuzan has frozen the ship in place. We'll head out immediately and capture the pirates!"

"Yes, sir!"

Meanwhile, Lu Zhuo was instructing Nami, Robin, and the others. "Hurry up and leave. Aokiji may have gone, but another Admiral could show up at any moment. We need to get out of here quickly."

Just then, Robin briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she said, "The Marine Base in the distance has sent out several squads of elite Marines!"

A trace of hatred flashed across Lu Zhuo's face, but it soon vanished, replaced by calm.

He would have liked to bring down a Marine Base, but now was absolutely not the time. His injuries had healed, but he still had some internal damage that needed time to recover. He wasn't fit to fight.

If the Marines held them here until another Admiral arrived, they'd be finished.

The other Admirals were probably all in the New World, but there was no guarantee they wouldn't arrive soon.

"Let's go. They can have this ship. We've got the gold we took from Enel, along with that jewelry box. It's enough to buy an even better ship!"

When it came to ships, Lu Zhuo was, after all, a shut-in from Earth. He wasn't attached to them the way Luffy and the others were.

Conis and Robin both nodded at Lu Zhuo's suggestion.

Only Nami looked a little gloomy. Lu Zhuo smiled. "Nami, you can take the orange trees from the ship with you."

Just like in the original story, Nami had a special fondness for oranges. Lu Zhuo naturally wanted to grant her wish. There were a few orange trees aboard the Holy Sword.

At his words, the gloom vanished from Nami's face. She happily kissed Lu Zhuo on the cheek.

After gathering their things, they went up to the deck with a large haul of gold and jewelry. Nami turned into a cloud and carried them all up into the sky with ease.

To move even faster, Robin also created two enormous wings and carried everyone away at great speed.

The elite Marines at the base could only watch helplessly. None of them could fly, and even if one of them had the ability, chasing after the group alone would probably be suicide.

They had no choice but to abandon the capture attempt.

The news soon spread throughout the world!

Even with Hawk-Eye's intervention, Lu Zhuo had still managed to fight the Marine Admiral for several rounds and even wound Aokiji. The whole world was shaken once again!

"Gurarara! That kid's grown so fast. Looks like we'll be seeing each other soon." Whitebeard laughed heartily as he looked at the young man beside him on his right. The boy wore an orange cap and had three freckles on his face.

That boy was Ace. He had already joined the Whitebeard Pirates, a few months earlier than he had in the original story.

"Too bad... I was planning to ask that guy to join our crew." Ace muttered. He was a little indignant, as if Lu Zhuo was about to steal the spotlight from him again.

Sabaody Archipelago.

"That young man... I'll get to meet him soon." An old man sat by the sea, drinking and chuckling to himself.

A powerful Haki radiated from him, and the surrounding animals fell unconscious.

Marine Headquarters.

"Damn it! How could Kuzan fail? Damn Hawk-Eye! Damn Shichibukai!" Sengoku slapped his forehead, his face full of frustration.

Now they'd made a mortal enemy of that pirate.

And they'd already lost their best chance to eliminate him! Sengoku covered his forehead, gritting his teeth in frustration.

Three days later, a notice spread throughout the Grand Line.

The Holy Sword Pirates' captain, Sword God Lu Zhuo, was a vicious criminal who had committed countless heinous acts. A bounty of 400 million Beli had been placed on his head!

After his impressive battle record, Lu Zhuo's title had been changed without his permission, from Ghost Sword Lu Zhuo to Sword God Lu Zhuo. But that suited him just fine. That "Ghost Sword" nonsense had sounded awful.

The Holy Sword Pirates' navigator, Nami, user of the Cloud-Cloud Fruit. A bounty of 160 million Beli!

The Holy Sword Pirates' archaeologist, Child of the Devil Nico Robin, user of the Flower-Flower Fruit. A bounty of 130 million Beli!

The Holy Sword Pirates' musician, Skypiean Conis. Ability unknown. A bounty of 10 million Beli!

The entire pirate crew had been given bounties!

Their combined bounty reached 700 million Beli!

A month later, Lu Zhuo's new Holy Sword appeared along one of the Grand Line's routes.

It was now the eighteenth year of the Great Pirate Era, just two years before Luffy would set sail.

That year, Ace joined the Whitebeard Pirates, earned the title Fire Fist Ace, and became the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander.

Blackbeard, who had joined the Whitebeard Pirates some time before Ace, kept his strength hidden, concealing himself beneath the brilliance of Whitebeard and Ace.

At that moment, aboard Lu Zhuo's ship, he had one arm around Robin and the other around Nami. The three chatted and laughed, perfectly content.

Their current course was to find the Nidai Kitetsu.

But Lu Zhuo had another plan in mind. It might cause Robin some pain, but she still needed to resolve the knot in her heart...

A strange glint flickered in Lu Zhuo's eyes.

Neither Robin nor Nami noticed. They continued laughing and playing around with him.

After Lu Zhuo's battle with Aokiji, his relationship with Robin had become impossible to hold back. They were just one step away.

Lu Zhuo could take that step at any time, but he still wanted to help Robin resolve the knot in her heart first.