Over the course of three months, many major events unfolded across the seas once again.
The Whitebeard Pirates returned to the New World and clashed with Blackbeard in a new round of conflict. Yet, unexpectedly, the Blackbeard Pirates were not utterly defeated. Though forced onto the defensive, they still had the strength to resist.
From beginning to end, Whitebeard himself did not make a move in that battle.
Next, with the help of the Whitebeard Pirates, Luffy spread word that they would reunite at the Sabaody Archipelago two years later, once again using the power of the newspapers.
Ace personally led the operation, attacking World Government officials at the former site of Marineford alongside Luffy. They left behind coded messages that only their companions would understand, then departed without a trace.
After receiving the message, Roronoa Zoro settled down on Dracule Mihawk's island with peace of mind and asked Dracule Mihawk to teach him swordsmanship.
Moved by Roronoa Zoro's persistence, Dracule Mihawk ultimately decided to teach him something. He gave him the task of defeating the monkeys as a trial.
At first, he was beaten terribly, to the point that Roronoa Zoro even began to feel as though he was inferior to a monkey. But through sheer perseverance, he learned the monkeys' patterns in only two months and successfully defeated them.
After all, when it came to swordsmanship, those monkeys could only crudely imitate Dracule Mihawk's sword techniques. They had no understanding whatsoever of true strength or what a sword truly was.
Just as Roronoa Zoro happily thought he was about to receive new special training, Dracule Mihawk tossed him a fishing rod.
That alone would have been fine, but what drove Roronoa Zoro mad was that the hook on the rod was straight—and Dracule Mihawk told him to catch