The Strongest Swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk!

"Aaron, what exactly did the Magic Conch mean when it told you to go home?" Having just heard the conch's answer, Luffy looked curiously at Aaron as he got up from the ground.

"..." Aaron tilted his head and thought for a while, then nodded with great confidence, his eyes shining as he stared at Luffy. "I don't know."

"You don't know either?!" Luffy shouted.

"Why are you yelling, Luffy?!" Aaron looked at Luffy in displeasure. He considered it an insult to the Magic Conch. "Even if I don't know exactly where it is, the great Magic Conch would never lie!"

Then Aaron dropped to his knees again, reverently raised the conch in his hands, and shouted, "All hail the Magic Conch!"

...Several black lines appeared across everyone's faces.

At that moment, Nami spoke up. "Aaron, I don't know what you usually carry around with you, but you didn't have this thing before, did you?" She pointed at the... Magic Conch in Aaron's hand?

Aaron shook his head. "No. The moment I woke up, I pulled the Magic Conch out of my clothes. I don't know where it came from either."

"Then how can you be sure that the conch in your hand is your Magic Conch?" Nami asked patiently, guiding him along like the head of a pyramid scheme.

"But the Magic Conch is the Magic Conch." Aaron looked at Nami in confusion and held the conch high so she could see it clearly.

"I know, I know," Nami said. "But how do you know this conch is the Magic Conch?"

"But this conch is the Magic Conch." Aaron looked at Nami strangely, seeming unable to understand how usually clever Nami had suddenly become so stupid.

"..." Nami felt like she was about to cough up blood. After a long while, she held her forehead and said, "...Forget it. As long as you're happy."

Then she returned to her seat without looking back.

"How strange..." Aaron murmured in confusion, tilting his head as he watched Nami leave.

Then he pulled the wind-up cord to its limit. "Magic Conch, why did Nami become stupid?"

Everyone rolled their eyes upon hearing that question.

"Beep!" The wind-up cord slowly retracted as the conch said in its electronic voice, "Because you are an idiot."

"All hail the Magic Conch!" Aaron knelt down again.

Everyone: "..." We really don't understand how your brain works.

There had been fewer and fewer customers at the restaurant these past few days.

Because of Krieg's declaration, customers were afraid of getting slaughtered, so fewer and fewer people came to the restaurant.

It felt as though a storm was about to break.

The Straw Hat Pirates, however, had no such awareness.

Still, their moods had soured slightly.

Nami asked, "Aaron, have you seen the chart I drew?"

Aaron raised the conch in his hand. "Why don't you ask the Magic Conch?"

Nami: "..."

Usopp asked, "Has anyone seen my toolbox?"

Aaron suddenly popped out from who knew where. "Why don't you ask the Magic Conch?"

Usopp: "..." You scared the hell out of me!

Roronoa Zoro stared at Aaron. "Hey, Aaron! Is Hawkeye really coming in the next few days?"

Aaron blinked, desperately holding back a grin. "Why don't you ask the Magic Conch?"

"Hm?" Zoro slightly pushed open the hilt of his sword and silently stared at Aaron.

"Uh... he'll be here in the next few days." Seeing Zoro's threatening expression, Aaron immediately returned to normal.

Zoro still did not quite believe him and asked again, "Are you sure?"

"Mm-hm!" Aaron nodded firmly. "The Magic Conch told me so. How could it be wrong?"

"..." Zoro suddenly had the urge to punch someone. But when he met Aaron's determined eyes, he let out a long sigh. "...I'll believe you this once."

"Don't believe me. Believe in the Magic Conch!"

"...Get lost."

One conch had nearly driven every Straw Hat Pirate except Aaron insane.

Yes, it truly was a magical conch.

A few days later.

Everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates except Nami had been gathered by Luffy inside the restaurant, preparing to help the cook he had taken a liking to through this crisis.

As for Nami, she stayed on the ship with Johnny and Yosaku, intending to organize the Grand Line charts again.

"Don't meddle in this," Sanji said.

"Shishishi! Aren't we companions? Companions should help each other!" Luffy laughed.

"Who's your companion?! Don't decide that on your own!" Sanji roared.

"They're here!" some nameless cook shouted.

Everyone looked into the distance as a massive ship, roughly fifty meters long and twenty meters tall, slowly sailed toward them.

Those with sharp eyesight could even see the pirate soldiers baring their fangs and claws aboard it.

"They're coming!" "We have to protect our restaurant!"

Though frightened by the giant ship, the cooks rushed into the kitchen, grabbed knives, forks, pots, and spatulas, and prepared to fight the pirates to the death.

Well, aside from Krieg, the other pirates were nothing more than delivery boys for Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji.

This should have been a simple battle of annihilation.

It should have been.

Whoosh!

Aaron suddenly heard a piercing sound—the sound of something moving so fast it tore through the air.

The giant ship was suddenly split in two!

Seeing that dramatic scene, everyone's jaws dropped wide open. "W-what happened?!!!"

The waves thrown up by the ship's sudden sinking instantly made the entire area rise and fall violently.

"Oh no! Nami, Yosaku, and Johnny are still on the ship!" Zoro suddenly cried out and prepared to run from the restaurant.

"Damn it! It might already be too late!" With a leap, Usopp ran out ahead of Zoro.

Luffy had already rushed out of the restaurant.

As for Aaron...

He was fiddling with his conch.

"Magic Conch, are Nami, Johnny, and Yosaku okay?"

"Beep! No."

"Whew, that's good." Aaron wiped his sweat away and was about to leisurely walk out of the restaurant.

Clang!

But the moment he lifted his foot, a violent lurch threw off his balance, and he tumbled straight into the sea.

"Raise anchor, quickly! Otherwise this ship will sink too!" Zeff loudly ordered the cooks. Then he looked outside and suddenly spotted a ship by the sinking wreck—a ship with two eerie green lamps lit, a cross-shaped mast, and the appearance of a coffin!

"That is..." Zeff stared blankly at the ship, his face full of disbelief.

Meanwhile, on Luffy's side.

"Where's the ship? Where's the ship?!" Usopp cried. "Did it already sink?!" As he spoke, he prepared to jump into the sea and search for it.

It was the important bond between him and Kaya. How could he lose it so easily?

"Big Brother Usopp! Big Brother Zoro! Big Brother Luffy!" At that moment, Johnny and Yosaku's voices forcibly stopped Usopp's charge. They were struggling to swim through the raging waves.

Not seeing Nami anywhere, Luffy anxiously asked, "Johnny, Yosaku, where's Nami?!"

"Big Brother Luffy!" Johnny and Yosaku shouted. "Big Sister Nami ran off with the ship and the treasure!"

"What?!"

So Yosaku and Johnny explained how strange Nami had been acting, how Nami had tricked them and pushed them off the ship, and finally relayed the message Nami had asked them to deliver.

"Although I haven't been with you for long, I was really happy."

"Damn it, I thought she'd turned honest. I was too careless!" Zoro said reproachfully.

"Taking advantage of us at a time like this is too cruel!" Usopp said indignantly as well.

Luffy showed no negative expression. He put a hand over his eyes and stared into the distance. "Ah! I can still see the ship! It's our Going Merry."

Then he turned to Zoro and Usopp. "Zoro, Usopp!"

"What's the point of chasing after a female thief like that? Just leave her!"

"The important thing is the ship! The ship!"

Luffy stared at them with determination. "I only want her to be our navigator! I have to!"

"..." Zoro and Usopp were shaken by Luffy's resolve.

Zoro rubbed his hair and sighed. "What a troublesome captain. Fine, I understand. I'll bring her back. Usopp, let's go!"

"It's him!" A sudden shout drew everyone's attention, and they all looked over.

"Chief Krieg! It's that man! The man who destroyed our fleet! He actually followed us here! He must be here to kill us!" The pirates' voices were filled with terror.

In the distance, an ominous ship slowly approached. At its center sat a broad black chair, and upon it sat a man with his head lowered, hands clasped together, legs crossed, silent and motionless.

He did nothing, yet the world seemed to lose its voice. The enormous black blade behind him seemed to radiate an ominous aura.

He merely sat there, and everyone unconsciously slowed their breathing.

His presence was overwhelming!

"So this is... Hawkeye...?" Though he had never met him, Zoro, also a swordsman, keenly sensed the man's unstoppable, invincible aura. He could tell that this was the strongest swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk!

Though that aura was a thousand, even a hundred thousand times stronger than Zoro's, enough to make the hands holding his swords tremble slightly, Zoro's heart was filled with excitement and joy.

As long as I challenge him and defeat him, I'll become the world's greatest swordsman! Then I can... fulfill my promise! Zoro was itching to move.

"Bastard! What kind of grudge do you have against us that you're hunting us all over the world like this?!" a pirate lackey cursed viciously.

"..." Hawkeye finally raised his head. Those sharp eyes, seeming capable of piercing straight through one's heart, fully deserved the name Hawkeye. "I was merely passing the time." His tone was cold and cool.

"Damn it! Passing the time?!" The lackey got angry and suddenly pulled out his precious gun, firing several shots at Hawkeye.

After giving the lackey a glance, Hawkeye ignored him again. He drew his sword in a backhand grip, then slowly swung it, using the blade to alter the bullets' trajectories without damaging them in the slightest.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Slash!! Whoosh! "Aah, that hurts!"

But before Hawkeye could finish his swing, a yellow unidentified object suddenly sprang from the sea and blocked the bullets. It had appeared so abruptly that even Hawkeye failed to notice it, and his great sword struck it head-on. The sensation of cutting through soft yet tough leather made Hawkeye frown.

And that final scream made it clear that he had cut a person.

Devil Fruit user? Hawkeye's thoughts raced as he looked down at the blond youngster he had accidentally injured.

It was, of course, the fool Aaron.

After rolling into the sea, Aaron suddenly remembered that he had not caught jellyfish in a long time. So he immediately pulled a bug-catching net from his clothes. This net had been modified back when he was with Kaya, so unlike before, it was even easier to swing underwater than in the air.

Well, don't ask how it worked. Super technology, super technology!

Well, everyone already knew what happened afterward.

Aaron was now lying on his back, half of one shoulder hanging loose where it had been cut, and looked at Hawkeye. "Mister, are you Hawkeye?"

"Yes." Hawkeye carefully examined Aaron's wound. Seeing no blood seeping out, he was certain Aaron was not seriously hurt. Still, out of apology for accidentally injuring him, he answered the question.

"Zoro, Zoro! Look! I told you the Magic Conch wasn't wrong!" Hearing Hawkeye's answer, Aaron struggled to lift his head and looked excitedly at Zoro.

"Yeah, I still have to thank you, Aaron!" Zoro slowly tied on his bandana. "Hey! Strongest one, fight me! I challenge you!"

Hawkeye turned around. "Hm?"