Demonstrating Strength (Part 1)

"Captain Buggy, this is terrible! A female thief stole our treasure!" One of Buggy's pirates suddenly rushed in and shouted in panic. Everyone in the Buggy Pirates knew that Captain Buggy loved treasure more than life itself. Anyone foolish enough to set their sights on his treasure was practically declaring war on the entire Buggy Pirates.

"What?!" Buggy nearly broke down when he heard that his treasure had been stolen. The fury in Captain Buggy's eyes frightened his subordinate so badly that he did not dare say another word.

"Was it Nami?" William and Zoro both immediately thought of Nami upon hearing "female thief." But Luffy wore an indifferent expression, making it clear that he had not connected Nami with the Buggy Pirates' stolen treasure.

"Captain, let me handle it!" At that moment, Mohji, the Buggy Pirates' vice-captain and beast tamer, volunteered. Faced with such a fine opportunity to earn merit, Mohji, one of Buggy's right-hand men, was naturally more than willing to take it.

"That guy's hat is weird too!" Luffy suddenly pointed at Mohji's head and made an unrelated comment.

"Idiot, it's my style!" Feeling looked down upon, Mohji immediately retorted. His style was quite unusual, much like Buggy's red nose.

"Why aren't you hurrying up and getting the treasure back?!" Seeing that Mohji still had time to chat with the enemy, Buggy cursed furiously.

"Yes, sir!" Startled, Mohji immediately mounted his pet lion, Richie, and left Buggy's headquarters to pursue Nami, who had stolen their treasure.

However, after Mohji left, someone else slipped away as well. While everyone's attention was focused on Luffy and the others, William quietly left Buggy's headquarters.

"Captain Buggy, how about you leave Roronoa Zoro to me?" Cabaji suddenly said. Although Captain Buggy had already named Zoro as his own opponent, the credit for recovering Buggy's treasure had been claimed by Vice-Captain Mohji. As another of Buggy's right-hand men, Chief of Staff Cabaji could no longer sit still.

"Go ahead." Buggy spoke flatly. Of course, he knew what Cabaji was thinking, but he clearly did not care. He only hoped Mohji would quickly recover his stolen treasure.

"Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro! Take this!" Cabaji pulled a long sword from his mouth, mounted a unicycle, and swiftly slashed toward Zoro.

"This guy actually pulled a sword out of his mouth?" Zoro was shocked that someone had hidden a sword in his stomach, stunned by the way Cabaji drew his weapon. But shocked or not, he immediately sensed danger and drew two swords to block Cabaji's strike. Even so, his hasty defense forced him back to the outskirts of Buggy's headquarters.

"Acrobatics: Fire Breath!" Cabaji, the Buggy Pirates' foremost swordsman, saw that Zoro had blocked his attack and immediately spat a stream of fire toward Zoro's face. At the same time, he repeatedly swung his blade at him.

"Whoa! What's with this guy?" Caught off guard, Zoro was slightly burned by Cabaji's flames, but he still blocked every one of Cabaji's slashes.

"Roronoa Zoro, I heard you're a Three-Sword Style swordsman. I'm curious—how do you use three swords?" Cabaji had naturally heard a little about Zoro's Three-Sword Style, but he did not understand the difference between it and simply wielding three swords. Half the reason Zoro's name had spread so far, aside from his own strength, was his unique Three-Sword Style swordsmanship. It was no surprise that Cabaji was curious about it.

"That's right. Want to see it?" Zoro pulled the third sword at his waist, Wado Ichimonji, and held it in his mouth. However, he did not tie the black bandana wrapped around his left arm over his head, showing that Cabaji was not strong enough to make him truly serious.

"Acrobatics: Hundred-Spinning-Top Attack!" Cabaji flung over a hundred rapidly spinning tops at Zoro. If Zoro had been using Two-Sword Style, he might not have been able to cut down every one of them. But Three-Sword Style Zoro was a whole level stronger than when he used Two-Sword Style. This was Zoro's true fighting style.

"Utterly boring!" After cutting down all the tops and forcing back Cabaji, who had tried to sneak attack him, Zoro spoke with great disdain. Cabaji was at least someone who used a sword, so why was he constantly relying on such low-class tricks?

"What did you say?" Cabaji, feeling looked down upon, grew furious. As a swordsman, Cabaji did possess some skill. But a perfectly good swordsman fighting with acrobatic tricks—did he really think the battlefield was a stage for performances?

"I mean your acrobatics are incredibly boring. Don't embarrass yourself by bringing them out again!" Seeing Cabaji's angry expression, Zoro said disdainfully again, "If you admit that you're a swordsman, then use swordsmanship to decide the victor with me!"

No matter how strong or weak his opponent was, the people Zoro wanted to cut down were swordsmen, not street performers.

"Let me show you my strongest swordsmanship, Roronoa Zoro!" Sensing Zoro's disdainful gaze, Cabaji gripped his sword tightly and charged toward Zoro on his unicycle, determined to defeat him with swordsmanship.

"You should've done that from the start! Oni Giri!" Sensing Cabaji's serious attitude and resolve as a swordsman, Zoro revealed a satisfied smile. At the same time, he unleashed his strongest slash, Oni Giri, and instantly defeated Cabaji.

"Female thief, surrender quietly!" On another street, Mohji the beast tamer, riding Richie, blocked Nami's path. Nami was already unable to run quickly while carrying so much treasure. Even without that cumbersome treasure, she could not possibly outrun a lion.

"No way!" Although terrified inside, Nami refused without hesitation. A treasure-loving person like her would not easily give up treasure already in her hands, and anyone in their right mind would not meekly surrender. What good end could there be after being captured by a group of pirates?

"I'll show you what happens when you offend Captain Buggy. Go, Richie!" At Mohji's command, Richie opened his jaws and pounced on Nami, seemingly intending to swallow her whole.

"Help!" Frightened by Richie's movements, Nami could only cry for help. She was so scared that her body could no longer move.

"William, what do you think you're doing?" After seeing Richie miss, Mohji warily scanned his surroundings. He spotted William standing not far away with a girl in his arms. That girl could only be Nami, the person he had come to capture.

Once Nami realized she had been saved, she was no longer afraid. She knew William was strong, though she did not know exactly how strong. Still, she thought that as long as he could restrain that giant lion, she would have a chance to leave with the treasure. It was a little unfair to William, but she had never agreed to become a pirate with them. They were only cooperating temporarily.

"I couldn't bear to let my navigator become food for a big cat, Vice-Captain Mohji." Holding Nami, William spoke with great sincerity and humility. "Please tell Captain Buggy that I'm grateful for his feast. If there's another chance, we can still be friends!"

"I see! Then I'll take you down too." Although William had been a guest at Captain Buggy's feast, protecting Nami, who had stolen Buggy's treasure, made him an enemy as well.

"Big cat, go sleep somewhere else!" As Richie pounced at him, William, still holding Nami, sent Richie flying with a spinning kick. William was still far from regaining his former strength, but his physical power had not weakened in the slightest.

"Richie! You actually hurt my Richie? Unforgivable!" Mohji fell from Richie's back and looked painfully at the unconscious lion. Furious, he pulled out his beast-taming whip, intending to personally teach William a lesson.

"Shave!" After setting Nami down, William vanished from where he stood with a sharp sound. He had not truly disappeared; he was simply so fast that the naked eye could not catch him.

"What incredible speed!" Nami and Mohji were both astonished by William's nearly vanishing speed. They could only barely make out the direction in which he moved. Yet this was not even William's original speed. If William could use Shave as skillfully as this body had in the past, neither Nami nor Mohji would have been able to perceive even his direction.

"Over here? Damn it, I can't hit him!" After swinging his beast-taming whip dozens of times without striking William once, Mohji grew irritated. William made sounds as he moved, and Mohji's eyes could barely catch a faint afterimage, but his body simply could not react in time.

"Finger Pistol! I avoided the vital points!" Although he knocked Mohji down, William did not strike to kill. He had no life-or-death grudge with the Buggy Pirates, and he had gotten along quite well with Captain Buggy. He considered it a favor to Buggy.

"Huh? Where did my treasure go?" Nami discovered that the treasure in her hands had suddenly vanished into thin air and asked in shock.

"I'll keep it safe for you for now." William gently stroked Nami's head. "Don't do something this dangerous alone next time. You're my navigator."

William could not describe the feeling in his heart toward Nami, a girl who lacked love and a sense of security.