Sudden Consecutive Quests!

"Up ahead is the sea restaurant—Baratie!"

Johnny introduced the enormous fish-shaped ship before them to Luffy and the others. Joseph, who had been inside the cabin, also came out curiously. When he saw Baratie, he could not stop himself from drooling.

The next moment, as he turned his head, he suddenly saw a Marine ship appear beside the Going Merry!

"W-what?"

"Why is there a Marine ship here?"

Hearing everyone's startled cries, Zero, who had been reclining against the starboard side of the ship, looked up as well. He happened to see an officer-like commander walk out onto the opposing ship.

"That's a pirate flag I've never seen before! I'm Iron Fist Fullbody, captain of Marine Headquarters! Who's the captain? State your name!"

"I'm Luffy!"

"I'm Usopp!"

"The pirate flag was just made yesterday!"

"I drew the pirate flag!"

Iron Fist Fullbody raised an eyebrow. Ignoring Luffy and Usopp's antics, he turned his attention to Johnny and Joseph aboard Luffy's ship and suddenly began mocking them without restraint.

Though the two were furious, there was nothing they could do. They could only throw out the wanted posters in their arms. Nami noticed the wanted posters scattered across the ground, walked over, and picked one up. Then she stared blankly at the portrait above the bounty, seemingly lost in thought.

Zero noticed Nami's unusual behavior and was just about to go comfort her when, from the corner of his eye, he saw that the Marine ship had aimed its cannons at the Going Merry beneath his feet!

"Hmph!"

He let out a cold snort. The muscles in his leg instantly tensed, and as he raised it, a blade-sharp burst of air shot forth, slicing the Marine cannon cleanly in half!

Rankyaku!

One of the Six Powers. Though it was a secret art never passed outside the Marines, with his LV.4 mastery of martial arts, he could still imitate it somewhat. Its power was just lacking a little.

"Zero, that was amazing!" *2

Luffy and Usopp's eyes turned into stars. Zoro, who had witnessed Zero's kick from the side, tightened his grip on his sword hilt. He seemed even less able to see through Zero's abilities now.

Unexpectedly, after the Marine ship adjusted its cannons, another intact one was aimed at them. Luffy rolled up his sleeves and rushed over, stretching out both hands to stop the cannonball. But he used too much force and accidentally let go with one hand. The incoming cannonball veered off and bounced straight toward the sea restaurant Baratie!

Bang!

With a tremendous boom, a huge hole was blasted through the building atop the restaurant!

Zero, Zoro, Nami, and Usopp rowed a small boat to the restaurant, leaving Johnny and Joseph behind to guard the Going Merry. As for Luffy, he was currently negotiating with the people at the sea restaurant over how long he would need to work there to compensate for the damages!

When the group opened the door, they saw Iron Fist Fullbody, the self-proclaimed Marine Headquarters captain, being held high in the air by a young blond man in a black suit. He looked utterly miserable.

Then, a burly chef came out from inside and stopped the enraged blond young man. Iron Fist Fullbody, having narrowly escaped disaster, immediately began provoking people again. If Luffy, who fell down from upstairs, and the restaurant's head chef had not stopped the fight, he would probably have been taught a harsh lesson.

The matter was not over yet. A Marine appeared and reported to Iron Fist Fullbody that one of Krieg's subordinates had escaped, only to be shot in the back by a gunman the next moment.

The gunman looked extremely weak, yet he still forced himself to walk over and sit down. He wanted to use his gun to threaten the restaurant chefs into making him food, but his body was simply too weak. Not only did the burly chef beat him up, but he was also thrown out of the restaurant.

Zero, who had quietly been watching the show from the side, followed him outside. There, he saw the weak man eating the food the blond young man had brought him, while Luffy crouched on the railing and kept trying to persuade him to join his pirate crew.

Seeing Zero come out, Luffy raised a hand and greeted him. "Yo, Zero. Let me introduce you. This is our new member, and he's going to be the pirate crew's cook!"

"I never agreed to become one of you! Why are you deciding that on your own?!"

Sanji argued emotionally. His curled eyebrow twitched, making Zero stare at it unconsciously. But he eventually forced himself to look away and said solemnly, "Mm, hello. My name is Zero. Welcome to our pirate crew!"

"I said I haven't joined your pirate crew!"

Sanji wanted to say more, but when he looked up, he saw Zeff standing on the second floor watching them. The weak man did not linger after seeing this. He thanked them once more and left.

As Zero watched the man named Gin leave, anticipation faintly appeared in his eyes. He knew that this man would not only bring his captain, Krieg, here, but would also attract a famed powerhouse of these seas—Hawk-Eye Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!

Four days later.

Thick fog filled the sea.

Aboard the Going Merry, Usopp urged Luffy to set sail already. Luffy answered that he still needed to discuss it with the boss. Then he suddenly sensed something and turned to look into the fog behind them.

Zero, who had been resting with his eyes closed, also opened them. He stood and looked out the window, a slow smile rising on his lips.

At last, you're here!

Before long, the silhouette of a massive ship emerged from the fog.

When the ship drew closer, everyone discovered that it was severely damaged. Its middle seemed to have been bitten through by some enormous beast and was nearly broken in half. It was hard to imagine how it had managed to sail here in such a wrecked state!

Of course, Zero was one of the few among them who knew how that ship had ended up like this, so he was not surprised.

In truth, after entering the latter half of the Grand Line, powerful figures emerged like bamboo shoots after rain. There were quite a few who could destroy a ship, and even Zero as he was now was not completely incapable of doing it!

When the ship appeared, the system notification also rang in Zero's mind:

"Ding, side quest unlocked. Prevent the pirate Krieg from releasing poison gas. Reward: 400 EXP, 40,000 Beli!"

Before Zero could finish reading the quest details, another notification sounded in his mind:

"Ding, challenge quest unlocked. Last ten minutes in battle against Hawk-Eye Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Reward: 1,000 EXP, Item Draw Ticket ×1!"

Well, damn!

Zero was deeply surprised. He had not expected this part of the story to unlock two quests, and the rewards for the second one were so generous that he was truly delighted.

But at the same time, he realized that generous quest rewards also meant the chance of success would not be high. There was even the possibility of failure!

As expected of the world's strongest swordsman...

Zero thought to himself.