"Up ahead is the Sea Restaurant—Baratie!"
Johnny introduced Luffy and the others to the enormous fish-shaped ship before them. Joseph, who had been inside the cabin, also came out curiously. The moment he saw Baratie, drool began spilling from his mouth uncontrollably.
The next moment, as he turned his head, he suddenly saw a Navy ship appear beside the Going Merry!
"W-What?"
"Why is there a Navy ship here?"
Hearing everyone's cries of alarm, Zero, who had been leaning against the starboard side of the ship, looked up as well. He happened to see an officer-like commander step out onto the opposing vessel.
"Never seen that pirate flag before! I'm Navy Headquarters Captain Iron Fist Fullbody. Who's the captain? State your name!"
"I'm Luffy!"
"I'm Usopp!"
"Our pirate flag was just finished 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 toss out the wanted posters in their arms. At that moment, Nami noticed the scattered posters on the ground. She stepped forward, picked one up, and stared blankly at the portrait above the bounty, lost in thought.
Zero noticed Nami's unusual behavior as well and was about to comfort her when he caught sight of the Navy ship's cannon being aimed 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 gust shot forth, slicing the Navy cannon in half!
Rankyaku!
One of the Six Powers. Though it was a closely guarded secret within the Navy, with his LV.4 Hand-to-Hand Combat mastery, he could still imitate it somewhat. Its power was simply a little lacking.
"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 to find Zero even harder to read now.
Unexpectedly, after the Navy adjusted its cannons, another intact one was aimed at them. Luffy rolled up his sleeves and rushed forward, stretching out his arms to stop the cannonball. But he used too much force and accidentally let go with one hand. The incoming cannonball abruptly changed direction and bounced straight toward the Sea Restaurant Baratie!
Bang!
With a deafening boom, a huge hole was blasted through the building above 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 Sea Restaurant staff over how long he would have to work there to pay off the damages!
When the group opened the door, they saw Iron Fist Fullbody, the self-proclaimed Navy Headquarters captain, being held high in the air by a blond young man dressed in a black suit. He looked utterly miserable.
Then a burly chef came out from inside and stopped the enraged blond youth. Iron Fist Fullbody, who had narrowly escaped disaster, immediately started taunting people again. If Luffy, who fell from upstairs, and the restaurant's head chef had not stopped the fight, he would probably have been beaten senseless.
The matter was not over yet. A Navy soldier appeared and reported to Iron Fist Fullbody that one of Krieg's subordinates had escaped, only to be shot in the back moments later by a gunman.
The gunman looked extremely weak, yet he still forced himself to walk to a seat. He wanted to use his gun to threaten the restaurant chefs into making him food, but his body was far too frail. Not only was he taught a lesson by the burly chef, he was thrown out of the restaurant as well.
Zero, who had silently watched 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 in greeting. "Yo, Zero. Let me introduce you. This is our new member, and he's the cook of our pirate crew!"
"I never agreed to become one of you! Why are you deciding that on your own?!"
Sanji argued emotionally. His curled eyebrows twitched, making Zero stare at them unconsciously. But he eventually forced himself to look away and said with a straight face, "Mm, hello. My name is Zero. Welcome to our pirate crew!"
"I said I didn't join your pirate crew!"
Sanji was about to say more when he looked up and saw Zeff standing on the second floor, watching them. Seeing this, the weak man did not linger. After thanking them once more, he left.
As Zero watched the man named Gin depart, anticipation faintly appeared in his eyes. He knew that this man would not only bring his captain, Krieg, here next, but would also draw over a renowned powerhouse of these seas—Hawk-Eye Mihawk, one of the Shichibukai!
Four days later.
A thick fog blanketed the sea.
Aboard the Going Merry, Usopp urged Luffy to tell them when they could set sail. Luffy replied that he still had to discuss it with the owner. At that moment, he suddenly sensed something and turned toward the fog behind them.
Zero, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them as well. He rose to his feet and looked out the window, a faint smile slowly appearing on his lips.
At last, they were here.
Before long, the silhouette of a massive ship emerged from the fog.
As the ship drew closer, everyone discovered that it had been severely damaged. Its middle seemed as though it had 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 miserable state!
Of course, Zero was one of the few people 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 would emerge like bamboo shoots after rain. There were quite a few who could destroy a ship, and even Zero himself was not entirely incapable of doing so now!
When the ship appeared, a system notification sounded in Zero's mind:
"Ding, side quest activated. Prevent the pirate Krieg from releasing poison gas. Reward: 400 experience points, 40,000 Beli!"
Before Zero could finish reading the quest details, another notification sounded in his mind:
"Ding, challenge quest activated. Hold out for ten minutes in battle against Shichibukai Hawk-Eye Mihawk. Reward: 1,000 experience points, item lottery ticket *1!"
Well, damn!
Zero cried out in surprise inwardly. He had not expected this plotline to unlock two quests, and the reward for the second quest was so generous that it genuinely delighted him.
At the same time, however, he realized that generous rewards also meant the chances of completing the quest would not be very high. There was even a possibility of failure!
Truly the world's strongest swordsman...
Zero thought.
Before you continue