Banquet and the Strongest Liquor

The great battle in Wano Country had finally settled, and the Straw Hat crew was currently docked at an unnamed summer island, enjoying long-overdue peace and revelry. The air was thick with the smoky aroma of grilled meat and the cloying sweetness of rum. This was the scent of victory, the scent of freedom.

"Meat! Bring me another huge chunk of meat!" Luffy shouted indistinctly through his mouthful of food, clutching an enormous beast leg in each hand.

"Yes, yes, Captain, don't choke!" Sanji, dressed in his signature black suit, elegantly brought out plate after plate of exquisite food. Yet he fed them with pinpoint accuracy only to Nami and Robin, adding his usual heart-shaped eyes. "Nami-san, Robin-chwan, please enjoy my Sweet Sea Love, made with love~"

Usopp was excitedly boasting to Chopper and Brook about his "heroic" exploits on Onigashima, while Franky displayed his newly upgraded Super Butt Laser Cannon, drawing a chorus of shocked cries and complaints from everyone.

Away from the center of the commotion, beneath a massive coconut tree, Roronoa Zoro sat alone. A row of liquor bottles scavenged from the island was laid out before him, but he only occasionally picked one up for a small taste before frowning and setting it back down.

His muscles reflected a bronze sheen in the firelight, and his newly acquired scars were like badges of honor, bearing witness to that earth-shaking battle. The sensation of defeating King and coating his blades in Conqueror's Haki still coursed through every limb and bone. That power, erupting at the very edge of life and death, was like the finest strong liquor, making even his soul tremble.

But the liquor before him... was too weak.

"What's wrong, Mr. Swordsman?" Robin approached him soundlessly with a glass of fruit juice, her voice carrying a smile that seemed to see through everything. "Is the island's liquor not to your taste?"

Zoro opened one eye and glanced at her in greeting. "Yeah," he replied gruffly. "It's like water."

Robin chuckled. "Hehe, it seems the liquor in Wano Country has spoiled your taste."

Zoro did not argue. He rose to his feet and secured Wado Ichimonji, Sandai Kitetsu, and Enma at his waist once more. The three swords, as though extensions of his own body, radiated an unsettling aura. He brushed the dust off himself and headed toward the pitch-black forest beyond the banquet's glow.

"I'm going for a walk," he said without looking back.

"Be careful," Robin called from behind him, her voice teasing. "Don't get lost and wander into the sea. We don't have time to fish you out again."

"Tch."

Zoro curled his lip disdainfully and strode into the deep primeval forest. The shadows of the trees swayed like the maw of some man-eating beast, swallowing his figure in an instant. The banquet's clamor was shut away behind him, and the world abruptly fell silent.

He was not taking a walk, much less admiring the scenery. His goal was clear—find the strongest liquor that could set his throat ablaze, or a sufficiently powerful opponent who could make him draw his swords again.

His Observation Haki spread silently like an invisible net, sensing everything within the forest. The wind, the insects, the breathing of beasts... Then suddenly, his steps halted.

Amid those natural breaths, he caught a faint but malicious presence. They were well hidden, but they could not deceive the instincts he had honed through countless battles to the death.

A bloodthirsty curve slowly formed at the corner of Zoro's mouth.

"Oh? Looks like I can loosen up first."