Blood Scorpion

Walking through the streets of Loguetown, Werther felt the town brimming with life as people began their busy morning.

The place Werther was headed to was somewhere he had never visited since coming to Loguetown. It did not suit his former profession, and the people there probably would not welcome him.

Assassins were not much better than pirates, but since there were usually hardly any survivors after his missions, they probably did not have a picture of Werther, much less a bounty poster.

That was right—the Loguetown Marine branch. This time, Werther had come to the Marine branch to find someone.

Arriving at the Marine branch and looking at the two soldiers by the entrance, Werther had no intention of entering through the front gate. He went straight to the rear, climbed over the wall into the base, then watched the people below from the rooftops as he slowly searched for the person he wanted.

After nearly two hours of searching, he finally found his target: short blue hair and pink glasses.

That was right. The person Werther was looking for was Zoro's pseudo-childhood sweetheart, the Marine officer Tashigi.

One of his senior brother's final wishes had been to entrust Blood Scorpion to someone who truly loved swords. Strength was secondary.

But it was impossible to simply hand Blood Scorpion over to Tashigi. She was only one of the candidates. He had come today to see whether her love for swords was genuine.

Werther silently jumped down from the roof. Even when he landed, he made no sound at all. Tashigi, who was practicing her swordsmanship, did not notice him in the slightest.

"Hey, are you Tashigi? I have something to discuss with you." Werther smiled at Tashigi. This was his first time seeing someone from the original story. It felt somewhat different.

Tashigi was clearly startled by Werther's sudden voice. Her shoulders jerked, and she let out a startled cry.

"Y-you, who are you? How did you suddenly appear in the Marine branch? You scared me!" Tashigi recovered and first tried to ascertain Werther's identity. Her basic qualities as a Marine seemed quite solid.

"Oh, my name is Werther. I live in this town too, and I came here specifically to find you. I'll explain why in a moment." He looked at the blue-haired girl before him with interest, making Tashigi's skin crawl.

"Y-you said your name is Werther? You live in Loguetown too? Sword of Slaughter Werther—you're Sword of Slaughter Werther! You actually dared to appear at the Marine branch!" Tashigi's expression drastically changed. She slowly backed away, looking as though she might call for help at any moment if he made a move.

"Hehehe, hehehe. You've got the wrong person. Sword of Slaughter? What kind of ridiculous name is that? Relax, I just came to say a few things to you. I'll leave soon." Werther tried to fool Tashigi, who had not seemed very intelligent in the original story.

"Who are you trying to fool? Do you think I'm a child? Turn yourself in! Do you know how many people you've killed? I've been to the scenes—it was practically hell!" Tashigi looked at him as if he were the one with an intelligence problem, while her eyes kept darting toward Werther's twin swords.

"I'm not—just pretend I'm not. Don't force me to kill someone. I'm not in a good mood right now. Even if that smoke guy came, I might not be able to do anything to him, but his turtle-like speed wouldn't stop me from killing people." Werther's face turned cold as he intimidated the girl from the original story, because he found it amusing.

Looking at the man with short tied-up hair and a black trench coat, Tashigi felt her legs go weak. Remembering the horrific scenes she had seen after Werther carried out his missions, she became even more flustered and did not know what to do.

Seeing that he had frightened Tashigi enough, Werther untied Blood Scorpion from his back.

The still-frightened Tashigi saw the sword in Werther's hand and unexpectedly pulled out a booklet, beginning to search through it.

"One of the Ryo Wazamono, Blood Scorpion. Isn't this Blood Rose's sword? How did it end up in your hands? Could it be that Blood Rose was killed by you?" After seeing the sword in Werther's hand, Tashigi was no longer afraid of him, and her speech became much smoother.

"Oh, it's good that you recognize this sword. Blood Rose? What kind of ridiculous nickname is that? By the way, do you want this sword? Why not try taking it from me? If you don't, I'll just sell it off. It should fetch a good price, since it's one of those Ryo Wazamono or whatever." Werther continued testing Tashigi.

To everyone's surprise, this girl who looked naturally airheaded, nearsighted, and rather weak no longer feared Werther. She directly drew Shigure from her waist, her expression turning resolute as if she were ready to die.

"I will never allow a famous sword like this to fall into the hands of an evil man like you! Swords have souls. They are not things to be sold. I can almost hear the sword in your hand crying." Tashigi's expression was stern as she held her sword and slowly advanced toward Werther.

Looking at the person before him, who had suddenly transformed into a lioness, Werther knew he had come to the right place. This girl might not be strong, but she possessed the spirit to risk death for the sake of swords.

Activating Lightning Mode, he moved behind Tashigi before she could react and flicked her forehead. Yes, a forehead flick.

Tashigi's eyes nearly watered from Werther's flick, but remembering that this was a battle and that she could not lose her fighting spirit, she forced back the tears gathering in her eyes. Still, it really hurt, Tashigi wailed inwardly.

"Has a dog licked your brain? When you encounter an opponent you can't possibly defeat, you charge right in? I really don't know how you survived until today. Slowly learn about this cruel world. I hope that when the day comes that you understand it, you can still keep such a pure heart. This sword is yours. Take good care of it and maintain it regularly. And get stronger, foolish girl. With your current strength, even entering the first half of the Grand Line would be dangerous. Once you reach the New World, it'll be hell for you." After speaking, Werther tossed the sword to Tashigi and turned to leave.

"You, what exactly are you after? Don't leave! You're a criminal, an assassin!" Tashigi was somewhat confused by Werther's actions, but she had not forgotten his identity or his crimes. Clutching the swelling on her forehead, she blocked his path.

Tashigi tightly gripped Blood Scorpion, unable to understand Werther's intentions. He had given her a famous sword for no reason at all. Could it be a cursed sword? No, the booklet in her hand clearly recorded it as a famous sword rather than a cursed one. It was even a highly ranked Ryo Wazamono, far superior to her Shigure.

Looking at Tashigi blocking his way, Werther felt that his decision had been correct. Though weak, she possessed courage.

Werther decided to teach Tashigi a lesson: when one was weak, one should not try to provoke a powerful enemy.

He activated Lightning Mode once more, crossed his hands to draw both swords, and stared at Tashigi with cold eyes, just as he had once stared at his targets. Werther did not know what killing intent was, but his long life as an assassin had given him a certain presence. It was normally not very noticeable, but when he assumed a combat stance, it could intimidate his opponent. It was the aura born from killing one's own kind for years, like a coroner who had dissected corpses all his life—even if old and frail, that person's gaze would still make one's hair stand on end.

Tashigi felt that the person before her had completely changed. If he had merely seemed powerful before, then the man now standing in front of her with two swords in hand was no longer human, but a demon from hell shrouded in red blood mist. Her legs began trembling again, yet she still clenched her sword tightly.

Werther let both arms hang freely at his sides, his twin swords pointing toward the ground, and spoke in a low voice;

"Secret Sword, Tsubame Gaeshi." He unleashed his ultimate move against Tashigi.

Tashigi felt as if everything else in the world had vanished. Before her was utter darkness, save for two crossing blue-violet sword energies slashing toward her head. Her heart filled with despair.

"I-I'm going to be killed." Tashigi could no longer endure what was before her. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

The sword energy from Tsubame Gaeshi did not strike Tashigi. It flew past her face, cutting off only a few strands of her blue hair.

Although it had not struck Tashigi, Tsubame Gaeshi's sword energy devastated the Marine branch. Years ago, Tsubame Gaeshi could carve a huge hole through a mountain. Now that Werther was even stronger, it was naturally more powerful.

It directly sliced a large section of the Marine branch's buildings into four pieces, destroying half the base.

When Smoker arrived, all he saw was wreckage covering the ground and Tashigi lying unconscious, still tightly gripping Blood Scorpion. He let out an enraged roar.

Meanwhile, Werther had already set sail in his own ship for a place he had always longed to visit, beginning his journey as an adventurer.

That place might have been the haven of every food lover in the East Blue: the sea restaurant, Baratie.

He would also take a look to see whether Luffy had gone to sea yet. After all, the future owner of Shusui, his master's dying wish, would be Luffy's right-hand man. But Werther would not simply trust Zoro because of the original story. This was a real world, not a manga.

He did not think he would necessarily run into Luffy or Zoro, because at this point, Luffy seemed not to have set sail yet.

But who cared? Meeting Luffy and Zoro was only incidental. The important thing was to eat a meal made by Zeff or Sanji. That would be delicious.

At that thought, Werther swallowed hard and sped up his ship.