The Way of the Sword Begins, Stirring in Shimotsuki Village / The Blacksmith's Shop, Their Whereabouts

"Xiao Yi actually has another name! You might have heard of it, it's Nicole Robin!"

Upon hearing this, Neptune's expression changed, and his voice became somewhat tense, "The only survivor of Ohara? That Devil Child —Nicole Robin?"

Dongze nodded slightly, "Mm!"

After receiving Dongze's reply, Neptune sighed deeply. "Is that so?"

"Since we're on the topic, I might as well tell you about what happened today! Oh, and first, find someone to coat my boat!"

Dongze then told Neptune what had happened that day.

After hearing Dongze's account, Neptune broke out in a cold sweat. Those people didn't know Dongze's strength, but he did.

The man before them possessed strength comparable to Whitebeard. If Fish-Man Island were to clash with Dongze, the outcome would be self-evident. If he were to encounter Whitebeard, their battle might even destroy Fish-Man Island. In either case, Fish-Man Island would face only one fate: destruction and death.

Having figured out the whole story, Neptune said resentfully, "The World Government is quite the schemer!!"

Upon hearing Neptune's words, Dongze chuckled. There were some things he didn't say, namely that the people in the World Government didn't know his true strength.

Even Neptune himself cannot fully understand Dongze now; what he has come into contact with is only the tip of the Iceburg.

"Nurture Shirahoshi well; she might be the trump card that allows your Fish-Man Island to escape the depths of the ocean!"

"..."

"Father! Dongze and the others have left!"

"Okay! I'm leaving!"

"What an extraordinary person! I never expected there to be someone like him among the Shichibukai!"

"Heh! Perhaps he won't be Shichibukai for long! He's a strong man; after today, his name will soon resound throughout the seas!"

After talking with Dongze, Neptune had a feeling that Dongze, having entered New World, would be even more powerful and successful, and that before long, another Emperor would be added to the seas.

"Father! The Whitebeard Pirates say they're almost here!"

Ryuboshi rushed over in a great hurry, his face beaming with excitement.

"Father! Marine Garp the Hero has arrived!"

"Pops! Look!"

On the Moby Dick, Marco narrowed his eyes and, using his Observation Haki, spotted a large group of people lying on the ground in Fish-Man Square.

Upon hearing Marco's report, Newgate put down the bottle of liquor he was holding and turned to look at the square.

"Conqueror's Haki!"

"Looks like a formidable newcomer! He actually dares to unleash Conqueror's Haki on my territory!"

"Pops, look at the ground!"

Following Marco's direction, Whitebeard looked into the distance, and soon his eyes narrowed.

The hard granite floor was riddled with cracks, extending outwards from under everyone's feet; clearly, these cracks were caused by the previous Conqueror's Haki.

"Tch! Another Red-Hair?"

"Marco! Go find Neptune and ask him who was here just now!"

"Huh! This aura?"

"That brat is here too?"

Walking down Fish-Man District, a hint of surprise flashed in Garp's eyes. It had only been half a year since he last met Dongze, but the lingering aura he felt now startled him.

The other person's rapid progress gave him a feeling of being in an Across Lifetimes; it had only been a few days, and the other person had already reached this level.

At this moment, a female officer standing beside him slightly curved her eyebrows.

"It's his scent!"

Chapter 132 The Beginning of the Swordsmanship, The Movements in Shimotsuki Village

"Hey! Brother Dongye, your cooking is really good!"

"Of course! I bought a knife from him before, and when the pirates invaded our village half a month ago, I had a good blast!"

"Lao Duo and the others' knives were all chipped, but mine was completely unharmed. I even managed to get a centurion's rank with that knife!"

"This time, Bayelu, you did tell the truth. Every knife here is top-notch! Even my harpoon is incredibly effective! The other day, I just poked that Maha with a light touch, and it didn't even leave me with a handle! I accidentally killed that fish!"

"Holy crap! He got me!"

"And before we knew it, that Maha was almost as big as a small boat!"

In the New World, on Hada Island, in front of a blacksmith's shop, the villagers were chattering away, but all their conversations revolved around the shop itself.

The tools inside were all exquisite, ranging from small farm implements like shovels and planes to large military weapons such as long knives and halberds.

The new shop owner is named Dongye, and he has a beautiful and charming young wife.

By any measure, the two seemed mismatched: a muscular brute and a sensual scholar.

However, the other party didn't care at all, paying no attention to the pointing and talking of the people around them, and wholeheartedly running the small shop.

Dongye's blacksmithing spot is right next to the shop, as everyone knows. The bellows have been running non-stop ever since the couple started this blacksmith shop.

He made no attempt to hide his forging techniques; anyone who wanted to watch could watch, and anyone who wanted to learn could try. However, to this day, no one has been able to master them.

Even during Dongye's daily rest periods, the restless blacksmiths, despite using the tools in their blacksmith shop, could not forge a weapon as sharp as Dongye's.

What puzzled those people was that even though they followed the other party's process and used the same heat for forging, the finished product was still the same.

The last old man, with white hair and beard, told them the whole story. It wasn't the process or the tools that could forge such a divine weapon, but rather the person Dongye.

When Dongye was mentioned, the other person exclaimed with great emotion, "To become a master-level blacksmith at such a young age is beyond what can be described as genius!"

The other party even boasted that, given the right timing, location, and people, Dongye could even forge a peerless divine weapon comparable to the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades.

However, everyone chuckled at the old man's words and didn't take them to heart. After all, if he really had that ability, he wouldn't have come here.

Instead, they had long been invited as honored guests by those kings or World Government.

Of course, Dongye paid no attention to the rumors circulating outside and continued forging tools as usual, without wavering.

As time went on, people stopped caring.

In the backyard of the blacksmith's shop, after a day of forging, Dongye returned.

"Hey! What are you doing here again, you old rascal?"

"Tch! You brat, I'm probably older than your grandfather! How rude of me!"

"So what! You're always freeloading off me. I'm already being merciful by not kicking you out. And you expect me to respect you?"

"What an unlovable brat!"

"Dongye! Dinner's ready!"

As the two were talking, a beautiful woman with pink hair walked in, pushing a food cart full of food in front of her!

"Wow! Xiao Yi, what did you make today? It smells so good!!"

Indeed, the two people in front of us are Dongze, who has returned to his old ways, and Robin, who has disguised herself as Xiao Yi.

He went into seclusion as soon as he entered the New World.

During this period, Dongze once again used his grandfather to rapidly improve his strength.

Intermediate Meditation has now evolved into Advanced Meditation, Sleeping skill has found a path to advancement. After merging with Advanced Meditation, Dongze no longer needs to deliberately improve his Meditation, and his mental strength can increase rapidly.

As for the Sword Manipulation Technique and the Twin Sleeve Green Snakes, they have now been activated. The Sword Manipulation Technique is different from the one he used to control with Sword Intent. In terms of simply flying on a sword, its speed has reached the speed of light, covering a thousand miles in an instant.

This was the limit he couldn't reach before when controlling the Flying Sword with Sword Intent. And then there were the Twin Sleeve Green Snakes —how should I put it! As expected of Li Chungang's signature move, its power far exceeded the sword techniques he had previously comprehended.

To create something from nothing with human power was something he had never imagined before.

This move possessed the power to split mountains and cleave seas. With this move, he finally touched the spatial barrier of this world before his Armament Haki reached perfection.

So when he mastered this move, he activated another Sword Intent, which he called "Space-Cleaving Sword Intent!"

Space has always been considered one of the most elusive forces, mysterious, unknown, alluring, and multi-dimensional—a variety of terms have been attached to it.

Anyone who comes into contact with its power, if developed properly, will become a famous figure on the sea, just like Whitebeard Edward Newgate, the later Rooster Head Bartolomeo, and the later Shichibukai Trafalgar Law.

Another longsword was added to his Peerless Sword Case, which Dongze named Sky-Splitting.

Thus, the Peerless Sword Case now contains the famous swords Long River, Thunderclap, Cold River, Vertical Sword, Horizontal Sword, Flying Immortal, Sky-Splitting, plus the original sword Forgotten Dust, for a total of eight divine weapons.

The power of the seven swords flying together was so great that even Dongze couldn't help but gasp. The intertwined Sword Intent could directly shatter space, forming a spatial Black Hole that could devour anything.

Previously, he unleashed seven Sword Intent from the seabed, and the spatial Black Hole eventually formed a tsunami that affected the entire world.

Some islands, uninhabited and without powerful figures to govern them, were buried in the dust of history during this tsunami.

Dongze's first skill to clear the entire field was born, and Dongze aptly named it "World-Destroying Sea!"

Now let's talk about this old man. After accidentally seeing Dongze's forging skills, he became attached to him, saying that he must take Dongze as his disciple and inherit his mantle.

However, Dongze never agreed to his request. He knew his own situation best; his forging skills were already maxed out.

He dared to say that he was currently the world's top blacksmith, unless the other party could produce forging techniques surpassing those of this world—meaning the other party was also a person favored by heaven. But was that possible?

As they continued to communicate, he learned the other person's true identity: his hometown was Wano Country, his ancestors were master Sword-Forging, and he himself was a first-rank Sword-Forging.

Because of some events in Wano Country, he had to leave his homeland and come here. In addition, he was old and frail and could no longer wield the hammer, so he began to think about finding a successor.

Over time, he took a liking to Dongze. The old man was very cheerful and had a good nature. Sometimes he would even help him watch the shop. Later, he and Dongze became close friends despite their age difference, and he often came to Dongze's place for meals.

"Hey! Old man, don't go too far! That was stir-fried pork loin that Xiao Yi specially made for me!"

"How stingy! It's just one piece!"

"Stop eating! The plate is almost empty!!"

Chapter 133 The Blacksmith's Shop, Whereabouts

Time flies, let's talk about the major events that happened on Fish-Man Island some time ago.

The Whitebeard Pirates and Marine Garp the Hero met here, and the two engaged in an unprecedented battle.

It even alerted the Giant Sea Kings lurking around Fish-Man Island.

Kentauros and the others were so angry they almost showed themselves and bit the two hotheads to death. Fortunately, the two of them held back some of their strength and didn't completely destroy Fish-Man Island.

However, the active volcanoes on the seabed erupted, triggering a massive tsunami in the Sabaody Archipelago that nearly submerged the Sabaody. This caused widespread panic and discouraged business, with even the auction house manager packing up and fleeing for his life.

Garp and Whitebeard once again demonstrated their strength to the world, causing a great uproar.

Those newcomers who were originally planning to challenge the Four Emperors had to temporarily abandon their ideas after hearing this news.

Before this, they probably had never heard of anyone being able to create waves on the seabed.

However, Garp and Whitebeard left a deep impression on these people. Garp's full-power punches made the world know why he was called Iron Fist Garp.

The ultimate Armament Haki, unleashed at full power, created an air column that even pierced through seawater ten thousand meters deep.

Whitebeard, needless to say, was practically a walking natural disaster; his ability to ravage space made him even more daunting.

However, in the end, thanks to Neptune's intervention, both Garp and Whitebeard were entertained at the same time in the Ryugu Palace. Garp and Whitebeard sat at the same table, and no one knows what they talked about, but they both got completely drunk.

Before leaving, Whitebeard took one person's name with him from Neptune!

"Shichibukai - Dongze!"

Garp remains carefree, but interestingly, Gion has become good friends with the mermaid princess Shirahoshi.

"Shirahoshi, did he give you this Little Wooden Sword?"

"I don't understand what you're saying. This little sword is a gift my brother bought for me from the street outside!"

"Bullshit! If I could buy this, I'd swallow my own Kompira!"

"Sword swallowing?"