River smiled as he watched Zoro hurry up to him, not even having had time to wipe the ketchup off his head. He knew why Zoro had come.
"If you mean Dracule Mihawk..."
"Then yes, I did defeat him!"
River nodded as he spoke.
"So, Roronoa Zoro, did you come all this way just to ask that question?"
Zoro stood frozen, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief.
He couldn't believe that the World's Greatest Swordsman, the man who had defeated him effortlessly with nothing but a tiny knife, could lose.
And to this Marine standing before him, who looked so ordinary, with nothing special about him.
"Hah!"
Drawing a deep breath, Zoro's expression grew utterly serious and grim.
"Is that so?"
"My goal is to become the World's Greatest Swordsman!"
"Then that makes you the greatest goal of my life right now!"
Bending slightly, he slowly drew the swords at his waist, holding two in his hands and clenching the third in his mouth.
Once he had taken a fighting stance, Zoro suddenly roared.
"Fight me, World's Greatest Swordsman!"
Freya stared, stunned by the display.
"He came to challenge you, sir."
River smiled as he looked at the man before him, a trace of admiration appearing in his eyes.
The weak turned their blades on those weaker than themselves; the strong turned theirs on those stronger.
"Roronoa Zoro, even I have to commend you."
"You have tremendous courage, but challenging me as you are now is nothing more than courting death."
Those words did not make Zoro retreat. Instead, his gaze sharpened, and his aura instantly became that of a crazed beast.
"So determined?"
River spoke softly, his gaze growing a little more serious.
"Please, fight me!"
"I want to see just how high the pinnacle of this world