Dead silence fell again.
"He left first?" The corners of Sengoku's mouth began twitching uncontrollably. "You're telling me that a sixteen-year-old boy who's never traveled far from home set off alone in a battered sailboat, without any escort, toward Reverse Mountain, the gateway to the Grand Line?"
"Hahahaha! Don't worry, Sengoku! That kid's as strong as a bull. A few Sea Kings..."
"Is this about Sea Kings?!"
Sengoku crushed the receiver in his hand, his roar nearly shaking the fortress of Marineford apart. "The East Blue may be weak, but it's still the sea! No navigator! No Log Pose! If he runs into a storm or loses his way, even a top-tier fighter could die of thirst or starvation out there! You bastard! You're murdering the Navy's future!"
The officers throughout the conference room fell silent with fear.
Sengoku was like a lion whose sorest spot had been struck. He spun around and bellowed out the door:
"Onigumo! Where are you? Take your fleet and set out immediately! Head for the junction between the East Blue and the Grand Line at full speed! And Smoker... isn't that troublemaker Smoker in Loguetown? Call him! Tell him that if he fails to pick up that boy named Lin Xuan, or lets a single hair on his head get hurt, I'll stuff him into Level Six of Impel Down to reflect on his mistakes!"
"All Navy branches in the East Blue, listen up! Whatever it costs, find him first! We cannot let him die halfway there over something as stupid as getting lost!"
Somewhere in an unnamed stretch of the East Blue.
The blazing sun hung overhead, and the sea lay calm and still. Only the occasional flying fish breaking the surface disturbed the quiet.
A rather shabby single-masted sailboat drifted with the waves.
On deck, a bare-chested boy held a heavy, blunt wooden sword in both hands. Sweat slid down his sharply defined muscles, collecting in a small puddle at his feet.
"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight..."
"Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine..."
"Ten thousand!"
As the final number squeezed through his clenched teeth, Lin Xuan brought the wooden sword slashing down.
He used no Haki and channeled no sword pressure into the slash. It was nothing but raw physical strength and muscle memory.
Whoom-
The air was forcibly compressed into a low boom. A visible white shock wave extended from the blade, plowing a trench dozens of meters long through the calm sea. Only several seconds later did the water on either side crash together, sending spray flying.
Lin Xuan let out a long breath and casually tucked the wooden sword back into his waistband, paying no mind to its astonishing destructive power.
To him, this was just his daily routine.
[Ding! Daily task "Swing your sword ten thousand times" completed.] [Kenpachi Zaraki template unlock progress increased slightly... current unlock percentage: 5.2%.]
The cold, mechanical voice in his mind actually sounded rather friendly now.
Lin Xuan grabbed the waterskin on the deck, tipped his head back, and took a deep gulp.
The warm fresh water slid down his throat. It tasted unpleasant, but eased his thirst a little.
He wiped the sweat from his face. Feeling the seemingly endless surge of spiritual pressure within him, he curled his lips into a smile.
Effort brought rewards. That was the beauty of the system.
Even something as dull as swinging a sword let him clearly feel himself growing stronger.
The tangible sensation of power rushing through his veins was far more addictive than any game in his previous life.
Except...
Lin Xuan walked to the gunwale, shaded his brow with one hand, and gazed out at the endless sea around him. A trace of helplessness finally appeared on his normally stern face.
"I've got the strength, but I seem to have overlooked one fatal problem."
Lin Xuan sighed as he looked down at the little boat spinning aimlessly in the breeze and scratched his hair helplessly.
"I don't know the first thing about navigation."
Before his reincarnation, he had been so hopeless with directions that he could even take the subway the wrong way. Expecting him to navigate by the stars in a world without GPS was asking far too much.
He had spent the past two days drifting around on instinct alone. Forget going to Marineford to become an Admiral-at this rate, he might really become the "Pirate King" first, the kind who starved to death at sea.
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have shown off in front of old man Garp. I could've just hitched a ride on a warship."
Lin Xuan grumbled in frustration, and his stomach obligingly let out a thunderous rumble.
Just as he was considering jumping into the sea to catch a Sea King for sashimi, a strange fluctuation suddenly entered his range of perception.
It was Observation Haki.
Unlike Garp's wide-ranging radar, Lin Xuan's Observation Haki was more like a keen nose for malice and powerful opponents, brimming with beastlike instinct.
To the southeast, roughly five nautical miles away.
A ship was rapidly approaching.
And aboard that ship, Lin Xuan sensed a somewhat chaotic, frenzied presence-the scent of desperate outlaws.
A pirate ship?
Lin Xuan's eyes brightened slightly.
To him, a pirate ship meant more than opponents to practice on. More importantly, it usually carried a navigator and plenty of supplies.
"Just what I needed, right when I needed it."
The smile on Lin Xuan's lips widened, and a bloodthirsty madness gradually surfaced in his clear, youthful eyes.
But a second later, his expression briefly froze.
Ahead of that jumble of pirate presences, there seemed to be a familiar presence mixed in.
Though still immature, it carried a fighting spirit as scorching as fire.
"This feeling..." Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow, his palm unconsciously rubbing the sword hilt at his waist as he fixed his gaze in that direction. "Who else could it be but that guy who's always trying to surpass me?"
Since he had run into someone he knew, all the more reason to go say hello.
On this stretch of sea where even a News Coo could hardly be bothered to visit, running into a living navigation device was rarer than a windfall dropping from the sky.
"I hope that kid's stocked enough meat and booze on his boat. Otherwise, I'll have to tie him up and trade him in for bounty money to buy food."
Muttering to himself, Lin Xuan picked up a spare long plank from the deck.
The shock wave from his earlier sword swing had already ripped the battered boat's sail halfway apart. Relying on the wind was out of the question.
Fortunately, strength was the one thing he had in abundance now.
"Get... moving!"
The muscles in Lin Xuan's arms bulged, veins coiling like dragons as he slammed the plank into the sea like a giant oar.
Boom!
A huge burst of spray exploded behind the sailboat. The entire little vessel let out a teeth-grating creak, as though someone had kicked it hard from behind. Its bow reared up before it shot through the waves like an arrow released from a bowstring.
Seawater splashed over Lin Xuan's bare upper body, bringing not cool relief but the excitement of an imminent encounter with prey.
As he drew closer, a pungent sulfurous odor gradually mingled with the salty sea breeze.
It was the smell of burned, low-grade gunpowder.
"Looks like there's no need for small talk. They've already started fighting."
Lin Xuan licked his slightly cracked lips. Within the sensory web of his Observation Haki, that frenzied malice was pouring out wildly, while the presence he had mistaken for someone else was now stretched taut, even overdrawn.
No, that wasn't right.
As the sailboat surged over one last swell and the view opened up, Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Five nautical miles away, a medium-sized pirate ship flying a skull flag bearing a black axe sailed with its canvas full. Cannons along its side spat tongues of flame, and black cannonballs struck the sea, throwing up columns of water.
Under that dense barrage, a pitifully small skiff darted from side to side.
Despite the distance, Lin Xuan's keen vision clearly picked out the figure being pursued.
It was not Ace.
Though he likewise radiated fighting spirit, this person's presence was colder and harder, like a piece of iron chilled in the deep sea.
Most conspicuous were his short hair, gleaming green in the sunlight, and the three long swords at his waist, clinking with his movements.
"Moss Head... three swords..."
Lin Xuan froze for a moment. Then the wild grin on his face grew even more unrestrained, taking on a hint of amusement.
"Ha, looks like I really am lucky. It's not that fire-playing kid, but this is an even more interesting expert at getting lost."
If it was this guy, there definitely wouldn't be a navigator aboard.
Count on him to lead the way to Marineford? They would probably spend the rest of their lives circling the entrance to the Grand Line.
Still-
Lin Xuan rested one hand on the sword hilt at his waist, feeling its rough texture against his palm as a faint red gleam flickered in his eyes.
Compared with finding a driver, a rough gem still in this untamed stage of growth seemed far more valuable, whether as a whetstone for his blade or someone to capture and make his underling.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield ahead.
Boom-!
Another cannonball landed less than three meters to the skiff's left. The enormous shock wave hurled up tons of seawater and slammed it into the little boat, which was already on the verge of capsizing.
Seawater spread across the deck and over his ankles, chilling him to the bone.
Roronoa Zoro panted heavily, his chest heaving.
Sweat mixed with seawater ran into his eyes, making them sting fiercely, but he did not even have time to blink.
This was already the second day.
Ever since that stupid tavern brawl yesterday, the Black Axe Pirates had refused to let him go.
A full day and night of pursuit, without food or fresh water. Even closing his eyes for a second of rest was a luxury beyond reach.
His stamina had reached its limit.
Chapter 15: Splitting Cannonballs with a Wooden Sword? This Rookie Is a Monster!
An iron ball hurtled toward him with a piercing whistle, rapidly growing larger in Zoro's eyes.
He couldn't dodge it.
Zoro's green hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat.
His throat felt as dry as if he had swallowed sand, and even his breath tasted of blood.
He could even make out the patterns of rust on the cannonball's surface.
"Get... the hell away!"
Zoro roared, gripping the white Famous Sword, Wado Ichimonji, in both hands. Squeezing the last ounce of strength from his muscles, he slashed upward.
Clang-!
The piercing crash of metal battered his eardrums painfully.
A tremendous recoil surged through the webbing of his hands. Zoro felt as though the bones in his hands were about to shatter. The force sent him sliding backward, his back slamming hard into the skiff's gunwale and nearly throwing him into the sea.
The cannonball veered off course and plunged into the sea thirty meters to the side, drenching Zoro with the column of water it threw up.
"Hah... hah..."
Zoro knelt on one knee on the flooded deck as black spots began creeping into his vision.
The sword in his hand trembled. His body had reached its limit.
Was this how it ended?
Blasted into scraps of flesh by cannon fire in some corner of the East Blue?
In his daze, the promise made beneath that moonlit sky echoed in his mind.
"Then it's a promise!
Someday, one of us will become the world's greatest swordsman!
The girl's voice was still so clear. A trace of warmth seemed to flow from Wado Ichimonji in his hand.
Zoro's unfocused pupils suddenly contracted, and a fierce look gathered in his eyes once more.
Even if he died, he would tear a chunk of flesh from his enemy.
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