"I'm leaving."
Zoro's voice was hoarse, but his eyes were like those of a wolf with a broken leg, fixed on Lin Xuan's indifferent face. "This arm... if I don't get a doctor to treat it soon, my swordsmanship is finished."
He was simply stating a fact.
Lin Xuan sat in his chair without even lifting his eyelids, his fingers still tapping idly on the hilt of the cursed sword he had just acquired, Murasame.
Zoro took a deep breath. The wound on his chest split open again with the surge of emotion, seeping red blood. "I, Roronoa Zoro, will remember what happened today. As long as I live... I'll come for your head someday, and that sword."
It was a declaration of war, and the last shred of dignity he had left himself.
He had to leave.
This helplessness suffocated him. If he stayed, fear would take root in his heart until it devoured his swordsman's resolve.
He had to leave, find somewhere to lick his wounds, then grow stronger-strong enough to cut through this nightmare.
Silence hung in the air for two seconds.
"Finished?"
Lin Xuan finally stopped tapping his fingers and slowly opened his eyes.
There was no mockery or killing intent in those dark-gold eyes, only calm.
That calm made Zoro feel even more insulted.
"You can leave." Lin Xuan stood and stretched, his joints cracking all over. "But there's no such thing as a free lunch. That kick you took smashed my deck, and all this blood on the floor needs cleaning. That costs money."
He lifted his foot and nudged the large iron chest containing ten million Beli with the tip of his shoe.
"Pick this up and follow me. My ship's a little far away, and I happen to need a porter."
"Huh?"
Zoro's taut face instantly froze, his burning resolve doused with cold water. "You want me... to carry things for you?"
"What else? Expect those two little girls who do nothing but scream to do it?"
Lin Xuan glanced at Nami and Carina, who were trembling in a corner.
Neither girl dared raise her head even when singled out. That slash that had cleaved the sea had shattered every thought they had of escaping.
In front of this man, any little scheme seemed laughable.
"Either die here now and become a snack for this cursed sword, or work off your debt and see whether you can survive long enough to reach a doctor."
Lin Xuan rested the long sword on his shoulder and headed out through the cabin door without looking back, his tone casual. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. An ordinary doctor can't cure the withering caused by Murasame. Follow me, and if I'm in a good mood, I might tell you how to treat it."
Zoro stood there, the veins at his temples throbbing.
This was humiliation.
But he looked at his shriveled right arm, then at that tall retreating figure, and ultimately swallowed the insult.
"You damned bastard..."
Muttering a curse, he picked up the heavy iron chest with one hand and staggered after him.
Meanwhile, inside the only tavern at Shimotsuki Village's harbor.
Crash!
A glass of rum slammed into the bar, shattering. Flying shards cut the bartender's face.
"You didn't find her? You're telling me you didn't find her?"
The roar exploded through the cramped tavern.
A burly man wrapped in iron chains sat at the bar.
He had a wild mop of green hair and a sick, vicious grin. His eyes gleamed with menace beneath his sunglasses.
He was Trejer, the "Treasure Hunter."
At his feet knelt a burly, bald pirate, trembling all over. He was "Hammer" Barton, who had a bounty of five million Beli.
But now, even with the hammer he usually swaggered around with in his hand, Barton dared not show the slightest disrespect.
"B-boss Trejer... that Cat Burglar is too slippery..." the bald pirate stammered, sweat trickling down his shiny scalp. "She's a thief who specializes in robbing pirates. She knows this area's terrain too well. Our men searched every alley, but..."
"So my treasure map key is still in that rat's hands?"
Trejer cut him off, his voice suddenly turning gentle.
He reached out and lightly stroked the bald pirate's large head, the chains wound around his palm scraping with a teeth-grating sound.
"Y-yes, but don't worry, Boss! I've already sent men to seal off the docks..."
Before the bald pirate could finish, his pupils abruptly contracted.
"Then you're useless trash."
Squelch!
There was no warning.
The chains around Trejer's palm suddenly tightened, instantly digging into flesh before wrenching violently.
The bald pirate did not even have time to scream before his large head burst apart.
Red and white matter splattered across the entire bar, and across Trejer's face as he laughed wildly.
"Hahahaha! Trash! Every last one of you!"
Trejer stuck out his tongue and licked the blood from the corner of his mouth. Its metallic sweetness made him tremble with excitement. "I want results! Results!"
The tavern's other patrons had long since cowered beneath their tables, not daring so much as to breathe loudly.
This was the mad dog of the East Blue, a monster who would crush anything for treasure.
Just then, the tavern door was pushed open, and a pirate with a skull tattoo on his chest rushed in, panicked.
"R-report, Captain! We've got news!"
Not daring even to glance at the headless corpse on the floor, the pirate dropped to one knee. "Some of our men at the docks just saw that Cat Burglar apparently board a small boat and head north! And..."
The pirate swallowed. "And we heard a rookie Marine was nearby too. There seemed to be some strange disturbance out at sea just now. Someone said they saw a sea beast cut in half..."
"A rookie Marine?"
Trejer removed his sunglasses, revealing bloodshot eyes. The grin on his face grew even more vicious. "Interesting... a rat who stole my things, and a Marine brat with a death wish? They actually dared cause trouble on my turf?"
He sprang to his feet, the chains on his body rattling as a savage aura swept through the tavern.
"Pass the order! Everyone aboard! After them!"
Trejer kicked the corpse out of his way and strode toward the door. "I'll skin that Cat Burglar and make a lampshade out of her! As for that Marine... heh heh, there's nothing I love more than the sound of Marine bones breaking!"
Only after Trejer left with his vicious followers did the oppressive atmosphere in the tavern ease slightly.
Yet no one noticed.
In the tavern's darkest corner, a man in a gray cloak slowly set down his glass.
Beneath the shadow of his hood, only part of a resolute chin and the two cigars clenched in his mouth were visible.
"Trejer..."
The man murmured the name, watching the direction the pirates had gone. Rather than immediately following, he took a Den Den Mushi from inside his clothes.
"This is the adjutant."
He dialed the number, his voice calm amid the noisy background. "The target has left the harbor. He seems to have found prey. Also... it looks like he's set his sights on that rookie Marine who caused a disturbance in Shimotsuki Village."
He paused, looking through the window at the dark clouds gradually gathering over the distant sea.
"What does Captain Smoker say?" There was a brief silence on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, followed by the sharp scrape of a lighter's wheel, then a lazy exhalation.
"Trejer? That mad dog who goes around biting everyone finally couldn't hold back?"
Smoker's voice had the distinctive rasp of a heavy smoker. Even through the Den Den Mushi, the adjutant could imagine the captain with his feet propped on his desk, impatiently puffing smoke.
"Since he crawled out of his hole himself, that saves me digging through those moldy sewers again. As for that... what was his name? Lin Xuan?"
The Den Den Mushi mimicked Smoker's expression, brows furrowed and mouth twisted in contempt. "A green recruit who's barely put to sea thinks cutting down one sea beast means he can do whatever he wants in the East Blue? I personally bury dozens of brats who don't know their limits in Loguetown every year."
"But Captain, according to our intelligence, that Lin Xuan seems to have ties to Vice Admiral Garp..." The adjutant lowered his voice, hesitant.
"Shut up."
Smoker cut him off coldly. "This is the East Blue. My turf, not a nursery for those big shots at headquarters. If he's a Marine, he should be prepared to die at a pirate's hands. If he can't even handle the likes of Trejer, he deserves to die at sea. It'll save him embarrassing himself on the Grand Line later."
Another heavy exhalation of smoke came from the other end, and a hint of amusement entered Smoker's voice.
"Still, since this brat loves showing off so much, let's oblige him. Go notify that old bastard who spends all day eating rice crackers-tell him his precious adopted son is playing with fire near Shimotsuki Village. If he comes too late, he'll probably have to retrieve the body from a shark's belly."
"Click."
The call was abruptly disconnected.
The adjutant looked at the sleeping Den Den Mushi in his hand and sighed helplessly.
He turned his gaze toward the gloomy sea outside the window. Dark clouds were gathering over the horizon, and waves struck the reefs with low, muffled booms.
Trejer's madness, Smoker's orders, and that still-unaware rookie Marine... the three sides were about to collide violently in these waters of the East Blue.
Meanwhile, ten nautical miles from Shimotsuki Village.
A modest sailboat rose and fell with the waves.
Lin Xuan had no idea that, in just the past few minutes, his name had been on the lips of the East Blue's most vicious pirate and its most troublesome Marine captain.
Of course, even if he knew, he probably would only have yawned.
Right now, he faced a more "serious" problem.
"Hey, Moss Head, pick up the pace."
Lin Xuan sat in a freshly wiped folding chair, holding a cup of hot tea as he watched the figure wrestling with a mop at the other end of the deck. "Leave blood in the gaps between the planks, and it'll attract rats tonight. Or do you want me to throw that sword into the sea to feed the fish?"
A short distance away, Zoro gripped the mop with one hand, veins bulging on his forehead. Every push and pull looked as though he intended to take the deck down with him.
His withered right arm hung limp, and the intense pain left his face deathly pale. But even harder to bear was this humiliation-a future great swordsman reduced to cleaning for a Marine.
"Shut up..." Zoro gritted his teeth and forced the words out between them. "Once my arm's healed... I'll cut you down!"
"Sure, sure. Get in line. The people who want to cut me down could queue from here to Marineford."
Lin Xuan waved dismissively, taking the Pirate Hunter's threat completely in stride.
His gaze swept over Nami and Carina, who were huddled by the cabin doorway, stealing glances at him as though looking at a monster. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
The two little cat burglars had been badly frightened, but at least they were aboard.
Once they were aboard, they were the greatest gain of this voyage-after all, skilled navigators were scarce resources in this world.
But none of that was the most pressing matter.
Lin Xuan set down his teacup and slowly stood.
The sea breeze whipped the broad Marine cloak behind him, making it snap.
Before absolute strength, all schemes and connections were fragile bubbles.
Though he had overwhelmed Zoro in today's battle, it had also made him realize more clearly how far this body still had to go before it could match the true monsters.
Kenpachi Zaraki's template was powerful, but it was pure violence, requiring a matching physique and killing instincts to fully master.
Even now, he could still feel a faint ache and tingling deep in his muscles from the burst of power in that single slash.
This was the price, and a reminder.
"The system was never a nanny. It only gave me a key."
Lin Xuan murmured to himself, drawing his gaze from the rolling horizon to the ordinary wooden sword by his feet.
He had found it in a pile of clutter in the cabin. Its material was rough and its balance poor. Compared to the cursed sword Murasame, it was no better than firewood.
But he bent down and picked it up.
As his fingertips rubbed the rough grain, a grounded feeling spread from his palm.
In this world filled with Devil Fruits and Haki, only sweat and day-after-day practice offered a shortcut to the summit.
Lin Xuan took a deep breath of the salty sea breeze, set his feet shoulder-width apart, and assumed the most basic opening stance.
Seeing this, Zoro stopped wrestling with his mop and instinctively looked over.
Before you continue