"No way? You're leaving again? Can you take me with you this time? I want to go back and visit too!" Rebecca said pitifully as soon as she heard that Vic was leaving, while Ain looked at Vic expectantly from the side.
"I can manage traveling alone, but I can't carry anyone. Going back by boat would take too long, and we wouldn't make it in time if a mission came up. Let's take you after we've established our own operation! This time I'm just going to see my swordsmanship master and swordsmith master; I'll be back soon!"
Vic patted Rebecca's head to comfort her, saying that Rebecca didn't know Koshiro and the others, so it didn't matter whether she went or not.
" Barnett, if you don't have any missions, you can take them for a walk around the area, but don't go to the royal city up there. The old man will probably sail around the nearby waters. You can go if you want, or you can train in Foosha Village if you don't want to."
None of the three of you Awakening your Armament Haki yet. You could consult the old man; he's the absolute master in this field and can greatly help you Awakening your Armament Haki. You could try three against one, it'll be quite an experience!
After finishing speaking with Rebecca, Vic turned to Barnett and said that he had been getting beaten up by Garp a lot lately, so he naturally wanted them to have some fun too. Sharing is caring, and good things should be shared.
Barnett looked at him with disdain. "Don't you have any idea how badly the old man beat you? Even you couldn't take it. How many punches can we take? You've become more and more unreliable since you ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. You even betray your own people. You can't stand seeing others do well, can you?"
After a few more words, Vic transformed into Inazuma and vanished into the sky. The clouds in the sky were his optical fibers, and he moved through them like light at an astonishing speed. The sky was full of clouds, Vic quickly arrived above Shimotsuki Village. The Inazuma gathered and formed a human shape before falling towards a certain place.
"Uncle! Are you lost? Do you want to ask for directions?" A four or five-year-old boy with green hair asked Vic, who had just landed. He didn't seem surprised or scared by Vic's sudden appearance; instead, his eyes showed a hint of joy.
"What do you mean, 'uncle'? You should call me 'big brother'! Are you lost? You're asking me for directions? I'd ask anyone else for directions, not you!"
The child in front of Vic was Zoro. He had already gone far away from the inhabited village and was still walking further away. He was obviously lost. Vic didn't expect that Zoro had been terrible with directions since he was a child, and that he was so stubborn.
"Brother! Could you take me home? I left yesterday, but I can't find my way home. Everywhere looks like the way home!"
Zoro blushed a little when Vic pointed it out. He had originally wanted to trick Vic into becoming his bodyguard. Vic looked tall and had an extraordinary air about him, so he was definitely a capable person. He had been terrified by the beast's roar last night, but this guy seemed to be quite smart and wasn't fooled at all. He saw through him at a glance.
"Let's go! I'll take you home, lest you get eaten by wild animals!"
Since Vic chose to show up, he naturally wanted to help this directionally challenged guy. This guy is a representative of future hard work. Although he has some family blood support, his efforts are obvious to all.
Just like himself, although he had physical proficiency, he had also put in a lot of effort in his cultivation, otherwise he would not have reached this level at this age.
Although Vic traveled through time to the Wano Country arc and didn't know that Shimotsuki Ushimaru was Zoro's uncle, based on their appearances alone, Vic had no doubt that Zoro's background was extraordinary, simply because everything was too coincidental.
Vic has Observation Haki, so he can simply scan any village he sees, and then Zoro only needs to describe what the village looks like.
Vic led Zoro straight towards the village. Zoro got distracted several times along the way and strayed off course. If Vic hadn't had Observation Haki, they really wouldn't have been able to bring him back.
Zoro's attention wandered because it was focused on the Thunder Drum floating behind Vic. He couldn't figure out how it was done, and his mind drifted away.
Vic suspects that the reason Zoro is so bad at directions as an adult is because he was thinking about cool sword moves while traveling, and naturally got lost due to his distraction.
After Vic escorted Zoro back to the village, his parents came to thank Vic profusely. Zoro's father looked pale, as he was either ill or had an old injury that had not yet healed.
His green hair is exactly like Zoro's, and he looks like he was made from the same mold as the grown-up Zoro.
Zoro's mother was a beautiful woman with flowing black hair. Although she wasn't carrying any weapons, her aura was unlike that of an ordinary woman.
What Vic didn't know was that Zoro's father, Roronoa Arashi, was also a pirate. However, Arashi was seriously injured and on the verge of death during a battle with another powerful pirate. It was Zoro's mother who rescued Arashi when he drifted to the shore.
The two later fell in love and had a son, Zoro. In the end, Arashi brought the mother and son to live on the island where he was born.
However, Arashi's old wounds never healed and would soon worsen, leading to his death. His mother would also pass away from grief, leaving Zoro an orphan. This is why Zoro got lost one day and ended up in Shimotsuki Village, where he stayed at Isshin Dojo to learn swordsmanship.
Seeing that Zoro had his parents with him, Vic gave up on the idea of taking Zoro to Shimotsuki Village, figuring he would find it himself later. Vic also declined the couple's invitation to stay for dinner and disappeared in a flash.
" Tera! Did we miss something? The guy who brought Zoro back looks pretty strong! Although he wasn't carrying any swords, I could sense a faint aura of sharpness about him. If Zoro could become his apprentice, I could leave this world in peace! Cough cough cough!" Lan turned to his wife beside him and said, but his old injury was really serious.
"No, Lan! You'll definitely get better. Then you can personally teach Zoro. The most important thing is for our family to live happily together!" Tera looked at her husband with tears in her eyes, still holding Zoro's little hand, as if afraid he would get lost.
By this time, Vic had already left and arrived in the forest outside Shimotsuki Village. He planned to visit Kozaburo, who lived alone. He had now returned to his original attire, and he had stored the Thunder Drum and Justice Cloak in his Dimensional Space. Two dragon-shaped longswords appeared at his waist. Although the news of his becoming a Marine had already been published in the newspapers, and he had said before that he wanted to become a Marine, there was no need for him to appear in public as a Marine now.
As they approached Kozaburo's wooden hut, Vic heard the familiar sound of blacksmithing again, which reminded him of the days when he learned to forge swords.
Back then, without the metallurgical abilities of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he could only hammer away at the metal blade blanks, sweating profusely every day while shirtless. Although he hadn't yet used the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's power to forge a blade, he would definitely use it in the future; the blade at his waist hadn't yet reached its peak quality.
"Hey bro! Still forging iron? Didn't you finish the Wado Ichimonji a long time ago? Can't you find a moment to rest?"
After entering the cabin, Vic said to Kozaburo, "Kozaburo is not young anymore. The Wado Ichimonji was originally his obsession, but Vic has already helped him achieve it. Now Kozaburo has returned to his old ways. He really can't stay idle."