Mihawk was clearly dead set on fighting Kuro. That merciless attack at Lida had completely enraged him.
And it wasn't the first time either—he'd launched an attack without any warning. If Kuro and Lida hadn't blocked it, everyone on the ship would've been in serious danger.
Pirates really were a lawless, undisciplined bunch.
"Ittō-ryū: Kami no Jūji!"
Kuro flipped his blade up, deflecting Mihawk's sword, and in the next instant, unleashed a cross-shaped slash.
"An interesting sword technique."
Mihawk took a step back, blocking with his blade. After receiving Kuro's strike, he countered with a swift swing.
Clang!
Kuro blocked it. Sparks flew as their swords clashed, and he slashed horizontally at Mihawk's neck.
"Haki."
Mihawk dodged and asked, "A man like you... why are you in the East Blue?"
If it weren't for Haki, that ordinary blade would've shattered the moment it touched Mihawk's sword.
"Ittō-ryū: Iwakuzure!"
Kuro leapt high, gripping his sword with both hands, and brought it down in a heavy slash.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Back and forth they went across the deck.
The marines stood dumbfounded.
That's the world's strongest swordsman… and he's evenly matched with their warrant officer?
So maybe the world's strongest swordsman… isn't that strong after all?
With their limited perspective, the marines didn't think their warrant officer was anything special—they just assumed Mihawk wasn't all that impressive.
"Maybe I could take him too?"
Kuro dodged another of Mihawk's slashes, sheathed his blade, then drew again.
"Ittō-ryū: Akkai!"
A wave of killing intent washed over the entire ship with that swing. Nearby, Klahadore felt dizzy and nearly collapsed.
That feeling again… like I could die at any moment.
Thud.
Thud.
The marines dropped one by one, eyes glazed over.
Mihawk was surprised. "Conqueror's Haki? No... Killing intent? To use it to this extent—you're impressive."
"Kuro's getting serious now."
From the sidelines, Lida casually munched on an apple and said.
"You're saying he wasn't serious before?" Klahadore forced himself to stay conscious under the pressure.
They're fighting like that and he still wasn't serious?
Unlike those clueless marines, Klahadore understood. Every move between the two was heart-stopping. Any one of those attacks could kill him instantly.
Lida said, "That guy Mihawk didn't show any killing intent. He just wanted to spar. Kuro didn't really want to fight at first—but now he's clearly pissed."
"Oh? So now it's for real?"
Mihawk could feel it too. A flicker of anticipation appeared in his gaze.
"Mumyo Jinpuu Ryuu Ōgi: Seiryū!"
Kuro ran two fingers along his blade, which began to glow with golden light, then slashed at Mihawk.
Moisture in the air stirred the sea, gathering on Kuro's sword and forming the shape of a water dragon.
Mihawk's expression turned serious. He gripped his black blade with both hands and countered.
Their slashes passed each other.
Crack!
Kuro's blade shattered inch by inch. Holding just the hilt, he said calmly, "Can you feel the anger of the Dragon King?"
Shhk!
Blood splattered from Mihawk's hand. A cut appeared on his cheek, bleeding freely.
Despite being wounded, he wasn't angry. He sighed in admiration. "An interesting technique. Controlling moisture... even blood. Too bad your sword held you back. You need a proper blade."
He was wounded. The world's strongest swordsman… was actually wounded.
Others might not grasp what that meant, but Lida knew exactly.
A regular sword injured Mihawk. Kuro was worthy of challenging the title of world's strongest swordsman.
Kuro took a deep breath, picked up a marine's saber, and coated it with Haki again.
"That doesn't work on you, huh? Makes sense—you are the world's strongest."
He touched the blade again. "Lida, get away from me. Mumyo Jinpuu Ryuu secret—"
"That's enough. I've had my fun."
Mihawk suddenly raised a hand and sheathed his sword. "If we keep going, your ship's going to fall apart. I'm not here to fight the Marines."
"Lida got hurt blocking your slash, and my ship almost got wrecked—and now you say, 'I'm done'? Must be nice, being a Warlord!" Kuro shouted angrily.
All the marines had fainted, so no one was watching. Honestly, he had wanted to test just how far he was from the world's best swordsman.
"Didn't I get hurt too? Let's call it even."
Mihawk said it casually, then vanished in a blink, landing on his small boat. "Sorry—but yes, being a Warlord means we get special privileges."
He looked satisfied. What had started as a boring trip to the East Blue had ended with two interesting encounters:
That Roronoa Zoro… and this man, who might one day challenge his throne.
"Your name?"
"I'm Klahadore!" Kuro said seriously. "Remember my name! One day, I'll replace you as the world's strongest swordsman!"
"???"
Klahadore, who had been watching the fight in awe, was left with a head full of question marks.
What's this got to do with me? Did he just say my name by mistake?
"I'll remember it."
Mihawk nodded. "Find a proper sword. A swordsman without a worthy sword will always be held back. When you're ready, come find me. I'll be waiting."
He sat down in his little boat, slowly drifting away.
Kuro lowered his sword and narrowed his eyes.
"Still not enough…"
A strong swordsman can instantly tell how wide the gap is between them and their opponent.
Kuro knew—he wasn't there yet. If they fought to the death, he'd lose. But Mihawk wouldn't win easily either.
That duel had let him gauge his own strength through Mihawk.
Yep… playing it safe is still best.
"Kuro, just now…"
Klahadore walked up behind him and asked gloomily, "What was that about?"
"What?"
"You told Mihawk your name was Klahadore."
"What?"
"You just…"
"What?"
"Klahadore."
"What—"
"Forget it, never mind. I'm going to lie down."
"Alrighty."
After sending Klahadore away, Kuro bared his teeth at Mihawk's retreating figure.
"We'll meet again. One of these days, I'll whack you from behind."
But Mihawk had a point—he really didn't have a good sword.
And if they did go all out, it wouldn't end quickly.
He didn't want Marine HQ noticing him—it was just too dangerous.
He'd already avenged Lida's injury, and Mihawk got hurt too.
So it wasn't a loss. Even if Mihawk reported this to the higher-ups, so what? It wasn't even his real name.
If they had the guts, they could go find Klahadore.
What's that got to do with him?
Because the marines had all fainted, the ship couldn't move.
So Kuro could only use a telescope to watch the battle happening in front of them.
Lida was holding a telescope too, watching from the side:
"That's Don Krieg, right? Bounty of 17 million. I heard he went to the Grand Line—how'd he end up back so fast?"
"Just bad luck. A fleet like his would be a headache even for the Marines if it entered the Grand Line. But of all things, he ran into a storm and Mihawk. If he's not the unlucky one, who is?"
Kuro clicked his tongue as he watched the big guy dressed like a Saint Seiya character exchange blows with the Straw Hat kid.
"Arrest him later."
"You had a change of heart?" Lida looked at Kuro in surprise.
"Don't you already know why I'm arresting him?"
Kuro glanced at the white-haired glutton still munching away like she had no self-awareness and sighed.
They were low on funds. He needed to figure out a way to make some money.
Bang!
"Daisenso!"
On the Baratie platform, Krieg stared in shock at his shattered Daisenso. "What did you do?!"
"I punched it five times," Luffy said with a grin.
"Hey, that straw hat guy…"
Not far off, watching through binoculars, Lida spoke in surprise.
"Yeah, that's Haki—but it looks like he's using it unconsciously," Kuro nodded.
After all, he'd been trained by Garp from a young age. Physically, he was already at the standard. He just didn't know how to control it yet.
"Haki?"
Klahadore, finally snapping out of his sulk, asked curiously, "Kuro, what is Haki? What kind of power is that?"
"Mm. That's Armament Haki. There's also Observation Haki, and the rare Conqueror's Haki that only those with a strong will can use. I'll teach you later."
Kuro glanced at Klahadore as he said this.
"He's flying! Krieg is flying!"
Lida suddenly cheered.
In midair, Luffy stretched his arms back and slammed a powerful punch into Krieg's chest.
"Gomu Gomu no… Rocket!"
BOOM!!!
Krieg's golden armor shattered as he was sent flying back, crashing onto the deck of the patrol ship.
"Cough, cough… Hahaha, I'm fine! I'm fine!"
Krieg coughed up blood, staggered to his feet, and laughed wildly.
Then he realized where he was.
"Marines? Hahaha! Perfect! They're all passed out. Hey, you lot! Fire at Baratie! Kill that straw hat brat!"
Krieg flinched for a moment, but seeing the marines unconscious, he relaxed and shouted at the three figures nearby.
A lazy-looking marine, a little girl, and a guy with glasses who looked like a butler.
I could crush them with one hand!
"If I take this ship, I can sneak into the Marine base and get more ship! Hahaha, my grand fleet will rise again!"
Lida tossed an apple core into the sea and looked at Krieg like he was an idiot.
"Moron."
"Stay away from him. Stupidity might be contagious."
Kuro patted Lida on the head.
"Hey! Can't you hear me?! Or are you so scared that you can't even move?!"
Krieg laughed louder, seeing no one respond.
"That guy…"
Not far away, Zeff saw Krieg land on the Marine ship and shouted to Luffy, "Hey, kid, time to go. Sanji, stop hesitating and move!"
"Why, old man? I'm not leaving!"
"If you don't go now, you won't get another chance."
Zeff's face turned serious. "There's someone strong on that ship—strong enough to fight Mihawk."
Others might not have noticed, but he had. He'd sensed a powerful presence on that ship even before Mihawk left. Clearly, someone strong was there.
…
"Hey, glasses guy! Fire the cannons!"
Krieg pointed at Klahadore and barked.
"Huh?"
Klahadore pointed at himself, confused.
Apparently, he was the only one wearing glasses.
"Do you want to die?!"
Krieg picked up a gun and marched toward him. "I said, fire the cannons!"
"Nukiashi."
Klahadore's sheath dropped to the ground as he instantly appeared behind Krieg.
SLASH!!!
Five deep gashes tore down Krieg's back, reaching the bone. His eyes rolled back as he collapsed.
Klahadore adjusted his glasses, then kicked Krieg a few more times for good measure.
"I'm Captain Kuro! Not 'the guy with glasses'!"
It's one thing if Kuro bullies me—I can't beat him.
If Mihawk ignores me, that's fine—I can't beat him either.
Lida? I can't beat her, and I wouldn't dare try.
But you? Who do you think you are?!
The marines slowly began to stir. Kuro had held back his killing intent, so they'd only been knocked out.
"Sir Kuro, that man with the hawk-eyes… is he gone?"
Cass woke up and, seeing Mihawk wasn't around, asked curiously.
"Oh, he got forced to leave by Klahadore. Klahadore, go ahead and explain."
Kuro waved Cass off and called out to Klahadore.
This hot-blooded idiot… Too much exposure to him might bring trouble.
If not for him, I'd still be enjoying life at the branch office.
"I… I mean, yes, that's right. That was me."
Klahadore still looked dazed, but under Kuro's intense stare, he straightened up and said, "Mihawk retreated because of me."
"As expected of Mr. Klahadore! I think I heard him state his name before I passed out."
"Me too! Mihawk said Mr. Klahadore had what it takes to challenge him!"
"…That must mean he's incredible!"
Cass teared up. "Mr. Klahadore hadn't even joined the Navy yet and already stood up to the world's strongest—for our sake. Just like Sir Kuro—so noble!"
As the marines grew more emotional, Klahadore swallowed hard.
He had a feeling that black suit of his was never coming off again.
Their ship neared Baratie. Lida cheered and eagerly jumped off, "Baratie! Delicious food! Baratie!"
Suddenly, a group of people appeared nearby.
Gin stepped forward with his twin batons, blood at the corner of his mouth. "Hand over our captains!"
"Huh? You guys haven't left yet?"
Lida asked, confused. "We gave you time. Why are you still here?"
"Miss Lida, be careful—they're pirates!"
The marines spotted the group surrounding her and shouted anxiously, quickly lowering rope ladders.
"Sorry, girl."
Seeing the situation, Gin made up his mind and charged Lida.
She has to be important. If I take her, I can force them to release the boss!
Gin lunged at Lida, grabbed her with one hand, and shouted at the marines, "If you want her back, then hand over the Cap—"
Before he could finish, his body went limp and he collapsed.
"No..."
Gin weakly reached out. "Boss… I'm sorry…"
Lida looked down at him and said, "12 million, Gin. Another bounty. Hey, Kuro, I caught this one—make sure to split it with me."
Veins popped on Kuro's forehead. "What do you think I need money for?! And you want half?! Where's your conscience?!"
Still on the ship, Klahadore twitched.
He thought Lida blocking Mihawk's attack was already absurd—but this?
That was Gin. A name he'd heard long ago. And he lost the moment he touched her?
"A Devil Fruit user?…" Kuro muttered.
Aside from Gin, there was also Pearl, a man covered in shields, worth 8 million.
With Gin down and Pearl already unconscious earlier, the rest were easy. The marines landed and quickly surrounded the pirates, escorting them onto the ship one by one.
"Sorry, guests. Baratie just got attacked and needs repairs. Maybe come back another time?"
A chef resembling Popeye stood smiling, casually blocking Lida's path.
"Huh? But I'm hungry! I've been dreaming of Baratie's food, and now I can't eat here?" Lida looked devastated.
"You can eat! Baratie never turns away the hungry. Come on in."
Zeff stepped out from behind the Popeye chef and smiled at Lida. "As thanks for you Marines catching those pirates, Baratie's on the house."
Is this old man serious?
Kuro, who had just walked over, was stunned—then immediately overjoyed.
"Old man, you better mean it! If it's not free, I'm arresting you!"
(*****)
If you'd like to read chapters ahead, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/ANeet. Your support means a lot. Thank you!