Chapter 363: Arrival of the World’s Strongest Swordsman

“Luffy, Ye Fan says a fight is coming.”

“Nani? A fight? What fight?”

Luffy scratched his head in confusion. Clearly, expecting him to remember anything important was a tall order.

“Here’s the deal—the Krieg Pirates should be arriving soon. After this, Sanji will probably join us.”

Seeing Luffy look so lost, Usopp hurried over and whispered in his ear.

Luffy’s face lit up with excitement. He clenched his fists. “Yoshi!”

“Oh right, Sanji, the Krieg Pirates are here. You want to come with?”

Watching how carefree Luffy was, Usopp couldn’t help but cover his face to stifle a laugh.

Seriously, this is hopeless. Did he not get why I whispered in the first place? I was trying to keep it from Sanji! You just said it out loud—now he’s on guard!

“Is that so? Guess I’ll have to see what happens.”

Usopp was caught off guard by Sanji’s reaction. He hadn’t expected him to say that.

He glanced at Luffy, who looked pleased as punch. Maybe all that effort lately hadn’t been in vain—Sanji was starting to show interest.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said something like that.

By the time everyone made it out to the deck in front of Baratie, the massive silhouette of a ship loomed in the distance.

“That’s the Krieg Pirates? That ship’s enormous!”

“Suddenly I’ve come down with a deadly case of ‘If I leave the ship, I die.'”

Even though Usopp had toughened up a bit, he still got jittery faced with a scene like this.

“You just need more training—this won’t be the last time you see something like this.”

“Hey, Zoro.” Ye Fan, plotting how to help Usopp gain some real experience, turned to Zoro.

“Yeah?”

“Could it be…?”

“That’s right. Hawk Eyes is right behind that ship. Looks like you’ll get to see your idol up close soon.”

To Zoro, Hawk Eyes wasn’t just a goal on his path to become the world’s greatest swordsman—he was the promise he made to Kuina, proof he was chasing the very summit.

Of course, the real Kuina had already joined the Revolutionary Army in the New World by now.

“There’s a pirate flag next to two red hourglasses.”

“That’s… that’s the overlord of East Blue, the Krieg Pirates.”

“No way, why are they here?”

The Baratie customers were starting to panic.

With a reputation like the Krieg Pirates—leaving chaos and death in their wake—no one wanted to hear that name.

“How can a ship be that big?”

Nami stood behind the crowd, arms over her head. In her mind, the bigger the ship, the stronger the pirate crew.

Even Arlong’s pirate ship wasn’t a tenth the size of this one—Krieg’s crew must be many times tougher than Arlong’s.

But that’s actually a mistake. Size alone doesn’t measure a pirate crew’s real strength.

“Did Gin come to thank you again?”

“Luffy, did you even listen to Ye Fan? They’re not here for tea, they’re here to fight!”

Usopp started shaking Luffy’s shoulders, fear sneaking into his own voice.

“Alright, alright, I get it! Now will you stop?”

“You’re making my head spin!”

“Man, but their ship really is a wreck.”

Luffy might be a bit reckless when it comes to ships, but he always took care of his own. After all, getting to the Grand Line meant their ship was practically a crewmate.

“Doesn’t look like cannon damage, but it doesn’t seem manmade either.”

Sanji blew a smoke ring and studied the huge vessel moored in front of Baratie.

“Maybe they hit a tornado?”

Luffy had barely finished when a golden figure slowly stepped out onto the deck.

Behind him, Gin and a few barely-standing crew members struggled to help him off the ship.

Chhk, chhk!

Two faint, slicing sounds rang through the air.

In that moment, Zoro’s eyes went wide. If he wasn’t mistaken, that was sword aura—the very thing he had dreamed of mastering.

Only a true sword master could unleash a flying slash like that.

“Looks like our main event’s here, Zoro.”

Just as Ye Fan’s calm voice sounded, the massive sailing ship in front of them split cleanly into three pieces.

As it gradually sank, the current sent Baratie rocking from side to side.

“Wh-what t-the heck just happened?”

Krieg’s heart dropped, his face going pale even as he spoke the thought rattling in his mind.

“Captain Krieg!”

“The main ship—it’s been cut in half!”

“Cut in half? Are you serious? Who could pull off something so crazy?”

“Wait… no way!”

As the giant ship slowly slipped beneath the waves, Krieg caught sight of a coffin-shaped boat behind them, two green candles flickering on either side, and atop it, a figure he’d never forget.

That was the man who demolished his fifty ships.

“Quick! Pull up the anchor, or our ship’s going down too!”

With the hull creaking and groaning, Zeff barked out orders to the cooks.

If the anchor didn’t get hauled up fast, that violent lurch could split their own ship apart as well.

Moments after the big ship vanished, sweat beaded on Zeff’s brow. He’d seen the man on the little boat as well—Hawk Eyes.

“That guy… could it be…?”

Zeff’s eyes were wide as he stared into the distance.

“What? Where?”

Zoro twisted his head all around, then spotted it at last—a ship sporting a cross-shaped sail, drifting their way.

Krieg gritted his teeth. “That bastard really showed up…”

“Who’s that guy anyway?”

Luffy, arms crossed, turned to Ye Fan. Around here, Ye Fan was the info guy—there wasn’t much about these seas he didn’t know.

“That’s the man I’ve been searching for all along—Hawk Eyes.”

Zoro’s hands tightened around the rail, veins standing out. His heart pounded, hands trembling, eyes locked on the distant swordsman.

“Hawk Eyes Mihawk!”

With Mihawk’s arrival, his figure came into view—a sweeping red cloak, red gentleman’s hat, a small cross dangling from his chest, gold rings on his fingers, and across his back, that Supreme Grade Great Blade—Black Sword—Yoru!

“The world’s strongest swordsman,” Zoro said solemnly, pronouncing Hawk Eyes Mihawk’s title with reverence.

“He’s the one who sank all fifty of Krieg’s ships on their way to the Grand Line?”

“So he’s the guy who just tore Krieg’s ship apart too…?”

“Doesn’t look so special up close.”

“And he’s not even carrying some crazy weapon.”

The chefs behind them chattered back and forth, all eager to know how this man could have destroyed fifty ships on his own.

“His weapon’s on his back.”

Zeff provided the answer just then.

“What? No way!”

“He used that sword to sink the entire ship?”

Zeff nodded, “That’s right—he’s Hawk Eyes, the swordsman standing at the pinnacle of the world.”

“Never thought we’d meet here.”

Zoro, heart pounding, pushed open his scabbard. He was ready to draw at any moment.