"Ah~~ Sanji's cooking is as delicious as ever! Shishishi..."
Leaning against the trunk of a towering tree, a certain sated Straw Hat idiot patted his stomach with satisfaction. He adjusted his precious straw hat, stood up, and muttered to himself:
"Alright, time to go find Sherlock and the others. Hmm... but which way should I go? This way? Or that way? Ah—it's so hard to choose."
Just as Luffy was agonizing over which direction to take...
Rumble—
For some reason, the ground nearby suddenly began to tremble slightly, as if some massive creature was rapidly approaching!
Whoosh—
"Dammit, that giant snake is way too persistent!"
With a frustrated roar, a Shandia warrior—shoulder-mounting a rocket launcher and riding a skate-type Waver—suddenly burst out of the nearby woods. He flew past the dazed captain's eyes as if fleeing for his life, the resulting slipstream nearly blowing the latter's straw hat away.
"Eh? That guy... isn't he the one who attacked us yesterday...?"
Rumble! The eerie, massive sound approached in an instant!
"Hiss—" Before Luffy could finish his sentence, he was startled by a massive snake head that lunged out immediately after, forcing him to dodge out of the way in a hurry.
The giant snake, sporting two catfish-like whiskers, similarly ignored the stunned rubber idiot. It pursued straight in the direction Wyper had fled. As its massive body moved rapidly, it left the surrounding landscape and vegetation in a total shambles.
The rumbling gradually faded into the distance.
After the man and the snake had been gone for a while, Luffy—whose mental wiring was a bit eccentric—finally snapped out of it. He picked his nose and muttered to himself with a look of confusion:
"Strange, wasn't that big snake that attacked us before lured away by Sherlock? Why is it chasing that guy now? Eh? If that's the case, then that means..."
Luffy punched his palm with his fist, realization dawning on him. "Maybe that guy saw Sherlock earlier! I should go ask him!"
Having said that, the impulsive captain stretched his limbs and gave chase along the trail left behind by the Master of the Sky.
Elsewhere, the unlucky reindeer, who had managed to escape several Divine Soldiers using his own speed, had once again encountered a formidable enemy.
Fortunately, this "formidable enemy" was an idiot.
"My name is Gedatsu. I am a Priest serving the omniscient God Eneru. I govern the Ordeal of Swamp, which has a survival rate of 50%!"
"50%?"
Chopper looked up at the spider-headed Priest opposite him, whose hands were crossed downward as his body convulsed. A strange light flickered in the reindeer's round eyes.
(I remember the Ordeal of Strings had a survival rate of 3%, and the Ordeal of Orbs that Luffy and the others encountered was 10%. In that case, maybe I can actually beat this guy who looks a bit stupid!) The little reindeer was suddenly filled with a mysterious sense of confidence.
Although he didn't show it on the surface, Chopper was actually very self-reproachful for failing to protect the Going Merry the day before. The little reindeer secretly vowed that he would never be a burden to his companions again.
(This time, I definitely won't run away!)
As Chopper made this vow in his heart, he slowly pulled a Rumble Ball out of his backpack, his furry little face full of determination.
"Oh? You wish to fight me?"
The idiot Priest, who had forgotten how to cross his arms over his chest, saw the little reindeer's high fighting spirit and simply stopped what he was doing. He clenched his right fist and murmured, "In that case, I shall show you the power of a Priest!"
"Jet Punch!!!"
Puff!!!!! A violent blast of air erupted from Gedatsu's elbow. The massive kinetic energy it provided turned the spider-headed Priest into a blur of motion in an instant.
(So fast...)
In Chopper's terrified eyes, a fist clad in a black leather glove rapidly enlarged, occupying his entire vision in a split second...
"Dammit, I'm never going to hit this guy at this rate!"
Clenching his twin blades, Zoro leaned against the trunk of a large tree, panting heavily. The bleeding wound on his calf throbbed with a burning pain, but the man with a will of iron didn't even flinch.
In his eyes, such a minor injury was probably no different from a mosquito bite.
"The two pistols in that guy's hands are too strange. Could those be weapons made from Sky Island Dials too?"
Recalling the two pistols that fired lasers in the hands of the man wearing a hat, the green-haired swordsman's expression grew increasingly grim.
"How can I cut him?" Zoro pondered for a moment, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Right, didn't I ask Rovick for advice on the essentials of flying slashes?"
Thinking of this, Zoro silently returned his two swords to their sheaths. Gripping the hilt of the Wado Ichimonji with one hand, he stepped out from behind the tree with a serious expression.
"Oh? Have you realized you have no chance of winning and given up resistance? Blue Sea swordsman?"
Braham looked down at the green-haired swordsman who had swaggered out of cover. He spun his two Flash Guns rapidly and spoke calmly:
"It makes sense. After all, for a swordsman who treats distance as his lifeblood, you are no match for me if you cannot engage in close quarters."
"No match for you? What kind of nonsense are you talking!"
Coming to a halt, Zoro pointed the tip of the Wado Ichimonji toward the distant Shandia warrior and grinned.
"You have guns in your hands, but I have a cannon in mine. So, you're bound to lose!" After speaking, the green-haired swordsman ignored the other man's bewildered expression and pulled his sword back, assuming a charging stance.
(According to Rovick, you need a bit of a chant before releasing a flying slash to maximize its power...)
Zoro didn't realize that this was purely the nonsense of a certain blue-haired traveler. He meditated for a moment, closed his eyes, and began to recite softly:
"The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are the six roots of man..."
(Has this guy lost his mind?) Braham watched the mumbling Blue Sea man from a distance, feeling a faint, creeping sense of unease in his heart.
("Since I ate the Gale-Gale Fruit which can amplify air currents, I am more adept at flying slashes. But regardless, the essence of a flying slash is to feel the 'Breath of Air.'") Zoro recalled Rovick's experience from that time.
(The Breath of Air? The Breath of All Things?)
Whoosh— A light breeze blew past, pressing down the green grass on the ground. The surroundings were eerily quiet. At that moment, Zoro entered the Realm of Breath, beginning to listen to the breath of the air.
"Add to that good, evil, and neutral—each with purity and pollution..."
"Something's wrong!" Braham, sensing disaster, finally reacted. He intended to strike first, but it was already too late.
"...Indeed, the thirty-six earthly desires of one lifetime."
As he reached this point, Zoro's eyes snapped open, and his aura surged to its peak! He swung his blade with great force toward Braham above!
"Thirty-Six Pound Phoenix!"
Swish—
To Braham's disbelief, a spiral-shaped, light-blue flying slash erupted following Zoro's slashing motion!
The sharp strike carved a long wound across his body. The terrifying air current accompanying the slash sent the Shandia warrior flying.
"Phew... that felt pretty good."
Zoro looked at the sword in his hand, then at the Shandia warrior lying in the distance, his fate unknown. A trademark smirk touched the corner of his mouth.
Just as every long-range fighter has the heart of a melee combatant (a certain "Four-Eyes" for example), this green-haired swordsman, who had always fought in close quarters, fell in love with this long-distance output method almost instantly.
It felt as if a door to a whole new world had been opened.
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