Chapter 202: The Unstoppable Tide!
Grand Line, Kuraigana Island.
The massive, gothic castle where the world's strongest swordsman, "Hawkeye" Dracule Mihawk, had lived in absolute solitude for many years stood like a silent monolith.
It was entirely shrouded in a perpetually gloomy, damp mist and a suffocating, deathly silence that seemed to swallow all sound.
The dark, jagged ruins surrounding the grand estate served as a grim reminder of a fallen civilization, a place where only ghosts and the strongest of predators dared to tread.
However, on this exceptionally cold morning, the sharp rustle of paper brought by a brave News Coo broke this eternal, heavy tranquility.
"Coo...!"
The piercing cry of the delivery bird echoed through the thick fog, sounding almost desperate to finish its task and flee.
The freshly printed newspaper was accurately and hastily dropped onto the cold, damp stone railing of the castle's highest watchtower by a sharp, trembling beak.
The heavily burdened bird didn't even dare to stay for a single second longer in that terrifyingly oppressive atmosphere.
Swiftly picking up the small stack of Berries that had been placed there in advance, it let out another panicked cry.
It flapped its wings frantically, turning into a small, rapidly retreating black dot in the distant, overcast sky.
Mihawk, the solitary man clad in his signature, elegantly tailored black coat, stood motionless on the high balcony.
The legendary supreme grade black blade, "Yoru," rested heavily on his back, an extension of his very soul.
He was casually leaning against the intricately carved stone railing, holding a delicate crystal glass of rich, blood-red wine in his pale hand.
His deep, terrifyingly sharp hawk-like eyes gazed calmly and indifferently at the distant, churning sea.
He seemed to have clearly noticed the News Coo's arrival long before it even breached the island's airspace, yet he didn't pay it any immediate mind.
The mundane affairs of the outside world rarely ever warranted a second glance from the apex of swordsmanship.
It wasn't until a sudden, sharp gust of salty sea breeze violently rustled the thick newspaper that his attention shifted.
The wind blew the pages wide open, revealing the massive, highly detailed portrait occupying the entire front page.
It finally caught his undivided attention.
[Yonko Red Hair Pirates... Crushed!]
[Suzaku Pirates Executive... "Ice Queen" Esdeath.]
[Bounty: 1.9 Billion Berries!]
His golden eyes, as sharp and unyielding as a freshly honed blade, swept over that staggering, astronomical number.
Yet, he didn't even twitch a single eyebrow at the massive bounty.
Bounties, political power, and the shifting territories of the Four Emperors were entirely meaningless numbers and trivial games to him.
What truly made him slowly set down his crystal wine glass and reach out his long, slender fingers to pick up the newspaper was the specific photograph printed on that bounty poster.
The paper crinkled slightly under his firm grip.
In the high-definition photo, a stunningly beautiful, silver-haired woman dressed in a pristine, authoritarian white military uniform dominated the frame.
She had a flawlessly sculpted face that carried a heavy, undeniable hint of absolute cold arrogance and supreme confidence.
She held a magnificent, intricately designed rapier in her gloved hand, the blade seeming to radiate a terrifying, freezing aura even through the ink of the page.
Her delicate lips were curled into a dangerous, predatory smile of absolute superiority, carrying a heavy touch of blatant provocation to the entire world.
"...A female swordsman?"
Mihawk murmured quietly to himself, his deep, resonant voice entirely low and carrying an imperceptible, highly rare trace of genuine excitement.
The Grand Line was filled with brutes wielding clubs and fools firing cannons, but true masters of the blade were a dying breed.
Whether it was this sudden, chaotic emergence of the "Suzaku Pirates" thoroughly defeating his old rival "Red Hair," or subsequently taking down the indestructible "Beast Kaido"...
Such massive, world-shaking "major incidents" capable of completely tearing apart the geopolitical fabric of the globe were impossible for even him to completely ignore.
But what he truly, deeply cared about was absolutely never the empty, boastful titles of the so-called "Yonko" or the mythical "Pirate King."
He cared nothing for how grand the momentum or the fleet size of a certain pirate crew was.
In his isolated, highly focused world, there was only one truth.
There was only the "sword."
The "sword" in its absolute, purest form, constantly seeking to surpass its own limits in the pursuit of perfection.
And at this highly specific moment, staring intently at this newly issued bounty poster, he saw Esdeath holding that slender rapier.
He didn't just see a weapon; he saw her flawless grip, the perfect center of gravity in her stance, and the terrifying, absolute murderous intent hidden behind her confident smile.
"Since she could cleanly defeat Shanks and physically crush Kaido, such a terrifyingly powerful opponent..."
He carefully folded the thick newspaper, his movements precise and deliberate, and placed it gently aside on the stone table.
Then, his golden, hawk-like eyes narrowed sharply.
Exactly as if staring at a highly prized, incredibly dangerous prey, he looked directly toward the distant, turbulent waters of the East.
"...I absolutely must go and test her."
His tone was incredibly calm, yet it carried a heavy, completely unquestionable resolve that could cut through steel.
It was exactly as if in his personal dictionary, the stronger and more monstrous the opponent, the more his stagnant blood would boil with excitement.
No matter what kind of terrifying, world-ending opponent they were, to Dracule Mihawk, it was merely an ordinary, highly anticipated 'sword test'.
...
Meanwhile, deep within the treacherous, unpredictable waters of the New World.
On a certain desolate, completely unnamed rocky island heavily eroded by centuries of violent sea breeze and crashing waves.
This barren, highly unforgiving rock was the temporary, desperate "safe haven" where "Red Hair" Shanks and his heavily battered, remaining crew members were quietly recuperating.
The Red Hair Pirates, who were once universally awe-inspiring and rampaged freely through the New World as unquestioned rulers, now appeared exceptionally, pathetically broken.
The atmosphere on the jagged shore was heavy with the metallic scent of dried blood and the suffocating stench of absolute defeat.
Since that crushing, profoundly humiliating defeat at the hands of the Suzaku Pirates, everything had completely changed.
The massive numbers and allied fleets of this crew, which was once easily enough to comfortably contend with any of the other Yonko, had dwindled to almost absolutely nothing.
The once mighty Red Force was heavily damaged, its proud sails torn and its reinforced hull dangerously splintered.
Aside from Shanks himself, only a tiny handful of core executives like the ship doctor Hongo and Howling Gab remained, barely holding onto their lives.
"Damn it! Is what this terrifying news says actually true?!"
The usually pragmatic and highly steady ship doctor, Hongo, was currently trembling from head to toe.
His dirty, blood-stained face was now entirely filled with an unbelievable, highly chaotic mixture of pure anger and profound, paralyzing fear.
The roll of sterile white bandages in his shaking hand almost fell directly to the rocky ground.
His other hand tightly, desperately gripped the crumpled, freshly delivered newspaper that had just arrived via a stray News Coo.
"That damn, monstrous Suzaku Pirates group... did they really, actually even take down that absolute, unkillable monster Kaido?"
Beside him, sitting heavily against a shattered boulder, the massive Howling Gab was equally pale.
His usually terrifying, beast-like face was currently drained of all color, his massive chest heavily wrapped in thick, blood-soaked bandages.
"This is truly, absolutely detestable!"
Gab slammed his massive, uninjured fist into the dirt, coughing up a small mouthful of dark blood from the exertion.
The massive, world-shattering shock, acting exactly like a cold, invisible hand, gripped every single survivor's heart incredibly tightly.
They had only just barely recovered from the physical trauma and the absolute, crushing psychological defeat against "Suzaku" and his terrifying subordinates.
And unexpectedly, before their wounds could even properly scab over, another even more shocking, apocalyptic piece of news had completely broken their spirits all over again.
Shanks, the once highly spirited, constantly smiling, and freely unrestrained Yonko, was nowhere near his usual self.
He was currently sitting silently by the heavily splintered ship's gunwale, the cold, salty sea spray hitting his face unheeded.
He was holding a cheap, wooden wine barrel with his single, highly scarred arm, gazing entirely gloomily at the dark, churning sea.
The empty left sleeve of his white shirt flapped wildly and pathetically in the harsh, howling wind.
There was absolutely no expression on his handsome face, making him look exactly as if the entire, chaotic world had absolutely nothing to do with him anymore.
But his tightly, painfully pursed lips and the highly complex, dark emotions churning violently in his deep, shadowed eyes betrayed the massive, unstoppable turbulence within his heart.
"I honestly didn't expect..."
After a long, incredibly suffocating while, he finally spoke slowly, breaking his heavy silence.
His voice carried an unspeakable, deeply ingrained exhaustion that seemed to age him by a dozen years.
"...The delicate, highly necessary balance of the New World has, after all, been completely, irreparably broken by Suzaku's group."
It wasn't that he hadn't fully anticipated this terrifying possibility deep in his strategic mind.
He knew exactly how dangerous that young man known as "Suzaku" truly was.
He had personally felt the overwhelming, heaven-defying power of the terrifyingly powerful monster newcomers entirely under Suzaku's absolute command!
It was just that he absolutely didn't expect this terrifying day of reckoning to come so incredibly quickly, so... completely.
Kaido, the indestructible wall of the New World, erased from existence in a matter of days.
He was entirely silent for another long moment, listening only to the violent crashing of the waves against the hull.
Then, he slowly, heavily stood up and placed the half-empty wooden wine barrel down onto the blood-stained deck.
"Hongo. Gab."
His voice, though somewhat hoarse and dry from the cheap alcohol, carried an absolute, unquestionable firmness that demanded immediate obedience.
"You two stay right here on this island to recover your physical strength first."
He turned his back to the sea, looking down at his two most loyal, highly battered friends.
"Once you're mostly healed and can fight again, leave this dangerous sea area as quickly as physically possible and find a completely safe, hidden place to lay low."
Hearing this highly uncharacteristic, seemingly final command, Hongo and Gab's hearts skipped a massive, terrifying beat.
Their faces instantly turned as pale as fresh snow, sheer panic gripping their exhausted minds.
"Captain! You... you're absolutely not planning to... go seek foolish revenge on them entirely alone, are you?!"
Gab blurted out loudly, ignoring the searing pain in his broken ribs, his tone entirely filled with intense worry and absolute despair.
Hongo also hurriedly stepped forward, desperately trying to advise the man who was like a brother to him.
"Captain, please! We are absolutely no match for them right now! You should clearly know that better than anyone..."
Shanks stopped, looking at the genuinely terrified, highly concerned expressions on their battered faces.
Slowly, the heavy gloom in his eyes parted just a fraction, and he couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"Don't worry so much, you idiots. I'm absolutely not that completely stupid."
He waved his single hand in a highly dismissive gesture.
His smile, though strained, carried a long-absent, highly comforting trace of his usual ease, exactly as if he had completely seen through everyone's darkest thoughts.
"I'm absolutely not going to foolishly overreach and cause completely unnecessary trouble for the Suzaku Pirates right now. That would be pure suicide."
He paused, adjusting the heavy black coat draped over his shoulders, his tone suddenly becoming somewhat dark and highly mysterious.
"I'm going... to find some necessary help."
Hearing this unexpected statement, Hongo and Gab were first completely stunned, blinking in sheer confusion.
And then, slowly, the highly tense, terrified expressions on their faces began to relax just a fraction.
"Finding help?" Hongo repeated the words, testing their weight.
This actually did fit the Captain's highly calculated, completely rational usual style.
After all, they all knew deep down that Shanks, despite his laid-back demeanor, was definitely not the type of fool to act recklessly and throw his life away for mere pride.
"Don't worry about a single thing, by the time you safely return, Captain, our physical injuries will be completely healed. Don't worry about us!"
Hongo patted his bandaged chest heavily, wincing slightly, but his tone becoming highly firm and resolute once again.
Shanks didn't say a single thing more to his loyal crew.
He just gave a slow, highly meaningful nod, then pulled his black coat tighter against the freezing wind and walked steadily toward the opposite gunwale without looking back.
He knew better than anyone alive that this massive, terrifying upheaval of the sea had only just begun.
The era of the Four Emperors was entirely dead and buried.
And he, the man who had desperately tried to act as the former "balancer" of the world, had to stand up again from the ashes.
He had to quickly find a supreme force, a power capable of actually contending with those "highly dangerous, unpredictable fellows" Suzaku commanded.
Otherwise, the entire world, the Marines, the Government, and the lives of innocent civilians would spiral completely and violently out of control.
...
Meanwhile, spreading rapidly throughout the vast, highly dangerous expanse of the New World.
Across countless diverse islands and countless highly populated nations.
Whether it was those terrified affiliated nations that heavily paid the Heavenly Tribute to join the World Government to desperately seek naval protection...
Or the highly impoverished, non-affiliated nations constantly struggling to survive in the brutal cracks while striving desperately to remain neutral.
The catastrophic, world-shaking news was exactly like a highly contagious, completely lethal virus.
When the absolute truth that the "Suzaku Pirates successfully defeated Kaido and completely crushed Red Hair" spread everywhere as reported by the endless flocks of News Coos...
The entire New World, from the deepest slums to the highest royal palaces, fell into a massive state of unprecedented, absolute panic and terrifying restlessness.
[Akarin Note:
Your Support Keeps This Story Alive!
If you're enjoying this novel, your support means the world to me. Simple actions like leaving a review, power stone, comment, or sharing the story let me know you're out there. It's the greatest motivation for me to keep updating until the very end and ensures this project continues.
For those who wish to support me more directly, you can join my Patreon at [patreon.com/AkarinTL]. As a thank-you, you'll receive access to 50 advanced chapters.
I hope I am still worthy of your support. My life truly depends on this... haha, I know I'm so shameless.]