Zoro stared blankly at his shattered twin swords, and suddenly a wave of bitterness surged in his heart.
He had been defeated?
He had only just left his dojo not long ago, and already he had tasted the bitter flavor of defeat.
Zoro silently put away the Wado Ichimonji from his mouth and said sullenly, "There really are so many people stronger than me."
Noyer smiled. It was a good thing that this guy could recognize his own lack of strength. In the original story, before he met Dracule Mihawk, his battles had no real pressure, leaving no room for improvement.
Noyer bent down and patted his shoulder, saying, "If you want to become the world's greatest swordsman, it won't do to be defeated by failure like this."
Zoro's eyes instantly regained their light, and he said in a low voice, "Of course."
Sheathing the Wado Ichimonji, he looked at Noyer.
"What's your name?"
Noyer replied confidently, "Kilros D. Noyer. Not just a great swordsman — what I aim to become is truly the world's number one!"
"The world's strongest?" After being defeated, not only was Zoro not discouraged, but the ambition in his heart burned even more fiercely. He said with equal confidence, "My name is Roronoa Zoro, and I will definitely defeat you! I'll become the strongest great swordsman!"
Noyer burst into laughter and said, "I hope you can really do it."
He didn't doubt Zoro's talent in swordsmanship at all, but trying to defeat himself with the system's help and cheat codes?
That would be harder than ascending to heaven!
『 Met Important Characters: Roronoa Zoro! Rewards: Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū Mastery, Red Talent Copy Card ×1, Swordsmanship +10! 』
The system's cold notification sounded in his mind, and Noyer was instantly overjoyed.
Another Red Copy Card, plus ten points in Swordsmanship. Now his swordsmanship value had officially broken through the 500-point mark — even in the New World, he could battle with the strong!
And then there was Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū. Noyer was a bit puzzled and asked in confusion, "System, is this the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū I'm thinking of? From Rurouni Kenshin?"
Could the system actually give him powers from other anime as rewards?
「 Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū originates from the work 'Rurouni Kenshin'. After adjustment by this system, it is now suitable for combat use in this world. 」
Noyer couldn't help but be delighted. He had originally thought the system could only give rewards from the One Piece World, but he never expected it would even include swordsmanship from Rurouni Kenshin!
It seemed he'd need to seek out more original characters to farm rewards in the future.
Zoro looked at Noyer, who was acting startled and strange, and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
"Ahem, nothing." Noyer saw that Zoro's clothes were tattered all over and asked in confusion, "Are you out of money? Why do you look so disheveled?"
Zoro leaned against the wall glumly and said, "I've used up all my travel funds. Now I don't even know where to earn more."
Noyer was taken aback and asked, "You're not working as a pirate hunter right now?"
"Pirate hunter? What kind of profession is that?" Zoro looked at him in confusion.
Noyer gave him a thorough explanation. The guy's eyes lit up, and he said, "I'll make money doing that from now on. I'm going to become the strongest hunter in the East Blue."
Noyer pointed at himself proudly and said, "By the way, the strongest hunter in the East Blue is also me."
The face beneath Zoro's green algae-like hair instantly darkened.
Why are you everywhere?
The prideful Marimo directly played deaf and dumb, simply closed his eyes, and fell dead asleep.
◇◆◈◆◇
And so, Noyer and Zoro traveled together for a stretch. Although Zoro was like a clam, at least Noyer finally had someone to ramble on to.
Zoro, who preferred quiet, was nearly driven to a breakdown by this talkative guy. Fortunately, before long, Noyer's ship spotted a village, and he hurriedly fled from the ship where he'd been chanting like a monk.
He smiled and waved at Noyer, saying, "See you."
Noyer looked at him with some reluctance and waved goodbye to his brief companion.
With his only sword at his waist, Zoro walked down the village's main street when suddenly he spotted a tavern with excellent business on the side of the road. His eyes couldn't help but light up. Even though he knew full well he didn't have a penny to his name, his feet still moved uncontrollably.
Walking into the tavern, Zoro immediately asked the counter for a drink.
The owner took one look at his shabby appearance and said with a curl of his lip, "Hey kid, do you have money? Don't come here looking for a free meal."
Faced with the shop owner's questioning, Zoro replied very calmly and composedly, "Ah… I don't have money. I don't have a single penny."
"You…"
Just as the owner was about to get angry, suddenly there was a loud crash, and his tavern door was kicked open.
A group of fierce-looking men burst in. Seeing the terrified expressions of everyone in the shop, they smiled with satisfaction and snarled, "Hahaha, a bunch of spineless cowards! Hand over your money to us!"
Zoro frowned and asked the shop owner, "Who's this idiot?"
The shop owner quickly covered his mouth and said fearfully, "This man is a wanted criminal with a ฿1,200,000 bounty — he's a pirate who murders and burns!"
A pirate? Hearing about the pirate's bounty and recalling what Noyer had told him before, Zoro immediately had an idea.
Wasn't this his drink money coming right to him?
Zoro silently walked up to the group of pirates.
When the pirate leader saw someone approaching, he roared, "What do you think you're doing? Hand over your money!"
Zoro walked right up to him without saying a word, gripped his sword hilt, and drew directly. A lightning-fast drawing slash flew out, and immediately a line of blood appeared on the neck of the pirate who had just been boasting.
"You…"
The pirate leader showed a terrified expression before he died, then collapsed on the ground, completely dead.
The tavern was now silent as a grave. No one dared to speak out of turn anymore, and everyone directed looks of awe toward this newcomer swordsman.
Zoro returned to the counter and asked, "Now do I have enough money? Bring me the sake!"
"Ah! Yes, yes, yes…"
Zoro sat in his chair propping up his chin and reflected: Pirate hunter really is a convenient profession.
◇◆◈◆◇
Noyer, sailing once again, had no idea about Zoro killing people for drink money. At this moment, he was holding a sea chart, looking anxiously at the waves ahead.
Had Zoro's bad luck rubbed off on him? Why did he only realize he was going the wrong direction after sailing for so long?
After dropping that Marimo off and returning to his route, Noyer had taken a nap on the ship out of boredom, but when he woke up, his ship had gone off course? Where the heck was this anyway?
Hmm? Something wasn't right with the air.
He had climate supersensory perception, and just as he sailed into this sea area, the surrounding air seemed to become viscous. Soon, he discovered the reason. Not far from the ship, a large expanse of eerie white fog had already enveloped the area at some unknown time.
Noyer was startled and wanted to change direction, but the fog seemed like a conscious beast, instantly swallowing his ship whole. His surroundings immediately turned into a vast expanse of white.
He knocked his head in frustration — he'd been too careless. He had thought that with Nami's god-tier navigation talent, everything would be smooth sailing, but this fog had instantly slapped him in the face.
"This fog doesn't seem naturally formed, does it?"
Nami had learned navigation since childhood, so naturally Noyer had also picked up some basic theoretical knowledge.
In this thick fog, the sea currents seemed to be flowing according to some pattern. The compass in his hand had also lost its function, with the needle spinning wildly non-stop.
What made Noyer even more uncomfortable was that this white fog was like mucus — not only did it interfere with vision, even his climate supersensory perception became dull. With his navigation god-skill sealed, he was at a loss and could only try using Observation Haki to sense the movements around him.
There was indeed movement, but not on the sea — it was under the sea.
Boom!
A surge of force attacked from the sea, giant waves shot skyward, and Noyer's ship was immediately launched into the air.
Two ferocious sea beasts rode the massive waves, opening their gaping maws to bite at the ship from left and right.
Noyer gripped the railing and fearlessly charged toward one of the sea beasts.
Drawing Seikou, he leaped above the sea beast, raised his sword over his head, then fiercely slashed down with a sharp blade of sword energy.
A massive spray of blood bloomed atop the sea beast's head. It roared in pain, and Noyer kicked off from its head, then slashed toward the other sea beast.
Let me test out my new Kenjutsu on you!
Noyer's dark eyes gleamed. Leaping through the air, his waist and legs moved in unison as he reverse-gripped the Seikou and slashed toward the sea beast's head.
◇ Ryūtsuisen ⥤ Dragon Hammer Flash ◇
A terrifying flash of sword light passed by, the sharp strike like a drill that nearly pierced straight through the sea beast's entire body.
Both sea beasts were instantly critically wounded and fell back into the sea. Noyer landed gracefully on the deck and sheathed his sword. Blood splattered across the sea surface. Through Observation Haki, he detected that many sea beasts at the bottom seemed to be attracted once again.
"What a pain." Noyer stared at the seabed with a headache.
He was alone on this ship — if only he had a few subordinates who could fight these sea beasts.
Unlike him with his hard life, just a few sea beasts were running him ragged. A group of sea beasts swam toward the ship, following the scent of blood.
Just as Noyer was preparing to fight again, a clear whistle suddenly sounded from the distant fog. The sea beasts, as if receiving a signal, decisively abandoned the ship and swam underwater toward the source of the whistle.
Noyer was dumbfounded. Were sea beasts this organized and disciplined?
He steered his ship, planning to follow the group of sea beasts to find the source of the whistle. The owner of that whistle could clearly control the sea beasts — maybe they could even help him escape this fog.
But he had clearly overestimated his ship's speed. That group of sea beasts swam like their lives depended on it, and Noyer quickly lost track of them.
However, this wasn't a big problem. Now that he was this close, his Observation Haki faintly sensed several human figures in the distance. Quite a few of them, and one had a very powerful aura. Though still not comparable to him, they should be an expert of the East Blue.
What was interesting, though, was that their ship seemed to have been destroyed, and everyone had fallen into the sea.
At that moment, right around Noyer, someone was riding something and rapidly approaching him. A guy dressed like a native was riding a dolphin-like sea beast in the water, speeding over as if on a speedboat.
"Die, outsider!" The native's face was painted with red stripes, and when he spoke, there was a thick savage flavor to it.
The man was holding a spear and, using the sea beast, nimbly climbed aboard the ship and stabbed straight at Noyer's head.
The savage who had boarded the ship without permission launched an attack, and Noyer's anger flared up.
Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can just kill me whenever you want?!
Noyer didn't even bother drawing his sword. Barehanded, he quickly grabbed the spear, then with a squeeze, the shaft shattered!
Having destroyed this weak weapon, he lifted his foot and kicked the savage right in the face. Blood immediately flowed from his nose.
"Damn it!"
The man had been taken down by Noyer in one move. Unwilling to accept it, he charged forward again with teeth and claws bared, reaching out his hands to strangle the other part.
Noyer was also thoroughly enraged by this thug's fighting style and suddenly activated his Devil Fruit ability. His form grew massive, the hideous bear face carrying tremendous intimidating power. He extended his giant bear paw and grabbed him.
Seeing the other part transform into a Bear-Man, the man's face finally showed an expression of fear, shouting continuously, "Turned into a bear?! You're not human, you're a demon!"
Noyer grinned and said, "Demon? A guy who attacks to kill without a word is calling others demons?"
The giant bear paw suddenly applied force, and the crisp sound of bones breaking rang out. The savage screamed in agony.
The bear claw was almost about to crush him. Noyer waved his hand and threw the man back into the sea. That dolphin sea beast with fangs and red spots immediately swam over to catch him.
Sitting on the sea beast, the man's wounds hadn't even healed yet, but he'd already forgotten the pain. Before fleeing, he shouted, "Wait for your death, outsider! Red Leaf Island will be your burial ground!!"
Noyer watched him run farther and farther away and said with a cold laugh, "Don't worry, I'll come find you in a bit!"
The ship drew closer and closer to that group. He had gradually started hearing sounds of fighting — were they also battling the savages?
The large ship sailed forward, and in the thick fog, Noyer finally made out the group of people in the sea. A bunch of people riding red-spotted sea beasts like the previous guy, holding spears, staring at their enemies in the water like prey.
And there were four more people in the sea, constantly splashing as they swam. Nearby were the remains of a ship — it looked like these people's ship had been smashed by sea beasts.
Although the ship had been broken into pieces, Noyer could still make out from the skull flag floating on the sea that this was a pirate ship. Among that group riding sea beasts, the man he had just beaten away was also present.
He whispered something in the ear of someone who looked like the leader, and then that leader also became furious.
Noyer didn't pay attention to these clown-like natives. Right now, he was curiously sizing up the four-person pirate group in the water. A pirate crew with so few people — if they weren't rookie pirates, then they were like Shanks and his crew, each one a fierce character.
Among the four, the appearance of one young man suddenly caught his attention.
Noyer stared intently at the man and muttered, "That face… those freckles, they look so familiar…"
◈◈◈
T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
If you want more chapters of this novel or enjoy a large catalog of good novels with excellent translations: MrBlackWing (you know where to search)
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)