The day before the war began in Dressrosa.
Aboard the weather ship,
Sas silently piloted the vessel, carefully searching through the fog.
This stretch of sea, known as the Devil's Sea, was shrouded in thick mist all year round, having swallowed the lives of who knew how many sailors.
Still,
he was piloting a weather ship. As a sky navigator, he was not overly afraid of it.
But even so, trying to find an island-sized ship under these visibility conditions was still incredibly difficult.
The only thing they could probably rely on was that signal-flare barrel Mr. Ren had mentioned.
Hope we can find it.
Sas was still working hard today as well. After all, doing well here would be very beneficial to his graduation evaluation.
However,
the three people behind him were nowhere near as focused.
"I'm saying, why is it you who came with us?"
Cavendish complained, "Compared to this mission, shouldn't Dressrosa be more important?"
"That prey belongs to the captain.
Only under special circumstances would he have me rush back immediately to face an even stronger enemy.
And besides, there's more than one Warlord of the Sea."
Zoro calmly wiped his blade. "Right now, I'm more interested in Gecko Moria's head.
But more than that, I'm more concerned with whether the two of you can do your jobs properly."
"What's there to be concerned about?"
Cavendish muttered in a weak voice of protest, "A user of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, a user of the Hollow-Hollow Fruit,
a user of the Clear-Clear Fruit, zombie generals, and zombies being weak to salt and seawater…"
At that point, he seemed too afraid to meet Zoro's eyes, so he turned to Urouge beside him. "What else?"
"That's about it. The main thing to watch out for is those ghosts."
Urouge scratched his bald head honestly. "To be frank, I'm not very confident about dealing with things like that.
They have no physical bodies, can pass through matter, and seem pretty fast too."
"It doesn't matter—I'll handle it."
Zoro put away the cloth, sheathed his swords one by one, then stood and looked toward the barrel that had appeared floating close to the sea. "Isn't this the kind of thing a vice-captain is supposed to do?"
Cavendish shrugged and said nothing.
If it had been him a year ago, he probably would have started arguing with Zoro. But after seeing this man's strength and just how hard he worked in there,
he had no choice but to admit that he truly respected someone like him.
Of course, it definitely wasn't because he had tried challenging Zoro and gotten beaten badly!
At that moment, though,
the honest Urouge scratched his head, hesitated, and then said, "But… isn't Big Sis Nami the vice-captain?"
Zoro: "…"
Cavendish: "…"
The atmosphere froze for a moment. Zoro turned around with a dark face. "Shut up."
"Oh."
Urouge gave an awkward laugh and fell silent.
In truth, he felt pretty bitter inside too, because this was exactly what Big Sis Nami had told him before they left.
Splash—
water sprayed up and fell back down.
Sas guided the weather ship down onto the sea, where a barrel floated on the surface.
He had the nimble Cavendish haul it up, then opened it aboard the ship.
Boom!
A firework shot into the foggy sky and exploded, only to vanish without a trace moments later.
"Flowing barrel… does this really work?"
Cavendish asked in confusion. "We searched for half a day without seeing that island-like ship. Just opening this is enough?"
"Since Ren said so, it should be right."
Zoro tilted his head. "Still, this trap really is crafty. It was actually disguised as an offering from seafarers to the guardian of the sea."
"Well, it's still better than searching aimlessly."
Sas suddenly cut in, "Sit tight. We're about to set off."
Hope we find it soon…
Zoro sat down cross-legged, anticipation and a faint sense of urgency in his eyes.
Unlike the carefree Cavendish and the blindly trusting Urouge,
he knew very clearly what kind of enemies their companions charging toward Dressrosa would face, and what kind of dire situation might unfold afterward.
But Zoro also understood how important this matter here was.
[Reduce the number of Warlords of the Sea.]
That was Ren's order and objective. Every battle they were fighting now revolved around that.
And in the end, the purpose boiled down to only one thing.
Take control of a Warlord seat, and weaken the Marines' power in a future war.
To do that, we need to avoid any accidents that might expose us. In other words, having him act together with us is not acceptable.
Anything that might be linked back to us is also unacceptable. The best choice is to use this major incident to completely split the two sides apart.
Cavendish, provoked by Demon Ren, choosing to challenge a Warlord of the Sea, and Urouge, a Skypiean who just happened to be passing by.
Those two are the main members of this operation. But even if they fought two against one, they still might not be able to beat Gecko Moria.
Not to mention the rest of Moria's crew. So they need one final trump card.
That person must possess overwhelming strength, enough to ensure that no unexpected variable can interfere with the result.
And there is only one candidate—
Back then, Ren had looked at him as he spoke.
That was why Zoro was here now.
After all, it was the captain's expectation. As vice-captain, he felt he couldn't refuse.
And besides, there was another reason.
"The blade of my predecessor, huh… I still don't fully understand what's going on, but it really is necessary to take that famed sword, Shusui, from them."
Zoro looked at the swords at his waist.
Wado Ichimonji was his friend's blade. No matter what, it had to accompany him on his path to becoming the world's greatest swordsman.
Yubashiri was entrusted to him by the shop owner, carrying the faith of a man who had trusted him unconditionally.
Sandai Kitetsu was the cursed blade he had bought himself.
As for which one Shusui would replace… he seemed to already have the answer in his heart.
Most importantly, things over in Dressrosa were not exactly stable.
Ren had said this battle was a direct test for them, a fight to temper themselves, and that enemies beyond expectation might appear.
Though they had prepared trump cards to deal with that possibility, victory was still better.
If some powerful enemy really did appear…
Zoro touched the cylindrical scroll at his waist and narrowed his eyes.
"Then I'll finish things here fast."
Half a day later, the weather ship found the place matching the description.
The giant vessel known as Thriller Bark loomed before them, enormous as an island.
The environment was incomparably dark, the atmosphere gloomy and oppressive, with bats flitting everywhere and graveyards scattered throughout.
Inside the outwardly abandoned castle, a lazy princess pushed open the window and stretched languidly.
"What lovely weather today, Kumacy."
"Yes—"
"Shut up! Don't talk! You stop being cute the moment you speak!"
"But outside—"
"I said shut up!"
The irritable princess kicked the stuffed "toy" with one foot, but the toy kept pointing toward the window, looking utterly horrified.
Whoosh—!
The wind swept past, and a figure suddenly appeared on the windowsill.
"The sky is pitch-black, and you're still saying the weather's lovely. You really are a weirdo."
Zoro rested one hand on Wado Ichimonji, his sharp gaze fixed on the girl who had turned around. "You're Perona, right?"
"…What is going on?!"
Perona finally reacted, looking completely dumbfounded. "How did you get in here? Why was there no warning at all?!"
"I came from the sky. I heard voices and jumped over.
It may be a little rude, but I'm an intruder, so there's no need for me to follow too many rules."
Zoro slowly drew his sword, and a chilling killing intent spread through the room. "So, would you mind taking me seriously as an intruder?"
"Hah? Then go be negative!"
Perona instantly raised her hand.
Ghosts like living dolls appeared one after another, rushing at the sudden enemy with astonishing speed.
"I don't really get what's going on, but go be negative first and explain afterward!"
"Sorry, but—"
A cold flash of steel, accompanied by the flow of wind, sliced through the room. A frigid line of light cut through the ghosts and struck Perona herself.
The tremendous impact sent her flying straight into the wall.
Zoro appeared where Perona had been standing just a moment ago, casually cutting apart the stuffed doll that lunged at him with a single slash.
"—if I already know your tricks in advance,
and still let you make me go negative enough to say something like, 'In my next life, I want to be a bug,'—
then I'd have no way of going back and reporting in."
Zoro switched swords and sheathed them, then took out a pair of Seastone Handcuffs and locked them onto Perona before waking her up.
"You bastard… you… Seastone? What did you do?!"
The moment Perona woke up, she began struggling, only to discover that she no longer had the strength to resist.
"Now, can you understand your situation?"
"Hmph, don't think I'll ever bow my head to you. Kill me or torture me as you like! But don't think you'll leave this land of terror alive!"
"Does that even matter?"
Zoro sat cross-legged on the windowsill and casually tossed the Den Den Mushi from the room over to her. "Rather than worrying about whether you'll bow your head, shouldn't you hurry up and report the situation here?
I came here with expectations. If I end up disappointed…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but his expression was practically screaming, The consequences will be severe.
"…You… are you serious?"
Perona felt like the whole thing was absurd.
She tentatively picked up the Den Den Mushi, cautiously dialed, and then issued the order that an intruder had defeated her and reinforcements were needed.
She even contacted several other places as well.
Yet from beginning to end, he never once interrupted her.
"You're way too arrogant!"
Perona finally couldn't hold back anymore and hurled the Den Den Mushi at him. "You actually think you can deal with all of us by yourself?!
Let me tell you the truth—our captain is one of the Warlords of the Sea, Gecko Moria—"
"Don't you think bringing up titles in the middle of a fight is meaningless?
So what if he's a Warlord of the Sea? A Warlord of the Sea is exactly who I came here to cut down!"
Zoro cut her off impatiently. "And I'm not alone. There are three of us. The other two are in other places.
They've got the advantage in numbers over me, and they're pretty strong too. I already gave you people a chance.
I just hope the enemies who come next won't disappoint me."
"You bastard! Trash! Idiot! You'll regret this!"
Perona couldn't remember the last time anyone had looked down on her so thoroughly. She was trembling with rage. "And you dare insult Lord Moria too!
Once you're turned into a zombie, I'm absolutely going to use you as a punching bag!"
"If you can manage it…"
Zoro revealed a deeply provocative smile.
Yet inside, he remained as calm as ever.
This was the quick-resolution method he had chosen.
By using the highest-profile approach possible to draw most of the enemy's attention, he would crush their main fighting force in a place with no audience.
(End of Chapter)