The Dawn crew set up a bonfire on a stretch of high ground near the battlefield where Dicken and Wang Zhi were fighting, preparing for a lively dinner.
The blazing fire in the darkness and the rich aroma of roasting meat drifting through the air continuously irritated Wang Zhi's nerves.
"This is fucking bullying!"
After decades of piracy, Wang Zhi felt he had never encountered such shameless bastards.
The one-eyed brat before him was already becoming stronger the longer the fight dragged on, forcing him to secretly raise his focus and fight with nearly ninety percent of his strength. Yet those people from the Dawn were roasting meat right upwind, letting the smell constantly invade the battlefield and disrupt his concentration.
Wang Zhi's expression gradually turned uglier.
On the other side, Dicken was also cursing his teammates inwardly for their complete lack of decency.
He had already started feeling disappointed with Wang Zhi.
The old man's swordsmanship looked fierce and heavy, but in truth, he only repeated the same handful of moves over and over. Compared to Three Blades, whose techniques came one after another with enough flair to make every attack memorable, Wang Zhi felt painfully plain.
Dicken had already begun considering whether to end things with his Devil Fruit ability.
At this distance, he was confident he could poison Wang Zhi and put him down in seconds, finishing this increasingly unrewarding battle.
Then, as if fate wanted to interfere, the scent of roasted meat drifted over.
Before Dicken could curse, Wang Zhi suddenly looked even angrier than he was.
In an instant, the old pirate's swordsmanship noticeably sharpened.
Dicken's eyes lit up.
This old man still has something left to squeeze out after all.
Roasted meat could wait.
But an opponent who could pressure him at just the right level while helping sharpen his swordsmanship was becoming increasingly rare.
Immediately, Dicken shut out every distraction and focused entirely on the fight.
...
On the hill near the battlefield, beside the bonfire.
"When do you think Dicken and that old man are finally going to finish?" Youki asked casually, holding roasted meat in one hand and strong liquor in the other.
Pini studied the battlefield seriously.
"Wang Zhi's combat strength has increased again. If Dicken doesn't start using his Devil Fruit ability, he's already close to his current limit."
"I estimate Wang Zhi still has maybe ten percent of his strength hidden. Unless he's somehow stronger than Rayleigh and Scopper Gaban and already at Yonko level."
"That's impossible," Ash replied while turning meat over the fire.
"If Wang Zhi were truly at Yonko level, he wouldn't have spent years watching others rise after losing his position."
Pini nodded.
"Fair point. Since Dicken wants to sharpen his swordsmanship, Wang Zhi is the perfect training target right now."
Youki dragged the conversation back.
"So, when does this fight end?"
"At least three days," Pini guessed.
"It is hard to predict a duel like this. If they were fighting to kill immediately, it would be easier. But since Dicken is using Wang Zhi like a whetstone, who knows how long he plans to drag this out?"
"Then I bet two days," Ash said casually, joining the conversation.
Youki burst into laughter.
"You all think too little of Dicken. I say a whole week!"
The others immediately rolled their eyes.
The person betting the longest somehow had the nerve to say everyone else was underestimating Dicken.
The group laughed, ate roasted meat, and watched the battle unfold.
Without noticing, the night quietly passed.
...
The next morning.
Despite using nearly all his strength, Wang Zhi still could not suppress the one-eyed brat standing before him.
What unsettled him even more was the strange current of wind now swirling around Dicken's short blade.
"His Devil Fruit ability?"
Wang Zhi frowned.
Dicken's growth had happened much faster than anyone expected.
Sword techniques were not flashy performances where someone shouted dramatic lines and struck cool poses.
Without genuine killing power and a sword path of one's own, they were nothing more than empty tricks.
Under Wang Zhi's relentless pressure, Dicken had finally begun relying on his Devil Fruit powers to maintain the deadlock.
But the moment he did, something suddenly clicked in his mind.
He did not need some vague concept of sword intent.
He had spent years mastering wind and poison. Those powers had already become second nature to him.
All he needed to do was merge his understanding of wind and poison into his swordsmanship.
That alone would create a blade unique to himself.
Poison could come later.
But wind?
Wind was perfect for a swordsman.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced.
"Ash mentioned swordsmen who specialized in wind techniques years ago..."
His eyes sharpened.
"That's it!"
After another fierce collision, both fighters retreated.
Wang Zhi's killing intent intensified.
Dicken, however, was smiling.
Holding his golden dagger low at his side, a cyan wind blade slowly extended outward from the weapon's edge, stretching nearly two feet longer as if completing an invisible sword.
A faint breeze spiraled around him.
"Let me show you," Dicken said with a grin, "the Way of the Gale."
Wang Zhi's pupils narrowed.
From that moment onward, the battle entered its fiercest stage.
Facing this suddenly transformed fighting style, Wang Zhi found himself under increasing pressure.
Years of combat experience still allowed him to hold on, but it was becoming difficult.
Meanwhile, excitement steadily grew in Dicken's eyes.
His theory worked.
Again and again, he swung his blade.
Sharp cyan slashes tore through the battlefield, streaking toward Wang Zhi with terrifying speed.
Though Wang Zhi desperately defended himself, even his massive eyebrow-shaped blade could not block everything forever.
Small wounds gradually began appearing across his body.
Fortunately for him, Dicken had not infused poison into this newfound sword path.
If he had, the battle would have ended long ago.
Even so, Wang Zhi was steadily being overwhelmed.
Defense after defense wore him down.
Eventually, the cracks began to show.
Then, in a single moment, Dicken found an opening.
"Way of the Gale, Sweeping Slash!"
His figure vanished.
An afterimage remained where he had stood.
The real Dicken had already appeared behind Wang Zhi, his short blade wrapped in cyan light as he slashed viciously toward the pirate's back.
The sudden burst of speed completely caught Wang Zhi off guard.
Dodging was impossible.
Gritting his teeth, Wang Zhi abandoned defense entirely and swung his massive blade toward Dicken's waist.
He intended to trade injury for injury.
In his mind, Dicken's short weapon was a disadvantage.
At worst, he would suffer a deep wound.
But if his own strike landed, Dicken would be split in half.
No matter what happened, he would come out ahead.
Yet the moment Wang Zhi's blade cut through Dicken's body, his expression changed.
"No... that's not real!"
As a Master Swordsman, Wang Zhi instantly knew the difference.
That strike had not connected with flesh.
Neither his Observation Haki nor his eyes had noticed when Dicken moved.
At that exact moment, Dicken had already returned to his original position.
The cyan sword aura extending from his dagger expanded instantly, stretching over ten meters.
"Way of the Gale, Wind of Breaking Barriers!"
"Way of the Gale, Swallow Return!"
The moment the word Return left Dicken's mouth, the massive cyan sword aura snapped back toward the blade like a recoiling storm.
Everything happened too fast.
A thin line appeared across Wang Zhi's neck.
Then his head slid from his shoulders and hit the ground.
Silence followed.
Dicken stared at Wang Zhi's severed head, frozen with disbelief.
Then he lowered his gaze toward the golden dagger in his hand and slowly exhaled.
The battle was over.
More importantly, he had found his own path.
The Way of the Gale.
As thoughts drifted, another figure surfaced in his mind.
Dracule Mihawk.
The world's strongest swordsman.
The man even Three Blades viewed as the ultimate opponent.
A fellow Shichibukai, alongside Ash and Sali.
At that moment, Dicken finally found the next mountain he wanted to climb.
===
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