Why was Mihawk called Dog-Eyes Mihawk? Because when someone respectfully invited him to a proper duel, he looked down on them—pulled out the tiny knife he normally kept around his neck for peeling fruit, and fought one-handed.
As a cat of discerning taste, Ymi had no interest in watching their exchange like the wide-eyed crowd from the floating restaurant.
She'd caught something strange on this floating restaurant ship—a scent similar to a Devil Fruit, but somehow more refined. Ymi raised her head and fixed her gaze on the scarred boy in the straw hat. The smell was coming from him. Odd, though: the red-nosed false Emperor had also been a Devil Fruit user, and she hadn't sensed anything unusual from him at all.
She climbed down from the boat. What was an easy step for an adult was, for her small arms and short legs, a minor production—and it successfully drew the attention of everyone at the sea restaurant away from Hawk-Eyes and onto this little figure.
"A little girl? Cat ears?"
"Why is she climbing off Hawk-Eyes' boat? Don't tell me she's his... kid?"
"Entirely possible. I heard Hawk-Eyes is already in his forties—a man so accomplished at that age would have no reason to stay single."
"..." Mihawk made a mental note of it and kept fighting.
Ymi stepped ashore with her chin up and chest out. She was a cat who had taken down one of the Four Emperors, after all.
"Well, you've gotten careless, World's Greatest Swordsman!" Seeing an opening, Krieg lunged. The man had endured days of physical and psychological torment under Mihawk's pursuit, and he wasn't about to pass up a chance like this.
He'd just finished eating—and had already repaid the chef who'd charitably set food in front of him with a blast from his electric cannon, threatening to have a hundred portions ready immediately. A man that vile and ungrateful was certainly capable of going after a child.
He lunged forward and hooked his arm around the cat's neck, a cannon barrel emerging from the gap in his golden armor and pressing against her small head.
"Hey! Your daughter's being taken hostage!" Zoro lowered his sword-tip, calling out to Mihawk.
"Shouldn't you be focusing on the opponent in front of you?" Mihawk didn't so much as glance over—at the very least, that was a gesture of respect toward Zoro.
The attitude only made Zoro's expression colder. "I've always aimed for you. But I never imagined the man hailed as the world's greatest swordsman would be a—"
Crack.
A gaunt Stand materialized. A fist shot out from the folds of cloth and drove straight into Krieg's mouth, knocking out two front teeth.
Credit where it was due: Krieg was tough. A punch that could have punched through the walls of a late-19th-century building—he took it full in the face and only staggered back one step before steadying himself.
"Boss!"
"Another Devil Fruit user? Makes sense. She is Hawk-Eyes' daughter, after all."
Krieg wiped his mouth. His eyes went cold as he raised his Daisenso toward the Stand as it retreated. "Changed my mind. If I'm dead either way, I might as well kill his flesh and blood right in front of that bastard..."
The retreating Stand brushed the long spear that had appeared in Ymi's hands—reinforcing the Red Light enhancement. Rare for humans, but true for virtually every living creature: teeth were universally classified as offensive weapons.
After the complete Saint's Corpse had fully integrated, Ymi's raw physical strength had paradoxically failed to recover to the level of her first world. Perhaps it was because she had begun radiating divinity herself; absorbing the baboon's vitality hadn't boosted her physical power—it had reinforced her spiritual energy instead. That would explain why she'd been unable to push a small boat on her own earlier.
So attack enhancement was absolutely essential.
Flying Roundslash!
"You dare counter?" Cannon barrels emerged from every gap in Krieg's armor.
A horizontal line cut through the air. Without the support of spiritual energy, this strike naturally fell short of the one she'd used against Ailian—none of the sheer momentum that had once split a building with pure airflow. But Krieg also lacked the casual defensive domain Ailian had possessed.
Krieg's pupils contracted, then went unfocused. "I can't believe..."
"Boss!!"
Blood erupted from his abdomen up through his chest. The blow cleaved through the heavy metal plating and split the man in two. However diminished in power compared to weapons like the Axe Shield—it was still a technique refined for use against Elder Dragons.
"Wha—"
The chef at the sea restaurant's jaw dropped to his chest, eyes bulging in that particular art form the people of this world had perfected.
"This is the Grand Line... even a child from the Grand Line can casually take out the East Blue Overlord?!"
"Ha ha ha! That girl's incredible—let her join my crew!" The straw-hatted boy's mind clearly operated on a different circuit from everyone else's.
Having already finished his own warmup, Mihawk still found a moment to glance over at the situation with something close to satisfaction.
He'd been mildly torn about whether cutting the man down himself would have been beneath him. That concern was now moot.
As for his own misreading of the situation, Zoro found he had nothing to say. Over there, a battle had ended in an instant. As for his own fight—it was over just as quickly, and he had finally felt the full distance between the earth and the sky.
A tiny knife. One hand. Not only had Mihawk casually handled his Three Sword Style, he'd blocked the finishing blow head-on—the Oni Giri, which had never failed him. That was no small blow to absorb.
So when Mihawk launched his counterattack—which in practice amounted to a single forward prod with that little knife, easily dodged by stepping back even slightly—Zoro stepped into it instead.
If he'd dodged, wouldn't that mean he—carrying the dreams of both himself and his late best friend—had chosen, in this moment, to admit fear of an ordinary stab from a fruit peeler? Impossible.
Despite his usual disdain for the weak, Mihawk recognized genuine strength of spirit when he saw it.
Even though the outcome was already decided, out of respect, he drew the blade sheathed behind his back—shaped like a cross, its edge the Black Blade that had once cleaved warships in two. He met Zoro's final exchange with it.
One clash. The blades in Zoro's hands shattered. A line of red opened across his chest.
Zoro drew a slow breath, then turned to face Mihawk and spread his arms wide.
"What are you doing?"
"A swordsman who takes a wound in the back is disgraced."
Mihawk's mouth curved. "Admirable."
He brought the blade down—his acknowledgment of this "weakling."
He didn't go for the kill.
"Zoro!!" His crewmates, of course, saw it differently.
The person Hawk-Eyes had actually been curious to see—Straw Hat Luffy, the boy whose actions had cost Shanks an arm in East Blue—stretched out a rubber arm and launched himself forward, aiming a headbutt straight at Mihawk.
Then a gusher of water caught him full-on, and the boy who'd arrived with such momentum went limp.
"Mrow?" Ymi watched Luffy, puzzled. His scent was extraordinary, but in an actual fight he didn't seem all that impressive.
The cat tapped him on the head with her spear.
"Quest progress updated."
Defeat Four Emperors (2/4).
"Mrow mrow?"
"That's enough." Hawk-Eyes, having stepped around the water, took Ymi's water gun away. He looked at Luffy—now sporting a tower of bumps on his head. "Roronoa Zoro isn't dead. Go fish him out, you still have time."
"For real?"
"Big bro!" Two bystanders shot a glare at Mihawk and dove into the water to pull Zoro up.
"Why didn't you finish him off?" The cat tilted her head up at Mihawk.
Hawk-Eyes turned and looked toward Krieg's body. Beyond the already-fatal chest wound, Krieg's forehead sported a neat hole, and his most loyal subordinate was sprawled beside him, wailing. Somewhere in the crowd, the phrase "Hawk-Eyes' parenting style" was being murmured with some consternation.
"..."
It had been flagged in her first world by the system, but this was the first time Ymi had actually had a real opportunity to follow up—and she'd followed through without hesitation.
Pretending not to notice, Mihawk shifted his attention to Luffy. Specifically, to the straw hat. If he remembered correctly, that was the hat Shanks used to wear.
"Kid. What are you after?"
"Pirate King!"
"That's harder than surpassing me."
"Don't care. I'm going to be it regardless."
That's the reckless spirit Shanks must have seen in him.
Without another word, Mihawk felt his clothing tugged. He turned to find the cat with her chin raised and chest puffed out, absolutely brimming with confidence. "When do we go after the other Emperors?"
"?"
The cat was under the impression that Dog-Eyes Mihawk had been kindly escorting her to fight all four of the Emperors.
She had seen through this world's deception. That Whitebeard, that Kaido—all impostors. As for the actual Four Emperors, they were clearly just small fry you could take out with a splash of water.
How many Emperors could there really be at sea? A cat could knock one off without breaking a sweat.
Mihawk crossed his arms and looked toward Zoro, who was being hauled out of the water. "What do you mean, 'other' Emperors?"
He didn't recall running into any Emperor on this trip.
"The Four Emperors, the..."
Click.
A sound that had no business being there.
A News Coo—appearing from nowhere—produced its little camera-bug and snapped a shot in their direction. By the angle, it had captured him and Ymi together. Again.
Hawk-Eyes left it alone, arms crossed, maintaining his composure.