"Dead…"
Danica, one of the few survivors aboard the merchant ship, trembled as she stared at the pirates around her. Every one of them had been reduced to ash, completely erased by overwhelming lightning.
"Damn it… all pirates should die!"
A brief sense of relief rose within her chest.
Yet once the exhilaration faded, only grief and emptiness remained.
Her family was gone.
Gathering her courage, she looked toward the man floating nearby.
"Excuse me… are you a Marine Admiral?"
Her voice shook as tears streamed down her face.
"Admiral… can I join the Marines? My family died during the attack. I have nowhere else to go…"
The man known as Cero glanced calmly at her before pointing toward several injured women crying nearby.
"A Marine warship will arrive soon. Tell them then," he said casually. "If you want to become a Marine, start by helping the wounded. Consider this your first duty, future Marine."
Whoosh!
The moment he finished speaking, his body transformed into lightning and vanished from sight.
"I…"
Danica froze, realizing too late that the man who saved her had already disappeared.
Not far away, the battle had already begun.
"Two Sword Style: Thunder Cutter!"
The green haired swordsman drew both blades and slashed upward toward the lightning descending from the sky.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several razor sharp sword slashes surged forward, intercepting the incoming lightning and attempting to force it back.
Zzzzt!!!
But lightning moved faster.
The attacks delayed it only briefly before the silver white flash slipped through tiny openings between the slashes, moving with terrifying precision.
"Cero: Thunder Strike!"
Boom!!!!!
A colossal pillar of lightning swallowed the sea where the swordsman stood, exploding outward in blinding brilliance.
From the outside, the lightning appeared to completely erase everything within it.
Yet at the very center, space remained untouched.
"Three Sword Style: Flock of Crows, Demon Hunt Dance!"
Blades flashed relentlessly.
A storm of sword strikes tore through the lightning itself, slicing apart the descending energy.
"Cut!"
With a furious roar, the massive lightning pillar split cleanly in half before shattering across the ocean.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Fragments of lightning scattered before gathering again in the sky, reforming into a white haired man bare from the waist up, silver trousers flickering with residual electricity.
He looked down with amusement.
"Tsk… running into someone like you here is unexpected. Straw Hat's Pirate Hunter, has your year of hiding finally ended?"
Roronoa Zoro narrowed his eyes.
The lightning abilities, the presence, the fighting style…
Could this Marine Admiral actually be Shirogai in disguise?
This power closely resembled the abilities Shirogai obtained from Enel's Goro Goro no Mi.
"Oh? Silent?" Cero smirked. "Looking down on me?"
Lightning condensed instantly in his palm, forming a sharp spear crackling with destructive energy.
"Thunder Spear!"
The weapon pierced through the air like a streak of light, reaching Zoro almost instantly.
Crack!
Zoro's three swords aligned at once.
"Three Sword Style…"
Standing atop drifting wreckage tossed violently by the waves, his body spun rapidly.
"Dragon Twister!"
Hundreds of slashes erupted outward, forming a roaring cyclone of blades.
Clang! Clang!
The storm collided with the lightning spear, grinding against it until the weapon fractured and shattered completely.
"One generation, thirty six calamities…"
Armament Haki coated the Wado Ichimonji clenched in Zoro's mouth.
His gaze sharpened.
"Two generations, seventy two calamities… three generations, one hundred and eight calamities…"
Zoro stopped hesitating.
Whether this man was Shirogai or not would be decided through battle.
If it truly was Shirogai, victory was impossible.
Then this fight would simply reveal the gap between them.
But if he won…
Then the answer would be obvious.
Splash!
Zoro launched himself from the drifting wood, Observation Haki locking firmly onto his opponent.
"Three Sword Style: One Hundred and Eight Calamity Phoenix!"
Three massive spiraling slash hurricanes shot toward the sky.
"Oh? Not bad."
Cero raised one hand calmly.
Lightning roared downward from the clouds.
"Thunder Shield!"
Rumble!
A massive lightning barrier formed instantly, crackling violently as the incoming slashes collided against it.
Zzzzt!
The shield devoured the attacks piece by piece, erasing the sword energy entirely.
Just as the final slashes were about to disappear…
A cold voice sounded behind him.
"Nine mountains and eight seas form one world. Gather a thousand worlds into a Small Thousand World…"
Cero's eyes widened.
Zoro had already appeared behind him.
His three blades spun rapidly, all coated in dense Armament Haki as an overwhelming killing intent filled the air.
"…Without me, there is no end. Three Sword Style Secret Technique…"
The atmosphere itself seemed to grow heavier.
"Interesting," Cero laughed as thunderclouds descended around his body. Crimson lightning ignited across him as immense power gathered into another gigantic spear.
"Burning Welcome to the Nine Heavens!"
The lightning spear crashed downward.
Midair, Zoro ignored the incoming attack.
His eyes opened sharply.
"Three Sword Style Secret Technique…"
His voice turned cold.
"Grand Three Thousand Worlds, Three Thousand Extinctions."
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