"Kill him! Everyone together!"
"Mad Shark" Orcas could no longer restrain himself. At his low growl, the members of the Mad Shark Pirates charged forward as one, a tide of rusted steel and bloodlust.
But in that same instant, Zoro moved.
"Three-Sword Style..."
With a low breath, his figure vanished from his spot. Igaram, watching from the side, only saw a green blur flickering through the crowd like a stray flash of lightning.
A few heartbeats later, Zoro reappeared.
He was now standing with his back to the pirates, leaning forward in a finishing pose. As he slowly guided his two hand-held blades back into their sheaths, the metallic clack of the guards hitting the scabbards echoed through the silent street.
Clang.
As if on cue, eighty-odd spray lines of blood erupted simultaneously from the chests of the Mad Shark Pirates. Under Igaram's horrified gaze, every single one of them collapsed at once, a carpet of fallen men.
Igaram felt a wave of icy cold surge from his heels to the crown of his head. His clothes were instantly drenched in a cold sweat.
This man... is too strong! So strong that the very idea of resistance felt like a joke.
"Captain Igaram, shall we go? Mr. Rowan is waiting," Momousagi's gentle voice drifted from behind him.
Igaram could only nod dumbly, his mind reeling.
"Igaram... did that green-haired older brother really take them all out by himself?" Vivi whispered from behind the guard, her eyes wide with lingering fear and burgeoning awe. She couldn't wrap her head around how a single swordsman could dismantle a crew of eighty in seconds.
Even the two guardian spirits of Alabasta, Chaka and Pell, probably couldn't achieve such clinical efficiency. A thought sparked in Vivi's mind: If I could team up with this Zoro guy, wouldn't it be easy to infiltrate Baroque Works as a top agent and get the intel we need?
Zoro, of course, had no idea he was being scouted as a "top thug" in a fourteen-year-old girl's head. After wiping out the Mad Sharks, the pent-up battle intent from his recent training had finally found a small vent.
The stronger he became, the more he craved a true test of his limits. Back in the East Blue, he had grown through constant combat, always knowing exactly where he stood. But since following Rowan and receiving his guidance, his understanding of the Way of the Sword had deepened to a level where he realized how much of a "frog in a well" he had once been.
After this display, Zoro had a rough estimate of his current power. Compared to his time in the East Blue, he was at least twice as strong. This was only two months of training.
But he knew the road ahead was still impossibly long. Having witnessed Rowan's duel, he knew he might not even last three moves against Dracule Mihawk yet—let alone the "Godfather" himself.
Zoro removed the Wado Ichimonji from his teeth and sheathed it slowly. As the blade slid home, the aura of pure slaughter vanished, replaced by a sharp but controlled presence.
He remembered Rowan's words: "The day you are no longer bound by specific techniques, and can pull your sword intent entirely into your body, is the day you are close to becoming a Grand Master."
A Grand Master—a stage every swordsman on the sea dreamed of. A Master can rule a region, but a Grand Master shakes the entire ocean. Mihawk, Shanks, Vista, Rayleigh... those were the giants at that peak. And standing above even them was the World's Greatest Swordsman.
The man he followed.
Zoro exhaled softly and began to walk away under Vivi's longing gaze and Igaram's stunned silence. Momousagi followed, showing no surprise at Zoro's performance. To her, if a student of Mr. Rowan couldn't do this much, that would be the real surprise.
Igaram finally snapped out of it, taking a deep breath to settle his heart. "Princess Vivi, we..." Since Momousagi had already outed her identity, there was no point in hiding.
Vivi looked up at Igaram, her large eyes filled with curiosity. "Igaram, is the 'Mr. Rowan' she mentioned the Great Hero of the Navy from the newspapers last month?"
Though she had been preoccupied with the kingdom's drought, the news of the "Marine Godfather" had been unavoidable. The man who repelled a Yonko and defeated a Warlord was a living legend.
"That's right. It is that Mr. Rowan," Momousagi answered for him with a smile.
"Then let's go. I believe a hero like Mr. Rowan must be here to help us," Vivi said firmly.
Led by Momousagi, the three soon reached the mouth of an alley. There, in the shade, sat Rowan on a discarded, dusty sofa, dressed in his casual attire. Zoro stood behind him like a silent, lethal bodyguard.
"Mr. Rowan," Momousagi nodded, taking her place on his other side.
When Igaram and Vivi saw the man in person—the gentle-looking old man with the calm eyes—they knew instantly. This was indeed the Great Hero of the Marines.