After eating his fill, Gin finally had the strength to get up.
"I'm leaving."
"Goodbye."
Gin randomly found a ship docked next to the Sea Restaurant and left.
Sanji had a satisfied smile on his face; he felt he had done something quite fulfilling by saving a person who was about to starve to death.
"Do you really like it when others eat your food?"
Just then, an abrupt voice came.
Sanji looked up; it was that guy who had caused destruction as soon as he arrived at the Sea Restaurant and was now kept by Zeff to work off his debt.
"I really like your cooking. Do you want to join my Crew?"
"I'm a cook, not a Pirate," Sanji said.
"I just hope you join my Crew, become my Crewmate, and also our cook," Luffy said.
"I said, I'm not interested in being a Pirate," Sanji said, turning to leave.
For the next two days, Luffy came to block Sanji every day.
He had already decided on Sanji; he felt Sanji was an excellent cook.
At least he fit his definition of a cook.
Nami, meanwhile, was thinking every day about how to steal the Going Merry.
But Rosen, Johnny, and Joseph were always on the ship, so she couldn't find an opportunity at all.
On this day, Luffy once again blocked Sanji.
"Hey, Cook, have you decided to join my Crew?"
Sanji turned and walked away, with Luffy close behind.
Just then, a loud bang came from the direction of the restaurant.
Sanji's expression changed, and he immediately rushed to the restaurant.
He saw a burly man in golden armor sitting at a dining table, while not far away lay several shattered corpses.
The explosion must have been caused by that burly man.
At this moment, Gin stood beside Kree: "Boss, didn't we agree to just resupply here? The cook at the Sea Restaurant saved me, so I hope we don't cause trouble here."
Kree glanced at Gin: "I'm the Captain, so what I say goes. Besides, our ship is severely damaged. If we can seize this ship, then we can set sail again into the Grand Line, and we can also disguise ourselves as a restaurant to trick other Pirates and Marines into coming, then we'll set an ambush and take them down, haha… I'm truly cunning."
"You all deserve to die!"
Suddenly, Sanji delivered a flying kick, spinning towards Kree.
Kree grabbed Sanji's calf and slammed him against the wall.
Luffy looked at Zeff, who was standing not far away: "Old man, if I take care of him, can it offset the money I owe?"
Zeff looked at Kree inside the restaurant, then at Luffy, and nodded: "Yes, fight outside. I don't want to increase the losses."
"Hey…" Luffy suddenly stretched his arm: "Gum-Gum… Rocket!"
Boom—
Before Kree could react, he was blasted out of the restaurant by Luffy's sneak attack, crashing into a ship parked outside.
Luffy rushed out right behind him.
At the same time, on the Going Merry, Rosen, Johnny, and Joseph were watching the battle outside the Sea Restaurant.
Kree was using his war spear to smash a Pirate ship.
Luffy, meanwhile, was in mid-air, frantically punching at Kree below.
"Old man, should we go up and help?"
Rosen leaned against the railing, propping his chin as he watched the battle ahead, and said: "You two Pirate hunters, if you go up and help a Pirate fight, then you won't be able to make a living in the East Blue anymore."
"But that's Zoro's Captain."
"If anyone should make a move, it should be me, the Vice-Captain."
Johnny and Joseph immediately thought that Rosen was super powerful, and instantly felt relieved.
At this moment, the two were fighting fiercely, and in their battle, Kree's large Pirate ship had also been affected.
The Pirate ship, already tattered from escaping the Grand Line, was now shattered by their battle.
Zoro also joined the battle at this time, easily clearing away Kree's small fry.
Sanji also found his opponent at this time, Gin the Demon.
It was clear that at this time, Sanji's strength was still a bit naive.
Gin the Demon even went easy on Sanji.
"Kid, with your strength, entering the Grand Line is just seeking death; that place is full of monsters." Kree, facing Luffy's punches, gradually struggled.
"No one can stop me from becoming the Pirate King," Luffy loudly declared his dream.
Rosen looked at the battlefield composed of numerous broken ship planks, then at Kree.
"What an ugly battle."
Rosen stretched out his hand, controlling the floating planks to form a driftwood path from the Going Merry to the center of the battlefield.
Immediately after, Rosen's Shadow Demon extended out.
It extended along the driftwood path all the way to Kree's feet, and Kree's body was instantly eroded by darkness.
When Luffy saw this scene, alarm bells immediately rang.
It was the same with Kuro last time; would this Kree also turn into Black Kree?
Things unfolded as Luffy predicted; Black Kree indeed appeared.
The originally golden armor turned black.
And the original Kree fell into panic, discovering that he could not control his body.
Luffy's gaze became cautious. Zoro, seeing this scene, immediately jumped to Luffy's side to fight Black Kree with him.
"Hmph!" Black Kree suddenly moved.
"Behind you!" Luffy suddenly performed an upside-down kick, aiming at Black Kree who had suddenly appeared behind him.
Black Kree suddenly grabbed Luffy's leg and threw him towards the sea.
Luffy quickly stretched out both hands, grabbing a large piece of driftwood, which allowed him to pull himself back.
Zoro immediately drew his sword and charged at Black Kree. Black Kree raised his hand and grabbed Zoro's left sword, Yukishiba. Zoro's pupils suddenly contracted, but his body was directly sent flying by a punch from Black Kree.
Zoro flew over twenty meters away before stopping on a piece of driftwood.
Luffy and Zoro were now on opposite sides of Black Kree.
What they were thinking at this moment was that indeed, entering the Grand Line required Armament Haki.
Without Armament Haki, one simply wasn't qualified to step into the Grand Line.
The two moved simultaneously, charging towards Black Kree.
Black Kree moved with ease when facing Luffy and Zoro, but with the addition of Sanji, he began to struggle.
The three working together seemed to have created some kind of qualitative change.
Of course, Luffy and Zoro were clearly stronger than Sanji.
At this moment, Rosen frowned. If they were on land, he wouldn't have such difficulty manipulating things.
But on the sea, his connection to Black Kree was through the driftwood on the surface.
It was like a base station with an unstable signal; his connection with Black Kree was intermittent.
Shadow Demon must extend on a solid body; it cannot extend through liquids or gases.
Finally, Luffy defeated Black Kree completely with a Spiral Ascent attack.
But before the three could celebrate, a chilling killing intent spread from far to near, enveloping the three on the battlefield.
On a raft sat a man carrying a black sword.
A pair of green candles burned on the raft, making it appear particularly eerie.
The man saw the dying Kree, and the killing intent on his body gradually dissipated.
Although he had been chasing him all this way, the current Kree made him completely lose interest.
Instead, Zoro was trembling with excitement at this moment.
Because that man was the World's Greatest Swordsman, Hawkeye!
Zoro jumped in front of Hawkeye, at the same time raising his sword and pointing it at Hawkeye, who was sitting on the boat.
"I challenge you."
Hawkeye glanced at Zoro from the corner of his eye: "What is your goal?"
"The strongest."
"The strongest, you say?"
Zoro's Aura suddenly surged: "Come, fight me."
"Heh heh… If you have enough strength, you can clearly perceive the difference between us even without a fight."
Hawkeye was clearly mocking Zoro's overestimation of himself, and indeed, that was the truth.
At this moment, Zoro couldn't even perceive the difference between them.
"To dare point your sword at me, should I call it courage, or ignorance?"
"Because of ambition! And a promise to a dear friend, you are the mountain I must overcome," Zoro's Battle Intent remained high.
Hawkeye lightly leaped onto the driftwood where Zoro stood: "Very well, consider it an extra act for this journey."
Hawkeye took off the crucifix from his neck, then removed the cover from the crucifix, revealing a small blade only suitable for trimming nails.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Zoro looked at Hawkeye angrily.
"Although you are a somewhat famous swordsman, this is, after all, the weakest East Blue, and unfortunately, I don't have a smaller sword on me than this one," Hawkeye said, his words dripping with casual mockery.
"You bastard!" Zoro was furious: "There's a limit to looking down on people."
Three-Sword Style: Oni Giri!
Zoro suddenly rushed at Hawkeye, but his blade was stopped by the tip of Hawkeye's small knife.
"How is that possible! How can such a vast distance exist in this World!?"
Zoro frantically attacked Hawkeye, but Hawkeye stood still, his small knife always effortlessly blocking all of Zoro's attacks.
On the Going Merry, Johnny and Joseph watched this scene with worry.
"Old man, quickly go and save Zoro."
"This is a battle between swordsmen. If I step in to save him, it's like killing him," Rosen watched Hawkeye and Zoro's battle with great interest.
It wasn't so much a battle as it was a game, Hawkeye's game.
Finally, Hawkeye seemed to grow tired of the game, and the small knife pierced Zoro's heart.
At that very instant, Zoro seemed to have foreseen this, and forcibly shifted his body, allowing the small knife to pierce his shoulder, while his Yukishiba also struck towards Hawkeye.
Hawkeye was surprised for a moment, but he only shifted his body, letting the blade pass by him, and with another casual slash, a huge cut appeared on Zoro's chest.
But Zoro still insisted on standing, his eyes still resolute.
Hawkeye then took the black sword from his back: "As a swordsman, you are worthy of my full power. State your name."
"Roronoa Zoro!"
"I will remember you, a long-awaited strong one."
The current strongest swordsman and the future Supernova, both understood from each other's eyes the honor belonging to a swordsman: one decisive blow!
Zoro's two beloved swords were cut, and at the same time, his chest was sliced open by a single strike.
Zoro spread his arms, retracting his last sword: "As expected of the strongest!"
Hawkeye looked at Zoro in surprise: "What are you doing?"
"A sword wound on the back is a swordsman's disgrace."
"Impressive!" Hawkeye unhesitatingly swung his black sword, striking Zoro's chest.
"Zoro!!!" Luffy launched himself to Zoro's side.
Hawkeye looked at Luffy, who had jumped over without hesitation, with a hint of appreciation in his eyes, especially when he saw the Straw Hat.
"Thank you for not interfering until the duel was over. Don't worry, he's not dead."
With that, Hawkeye returned to his boat, and the small raft set off again.
Rosen looked in the direction Hawkeye departed: "Next, I should also claim some interest for the swordsman on my Crew. Oh, and if a certain navigator plans to take this ship, let her."
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