Nothing happened overnight.
The hunt for the red rabbit was still underway.
What the Marines did not know was that the very target they were searching for was sitting practically under their noses, calmly waiting for Droopy to come up with a foolproof plan to claim the five hundred million beli bounty.
Back in Shimotsuki Village—
Kairo woke early out of habit.
After a quick wash, he stepped into Augus's courtyard and practiced a full set of tai chi.
Augus's house had a rather distinctive layout, something close to a rural three-sided courtyard. A few vegetable patches sat in front of the house, and beyond them stretched green rice fields. Standing in the yard, Kairo almost felt as though he had stepped into a painting.
As a farmer, Augus was naturally not the type to sleep in.
But the first thing he did after getting up was not head for the fields.
Instead, he went straight to the large tree Kairo had cut down the night before and started chopping it apart with an axe.
By the time Kairo finished his tai chi, Augus had already turned the fallen tree into piles of firewood.
Seeing that, Kairo felt it would be shameless to eat and stay for free, so he immediately went over to help carry the wood into the yard.
"Mr. Kairo, your swordsmanship is really impressive."
After carrying in the last bundle, Augus pulled out a cigarette and offered one to Kairo.
Kairo could smoke, but he was not addicted to it, so he declined with a smile.
The air was too fresh this early in the morning, and the scenery too beautiful. He had no desire to start blowing smoke before even eating breakfast.
Augus did not mind. He put the cigarette back, lit it for himself, then cautiously asked, "Mr. Kairo, are you going to tell the children more travel stories today?"
"Of course."
Kairo smiled and nodded.
"If the children enjoy listening, then I'll keep talking."
"That's wonderful."
Augus rubbed his hands together, looking delighted.
"The children definitely love hearing them. If Mr. Kairo were willing to stay in Shimotsuki Village for a while, I'm sure they'd be even happier."
Kairo tilted his head and looked at him.
"There's something more behind that, isn't there, Augus? Go on. Say what you really mean."
"As expected of Mr. Kairo—you saw right through it." Augus let out an awkward laugh. "It's not exactly what I want. It's the village elder and the others. They're planning to build a school."
"A school?"
A trace of surprise flashed across Kairo's eyes.
What kind of development was this?
If his memory was right, the original One Piece world hardly ever emphasized formal education at all. The whole setting practically operated like one giant world of semi-literates. Whether it was small villages like Foosha Village and Shimotsuki Village or larger places like Shells Town and Loguetown, schools were almost never a notable feature.
Even Garp, a Marine Vice Admiral, had raised Luffy through pure violence and survival training. Sending him to school had never once entered the equation.
And yet now, the elder of Shimotsuki Village was talking about building a school.
Had his arrival somehow awakened new ideas among ordinary people in this world?
And if the elder wanted him to stay…
Then most likely, they wanted him to become the village's teacher.
That was actually… interesting.
Maybe he really could try spreading some new ideas in this world.
No matter how it ended, it would still make this transmigration trip worthwhile.
Just then—
Zoro walked into the courtyard.
After seeing Kairo's "casual hobby-level" display the previous night—pulling an object through the air and cutting down a tree from a distance with nothing but a stick—he had clearly not slept on it lightly.
"Zoro, you…"
Seeing the pack slung over Zoro's shoulder, Augus blinked in surprise.
"You're setting out already?"
Zoro nodded, then looked straight at Kairo.
"What you told me about swordsmanship last night taught me a lot. It also made me realize how lacking I still am."
He paused briefly, then continued:
"But I'm still going to sea."
"I made a promise to someone once. I'm going to carry her share too. I'll become the strongest, and I'll make my name resound all the way to heaven."
Before the words had even fully settled, his gaze turned burning hot.
"There's one thing I want to ask of you."
"Oh?" Kairo blinked, smiling. "Let's hear it."
"I know you're strong." Zoro took a step forward, eyes fixed on Kairo. "When I defeat Mihawk and become the world's greatest swordsman… will you fight me?"
"I want to challenge the Sword Demon's 'victory without a sword.'"
Kairo could not help smiling at that.
"So in your eyes, that means I'm stronger than Mihawk?"
Zoro did not answer directly.
"My instincts tell me…" he said, staring at Kairo, "that you're very strong."
"No problem."
Kairo shrugged lightly.
"When you defeat Mihawk and become the new world's greatest swordsman, I'll spar with you."
"Heh—"
Zoro's grin spread wide the moment he heard that.
"Then don't wait too long, Mr. Kairo."
After that, he wasted no more words.
He turned and left cleanly.
Of course, Zoro was not simply assuming Kairo was powerful for no reason.
The previous night, after witnessing Kairo cut down a tree from afar with a wooden stick, he had rushed back to Isshin Dojo and gone straight to Koushirou for answers.
From his teacher, he had learned that there were indeed many powerful figures on the Grand Line capable of similar feats—but those people all relied on Haki.
And among those who could release a slash from a wooden stick through sheer mastery and Haki, the number was vanishingly small.
That answer was why Zoro had become convinced.
Kairo was absolutely one of the world's rare top-tier monsters.
…
Zoro setting out to sea did not cause much of a stir in Shimotsuki Village.
The biggest reason was simple.
Kairo the traveler had completely captured the attention of the village. Men, women, children, old people—everyone was focused on him.
Zoro was more than happy with that.
He sailed off alone in a tiny boat, riding the wind with high spirits.
Very soon, however, he discovered a severe problem.
He had lost his direction.
After drifting for two full days, he somehow ended up in the waters near Shells Town.
"At last… land."
Seeing the shoreline draw closer and closer, Zoro—so hungry his chest practically felt glued to his spine—finally let out a sigh of relief.
Then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the spot.
He did not know how much time passed.
When he finally woke, it was because of a strange scritch-scritch sound.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a rabbit in a red plaid shirt leaning lazily against a tree across from him, one leg crossed over the other, meticulously polishing a canvas sneaker.
"Kid, you're finally awake."
Before Zoro could even react, a low, slightly heavy voice came from right beside him.
He turned at once—
And his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull.
Because the one who had spoken was not a human.
It was a dog.
A relatively small dog, at that, but one that somehow gave off the strange impression of a seasoned, steady old schemer.
"Don't be afraid."
Seeing Zoro's reaction, Droopy did his best to look friendly.
"My name is Droopy. I'm not a bad person. More precisely, not a bad dog."
"See that red rabbit over there? His name is Da Hong. Don't let that dull little face fool you."
"He's carrying several hundred deaths on his head. He wiped out more than a hundred members of one kingdom's royal family, and he even killed one of those so-called World Nobles—the Celestial Dragons. Right now the whole World Government is hunting him down."
Droopy paused, then spoke with solemn sincerity:
"I think we were fated to meet, so I'm giving this tremendous achievement to you."
"You should tie him up right now and bring him to the Marine base over there to claim the reward."
"The fame is yours. The bounty money is mine. What do you think?"
"?????"
Looking at the dead-serious dog speaking fluent human language, the number of question marks in Zoro's head increased without end.
For one bizarre moment, a terrible thought crept into his mind.
Had his first voyage failed before it had even begun?
Was he already dying?
And was everything he was seeing and hearing right now nothing more than a hallucination at death's door?
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