Yes.

Just as the message relayed to Headquarters stated—

Just last night, Aokiji had discovered Hawkeye’s whereabouts.

For this reason, he had deliberately frozen the nearby sea to ensure that if the other party wanted to leave, he would be unable to hide his tracks.

But Aokiji absolutely did not expect it.

When he discovered the traces of Hawkeye’s departure and planned to track him down, the one blocking his path would actually be—

“Red Hair Shanks.”

He looked at the Sea Emperor before him.

This was also the inconvenience for the Marines in the New World—the New World was the territory of the Four Emperors, and the Marines’ intelligence network was almost useless against them.

“Hahaha—as a drinking buddy, that guy Mihawk really is pretty good.”

Shanks swirled the wine in his glass.

“It’s rare for him to ask me for a favor, so of course I have to help him out.”

“Besides, I just so happen to have something to ask of him too.”

Shanks grinned and laughed heartily.

“What’s more—even if he’s an enemy, stopping a man from keeping his appointment isn’t something one should do, right?”

He opened his arms, his cape fluttering, revealing the sword at his waist.

“Ah, putting it that way does make sense.”

Aokiji scratched his head helplessly.

The moment Red Hair appeared in front of him, he had understood—he couldn’t stop Hawkeye, nor was it likely he could rush to Instein Island to salvage the Marines’ dignity.

However, he was also somewhat curious.

“Don’t you plan to go watch the battle on Instein Island?”

“With your swordsmanship, you also have a real chance at becoming the World’s Strongest Swordsman, right?”

He asked, attempting to redirect the situation.

And just as he said—the sword at Shanks’ waist was also one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Swords, named ‘Griffin’.

This Emperor of the Sea was also a top-tier swordsman, someone who frequently dueled with Hawkeye.

“No.”

But Shanks shook his head.

“I have things I want to do. I can’t devote myself completely to the sword.”

He stroked the famous blade at his waist.

“Griffin can never become a ‘Black Blade’, so I will not be the ‘World’s Strongest Swordsman’.”

Saying this, he casually tossed the wine glass in his hand into the sea.

“I am just a pirate.”

As he spoke, his sword was unsheathed.

“If you really need an opponent… then let us be yours.”

“Man—what a drag. Why am I always the one running into these troublesome situations?”

Aokiji helplessly covered his forehead.

But the next moment, freezing frost transformed into an ice sword in his hand.

An instant later, the battle between the Admiral and the Emperor of the Sea had commenced.

Of course—

On the sea, the battle here remained unknown to the world.

Because—

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Instein Island.

Accompanied by the crisp sound of the cross necklace swaying on his chest, the man carrying a massive black blade on his back stepped off his skiff.

‘Hawkeye’ Dracule Mihawk had landed on the island.

In the surrounding sea area, the rainstorm had fully descended—pitch-black clouds obscured everything, and the towering waves had already swallowed the wreckage of the sunken Marine warships in the distance.

The howling wind bent the trees on Instein Island to their limits, and the torrential downpour hammered the sea surface.

But Mihawk ignored the surrounding gale and rain, his eyes fixed on only one thing—the figure standing not far ahead.

“You came.”

That person said.

“I came.”

Mihawk responded.

“I originally thought you wouldn’t come.”

“I just asked a friend to hold back the people getting in the way, that’s all.”

“Sounds like you owe a favor?”

“Indeed.”

Mihawk said, his eagle-like sharp eyes studying his opponent.

“However…”

That perfectly straight body, that spirit sharp as a blade, that violent Conqueror’s Haki, and that sword.

VMMM!

Behind his back, the massive sword emitted a faint hum and tremor.

Both sword and swordsman sensed it in that moment.

The opponent before him matched the rumors perfectly; he was a swordsman capable of threatening them.

He was also the finest whetstone for honing themselves a step further.

“If the opponent is you, owing this favor was worth it.”

As his words fell, Mihawk had already placed his hand on the hilt of ‘Yoru’ on his back.

The next moment—

Clang!

Sslash!

The crisp ring of a sword and the sharp sound of splitting air came almost simultaneously.

Hawkeye Mihawk had drawn his sword!

That pitch-black blade shone blindingly amidst the gloomy curtain of rain, and a massive slash manifested with a hum, blasting outward.

That slash carried a pure sky-blue hue, like a clear, cloudless day.

At the same time—

Clang!

Sslash!

An equally crisp ring and splitting wind came from the Sword God’s side.

An equally pitch-black blade, and an equally dazzling pale blue slash flew out to meet it.

And right now, on the news ship cruising on the nearby sea amidst the howling wind and torrential rain—

“The battle has started!”

“After landing on the island, Hawkeye and the Sword God drew their swords and began almost immediately—they… oh oh oh! What is this!?”

The ace commentator of the World Economic Journal, who had been commentating diligently, let out an exclamation of shock.

Because he had seen it.

At the moment those two swordsmen swung their slashes—

That howling wind and torrential rain covering the entire island were severed clean through, as if sliced along a plane from where the two swung their swords.

Yes.

That mighty curtain of continuous rain was ‘sliced open’ from where the two struck, and the rain simply ceased to fall.

That roaring, violent gale was ‘shattered’ from where the two struck, and the wind stopped howling.

But apart from the path of their slashes—

In every other surrounding area, the wind and rain raged on as before.

“The slashes… severed the wind and rain!?”

The commentator’s horrified voice described the wondrous spectacle—one that was enough to make audiences watching the live broadcast all over the world fall silent almost simultaneously.

It was a scene they had never witnessed before.

BOOM!

The next instant, the two slashes collided.

The sharp sword aura exploded instantly, slicing open the surrounding ground, wind, rain, and trees entirely.

But the commentator didn’t have time to speak.

Because at the exact instant those slashes collided and vanished—

The figures of the two swordsmen moved simultaneously.

Just as mentioned before, a slash is a swordsman’s calling card.

That opening strike had merely been them exchanging names.

Thus, an instant later—

BOOM!

The figures of the two vanished from their original spots—but on the ground where they had stood, an ear-piercing explosion suddenly erupted.

In an instant, their bodies had already taken on streamlined postures like charging cheetahs, each gripping their sword and racing toward the other.

Then—

Clang!

The two swords clashed fiercely in the center of Instein Island!

Of the colliding blades, one was a Black Blade, and the other… was also a Black Blade!

At that exact instant, time seemed to stagnate for a heartbeat.

But merely a heartbeat later—

RUMBLE!

An unprecedented, deafening roar instantly overpowered the howling of the wind and rain.

Two streams of black-red Conqueror’s Haki lightning appeared out of thin air, colliding and rumbling against each other.

A ring-like shockwave erupted instantly.

The torrential rain and howling wind falling from the sky were annihilated into water mist in the next moment.

Thus, an even more unbelievable scene appeared.

Centered on those two swordsmen, a massive wave of Conqueror’s Haki and sword intent spread rapidly, enveloping the entirety of Instein Island in an instant.

The wind and rain above the island vanished completely—they no longer fell or blew, but dissolved into water mist the moment they drew close to the island.

At the same time, monstrous waves surged across the surrounding sea.

“Waaah… in-incredible…”

The specially reinforced news ship of the World Economic Journal barely maintained its stability under the towering waves.

The commentator grabbed the handrail beside him, fighting to keep from being thrown overboard while shouting excitedly: “Just one strike, and it actually…”

He still couldn’t finish in time.

Because just as he said—for those two on the island, that had been merely a casual strike.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Just a moment later, without even waiting for the rain to resume—

Those two Black Blades, guided by their masters’ swings, were already colliding again in rapid succession.

On this sea, the pinnacle battle of swordsmanship… had officially begun.

At the same time.

In the sea area neighboring Instein Island—Egghead Island.

Just as Kuma had mentioned before, in the middle of the Fabiriophase and the Labophase, a new area had been added.

Its name was the ‘Defense Tier’.

Inside the Defense Tier, a large number of guards were gathered.

Every one of them wore armor and held weapons—and whether it was the armor or the weapons, they were of a design and style almost never seen on the sea today.

Those creations, simultaneously possessing both an ancient and a technological quality, were clearly all products of ‘ancient technology’.

And besides this, there was also a considerable amount of Sea Prism Stone and surveillance equipment here.

At this time, none of Egghead Island’s researchers could be seen, and the entire island was almost completely empty apart from the guards.

The guards gathered here knelt on one knee on both sides of the passageway, not daring to raise their heads.

And from the end of the path where they knelt, an old man holding a walking stick, with completely white hair and beard, was pacing toward them.

The old man had quite a tall figure, a scar on his left cheek, wore a suit, and had a white coat draped over his shoulders.

That was exactly one of the Five Elders, the ‘Warrior God of Science and Defense’, Saint Jaygarcia Saturn.

“Lord Saturn.”

The captain of the guards knelt before him: “The researchers have been detained and placed under control. Dr. Vegapunk is in the Labophase, awaiting your inspection of his experimental results.”

“Mm.”

Saturn nodded indifferently: “Is he cooperative?”

“Very cooperative. He began preparing for your arrival since waking this morning. However, according to him, his research results require a considerable warm-up period, so after you arrive, you may need to have a cup of coffee with him…”

The captain of the guards said so.

“Due to the previous matter with Bartholomew Kuma, he seems quite frightened.”

“Hm?”

Hearing the captain mention Kuma’s name, Saturn’s expression turned cold, killing intent flashing in his eyes.

“Does he think that showing repentance at a time like this can erase the mistakes he has committed?”

“Making this old man lose face in front of colleagues—that is not a sin that can be forgiven with a mere apology.”

He said coldly.

Yes.

Just as Vegapunk had suspected—

Saturn was virtually certain that Kuma’s escape was related to Vegapunk.

And just as he said now—the matter with Kuma had cost him all face in front of the other four Five Elders and Lord Imu.

And beyond that, following Kuma’s escape, the attack on Weevil and the Dressrosa incident had occurred in quick succession.

The God’s Knights were successively defeated and even killed, and Lord Imu was robbed of a portion of His power essence… this directly led to Lord Imu having clearly lost trust in them as of late.

That Lord had even forcibly pushed for the establishment of the ‘Star Hunters Unit’, seeking to divide a portion of the power belonging to them.

This was naturally something Saturn absolutely could not accept.

It was under these circumstances that he chose to come here personally today.

Once Vegapunk’s research succeeded, Lord Imu could obtain more freedom, thereby unleashing more power.

They, the Five Elders and the Celestial Dragons, could naturally regain Lord Imu’s favor.

And beyond that—

The fact that that ancient robot still existed absolutely could not reach Lord Imu’s ears.

Regardless of the reason, Saturn had already made his decision—when Vegapunk completed the experiment, that would be the moment he erased Vegapunk.

“Hm?”

However, just as he was pondering, he seemed to notice something, turning his gaze toward the distance.

“Conqueror’s…”

He sensed that extremely powerful Conqueror’s Haki erupting from the neighboring sea area.

Although separated by a full sea area, because both of those Conqueror’s Haki signatures were at the ‘Four Emperors’ level—

Saturn could still clearly perceive that sharp sensation.

“Those two swordsmen?”

His expression turned sour.

He disliked all possessors of Conqueror’s Haki who had ‘free souls’.

However, he had naturally also heard about the two so-called swordsmen having their duel on Instein Island.

Of course, he didn’t care much about it.

Just as he clearly recognized Vegapunk’s talents but never believed the man could escape his control—

Saturn possessed the inherent arrogance of the Celestial Dragons.

“Just the slaughter of two bugs.”

☆☆☆

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