How can I become the Pirate King if you don’t work hard?.

Chapter 294 Another Battle with Hawkeye!

"Humph."

Hawkeye gave a soft snort, and couldn't help but raise his hand to press down his hat, barely concealing the upturned corners of his mouth:

"In retrospect, sparing your life in the East China Sea was undoubtedly the right choice."

"You're even better than I imagined!"

He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Even though I haven't faced Gao Wen yet, and haven't felt his growth.

But the increasingly restless domineering aura in the air, and the calm and confidence in Gao Wen's eyes, all indicate that this young man, who was ruthlessly crushed in the East China Sea, has reached a level close to his own.

This was especially true when looking at Gawain's excessively young face.

It's worth noting that it took Hawkeye nearly twenty years to reach his current level, and even the youngest of the Four Emperors, Shanks, took more than ten years.

And Gawain...

He only had less than two years left!

Such potential and such a rate of growth are beyond description!

But there is no doubt that Gao Wen has now earned the right to be taken seriously as a true opponent!
Thinking of this.

Black Knife Night's already agitated emotions intensified.

It couldn't wait to kill the young man in front of it, to cut the knife in his hand, and to prove its supreme status!
I am the way of the sword, the highest peak!

Black Blade Night possesses this awareness and will, as does Hawkeye, who wields the sword!
"Now you're finally worth killing!"

The sound fell to the ground.

Hawkeye had long since lost the will to suppress the surging fighting spirit within him!

He had waited far too long for this day, for someone to stand before him after Shanks!

Now is the time to reap the rewards!

Clang!
Two almost overlapping sounds of swords being drawn exploded in the air.

By the time everyone could see what had happened, the two black knives had already collided and sparked in the air!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
……

The dense sword strikes rained down, but the dissipated sword energy was neutralized by the two, with not a single bit of force leaking out.

Even the tables and chairs in the bar were not damaged in the slightest.

However, the indescribable force, based on the spirit, had already erupted like a storm, impacting the mental will of everyone present!
call--!
The wind howled, causing the chandeliers on the ceiling to sway.

The figure swayed.

The dim light further illuminated the pale faces of everyone around them.

Those who remain here today are all arrogant and powerful individuals who can calmly leave even if they fight the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

But watching the two fighting on the field, they could only feel something indescribable...

Awe!

"What the hell!"

"How did they even see their opponent's moves at such a speed?!"

Someone asked a question in bewilderment, only to instantly receive disdainful looks from those around them.

"A pathetic creature about to enter the new world, yet it hasn't even mastered the power of dominance? What a pity, such a small fry will only become cannon fodder even if it reaches the new world."

"Such a dense sword technique, if it were me, I wouldn't even be able to defend against it, I would be torn to shreds in an instant!"

"These are the Seven Warlords of the Sea?!"

"But if that's all there is to it, even I wouldn't be a match for you!"

The young man dressed as a samurai from Wano Country was itching to make a move, his hand already resting on the long sword at his waist.

This is a famous sword that he inherited from his father's dojo.

Aside from being extremely sharp, it had never revealed any mystery before, but now it was trembling uneasily, and even a faint sense of urgency emanated from the hilt.

Are you responding to me?!
It must be!
"If I can kill these two here, my name will spread throughout the world, and I will be the world's greatest swordsman!"

He swallowed hard, his expression almost manic, and tried to step forward into the area where the two were fighting, but was stopped by a hand.

"He's going to die."

The swordsman lost interest when he saw that the speaker was an ordinary-looking old man with white hair.

He was about to raise his hand to push the old man's arm away when his body suddenly froze.

The battle on the field has taken a new turn.

As the battle intensified, neither of them could afford to be distracted and control the leaking sword energy.

laugh!
A shattered blade of energy shot out like an arrow, grazing the swordsman's scalp.

They shaved his head into a bald patch, then pierced through the bar wall and shot out!

He broke out in a cold sweat on the spot.

Only then did they realize that it wasn't that the two men's swordsmanship was mediocre, but rather that their control over force and each other's energy was so exquisite that it was almost monstrous.

If they can achieve this level with just swordsmanship, what level would they reach if they unleashed their full power?!

If I had actually stepped forward just now, I would surely have been killed by now!

The swordsman realized this and felt incredibly lucky. Just as he was about to thank the old man who had just reminded him, he turned around and found that the old man had already disappeared.

Bar counter.

Xia Qi raised his hand to stub out his cigarette, his gaze falling on the two combatants in the arena, and said:

"Brother~"

"You'll have to pay for anything you break."

"correct."

"Hawkeye, you still haven't paid for your drinks from last time!"

Hawkeye's lips twitched, and his attack hesitated for a moment. When he came to his senses, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

The brief exchange had already made him realize that, in terms of swordsmanship alone, Gawain was now almost on par with him, and even a momentary opening could be the key to victory!

really.

Gawain seized this momentary opening, but instead of using a knife, he placed a hand on Hawkeye's chest and pushed him out of the bar.

"We can't fight freely here, let's go outside!"

boom!
After two consecutive, overlapping impacts, Gawain and Hawkeye broke down the door and left.

It was at this very moment.

The ground where the two had just clashed with their knives began to crack layer by layer, with dense cracks spreading all the way out of the bar!

Upon seeing this, Rayleigh's eyes held a hint of undisguised amazement:

"When I was young, this was the best I could do."

Xia Qi's expression had already turned cold:

"The repair costs will be on your tab."

"what?!"

"Isn't it?!"

Rayleigh's face immediately scrunched up in a bitter expression.

In the past, he would have offered some excuses in such matters, but now he had no intention of doing so.

All he wants to know now is how far these two are capable of!
These two people.

One is the world's most recognized strongest swordsman, and the other is a supernova who has slain legends.

Without a doubt, he represents the top powerhouses of the new era!

"I'm really curious."

"What kind of successors has this era, which was created by Roger, given birth to? Will there really be someone who can surpass us, or even surpass that guy Rocks!"

After a few whispers.

Rayleigh vanished into the bar in a flash.

Seeing this, the others also chased after them.

"These two are definitely not ordinary Shichibukai. Knight Gawain rose to power by stepping on the shoulders of a former Marine Admiral and that Golden Lion!"

"They might all possess power approaching that of the Four Emperors!"

"The Battle of the Century!"

"Let's compete to determine the strongest swordsman!"

"Will a new champion be born, or will the former world's greatest swordsman prove his worth?!" "My blood is boiling!"

Some people foresaw the upcoming battle and were filled with extreme fear, even considering retreating:
"He might die!"

"so what?!"

The people who remained in the bar all rushed off in the direction the group had disappeared, ready to witness with their own eyes the impending battle of the century!

Kuro and Zoro had already given chase.

Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Amid the sound of hurried footsteps.

Kro couldn't help but ask:
"Back then, in that battle in the East China Sea, only you and Gao Wen were present. Just how strong was that guy?!"

Zoro's breath hitched as he recalled his battle with Mihawk, as if he were transported back to that day. He looked up at the spot where Mihawk had disappeared and said:

"I do not know."

"do not know?!"

"what."

Zoro nodded:
"I thought that after so much training, I had been completely transformed and that if I met my former self again, I could easily do what Hawkeye did."

"But now it seems I was too naive."

"I even feel like the gap between myself and Hawkeye is widening!"

"What the hell!"

In Kro's mind, a sentence that Gawain had casually mentioned slowly surfaced:

"If you don't cultivate the way of the sword, you'll see me like a frog in a well seeing the moon; if you've mastered the way of the sword, you'll see me like an ant seeing the blue sky!"

Zoro nodded:
"That's pretty much the feeling."

Kro understood and pressed for an answer:

"Who will win?"

"..."

Zoro fell silent for a moment.

A month ago at the rapeseed flower port, he challenged Gao Wen again and, unsurprisingly, was instantly defeated by Gao Wen.

At that time, he almost thought that Gawain had surpassed Hawkeye, but the moment he saw that man...

Zoro wavered.

He opened his mouth and said:
"If it's a life-or-death battle, the captain will surely win, but if it's just an exchange of swordsmanship..."

"It's hard to tell!"

"Is this so..."

Kro nodded, a hint of urgency appearing in his eyes.

If the new world is full of monsters like Hawkeye, then his pride and joy in his strength are indeed somewhat inadequate.

At the very least, we can't let that guy fight alone, and we can't let him shoulder everything by himself again!
Now, Kro is increasingly understanding why Gawain made that choice back then.

Going alone might lead to death, and going in a group won't change anything, so it's better for him to take the gamble himself.

But the more this happened, the more resentful Clooney felt.

I want to make that guy a king, not a burden to him.

As he thought this, the air around him began to stir.

"go!"

"Go and witness this battle!"

"it is good!"

Zoro responded and suddenly increased his speed.

just.

Even Krod didn't notice the restlessness in his heart and the surge of that urgent emotion.

The gate to awakening, which had initially been barely perceptible, gradually began to open wider!
……

Forest No. 023.

This place is located on the edge of the lawless zone of the Sabaody Archipelago, covered by an endless sea of ​​trees.

Because it lacks sufficient underground support, it is difficult to develop and is therefore a rare uninhabited area.

At this moment, countless birds and beasts in Forest 023 fled in terror, even rushing into nearby human settlements, as if they were hiding from some terrifying being.

Just as everyone was wondering why this had happened.

A silvery-white blade of energy shot out from Forest 023, cutting down all the trees it passed and clearing a clearing.

Two figures stood proudly in the arena, staring at each other with unspeakable fighting spirit in their eyes.

Hawkeye raised his hand and patted the dust off his chest.

Gao Wen seized the opportunity to exploit the momentary disadvantage he had just faced. If Gao Wen had taken the opportunity to launch a sneak attack, he would have been seriously injured.

Although Xia Qi's sudden interruption was a factor, as the strongest swordsman of the era, he also possessed his own pride.

The black sword in his hand was already humming loudly due to excitement and anger!

"Now that the warm-up is over, round two!"

"it is good!"

Gawain gave a nonchalant reply, then assumed a fighting stance and launched a fierce thrust at Hawkeye!
"This is... a dental protuberance?!"

Hawkeye has seen this move before.

It was Gao Wen's trump card.

With its incredible speed, it launches a continuous barrage of thrusts, launching a frontal assault.

It's simple and brutal, but it's practically unbeatable against opponents who can't keep up with its speed.

Unfortunately, Gawain's opponent was Hawkeye, and there was a qualitative difference between the two in terms of swordsmanship, domineering aura, and physique.

Hawkeye countered this move in a brutal way, never even touching his clothes.

But now, when facing this move again, Hawkeye has a completely different feeling!

"Ferocious and swift!"

"it is good!"

Hawkeye's lips curled into a smile as he returned the thrust with equal force!
Ding--!
There was a crisp sound.

The tips of the two black knives met, and after a moment of stalemate, the two men were sent flying backward at the same time, and the accumulated force exploded in that instant!
A shockwave, as if it were a physical shock, spread in all directions, even causing towering trees tens of meters high to be blown about by the gale and nearly broken.

The ground, formed by the intertwined gnarled tree roots, began to shake violently up and down, as if an extremely powerful earthquake had struck!
boom!
boom!
boom!
……

The bar patrons who had just arrived at the scene were shocked by what they saw; some of the weaker members couldn't even stand up straight.

The swordsman who had just boasted that he would step on Gawain and Hawkeye's shoulders to become the world's number one swordsman suddenly gripped his long sword very tightly.

He tightened his grip so much that the veins on the back of his hand bulged, and the knife handle gradually deformed.

This terrifying power, far exceeding that of ordinary people, was once his greatest source of pride, but now it can no longer bring him even the slightest sense of security.

In my heart there is only...

defeat!

"I'm stupid, really."

"The distance between this monster, who stands at the pinnacle of the world, and me is simply... simply..."

"Ah."

"I'll go back to my dojo in Wano Country and train new talents with my father..."

After a soft chuckle, he handed the long sword in his hand to the young man with short green hair beside him and said to himself:
“I thought he was excited because of me, until just now I felt an emotion from this guy that I had never felt before.”

He longs for you.

Say it.

He turned and left under the latter's bewildered gaze, looking like a spineless, defeated dog!

"He will never have the courage to draw his sword again in his life."

Kro glanced at the departing swordsman, immediately sentencing him to death, and then turned his attention back to the battle before him.

Zoro glanced down at the long sword in his hand, paused for a moment, and then couldn't look away:

"This is……"

(End of this chapter)