Pirate: I have a Hollow living inside me!

He rarely paid attention to things at sea, and since Rocks was wearing sunglasses, he didn't recognize him.

However, he was certain in his heart.

The person in front of me must be a very important person.

The more malevolent a demonic sword is, the harder it is to subdue. Anyone capable of subduing a demonic sword of this level must be a powerful individual!

"He's not exactly a big shot."

Locus nodded slightly and then asked, "Could you forge a scabbard for the Seven Star Sword?"

The old knifesmith hesitated: "It's possible, but concealing its aura won't be easy."

"It requires specific materials, which I don't have in my shop..."

"Can I use this?"

Lox took out the three precious gems he was carrying and placed them on the table.

"Huh, what kind of material is this?"

The old swordsmith didn't touch the Seven Star Sword. The unsheathed demon sword could devour people, and he, with his old bones, dared not take the risk.

However, Baoyu did not possess that sinister aura.

He picked it up and examined it closely, but couldn't tell what kind of material it was.

It wasn't a gemstone, iron, or any kind of mineral; he had never even seen it before.

Looking at Lox, the old swordsmith said, "To be honest, I've never seen this material before, and I don't know if it can be made into a scabbard."

Rocks said, "Like the Seven Star Sword, it is very likely the product of a Devil Fruit."

"The two should be of the same origin, which is why I thought of using them to forge a sword sheath."

"..."

After a two-second silence, the old swordsmith shook his head and said, "If it were an ordinary scabbard, I might be able to forge it, but I'm afraid I can't meet the customer's request."

"If it were my old friend, he might be able to do it..."

"Former friends?"

Lox asked curiously, "Is he a skilled knife maker?"

"Haha, indeed, I learned my sword-forging skills from him, but I only learned about half of them before he passed away. To commemorate him, I named my swordsmith shop after his surname..."

"Shimotsuki... Old sir, your friend wouldn't happen to be Shimotsuki Kozaburo, would he?"

The old knifesmith exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? How did you know, young man?"

Lockes thought to himself, "What a coincidence!" and said with a smile, "I have a companion named Shimotsuki Kuina. She is the daughter of Shimotsuki Koshiro and the granddaughter of Shimotsuki Kosaburo..."

The old swordsmith seemed to sigh at the passage of time: "Koushirou's daughter? Time really flies..."

"I never expected it to be such a coincidence," Lockes said.

"Haha, it really is fate. I never thought that I would hear news of my old friend's descendants before the old man died."

The old knifemaker laughed heartily.

Then he said, "Unfortunately, this old man is not skilled enough to forge a scabbard for you, young man."

After a pause, the old swordsmith spoke again: "The vast majority of the most famous swordsmiths on this sea are from Wano Country."

"If you want to forge a scabbard for the Seven Star Sword, that's undoubtedly the best place..."

"But there... sigh..."

Speaking of places where swords are forged.

The first country that came to his mind was Wano Country.

The swordsmiths of Wano Country possess the most outstanding sword-forging skills.

Unfortunately, Wano Country is currently the territory of Kaido, one of the Four Emperors known as the "Beasts"...

Rocks frowned: "Only swordsmiths from Wano Country can forge the scabbard for the Seven Star Sword?"

"Not really, it's just that only the famous swordsmiths of Wano Country can perfectly meet your requirements."

The old swordsmith shook his head, then said, "As for ordinary scabbards, this old man can also make one; I can manage to make one that's barely usable..."

After thinking for a moment, Locke said, "Then I'll trouble you, sir, to forge a scabbard for the Seven Star Sword first."

A scabbard is essential.

Let's make a scabbard first.

When I travel to the New World sometime later, I'll find some time to visit Wano Country and see a swordsmith...

The old swordsmith laughed heartily: "Hahaha, if you don't mind, young man, I will do my best to forge a fine scabbard."

"Then I'll have to trouble you."

Locke smiled and continued, "It's quite a coincidence that we met. Would you like to meet the descendants of an old friend, sir?"

"Kuina is also on the island at this time..."

"Never mind, it's enough to know what happened to my old friend."

The old swordsmith waved his hand and said with a wistful laugh, "This old man of mine has no descendants all his life. Seeing this, I can't help but feel jealous of that old fellow, Kousaburo..."

Is that so?

Upon hearing this answer, Lockes went along with the other party's idea.

The two then got down to business.

Discussions began regarding the temporary scabbard for the Seven Star Sword.

Once the style and design were finalized, the old knife maker began forging.

Because the Seven Star Sword is a demonic sword, it needs its master, Rocks, to be present to "suppress" it.

Otherwise, the old swordsmith wouldn't have been able to withstand the aura emanating from the Seven Star Sword...

……

the other side.

A commercial street.

Kuina, Nami, and Robin are strolling around the island.

Carrying many bags and packages, they had clearly visited quite a few shops...

"Ugh, I'm so tired."

Nami, panting heavily from carrying her things, muttered under her breath, "I should have brought Xiao Luo along; he could have helped carry these things."

Robin laughed and said, "Only you would dare to order the captain around like that."

Nami didn't take it seriously: "Xiao Luo isn't scary. Apart from liking to go against me, he's actually very nice to me!"

"How about we find a place to rest first?"

Kuina has excellent stamina; these exertions are nothing to her.

Seeing that Nami was panting heavily, she suggested, "I'm a little thirsty, I'd like some juice."

"Ok, Ok!"

Nami nodded eagerly.

All she wants right now is to find a place to rest.

Robin smiled and said, "Let's go to the open-air bar we just passed. I checked and there's no queue there."

"set off!"

Neither Nami nor Kuina had any objections.

The three of them traveled together.

Soon we arrived at an open-air bar on the commercial street and sat down.

I don't know if this open-air bar is newly opened or just in a rather remote location, but there weren't many customers, only one or two...

After sitting down, Robin ordered a sparkling wine, while Nami and Kuina ordered fruit juice.

The three sat chatting, waiting for their drinks to be served...

Not long after.

A burly waiter with braided hair resembling bull horns walked over and said, "Guests, here are your drinks..."

The sound... paused.

It was as if he had seen something that surprised him.

Bruno was indeed surprised.

He recognized one of the three guests.

This face...

Isn't the other person Nico Robin, the "Devil's Child" with a bounty of 79 million Berries?

As the intelligence agency CP9 under the World Government, Bruno naturally knew a lot of information.

In particular, certain individuals who pose a threat to the world government have already been remembered.

Little did they expect that their bar's attempt to "expand its business" would lead him to encounter someone who could pose a threat to the World Government...

Although their mission to infiltrate Water Seven was not related to Nico Robin.

But since they've encountered it, given their duties as CP9, they can't simply pretend they didn't see it...

"..."

Bruno's eyes gleamed.

His expression remained impassive, and he gave the three men a gentle smile: "Please enjoy your meal, esteemed guests. It would be even better if you could offer any suggestions for our bar..."

Clang!

But before Bruno could finish speaking, the sound of a blade being drawn rang out.