Recruit Luffy at the start and build the strongest navy.

He wore a black top hat adorned with white fur, had short black hair and a short beard, and had sharp, eagle-like yellow eyes.

He was wearing a burgundy patterned shirt with a black trench coat over it, and a cross was hanging on his chest.

He wore white trousers and black ankle boots, but the most eye-catching thing was the cross-shaped longsword behind him, which was much larger than ordinary swords.

If someone with even a slight understanding of knives were here, they would surely be able to tell the origin of this knife.

The Supreme Grade Swords of the Twelve Greatswords—Black Sword: Night!

And his master is none other than the world's most famous swordsman—Hawkeye Mihawk!

At that moment, he was holding a Den Den Mushi (snail phone) and talking on the phone with someone.

Mihawk spoke calmly:

"You said you were somewhere in the East China Sea last time, now I've arrived!"

"Huh?! You've come to the East China Sea?"

A surprised voice came from the Den Den Mushi.

"right!"

Why didn't you tell me beforehand that I wasn't in the East China Sea?!

Mihawk: ...

A vein bulged visibly on Mihawk's forehead as he suppressed his anger and asked in a low voice:

"Shanks, why are you running around like this if you have nothing better to do?"

That's right, the person talking to Mihawk was none other than Shanks, the Red-Haired.

Mihawk's purpose in seeking out Shanks was simple: to challenge him to a sword duel.

Upon hearing this, Shanks immediately retorted irritably:

"Isn't it normal for a pirate like me to run around like this?"

After a moment of silence, Mihawk remained silent, and Shanks also paused for a while before speaking again:

"Do you remember what I told you last time?"

"Our ship was blown to smithereens by that guy Garp a year ago!"

"Now, a year later, the new ship is finally finished, and we're on our way to take delivery!"

At this point, Shanks' tone suddenly became irritated.

"Damn it, that old bastard Garp, just wait until he gets old and see how I deal with him. He thinks he can bully me just because he's strong?"

"And that brat, he better not let me run into him alone, otherwise..."

"Blue~"

Before Shanks could finish speaking, Mihawk hung up the phone.

Since Shanks isn't in the East China Sea, his voyage was essentially a waste of time, so what's the point of continuing the phone call?

Shaking his head, Hawkeye decided to turn the ship around and head back home.

However, at this moment, he seemed to sense something and suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction.

A purple slash swept across the distant horizon.

Even from a distance, Eagle Eye could feel the sharpness contained in that slash. His eyes widened slightly, and he blurted out instinctively.

"A strong person!!"

The next moment, Hawkeye's lips curled into a smile, and he whispered:

"Looks like this trip wasn't a complete waste!"

Without hesitation, Hawkeye slowly drew the black sword Night from behind him and then slashed fiercely at the stern of the ship.

A dark green slash shot out, splitting the sea surface and extending into the distance. The resulting reaction force instantly propelled the ship forward, creating a white wave on the sea.

On the other side, Kyle looked at the Sea King he had dismembered in the distance with a single strike, a smile appearing on his lips.

You have the nerve!!

How dare it block his way! Although the sea king was at least several nautical miles away from the warship, Kyle didn't care. He just saw that guy blocking his way.

However, this time he had no intention of bringing the sea king back.

We still have a large portion of that tuna left to eat. Wouldn't bringing over an even bigger sea monster just take up space?

Well, actually, the excuse about the sea monster blocking the ship was just that—an excuse.

The real reason was that he felt his swordsmanship had suddenly improved to a higher level, so he wanted to test the results.

He was quite satisfied with the results of the experiment; his swordsmanship had improved significantly compared to before.

There is only one possibility for this situation to occur: Zoro's swordsmanship has undergone a significant breakthrough.

The return of the triple swordsmanship training results allowed him to break through even though he was already at the Sword Master level.

Sure, it has to be the hard-working Zoro!!

When we get back, I'll give him a little red flower—no! One isn't enough, he needs ten!!

After storing the purple lightning into his system space, Kyle hummed a song and prepared to head towards the cabin.

Now that we've made a breakthrough, let's reward ourselves with something delicious!

However, after taking just one step, Kyle suddenly stopped, narrowed his eyes, and looked in a certain direction.

At the edge of his field of vision, he saw a small black dot hurtling toward him at an extremely fast speed.

The black dot grew larger and larger, and Kyle gradually saw its appearance clearly. Then, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"That is?"

"Hawkeye Mihawk!!"

"What's this guy doing here?"

Kyle frowned slightly, stretched out his hand, and the purple lightning reappeared in his hand.

The next moment, a flash of purple lightning appeared, and Kyle's figure instantly disappeared from the spot.

hum-

Mihawk's eyes suddenly narrowed as he sped forward. A massive purple wave of energy shot towards him from the front, carrying an aura of annihilation.

However, Mihawk showed no dissatisfaction in the face of this situation, only excitement and exhilaration, and couldn't help but shout:

"Good timing!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mihawk drew his black sword, Night, again and unleashed a slash without hesitation.

The purple slash and the dark green slash collided in mid-air.

boom--

In an instant, an incredibly powerful aftershock spread outwards, creating a crater in the sea below, and waves surged outwards continuously.

After an unknown amount of time, the two strikes finally dissipated, but the waves continued to churn slightly.

Mihawk looked up, a look of surprise crossing his face, and instinctively said:

"So small?!"

boom--

Another purple slash was unleashed, accompanied by a faint sound.

"I don't really like what you said!"

Mihawk also unleashed another slash, and the two slashes dissipated again after clashing.

Looking up at Kyle, Mihawk gave a faint smile.

"I was being presumptuous. Should I have said... so inexperienced?"

Mihawk was not the kind of person who was weak, so of course he would not back down. Or rather, that's the nature of swordsmen; their pride does not allow them to show weakness.

"Heh~"

Kyle chuckled softly.

The Hawkeye before me was much younger than the Hawkeye I saw in later comics, but his fierce aura was already evident.

Interesting! No wonder he's the future world's greatest swordsman!

That's impressive!

"Mihawk, I've heard you never remember the names of ants?"

"I wonder if I have the honor of being remembered by you?"

……