I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

If Luffy were here, he might actually have fooled him...

Zoro shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the chainsaws, drills, and large syringes on the stall. Just as he was about to continue examining them, a polite female voice came from behind him:

Excuse me, could you please move aside?

Zoro turned slightly to the side and looked back, but his eyes immediately widened in surprise.

"Kuina? You've come to Loguetown too? Why didn't you talk to me last time?"

Standing before him was, of course, Navy Petty Officer Tashigi.

Her appearance is almost identical to Guina's, the only difference being that she wears a pair of dark glasses on her nose, which makes her look somewhat dull, and her temperament is also different, being relatively quiet and reserved.

"You...you've mistaken me for someone else, I'm not..."

Tashigi paused for a moment, then quickly shook her head in denial.

But before she could finish speaking, Zoro grabbed her wrist:

"Do you think I'd still believe you if you told me the same thing?"

"I will not let go unless you tell me what happened last time and who Wang Rixiong is?"

Zoro frowned, leaned closer to Tashigi's face, and carefully compared it to the face of his childhood friend from his memories.

Kuina had set sail two years earlier than him, and apart from their meeting at the sea restaurant a few days ago, they had indeed not seen each other for two years.

Therefore, Zoro overlooked some minor details and made his own judgment:

"Stop messing around, what did I do to make you disown me?"

"Too...too close!"

Tashigi was startled by the sudden appearance of the strange man's face. Her face flushed red, and she reached for the scabbard at her waist, smashing it hard against Zoro's green head.

Zoro tilted his head slightly to avoid the attack, but Tashigi took the opportunity to break free from his grasp and ran away like a startled rabbit.

Why are you running again?

Zoro was a little confused:

"Do you think you're no longer my match and are planning to avoid the long-awaited duel?"

He stood there for a moment, then suddenly saw a street corner ahead with about ten bluestone steps. His expression changed immediately, and he chased after them.

"Kuina, slow down!"

"Are you out of your mind? There are stairs ahead! Watch out!"

"...What are you saying?"

Tashigi looked down at her feet.

The steps underfoot were only a dozen or so, and the height difference between each step was not significant. The sides of the steps were also dirt paths; they were just ordinary steps.

Alarmed, she assumed it was a trick by the green-haired stranger behind her and quickly climbed the stairs, glancing back over her shoulder as she did so.

To Tashigi's surprise, Zoro was standing at the bottom of the steps, staring at her with a serious expression, and did not pursue her further.

"The Kuina I know would never climb the stairs so recklessly and easily as you..."

Zoro drew his sword and said solemnly:

"You're not Kuina... Why are you impersonating her? Who are you really?"

Chapter 1020 Second Zoro 3k

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Chapter 1021 I Have a Pot of Wine, Enough to Soothe the Dust of the Traveler 3K

Sunlight streamed through the windows into the old bar, casting dappled shadows on the dust motes.

The bar was empty, with chairs propped up on tables, suggesting it wasn't officially open for business.

Only a thin old man sat at the table, on which sat a bottle of wine, a glass, and a large skull.

The old man was very old, his face covered with wrinkles and age spots.

His thin frame was hunched over in the chair, his eyes peering through his reading glasses at Luffy, who had suddenly burst through the door.

"Old man, are you one of the people working here? Is this the shop that's called Gol D. Roger in the sign?" Luffy asked curiously.

The old man looked at him coldly.

"Get out of here," he said coldly, pouring himself a glass of wine.

"This is not a place for a brat like you."

"Besides, this store is closing down starting today."

Luffy glanced around and realized that the bar didn't seem to be frequented by many people; it had been there for quite some time.

"Has this store closed down?" he asked casually.

"It's not closing down, it's that this shop is closing down, and I'm closing it myself... so get out of here." The old man said irritably.

Luffy ignored him and walked in on his own, sitting down on a chair in front of the bar.

"I was just curious about the shop's name..." Luffy muttered to himself.

"By the way, where's the execution platform? I got lost and ended up here..."

Halfway through his sentence, Luffy suddenly exclaimed in surprise, his gaze falling on the large skull on the table.

"Is that a skull? It's huge! I've never seen one this big before. Could it be a giant?"

The old man paused for a moment as he poured the wine.

"This is the skull of a powerful pirate known as the Giant Slayer, a rather wicked pirate... but Gol D. Roger took him down with a single blow."

He rotated the large skull on the table, revealing a deep, bone-deep knife wound on the skull.

"Gol D. Roger?" Luffy's voice suddenly rose several octaves.

The old man seemed to gradually become interested:

"That was a lightning-fast strike... Giant Slayer was a great pirate known throughout the world for his giant sword, but he was still no match for Roger. These were his last words before he died."

"Roger, I am completely humbled by you. May the true pirates live on forever."

"That's so cool!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly, leaning forward slightly, his whole body covered in goosebumps from the excitement.

The old man paused at that moment.

"Would you like to hear more?"

"Of course!"

"Actually, no one wants to listen to these old stories anymore. After all, the death of the Pirate King was 22 years ago."

"But if you're willing to listen..."

The old man, who had been wearing a cold expression, finally showed a slight smile at this moment.

In this old bar, the old man, looking towards the future Pirate King, once again recounted the story of One Piece, which he had repeated countless times.

As he got more excited, the old man stood up from his chair and walked shakily to the bar.

"How about it? Want to have a drink? It's on me."

"I'm 17 years old and I don't drink."

"He really is a brat... but it's alright if he doesn't drink." The old man seemed to remember something, and a nostalgic smile appeared on his lips.

"Then, let me pour you a glass of milk."

"After all, drinking alcohol can lead to trouble, so I always keep milk on hand in my shop."

He went behind the bar and poured Luffy a glass of milk.

Staring at the glass of white liquid, and the liquor cabinet and cocktail shaker behind him, the old man suddenly said:

"Kid, I've already told you the story of One Piece. Now, would you like to hear another story I've kept hidden away?"

Listen! Listen!

The old man nodded, a look of reminiscence in his eyes.

"Roger grew up in Loguetown, and before he became a pirate, he often came to my bar for a drink."

"When he was twenty, another young man appeared in town. He was young and unremarkable in appearance, but claimed to have returned from the Grand Line..."

"And the story I'm about to tell begins with a wine bottle..."

.................

"Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, swept through an era, reaching the pinnacle of the most brilliant Golden Age, becoming an unprecedented Pirate King. Even his death was thrilling, ushering in the Great Pirate Era."

"As for the Mountain Bandit King, that's another story. When he was still using the name Wang Xige, he was known as the most mysterious figure of the old era, even before Roger."

"In terms of seniority, he is even more senior than Roger, and in terms of past achievements, he is no less impressive."

"Over the decades, there have been many powerful pirate crews in the world that were able to sweep across the world and were known as the strongest pirate crews in the world at that time."

"Rocks, the ruler of the seas; Shiki, the emperor of the skies; Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King; and now, Edward Newgate, the Whitebeard..."

"Over the decades, generations of heroes have risen and fallen, one after another taking the stage. In the most glorious era of these great pirates, the Mountain Bandit King was also always active. Even at the peak of these heroes who once dominated an era, no record of defeating him has been passed down through the ages."

"The famous Loguetown duel with Hawkeye Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman, the song 'Invincible' on Sabaody Archipelago, the return of the coffin from Sword Mountain Island, the solo rampage in the Holy Land, the alliance of the three emperors to break through Impel Down, the duel of the fifty-six emperors... and finally the final call of the sword summoning thousands of flying swords and shattering the void."

The old man recounted the major deeds of the mountain bandit king that have been passed down through the ages, and in his narration, the magnificent era of the past slowly unfolded.

"The Mountain Bandit King was no less than anyone else in his life, and fought countless battles. The most bizarre legends even say that he was immortal. Even if he fell into hell, he would miraculously return alive."

"Therefore, even though a full ten years have passed since the Shattered Void incident, some people still firmly believe that he still exists somewhere in the world, silently witnessing the changing of the times..."

The old man spoke with great emotion as he said this.

"But that was decades ago."

"22 years have passed since the death of the Pirate King, and 10 years have passed since the death of the Mountain Bandit King."

"Their legends still circulate on the sea, and any young man with a modicum of ambition will head to the ocean. Now, only a bunch of cowards and scum are left in this town of Logue... so this shop will have to close down too."