The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

Behind him, on his back, was a huge black sword shaped like a cross!

The blade was broad and as black as night, without a sheath, simply carried silently on one's back.

"Alone?" Enel's lips curled into a playful smile.

"Looks like we've finally found someone who doesn't look like a nobody?"

He's even carrying a black knife... Interesting!

"Sizzle!" A burst of lightning erupted!

Enel's figure instantly transformed into a dazzling bolt of lightning, almost in the blink of an eye.

It appeared directly in front of the steadily sailing small boat, half-crouching and hovering above the sea, blocking its path.

The raging thunder roared, causing fine arcs of electricity to ripple across the surrounding sea.

"Hey!" Enel pointed his golden cudgel at the man on the ship without any politeness, his chin slightly raised, his tone full of a god looking down on mortals, "You, are you a pirate?"

The man on the small boat—Joracol Mihawk, now known as "Hawkeye"—frowned slightly.

He swept his sharp, hawk-like eyes over the lightning crackling around Enel, showing no fear whatsoever, only a hint of displeasure at being disturbed.

“I’m not here to cause trouble. I’m here to see Gern.”

He paused, then added, "For a... belated appointment."

The five-year agreement between Hawkeye and Gern was made in 1495 of the Sea Calendar on Lilikaya Island in the West Sea.

He should have found Gern in 1500 and completed that duel between swordsmen.

However, the tides of fate were more turbulent than he had anticipated.

In 1498, Gern single-handedly captured the Pirate King Roger, shaking the entire seas.

The following year, he witnessed the end of that era in Roger Town.

At that time, Hawkeye was standing among the crowd below the execution platform.

The night had not yet turned into a black blade, and his swordsmanship had not yet reached its peak.

Gazing at Roger's composed and resigned figure as he faced death, and recalling Gern's feat of capturing the king, he clearly realized that he was not yet qualified.

So he chose not to keep the appointment and instead embarked on the path of cultivation once again.

Crossing the seas, battling powerful foes, forging the blade with heart... until the black blade is finally completed, its sharpness piercing the heavens.

It is now the year 1505 of the Haiyuan calendar.

Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye, and he is finally standing here.

The promise was five years late, but the light at the tip of the sword was colder and closer to its peak than ever before.

"Looking for Gern?" Enel's smile widened, tinged with sarcasm. "A challenger? Hmph, if you want to challenge that man, you'll have to get past God first!"

He stood up, his golden staff pointing at Hawkeye, and lightning erupted around him, his aura overwhelming: "Let me, the god, weigh whether you have the qualifications!"

If you lose, sink to the bottom of this sea and repent for your arrogance! Hahaha!

Hawkeye's reaction to Enel's incredibly arrogant declaration was extremely calm.

He simply raised his hand slowly and steadily, and grasped the hilt of the huge black sword behind him.

This simple action instantly made the surrounding air heavy and sharp!

"In that case... then I'll have to ask you to step aside."

"Only by defeating him can I truly become the world's greatest swordsman!"

Hawkeye's calm words carried immense confidence, as if he were simply stating a fact.

Of course, this dismissive and nonchalant attitude thoroughly enraged Enel, who was already arrogant and self-centered!

He's not the kind of guy who's patiently reasoning with people or testing his opponents!

"Arrogant mortal! How dare you defy divine power! I'll teach you a lesson! Seventy million volts Thunderbird!"

Enel roared, too lazy to say another word, and slammed the golden staff in his hand against the taiko drum on his right shoulder!

"Boom!" A deafening thunderclap rang out, and the raging lightning instantly coalesced into a gigantic and ferocious azure thunderbird.

It let out a sharp screech, carrying destructive energy, and pounced on Eagle Eye on the small boat!

With Enel's current strength, this attack is enough to easily destroy a large warship!

However, Hawkeye's sharp, eagle-like eyes remained completely unmoved in the face of the swift and ferocious Thunderbird.

He didn't even make any big movements, he just casually swung the arm holding the Black Blade Night forward!

The movements are simple and unadorned, yet they are so fast that they exceed the limits of visual capture!

"Whoosh!" A green slash, condensed to the extreme and seemingly capable of cutting through light, flashed by like a crescent moon!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no violent clash of energy.

The terrifying thunderbird, upon contact with that tiny slashing wave...

It was as if a phantom had been sliced ​​in two by the sharpest blade, then it wailed and dissipated into countless scattered electric currents, vanishing into the sea breeze!

The entire process was silent, clean, and efficient to the point of being breathtaking!

Hawkeye slowly placed the massive black blade back horizontally in front of him, his posture remaining calm, as if he had merely swatted away a fly.

He looked at Enel, whose face showed surprise for the first time, and his tone remained as calm as ever:

"If your attacks are only this bad, then..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the lightning beneath Enel's feet, slightly detached from the sea surface due to its elemental transformation, and the vast ocean below, before calmly stating:

"As someone with abilities, it is not a wise move for you to oppose me on this endless sea."

This is neither a fair fight, and you have absolutely no chance of winning.

This is not mockery, but a near-indifferent statement based on an assessment of absolute strength.

Enel's astonishment quickly turned into embarrassment and a hint of barely perceptible seriousness!

Although he has remained arrogant throughout his life, he has learned to think things through over the years.

Hawkeye's seemingly casual yet incredibly sharp strike instantly made him realize

The man carrying the black sword before me possessed unfathomable strength, especially in his swordsmanship.

He is definitely no less capable than that troublesome Nine-Headed Serpent woman!

It might even be... stronger!

And the other party pointed out the key point correctly: he is a user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, which allows him to briefly levitate.

But beneath their feet lay the ocean, a force that counters those with special abilities. If they were forced into the sea by such a strike, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Hmph!" Enel snorted coldly, extremely displeased, forcibly suppressing the urge to immediately unleash his full power.

He knew that it would be difficult to easily get rid of this troublesome guy today.

"Damn swordsman, I'll be waiting for you on the island..." he cursed under his breath, and lightning surged around him once more!

But this time, he didn't attack; instead, he transformed into an incredibly dazzling bolt of lightning, instantly rising high into the sky.

At a speed impossible to track with the naked eye, it sped toward the outpost island that G-10 had already begun to rebuild!

"Sizzle!" Lightning streaked across the sky once more and vanished instantly.

On the sea, only Hawkeye remained alone on the small boat.

He glanced in the direction Enel had disappeared, then looked at the faint outline of the islands on the distant horizon, a knowing glint in his sharp eyes.

He did not pursue, nor did he show any emotional reaction to Enel's departure.

Or perhaps he hesitated as he looked at Enel, who was already standing on the island's shore; or perhaps he hadn't realized how far the distance was, especially against the current...

......

Chapter 269 Black Knife Rowing

On the other side, Enel transformed into a bolt of lightning and instantly appeared on the shore of the newly built pier on G-10 outpost island.

His body was still crackling with lingering electric arcs, and his face was filled with annoyance and displeasure at his thwarted attempt to provoke him. He glared fiercely at the small boat that was still drifting slowly on the distant sea.

"Damn bastard! How dare you underestimate me, a god!"

Enel was furious; the other party's indifferent attitude, which completely disregarded him, infuriated him more than any mockery.

Especially the last comment, "no chance of winning," was like a dance on his sensitive nerves.

He saw Hawkeye still standing motionless on the ship, seemingly unconcerned about his departure, or rather, blatantly ignoring him.

"Hey! What kind of attitude is that! Do you think I'm afraid of you?!" Enel was about to start cursing again to get back at them.

However, the curse that was about to come out of his mouth suddenly stopped, and his eyes widened as if he had seen something unbelievable.

On the small boat being pushed away by the current, there stood a man with a cold expression, carrying the world's strongest black sword, who claimed he would challenge Gern and become the world's greatest swordsman.

Jorah Mihawk

Under Enel's stunned gaze, he did something that completely overturned Enel's previous image of this cold-blooded master.

Hawkeye suddenly drew the black sword Yoru, one of the twelve supreme grade swords, from behind him!

That supreme black blade, symbolizing the world's highest swordsmanship, has severed countless divine weapons!

Immediately afterwards, he plunged the huge black sword... into the seawater beside the ship!

Then... I started to paddle backwards forcefully, like rowing a paddle!

"Boom!!!" An incredibly condensed yet ridiculously massive slashing wave was "slashed" out by the black blade.

It was as if a massive propulsion bomb had been detonated at the stern of the boat; the terrifying force instantly propelled the small vessel forward.

Like a black arrow released from a bow, it pierced through the waves with a "whoosh" and rushed toward the outpost island dock at an astonishing speed that was completely incomparable to before!

The waves were violently pushed to both sides, creating a spectacular white contrail!

Enel: "…………"

He blinked, froze on the spot, his mouth unconsciously agape, and the golden staff slid off his shoulder.

one second.

two seconds.

"Pfft—Haha ...

Enel suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard he almost fell off the dock and into the sea!

"Hahahaha! Black...black knife...hahahaha...rowing a boat with a black knife?!"

"Hahahahaha!!!" He clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he completely lost his composure.

"The world's greatest swordsman?! Hahahaha! He's more like the world's greatest rower!! Yayhahaha!!!"

The image of that cold, powerful, and imposing swordsman that Enel had just seen crumbled instantly in his mind.

Instead, a scene that was incredibly funny, even somewhat cute, was presented.

A top-tier expert, with a serious expression, uses the world's strongest black sword as a paddle to row!

The contrast is just too adorable!

"Hahahaha! I can't take it anymore! This god can't stand it!"

This guy's an idiot! Absolutely an idiot! Hahaha!

Enel laughed so hard he pounded his chest and stamped his feet. His previous annoyance and anger had long since vanished in laughter at this earth-shattering feat.

He laughed wildly as he watched the small boat, its speed increasing rapidly due to "Black Knife's Slash," closing in at breakneck speed.

Suddenly, I feel like this swordsman who came to cause trouble for Gern isn't so bad after all?

At the same time, Hawkeye, standing on the speeding boat, naturally saw Enel laughing uncontrollably on the dock, almost rolling around on the floor.

The exaggerated laughter could be heard clearly from a great distance.

Hawkeye's cold face twitched almost imperceptibly at the corner of his mouth as he subconsciously gritted his teeth.

Even though he was calm and collected, it was still somewhat embarrassing for him to be mocked by an opponent who had just been at loggerheads for his forced "rowing" action.