"Delicious…"
While Zoro and the others were busy causing a scene, Ozz was still sampling food at the cooking competition.
There was no need for him to step onstage and shock a bunch of chefs or anything like that. If he wanted to eat something, all he had to do was snap his fingers.
Then half of whatever the chefs had just finished would teleport straight onto his table.
It got so absurd that some contestants genuinely thought they'd run into a ghost.
"As expected… Sanji's cooking is just that good…"
Enjoying great food was its own kind of happiness. And Ozz's tastes had long been spoiled by years of luxury, picky to the point of being downright cruel.
So when he occasionally ran into dishes made by the very best chefs in all of East Blue, he was more than willing to give them a try.
Mihawk sat beside him. He speared a piece with his fork, studied it with those peculiar eyes of his, and only after a long pause did he speak.
"Excellent knife work. If the chef who made this is a swordsman… then his swordsmanship won't be bad either."
Only then did he put it into his mouth and start eating.
Ozz twitched at the corner of his lips.
Compared to Hawk Eyes, those three kids on the street earlier didn't even count.
This was what a true blade maniac looked like.
…
Right when Zoro first met Tashigi and reunited with Kuina, Luffy was also searching for Roger's execution platform.
Since he'd come to Loguetown, how could he not go see it?
And it was here that Smoker and Luffy met for the first time in their lives.
"Ooh, this place is huge. I even ended up at the harbor. Nothing like Foosha Village."
Wearing his straw hat and looking like a country bumpkin who'd just wandered into the big city, Luffy looked left and right. When he spotted Smoker, he walked right up and asked for directions.
"I wanna see where the Pirate King was executed. Do you know where it is?"
"…Follow the direction the smoke drifts. That's the platform."
"Oh! Thanks!!!"
Luffy ran off.
Smoker, with two cigars clenched between his teeth, used his smoke to point the way without giving it much thought. He turned to leave.
But the instant he turned his head, his entire body froze.
"Huh? What's wrong, Captain Smoker?"
The soldiers saw their captain standing there, unmoving, and stepped up in confusion. Smoker didn't respond.
He simply stared, stunned, at the distance.
Two men walked side by side down the street, headed in the direction of the execution platform.
What made Smoker unable to believe his eyes wasn't where they were going.
It was…
That man.
Cold sweat poured down his forehead. One of his cigars snapped between his teeth, and he didn't even notice. His pupils trembled.
"Ah…"
As if he'd sensed the gaze, the figure walking toward the execution platform slowed, then stopped.
Mihawk halted as well and turned, giving him a questioning look.
The man slowly turned his head, revealing the sharp line of his profile. Those crimson-glowing eyes looked straight at Smoker.
Just one glance made Smoker's pupils shrink. Not a single word came out.
That legendary man…
Ozz.
Why would a man like him appear in Loguetown, all the way in East Blue?
He had vanished for nearly ten years. Why return to the sea now, of all times?
Smoker's face tightened.
Ozz said nothing. He simply smiled at Smoker, then raised his hand and flicked his fingers in the air, like he was about to give someone a forehead flick.
Smoker's face flushed instantly.
He remembered.
Back then, Ozz had only been fifteen, and Smoker was still a kid.
He'd provoked Ozz once and got flicked so hard his skull nearly split.
Smoker never imagined Ozz would still remember, much less recognize him.
"Captain Smoker, those two men…"
A soldier noticed his captain's stare and assumed the men in the distance were criminals. He was about to ask for permission to arrest them, but Smoker raised a hand and stopped him.
"That kind of person is no longer someone we can restrain. And we don't have the reason or the right to try."
"I'll report this to Marine Headquarters."
Smoker understood exactly what that man represented, so he didn't act rashly.
The sea had only managed to stay calm for a few years because Ozz disappeared.
Now it looked like chaos was about to rise again.
…
"That Marine seems to have recognized you."
As they continued walking, Mihawk spoke flatly. From his tone, he didn't care much.
"Yeah. More than twenty years ago, that Marine watched Captain Roger's execution with us."
Meeting an old acquaintance in a familiar place made Ozz strangely sentimental.
Mihawk was slightly surprised. He could tell from Observation Haki that the Marine was weak, yet he'd shared that kind of experience with them.
But Mihawk didn't dwell on it.
When they passed a shop, his hawk-sharp eyes slid toward the interior.
"You noticed them too. Three young people with real devotion to swordsmanship."
Back when Mihawk watched the execution in Loguetown, he'd been about the same age. It really did feel like he was seeing his past self.
"That young man is a fine swordsman," Mihawk said, skipping over Kuina and Tashigi entirely. "No wonder you entrusted him with your former blade."
Mihawk only sensed the hint of a true future strongman on Zoro. Someone who might one day become an opponent worth facing.
"Youth really is nice," Ozz said, his focus completely different.
He looked at his disciple, trapped between two "not-blood-related twins," and smiled.
But inside the weapon shop, the atmosphere wasn't friendly at all.
"Miss, will you sell your sword? I'll offer two hundred thousand berries!"
The shop owner stared at Kuina with greedy eyes. He was clearly interested in her famous blade, Wado Ichimonji, and was trying to con her into selling cheap.
Kuina didn't even bother responding.
Seeing she wouldn't bite, the merchant's eyes darted. He shifted his attention to Zoro.
He'd spotted that black blade.
"Young man, how about yours? With that condition…"
Before the owner could keep talking, Tashigi stepped in and stopped him, then pulled out a sword catalogue.
"Don't let him trick you!"
"That Wado Ichimonji is worth at least ten million berries. And this one…"
She examined it closely, then flipped through the pages of a booklet that clearly hadn't been updated in years.
"Ah, found it! One of the Twenty-One Great Grade Blades: Underworld Crow: Shadow. What is this…"
"Special note: originally the personal blade of a Marine officer, later murdered, then the blade fell into pirate hands…"
"You're a pirate?!" Tashigi blurted out, staring.
Zoro looked utterly confused, then shrugged like it was nothing.
"Yeah. So what?"
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