"Huh?!"
In an instant, Smoker didn't even know when the blade had appeared.
Yet its edge was already pressed straight to his throat, glittering with a cold, merciless gleam.
Before he could even get close to Ozz, Mihawk had somehow moved to Smoker's side.
With one hand on Yoru, he stood there proudly, like an unshakable pillar.
The wide brim of his hat cast his face in shadow, leaving only a single eye visible, layered like rings and chilling as ice, locked firmly onto Smoker.
Smoker couldn't even clearly see Mihawk's movement or the draw of the blade, but he had no intention of surrendering.
A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. He clenched his teeth hard.
For the people of Loguetown, he couldn't back down.
Smoke began to rise.
He tried to rely on the Logia's elemental intangibility, slipping past the black blade that barred his way.
"I absolutely won't allow you two to mess around in Loguetown!!!"
"How pitiful. A weakling," Mihawk said flatly.
Smoker's "brilliant" transformation meant nothing to him.
Mihawk's expression didn't change. The black blade traced lightly through the air, almost like idle play.
Slash.
Smoker froze mid-charge, as if he couldn't believe it.
Bloodshot eyes wide, he stared at the Seastone jitte in his hand, snapped cleanly in two.
Then came the spray of blood.
A long but shallow cut opened across his chest, instantly pouring red, and Smoker was sent flying backward.
His face twisted as he turned into smoke again to reduce the impact. He drove the remaining half of the jitte into the ground to steady himself.
Then he looked up, breathing hard, staring at the lone, arrogant figure holding the black greatsword, meeting those cold, mysterious eyes.
"Logia isn't invincible," Mihawk said. "In the face of true power, it's just a frog in a well."
Smoker hadn't even brushed the corner of Ozz's coat before Mihawk casually chopped him down.
It wasn't a crippling injury, but the gap between them was now carved into his bones.
Ozz drained his cup in one gulp, then left a bag of money behind.
"Sorry. Consider this compensation for the mess."
The old bartender didn't want it. Ozz was Roger's crewmate, and he didn't care about minor damage to a bar.
But Ozz waved it off anyway.
Then he glanced at Smoker and smiled, the kind of smile that felt like a teasing finger flick to the forehead.
"Relax. I'm joking. I'm not some world-ending villain."
"And instead of wasting time on a random passerby like me, you should go chase your real target."
Ozz snapped his fingers.
A wanted poster appeared instantly, printed with a straw-hatted boy grinning with his teeth bared.
"This one should look familiar."
Smoker glanced at it and his eyes widened.
That was the kid who'd asked him for directions earlier.
…
"You seem… very interested in this Straw Hat crew."
On the way to the execution platform, Mihawk finally voiced what had been bothering him.
He'd wanted to ask for a long time.
"Somewhat," Ozz said.
The crowd ahead was growing thicker, and Ozz lifted his gaze toward the sky.
"Every era has its protagonists. The ones who stir the world into chaos. You can say the times create heroes, or heroes create the times."
He brushed his bangs back, revealing a mature, handsome face.
"I've got a feeling these youngsters will bring the world a lot of entertainment. Otherwise…"
He smiled faintly.
"Wouldn't we get bored, Hawk Eyes?"
That made Mihawk think of the green-haired swordsman who would rather die than lose.
"Mm. Yeah."
The area around the platform was packed, locals and tourists everywhere.
It brought Ozz back to that special day, twenty-three years ago.
"Back then… this place was just as crowded, wasn't it?"
Mihawk could sense it clearly.
Something in Ozz's mood had shifted. It felt like remembrance.
"Hey! You two! Don't block the road!!!"
Just as Ozz was staring at the execution platform that had stood for decades without falling, an impatient voice from behind shattered the atmosphere.
"Hm?"
They turned.
A green-haired guy with a pompadour was glaring at them, dressed in loud, gaudy colors, sharp-toothed and rough-looking like some street punk.
"What's with those eyes, huh?!"
Their expressions were pure indifference and disdain, like they couldn't be bothered to acknowledge him.
"Damn it!!!"
"I'm Bartolomeo, boss of more than a hundred streets!!!"
He threw his arms wide, shouting his title, clearly expecting gasps and awe.
Instead…
"Let's get a bit closer, Hawk Eyes," Ozz said calmly. "The show's about to start."
"Did your Observation Haki see it?" Mihawk asked.
They spoke as if the green-haired pompadour didn't exist, turning back around and continuing their conversation.
"…!"
Veins popped on Bartolomeo's forehead.
He wasn't some harmless nobody, okay?!
"You two bastards!!!"
He crossed his hands instantly, hooking his index and middle fingers together.
A green, glass-like barrier formed in front of him in the blink of an eye, like a solid wall, ready to push forward.
"Yeah, you look strong, sure, but listen up!"
"I ate the Barrier-Barrier Fruit! I'm a Barrier Human! I can control barriers, and these things are absolutely unbreakable…"
He didn't even finish.
Maybe Ozz had simply decided the guy was too loud.
He casually swung his arm through the air.
In the next instant, Bartolomeo rolled his eyes back like he'd been hit by a Sea King.
His belly caved inward and he flew, launched ridiculously far, tumbling across the ground.
Bile spilled from his mouth as he lay there, staring at the two figures ahead like his worldview had collapsed.
My…
My invincible barrier…
How is that possible?!
How did he do that?!
As the two of them drew closer, a figure suddenly climbed onto the execution platform, looking around curiously.
Someone was about to tell him to get down when the farce began.
First came Alvida, somehow turned into a stunning beauty.
Then the clown circus, dressed up like black-cloaked figures.
And finally, the execution that made no sense at all.
"Sorry, but could you let me go?"
Luffy spoke calmly.
"Bastard!!! Who's going to let you go?!" Buggy roared.
"I'm going to execute you in a flashy way for the crime of offending me!!!"
"If you've got any last words, say them now!!!"
After holding it in for a moment, the famous line finally burst out.
"I'm the man who's going to become the Pirate King!!!"
Everyone stared at the two on the platform, stunned speechless.
Only Ozz smiled slightly. He leaned toward Mihawk and said,
"On the execution platform…"
"There really is a future Pirate King up there right now."
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The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
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