Zoro would never admit he got lost—that would be way too embarrassing. He would never acknowledge he had no sense of direction.
He thought for a moment, then said,
"Mm... I'm here looking for Hawk Eyes Mihawk. I got separated from him."
The moment they heard he was looking for Hawk Eyes, the three brothers were all startled. Hawk Eyes's reputation was huge, and as Marines, they naturally knew of him.
They simply didn't know Hawk Eyes had already arrived at Marineford. Sabo asked,
"Then how did you end up here? Who let you in?"
"Oh, that? Of course Hawk Eyes brought me. He should still be in that main headquarters building!"
Ace frowned and said,
"Then why don't you just go to the main headquarters building? It's not hard to find!"
"Uh..."
Zoro's face froze. Was the main headquarters building easy to find? He'd already wandered around several times and still hadn't found it!
Sabo narrowed his eyes. Zoro's inconsistent answers made him seem extremely suspicious. He shot a look at Ace and Luffy. Ace understood instantly and moved to stand next to Sabo.
Luffy, however, had no idea what Sabo meant, and asked in confusion,
"Sabo, why are you staring at me like that? You're scaring me!"
"..."
Sabo sighed helplessly. He pulled a metal pipe from behind his back, staring at Zoro with a serious expression.
Zoro also sensed something was off. His hand settled on the hilt of his sword, and his entire presence shifted instantly.
Sabo spoke in a low voice,
"Who are you really? How did you sneak into Marineford?"
Zoro had already drawn Wado Ichimonji partway from its sheath. He said coldly,
"My name is Zoro. I've already said I was brought in by Hawk Eyes!"
Luffy finally realized something was wrong. He suddenly flailed his arms and shouted loudly,
"Ah! So he's an enemy! Watch me take him down!"
Before Sabo could finish his words, Luffy had already rushed at Zoro, throwing a flurry of clumsy but rapid punches.
Zoro's expression darkened. In an instant, he fully drew his blade and struck Luffy's stomach with the back of it.
The Nika consciousness inside Luffy had been erased by Kaito, but the Nika Fruit's physical traits remained. His rubber body was still incredibly resilient.
Zoro's strike sank into Luffy's stomach as if into a swamp, and he couldn't pull his blade back for a moment.
Just as he yanked hard to retrieve it, Luffy grinned, inhaled sharply, and twisted his waist, launching Zoro—blade and all—flying.
"Nice one, Luffy!"
Ace cheered from behind, as if he hadn't been the one beating Luffy earlier.
Seeing this, Sabo also lost interest in fighting. He propped his pipe on the ground and became a spectator.
"Cough, cough..."
Zoro had only been with Hawk Eyes for a few days, so of course he wasn't a match for Luffy, who had been beaten by Dragon, Garp, and his two brothers since childhood.
To make matters simpler, Zoro hadn't even mastered Armament Haki yet.
But Zoro wasn't someone who gave up easily. He climbed up from the ground, drew his remaining two swords, and took his Three-Sword Style stance.
Luffy remained relaxed and casual, saying,
"You're using all three swords? You're just like Onigumo-san! Only, he's got way more swords than you!"
Zoro had no idea who Onigumo was. Right now, all of his attention was focused on Luffy across from him.
Crossing his arms before his chest, Zoro held his breath. In the next second, he shot forward like an arrow from a bow.
"Three-Sword Style: Oni Giri!"
Clang!
Zoro appeared behind Luffy, holding a cool finishing pose. In his mind, Luffy should have been completely incapacitated.
But when he looked up and saw Sabo and Ace, their faces were calm—no concern at all.
Luffy's voice came from behind him,
"Oof! That was close. That move's pretty strong!"
Zoro spun around sharply. A thin layer of black Armament Haki was still fading from Luffy's chest.
Seeing this, Zoro exclaimed,
"Th-This... this is the Haki Hawk Eyes mentioned!?"
"Hehe! Yup! Now I'm gonna get serious. I haven't earned any merit since joining the Marines, so I'll make you my first! I'm gonna be a Marine Admiral! Soru!"
With that, Luffy vanished from sight. Before Zoro could react, Luffy punched him hard in the stomach, knocking him out instantly.
With a thud, Zoro fell straight back onto the ground. Sabo crouched beside him, checked briefly, and said,
"He's unconscious. Nice work, Luffy. He's yours."
"Yeah! I finally earned merit! I wonder if Gramps will make me a Commander!"
Ace flicked Luffy's forehead and laughed,
"Look at you, getting excited over just a Commander."
"Hmph! You and Sabo are both Rear Admirals, of course you wouldn't care about a Commander! I'm still only a Lieutenant Commander!"
Sabo teased from the side,
"You're not just any Lieutenant Commander. You used to pin down two Rear Admirals—us—and even exchanged a couple blows with Kaito. Pretty impressive!"
"Uh, don't bring that up. Kaito almost killed me. Just thinking about it makes my whole body hurt..."
"Well, you brought that on yourself. Kaito was helping you. You should be grateful, idiot!"
"I know, I know. I'm just scared of him, okay? Back then, whenever I yelled 'I'm gonna be Pirate King,' he'd suddenly show up and hit me. I still have trauma from that..."
Luffy shrank back fearfully. And just as he worried—his fear came true. A chilling voice sounded behind him,
"I seem to have heard someone say they wanted to be some sort of king?"
Luffy's whole body stiffened. He turned around mechanically and saw the nightmare himself—Kaito, with Hawk Eyes standing beside him.
Kaito wore a gentle smile as he looked at Luffy—far too gentle.
Luffy gulped hard and forced a shaky smile,
"Oh! You heard wrong this time! My goal now is to become a Marine Admiral!"
Kaito had only intended to scare him a bit. Hearing Luffy's new goal, he nodded approvingly.
"That's more like it. But you know, the pinnacle of the Marines is Fleet Admiral. Why aim only for Admiral?"
"That's because Fleet Admiral is you. As long as you don't step down, I wouldn't dare think about it..."