Bab 24: The Strongest Swordsman

Just when we wanted to leave peacefully, an unwelcome sight appeared at the edge of the dock: Lieutenant Tashigi, flanked by a group of Marine soldiers, all with swords and rifles ready. Her expression was one of focused suspicion.

"Merry's Revenge, huh?" she called, eyeing the ship carefully. "That vessel looks suspiciously like a noble's ship reported missing four months ago. I'm afraid I can't let you leave until we clear this up."

I groaned, muttering, "Of course, we can't leave peacefully." Then, raising my voice, I said, "Cute Lieutenant, I can assure you—"

But her eyes narrowed, cutting me off. I knew we couldn't resolve this with words alone.

Turning to the crew, I quickly took charge. "Nojiko, get ready to chart our route. Aerwyna, take the helm. Sham, where is your mask? You have to wear it—don't let her recognize you!"

Sham, who was very seriously licking her hands, looked at me, tilting her head. "But we're on our ship, Captain!"

Meanwhile, Carmen's eyes glow amber, and the temperature around her increases while a fire licked her raised right hand, her voice dripping with dramatic flair. "Shall I prepare something to dazzle our Marine friends? Perhaps a fiery farewell?"

"Carmen, No fire onboard!" I hissed, pulling a compact smoke bomb from my belt. "Just get ready to sail."

Bellemere slung her rifle over her shoulder, a smirk on her face. "You know, I kinda wish they'd try something. Could use the practice."

"Mom, when are you ready to confront marines so readily?" Nojiko said calmly, glancing over her shoulder as she untied the last rope. "And besides, It's best we leave quietly."

With Tashigi and her Marines ready for battle, I didn't waste another second. I hurled my whistle-activated compact smoke bomb toward the dock. It erupted in a thick plume of gray, obscuring everything.

"Let's go!" I shouted.

Aerwyna nodded, serene as ever, and gripped the helm with two of her six hands, steering us out of the dock as our ship broke through the haze.

"Full speed, Wyna!" I called, watching Loguetown fade into the distance behind us, the smoke lingering like a final wave goodbye.

Kaya came up beside me, a gentle, sunny smile on her delicate face. "Did you truly buy the ship, Usopp? Because this is the second Marine who questioned us."

I laughed weakly at her question, "I might not conventionally buy it, but I poured all my invention into this beaut, so it was technically mine now."

Kaya sighed and returned to the large table in the middle of the deck. An opened page of her newly purchased book was there, along with many glass vials and chemicals she had bought.

The crew settled into place, the tension melting into quiet relief. As the coastline of Loguetown disappeared from view, I couldn't help but feel a thrill. We'd managed to escape another unnecessary confrontation.

***

The sea was calm as we sailed away from Loguetown, each of us quietly settling into our usual routines on deck. We had made it out, but the excitement had left a specific energy buzzing among the crew. I felt good about the whole escape until I felt a strange sense prickling the edge of my Observation Haki. Something was… off. What I feel this

minute was one of the most substantial pressured feelings I've felt.

I sniffed the air. I had this weird ability to sense people's emotional state through their smell. I could smell overwhelming fear in front of me.

Aerwyna, standing by the helm, was the second after me to sense it. Her gaze sharpened on the horizon as if she saw something far beyond what was visible to the naked eye.

"Wyna?" I asked, feeling that growing tension. "Did you feel that too?"

"Yes. There's a boat behind that ship," Aerwyna said, calm but serious. "It's moving slowly, but the haki on that boat was very strong."

I adjusted my goggles and squinted into the distance, trying to make out the approaching ship. It was a vast Galleon, comparatively bigger than Merry's Revenge. It had a saber-tooth tiger figurehead. It was a total wreck, like a ghost ship.

There was a much smaller boat behind it, but as it got closer, my heart dropped. A small, almost black boat resembling a coffin skimming the water, candles lit on the edges, green fire dancing on it. The small boat carried a man I would dread encountering: Dracule Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman.

"Shit, that's Dracule Mihawk, what is he doing here?" I exclaimed.

"That edgy-looking guy is Mihawk?" Bellemere asked, her voice skeptical as she followed my gaze. "Be careful, brat, that's a name you don't mess around with."

"It looks like he's chasing someone," Nojiko added, her eyes narrowing at the battered Galeon zigzagging through the waves ahead. "Is that… ship, a ghost ship?"

I gulped. "That's Don Krieg. And it looks like Mihawk's toying with him." My observation was buzzing like mad, a mix of powerful intent radiating from Mihawk's tiny boat and sheer terror from Don Krieg's.

Mihawk's meager boat effortlessly closed the gap with the wrecked ship, and in an instant, he attacked it; a stray slash—a literal slice of air that shimmered with lethal intent—sliced across the water. It was so powerful that even a stray attack from Mihawk was enough to tear through the waves and head straight for us.

"Everyone, move!" I shouted, feeling a pulse of terror. But I didn't have to warn them twice.

Before the attack could reach us, Aerwyna ran forward, drawing three of her meito swords, Sandai Kitetsu, Yubashiri, and her priced sword, Kagegiri Kitetsu. She held it steady and, in a move as fluid as water, met Mihawk's attack with her blade. I could swear I saw a dark rose petal coming from Aerwyna's slice.

The two forces clashed, sending a shockwave across the deck and rattling the ship. For a moment, I felt pure awe. Aerwyna had managed to deflect the stray attack. My evaluation of her was correct; she was more powerful than she had let on.

Kaya looked at her in shock, clutching her newly purchased book and vials. "Aerwyna… you stopped it."

Aerwyna merely nodded, serene as ever. "Only barely," she admitted. "Mihawk's power is on a level I've never encountered, and that was only a stray cut, not his intended cut."

Don Krieg's ship drifts further away, likely going to Baratie. So Nami was probably somewhere around Shellstown or wherever, but I couldn't remember the exact timeline. The straw hat just started their journey.

Mihawk's small boat slowed beside us, and he looked up with that piercing, hawk-like gaze, studying each of us as though weighing our worth. He didn't say anything—just watched with an intensity that made my stomach churn.

"Why is he looking at us?" Sham muttered, uncharacteristically tense. "Can't he just keep chasing that galleon?"

Kaya, usually the gentle soul among us, had her hand on her syringe gun, though I doubted it would do much if Mihawk decided to attack. Standing close to the galley door, Carmen looked between Mihawk and us, her flamboyant demeanor momentarily tempered by a severe expression; her eyes glowed amber while a lick of fire licked her shoulder.

Mihawk spoke, his voice low and chilling. Even from our distance, I could hear him, "Interesting crew you have, Captain."

I stiffened. "Just… trying to make our way through the North Blue."

Mihawk's gaze drifted to Aerwyna, his interest piqued. "A Fish-Woman who can deflect my stray attack… Impressive."

Aerwyna merely inclined her head, her expression unreadable. "Your reputation precedes you, Dracule Mihawk."

There was a pause, and I felt my hands sweat on the grip of my crossbow. If Mihawk decided we were worth taking down, I didn't know if even all of us combined could hold him back. I just hope that Wyna wasn't as crazy as Zoro.

But Mihawk inclined his head toward us in a faint nod of acknowledgment as though we had passed some invisible test. Then, with a slight shift in his stance, he turned his attention back to Krieg's ship, which was now barely holding together under Mihawk's relentless pursuit.

"Hope we meet again, captain. I need to fill my quota this month, and that guy woke me from my nap." Mihawk said, more to himself than us, before steering his coffin boat back toward Krieg. In a matter of moments, he was gone, leaving us to breathe out the tension that had nearly strangled us.

"That…" Bellemere started, shaking her head, "was something I'd rather not go through again."

"You and I both," I agreed, my voice shaking. I turned to Aerwyna. "Aerwyna, you were amazing back there. I don't think anyone else could've deflected that. How do you do that?"

She nodded, her expression calm but slightly humbled. "Thank you, Captain. But it was only by luck and a lot of training."

Carmen broke the silence, her striking voice returning as she clapped her hands together. "Well, that was enough excitement to last a lifetime! Who's up for a celebratory meal?"

We ate at the large table on the main deck, where Carmen cooked us another delicious tuna dish. When almost everyone was asleep in the evening, I walked beside Aerwyna, who was steering the ship.

"The one you did before was armament haki, correct?" I asked her.

Aerwyna looked at me with her usual stoic expression and nodded. Her six hands moved effortlessly: two polished Kagegiri, two steered the ship, one held a cup of hot tea, and the last had a book.

"The first time we met, I sensed a powerful presence in you—stronger even than Arlong's," I said, my voice steady. "What made a swordswoman as skilled as you follow him?"

Aerwyna carefully sheathed Kagegiri, sipped her tea, and fixed her gaze on me. "Usopp-kun, I wasn't always this calm and serene one-san. I was once bloodthirsty. Kagegiri is an aggressive blade, and my hatred for humans was as fierce as Arlong's."

"What made you change? Was it a kind human?"

She shook her head, a faint smile tugging at her lips, her eyes distant with memory. "No… it was two humans and a young, spirited mermaid."

My mind flashed to Rayleigh, Sukiyaki, and the mermaid from Sabaody, whose name I could not remember.

"Tell me, what made you surrender to Sham? You could have overpowered her easily. Did you have a change of heart?"

"I'd had a change of heart long before then, but I couldn't stop my friend's dark path. I felt partly to blame," Aerwyna replied, looking sadly toward Bellemere and Nojiko's quarters.

"Your hesitation caused a lot of suffering in a peaceful community," I said, inhaling deeply. "But that's the past. Starting tomorrow, I want you to train us. And you can remove the leash if you want—it doesn't affect you."

I walked past the raised platform with the ship's wheel, past the large communal table, until I reached the bow. I hopped onto the figurehead, claiming my favorite spot. The sea stretched calm before me, but my heart wasn't. Too much time dominating East Blue made me forget the true strength of those on the Grand Line. If I were to confront my estranged father, I'd need to train hard. As I gazed ahead, the evening breeze gently caressed my long, prominent nose.