Big brother, I want to become the strongest pirate in the world!

……

Beneath the ocean of the Grand Line.

A red fish-man is diving deeper and deeper, heading back to his homeland—Fish-Man Island.

To find like-minded fishmen and rescue his fellow fish, he first needs to return to the King and Queen of Fishman Island to explain his plans.

Regardless of whether it is supported or not.

He has already decided to do this; he already has his own plan.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should begin his operation in about a year.

He was also hesitant.

Can he really do it?

……

West Sea.

In two different directions, a huge, dark ship and a small, dark coffin boat are traveling towards each other, which actually gives them a rather romantic feel.

To be precise, they are all heading towards a certain island.

They share a common goal there.

Whether it's a new goal or the initial goal when I came to the West Sea.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will arrive at that island in early 1506 of the Sea Calendar.

The island where the Monster Pirates are located.

Three notorious pirates are about to meet on a small island; it's impossible for nothing to happen.

Meanwhile, in the third direction, on the vast sea, a small figure was flying forward continuously in mid-air.

"Waaaaah... Kumashi, when will we get to the next island...?"

A pink-haired little girl was crying while hugging an ugly, patched-up teddy bear.

She ran away from an orphanage, where she was living a good life until she ate a strange fruit as a child and discovered the truth about the orphanage.

She originally intended to use the tiny ghost she created after eating the fruit to scare the nuns at the orphanage, but instead she heard that she was going to be sold.

The frightened pink-haired little girl grabbed her favorite teddy bear and ran out, using the power of her Devil Fruit to float and move forward on the sea, fearing that the demons behind her would catch up and take her away.

At the intersection of the three directions ahead.

The monster pirate crew was still enjoying their time, and the children, big and small, were actually acting like kids for once.

Although they seemed innocent and cute, those bounty posters still frightened the other residents of the island quite a bit. For such a small island, a pirate with a bounty of that amount was still terrifying.

At the cemetery in this small town, a frail old woman is slowly trimming the flowers and plants growing on a grave.

If Kazan were here, he would immediately recognize this as the old man who gave him two wooden scabbards and the useless demon sword, an old monster who could throw him out of the shop!

“My days are numbered… When I die, the story of the Lost Kingdom will come to a complete end, Grandpa.”

"It's good that it's over. It's about time that the story from hundreds of years ago faded away. It wasn't exactly a glorious history anyway."

"No... not yet. The knife is still there. I gave it to a little guy who seemed fairly polite."

"He has extraordinary eyes. I feel that the useless thing will not fall into disuse in his hands. I wonder if I will have the chance to see it regain its former glory before I die."

"The winds at sea have been getting increasingly violent lately, and this land is unlikely to be peaceful for some time to come."

"but……"

"It's not a big problem."

Chapter 046 Warm-up

“Every time I see snowflakes falling from the sky, I feel like Monet is right beside me.”

"I really am right beside you, brother~"

"Don't get so close to me! You're a big girl now, almost 14! Don't you know that?!"

"Waaaaaah ┭┮﹏┭┮, Brother, do you dislike me now? Don't you love me anymore? You weren't like this before. I understand now, love can disappear, right?"

"Correct."

"...Hehe, I feel all warm and cozy inside you, brother. I'm your sister too! Why do you always favor Sugar? How annoying!"

"..."

On a rooftop in the small town, Kazan, steaming with heat, sat on the bricks and tiles watching the snowflakes dance in the air, with Monet, now a young girl, nestled beside him.

Little Sugar was lying in his arms, sucking on his thumb while staring blankly at the falling snowflakes.

"Kazan! I just saw that guy who was confronting you at sea earlier when I was fishing by the sea!"

"Which one?"

"Hawkeye!"

"...Tsk."

Kazan looked up and talked to the birds in the sky. After Bon Clay transformed into other creatures, even his way of speaking would change, so he could never maintain his animal form to communicate with them.

However, during these four months of training that combined work and rest, Funkele was able to maintain his animal state while still making his own sounds.

Kazan estimates that Bon Clay's Imitation Fruit ability has now reached Level 5.

Because what Funkeley accomplished was not just maintaining the state of other species and making his own voice heard, but also had a very important ability.

That means being able to communicate simply with the same species that one has transformed into! Now, Funker can use this ability to have small animals such as birds and rodents carry out tasks such as relaying messages and intelligence gathering.

On this vast ocean, people with this ability are extremely valuable to both sides, but for pure pirates, this ability is of little use.

"Well... never mind, that guy probably came specifically to see me, I'll go and meet him."

Kazan picked up Sugar from his arms and tossed it to Monet beside him, straightened up, stretched, and leaped onto the ground before leisurely walking toward the sea.

Halfway there, Kazan suddenly stopped, turned around, hoisted Sugar onto his shoulder, and walked with her toward the sea.

In the realm of swordsmanship, Kazan is definitely inferior to Hawkeye. Although Hawkeye is still some distance from becoming the world's greatest swordsman, he's probably close.

After all, it won't be long before Hawkeye becomes one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. By then, regardless of whether Hawkeye has truly reached the level of the world's greatest swordsman, he will at least be the one in name. And even if he hasn't, he'll probably be close. In the pure realm of swordsmanship, there are few in the world who can compare to him.

seaside.

Eagle Eyes, which had leisurely drifted to the shore, looked at the people already waiting above and suddenly perked up, his eyes revealing obvious interest.

"I've been waiting for you, Hawkeye."

"You know me?"

“You’re so famous, of course I’ve heard of you. And if you’ve met Shanks recently, he’s probably heard about me too. I think I must have made quite a good impression on him.”

Kazan's words took on a completely different meaning for Mihawk.

Kazan meant that his hellish training had turned Shanks into a phallus, a feeling Shanks would probably never forget.

In Mihawk's ears, Shanks was impressed by Kazan because he was strong enough to make Shanks take him seriously.

That's right! That's exactly it!

Mihawk's eyes sharpened; this would align with what Shanks had said!

"Come on, let's have a fight. I'm just looking for a match of sufficient importance."

Kazan stood calmly in place, pinching Sugar's little bottom on his shoulder.

"Door duck~"

After opening a semi-transparent air door in mid-air, he walked in first, under Mihawk's slightly distorted gaze, and didn't forget to throw out sugar before going in.

"Our battle is probably quite large. Come in and fight. It should last for about fifteen minutes now, which should be enough time for us to fight."

"……it is good."

The aloof Mihawk followed Kazan into the air portal without any hesitation, showing no concern whatsoever about being harmed.

It could be the confidence of a strong person, or it could be trust in Shanks.

The world inside the door.

Kazan and Mihawk stood facing each other, about ten meters apart.

Kazan, the Soul of the Blade.

Bloodlust.

Rampage.

Bloodthirsty.

"Let's warm up first."

Kazan, panting heavily, suppressed the murderous intent that was about to erupt in his chest and spoke firmly.

"Row."

Mihawk looked at Kazan, who was engulfed in a crimson aura and whose aura had become violent and agitated, and he understood a little better about the title 'Red Dog'.

This aura is not bad, but it shouldn't be as powerful as Shanks said.

Mihawk used his Observation Haki to carefully sense the aura emanating from Kazan and concluded that Kazan was not using his full strength because he was 'warming up'.

He drew the large black sword from his back and unleashed a swift sword strike towards Kazan.

Kazan did not choose to fight head-on, but instead dodged to the side using his intermediate-level Observation Haki and excellent physical abilities.

Three-stage slash.

He raised his hand and used a three-stage slash to close the distance, instantly rushing to a spot not far from Mihawk.

Mountain-shattering strike.

With the aid of Armament Haki and Steel Transformation, a powerful and heavy blow slammed down on Mihawk in front of him.

Mihawk slightly raised his eyes and used both hands to brace himself against the hardened black blade, blocking the attack.

With the added power of numerous buffs and skills, this move only caused Mihawk's Black Blade Night to sink by a tiny, almost imperceptible distance.