The atmosphere around the Baratie had transformed. What had been a chaotic battlefield moments ago was now a silent amphitheater, with all eyes fixed on the two swordsmen facing each other.
Zoro stood with his three swords at the ready—Wado Ichimonji clenched between his teeth, the other two gripped firmly in his hands. Across from him, Mihawk hadn't even drawn his massive black blade, instead reaching for a small knife barely longer than his finger.
"What's that for?" Zoro demanded, his voice muffled by the sword in his mouth.
"I'm not so barbaric as to use my full strength against a rabbit," Mihawk replied coolly. "This is the smallest blade I carry, yet it will be more than enough."
Anger flashed in Zoro's eyes at the insult, but he maintained his focus. "Don't mock me!"
He launched himself forward with tremendous speed, swords whirling in his signature technique. "Oni Giri!"
What happened next stunned everyone watching. Mihawk simply raised his tiny knife and blocked all three swords simultaneously, Zoro's charge halting as if he'd struck a mountain.
"Impossible..." Nami whispered.
"The gap between them," Kai murmured, "is even wider than I expected."
"That's the man who destroyed my fleet," Krieg muttered, his face pale with remembered terror.
Luffy watched silently, his expression unusually serious. Beside him, Sanji lit a cigarette with fingers that weren't quite steady.
Zoro refused to accept the difference in their abilities, launching attack after attack with increasing desperation. Each time, Mihawk deflected his strikes with minimal effort, his small knife somehow finding the perfect angle to neutralize Zoro's three-sword style.
"Such ferocity," Mihawk commented, his voice still calm despite the furious assault. "What drives you, young swordsman? Why do you seek strength with such determination?"
"I made a promise," Zoro growled between attacks. "To be the world's greatest swordsman!"
For the first time, genuine interest flickered in Mihawk's hawk-like eyes. "A hefty ambition. That means you seek my head."
"That's right!"
Mihawk deftly sidestepped another attack, his movements fluid and economical. "And what would you do if you were to meet your goal? What lies beyond seeking strength?"
The question momentarily confused Zoro, creating an opening that Mihawk exploited. The tiny knife flashed, and suddenly Zoro's chest erupted with blood from a shallow but precisely placed wound.
"Zoro!" Luffy shouted, starting forward.
"Stay back!" Zoro commanded, his voice strained but unwavering. "This is my fight!"
Mihawk studied Zoro with newfound respect. "Why don't you step back? Do you wish to have this small knife pierce your heart?"
"I don't know," Zoro admitted, steadying his stance despite his injury. "But I'm certain if I were to step back even an inch right now, I'd break my promise. And then I'd never be able to stand here again."
"That's what defeat is," Mihawk noted.
"That's why I can't step back."
"Even if it means death?"
Zoro's grin was fierce despite the blood dripping from his mouth. "I'd rather die than give up."
Something changed in Mihawk's expression—a subtle shift from boredom to genuine respect. He sheathed his small knife and reached for the massive black blade on his back.
"Boy, tell me your name again."
"Roronoa Zoro."
"I'll remember it," Mihawk promised, drawing his true sword—Yoru, the black blade. "It's been a long time since I've met someone with such spirit. As a tribute to your courage, I will end this with my finest blade."
The atmosphere seemed to thicken with tension as Zoro prepared for his final attack. He crossed his arms, pointing his two hand-held swords backward while maintaining Wado Ichimonji between his teeth.
"Santoryu Ogi: Sanzen Sekai!" he called out, launching himself toward Mihawk with all his remaining strength.
Mihawk met the charge with a single, perfect slash. For a moment, time seemed to freeze as the two swordsmen passed each other. Then, two of Zoro's swords shattered, and his chest erupted with a diagonal wound from shoulder to hip.
"ZORO!" Luffy screamed, his voice raw with anguish.
As Zoro began to fall, something remarkable happened. He sheathed his remaining sword and turned to face Mihawk, arms spread wide, offering his chest.
"What are you doing?" Mihawk demanded, genuinely surprised.
"Scars on the back are a swordsman's shame," Zoro replied, blood flowing freely from his wounds.
A smile of genuine respect crossed Mihawk's face. "Magnificent." He brought his sword down in a perfect slash, opening a second wound across Zoro's chest.
As Zoro fell backward into the sea, Luffy's arm stretched out, catching him before he hit the water. Sanji and Kai rushed to help, pulling the gravely wounded swordsman onto the Baratie's deck.
"Zoro! Zoro! Say something!" Luffy demanded, cradling his friend's head.
To everyone's surprise, Zoro raised his remaining sword skyward, his voice weak but determined. "Luffy... can you hear me?"
"Yeah!"
"I'm sorry for disappointing you. If I don't become the world's greatest swordsman, it would be a problem for you, right? King of the Pirates?"
Tears streamed down Luffy's face as he nodded.
"I will... I will never lose again!" Zoro vowed, his voice growing stronger with each word despite his injuries. "Until I defeat him and take his title, I will never lose again! Any problem with that, Pirate King?"
Luffy's grief transformed into a fierce grin. "None at all!"
Meanwhile, Mihawk had re-sheathed his sword and turned to leave. He paused, looking back at the determined crew.
"It's too early for you to die," he addressed Zoro, though the unconscious swordsman couldn't hear him. "Discover yourself. Discover the world. And grow strong, Roronoa! However long it may take, I will wait for you at the top. Surpass this blade! Surpass me, Roronoa Zoro!"
He turned to Luffy. "And you, with the straw hat. What is your goal?"
"To become the Pirate King," Luffy answered without hesitation.
"A more difficult path than surpassing me," Mihawk commented. Then his gaze shifted to Kai, who had been watching silently. "You... there's something unusual about you."
Kai met the swordsman's hawk-like gaze steadily. "Just a traveler trying to find my way."
"Hmm." Mihawk studied him for a moment longer, then nodded slightly. "Take care of your swordsman. He has rare qualities."
With that, he returned to his small boat and departed as suddenly as he had arrived, leaving behind a stunned audience.
"Kai," Luffy's voice was urgent as he knelt beside Zoro's unconscious form. "Can you help him?"
Kai was already reaching into his dimensional storage ring. "I've got something that might work."
He pulled out a sleek metallic cylinder with a fine nozzle, labeled "Emergency Healing Spray" in glowing blue script. Nami recognized it as one of his more recent creations—a wish-powered medical tool he'd developed after studying East Blue's primitive medical techniques.
"Everyone, stand back," Kai instructed, kneeling beside Zoro. He carefully removed the swordsman's torn shirt, revealing the full extent of his injuries—two deep, crossing slashes that would have been fatal for most men.
"Will it work?" Sanji asked, his usual cavalier attitude replaced by genuine concern.
"It should," Kai replied, though his expression remained focused. "This contains nanobots programmed to accelerate healing by about 400 times normal speed. What would take weeks to heal should be repaired in minutes."
He pressed a button on the cylinder, and a fine mist emerged from the nozzle. As it settled on Zoro's wounds, the bleeding immediately stopped, and before their astonished eyes, the damaged tissues began to knit together.
"What kind of medicine is that?" Patty demanded, watching in disbelief. "Even our best chefs who specialize in medicinal cooking can't do anything like this!"
"Let's just call it a special recipe," Kai replied with a slight smile, continuing to apply the spray methodically across Zoro's injuries.
Within minutes, the wounds had closed, leaving angry red lines where deep gashes had been. Zoro's breathing steadied, and color returned to his face.
"He'll need rest," Kai explained, returning the cylinder to his ring. "The spray accelerates healing, but his body still needs to recover from the trauma and blood loss."
"That's incredible," Sanji commented, lighting a fresh cigarette to mask his amazement. "With medicine like that, you could put doctors out of business."
"It's not something I can make in large quantities," Kai admitted. "But it's useful for emergencies like this."
Zoro's eyes suddenly fluttered open, and he sat up with a groan. "What... happened?"
"You lost," Luffy stated simply, though without judgment.
"I know that," Zoro growled, wincing as he touched his chest. The pain was still there, though the wounds had closed. "But why am I still alive?"
"Kai fixed you," Luffy explained. "He's really good at that kind of stuff."
Zoro looked down at his chest in disbelief, seeing the nearly healed wounds. "That's... impossible. Those cuts should have killed me."
"What matters is that you're alive," Nami interjected. "And now you can train to face him again someday."
Before Zoro could respond, Don Krieg's voice cut through the moment.
"If you're all finished with your touching reunion," he called mockingly, "we have unfinished business. This restaurant will be mine!"
The battle resumed with renewed intensity. Despite his injuries, Zoro insisted on fighting, though Kai convinced him to take a supporting role rather than face Krieg's officers directly.
Luffy confronted Krieg himself, their battle carrying them from the Baratie's deck onto the remnants of Krieg's flagship. The pirate admiral's arsenal seemed endless—hidden weapons, explosive projectiles, and finally his ultimate weapon: a massive spear that detonated on impact.
"This is the end for you, Straw Hat!" Krieg bellowed, raising the spear. "My Battle Spear has never failed to kill its target!"
"Neither have my fists," Luffy replied calmly, stretching his arms behind him. "Gomu Gomu no... Bazooka!"
His palms shot forward with incredible force, slamming into Krieg's chest before he could deploy the spear. The golden armor cracked under the impact, and Krieg was sent flying backward to crash into the wreckage of his ship.
Meanwhile, Sanji found himself facing Gin in a rematch that seemed evenly matched until Gin hesitated at a crucial moment, unable to deliver a killing blow to the man who had fed him.
"Why?" Gin asked, his tonfa hovering inches from Sanji's head. "Why did you feed me when you knew who I was?"
"Because you were hungry," Sanji replied simply. "And I'm a cook. That's all there is to it."
Their standoff was interrupted by Krieg's furious voice. "Gin! Finish him! That's an order!"
Gin's hand trembled. "I... I can't, Don Krieg. This man saved my life."
"Traitor!" Krieg roared, raising a hidden gun. "Then die with him!"
Before he could fire, Luffy's fist connected with Krieg's face, sending him crashing to the deck once more. "Your fight is with me!"
As the sun began to set, the battle finally concluded. Krieg lay unconscious, his prized armor shattered. His remaining crew, seeing their invincible leader defeated, surrendered or fled. Only Gin remained, standing uncertainly on the Baratie's deck.
"What will you do now?" Sanji asked him, offering a cigarette.
Gin accepted it with a nod of thanks. "I don't know. I've followed Don Krieg for so long, I'm not sure I know how to do anything else."
"You could always start your own crew," Sanji suggested. "Be the kind of captain you'd want to follow."
Gin considered this, then smiled—a genuine expression that transformed his usually grim face. "Maybe I will. Thank you, Sanji. For everything."
As Gin departed with the unconscious Krieg and the remnants of their crew, the Baratie's chefs began cleaning up the aftermath of the battle. Despite the damage, there was a sense of victory in the air.
That evening, as the stars emerged over the calm sea, Sanji found himself alone on the outer deck with Zeff. The old chef was smoking his pipe, gazing out at the horizon.
"That straw hat boy," Zeff began, "he reminds me of someone I met long ago."
"Who?" Sanji asked, curious despite himself.
"A rookie pirate with a big dream and an even bigger appetite," Zeff chuckled. "He's going to need a good cook on his journey."
Sanji leaned against the railing, watching the moon's reflection on the water. "Are you saying I should go with him?"
"I'm saying," Zeff replied gruffly, "that the All Blue won't come to you while you're stuck in this floating restaurant."
Sanji was silent for a long moment, the weight of the decision heavy on his shoulders. "But the Baratie is your dream. I can't just—"
"My dream was to create a place where no one would go hungry," Zeff interrupted. "I've done that. Now it's time for you to chase your own dream, eggplant."
"If I go," Sanji said slowly, "who will keep this place running?"
"We managed before you came along," Zeff growled, though there was affection beneath his gruff exterior. "We'll manage after you're gone."
Sanji took a deep breath, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Then... I'll go. But I'll come back someday, old man. When I've found the All Blue."
"You'd better," Zeff nodded. "And bring back some fish I've never seen before."
Inside, Luffy was recounting the battle to an increasingly skeptical audience of chefs, his arms stretching to demonstrate his more impressive moves. Nami sat beside Kai, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder as they watched the energetic captain's performance.
"He's really something," Nami commented quietly. "Defeating Don Krieg like that."
"He's just getting started," Kai replied, his voice warm with pride. "The Grand Line is going to be different, though. We'll need to be prepared."
Nami's fingers intertwined with his. "We will be. You've made sure of that."
Later that night, as most of the crew slept, Zoro sat alone on the deck, examining his remaining sword—Wado Ichimonji. His other two swords had been shattered by Mihawk's attack, leaving him with only this white blade.
"Couldn't sleep?" Kai's voice came from behind him.
Zoro didn't turn around. "Hard to sleep when your chest feels like it's been torn open. Twice."
"The healing spray can only do so much," Kai admitted, sitting beside him. "You'll have some impressive scars."
"Good," Zoro nodded. "They'll remind me of how far I still have to go."
Kai reached into his ring and produced a small bottle. "This might help with the pain."
Zoro accepted it cautiously. "What is it?"
"Just medicine," Kai assured him. "Nothing fancy like the spray. It'll dull the pain enough for you to rest, but you'll still be alert if needed."
Zoro considered this, then took a small sip. The effect was immediate—a warm sensation that eased the burning in his chest without clouding his mind.
"Thank you," he said simply. "For this, and for earlier."
"You did the hard part," Kai replied. "Standing up to Mihawk took courage."
Zoro's expression darkened. "And what good did it do? He cut me down like I was nothing."
"But he remembered your name," Kai pointed out. "The world's greatest swordsman now knows who you are. That's no small thing."
"I suppose," Zoro conceded. After a moment, he asked, "What about you? What's your dream?"
Kai looked surprised by the question. "My dream?"
"Everyone else has one," Zoro explained. "Luffy wants to be Pirate King. I want to be the world's greatest swordsman. Nami wants to map the world. The cook wants to find that All Blue place. What about you?"
Kai gazed up at the stars, considering his answer carefully. "I guess... I want to find where I belong. I've been adrift for a long time, between worlds in a way. Now I'm starting to think I might have found my place."
Zoro nodded, understanding more than Kai expected. "With Luffy and the crew."
"Yes," Kai smiled. "With all of you."