Link had no doubt that if Hawkeye wanted to sneak attack, he could easily cross behind him.
But he disdained to do so.
"To be able to easily block even this slash of mine, how interesting."
Hawkeye's face blossomed into a smile again, "I didn't expect to encounter three interesting and excellent juniors in this small East Blue, in such a short time."
"It seems this East Blue, known as the weakest sea in the world, is not entirely of that caliber."
Clearly, the "that caliber" he spoke of referred to Krieg.
This made the latter's veins pop out on his forehead in anger, almost causing him to lose his breath.
After speaking, Hawkeye's figure flickered, and he retreated to his original spot.
At the same time, he sheathed the black blade yoru behind him.
"Item Master? I'll remember that title."
He nodded lightly, which was considered an acknowledgment of Link.
"He truly is the Worlds Strongest Swordsman..."
Link also smacked his lips.
In these two clashes with Hawkeye, his half-baked sword skills were completely useless.
It was the Denkou Maru that guided Link in his fight.
After all, the Denkou Maru could even handle universe-level powerhouses with ease, so it effortlessly took on Hawkeye's two slashes.
However, the price for this was that its power was consumed extremely quickly; it was almost out of battery.
After all, when Hawkeye fought, his black blade yoru was naturally Coating with his tempered Haki.
Perhaps Hawkeye had more or less guessed something, which is why he chose to stop.
Honestly, being able to block both the slash and the Haki together already made Link's understanding of the Denkou Maru exceed his cognition.
It was precisely to block the power of Haki that the Denkou Maru was consumed so quickly.
Of course, Link was not entirely useless.
It was also thanks to his greatly strengthened body now; otherwise, the movements the Denkou Maru guided him to perform to block the slash would have been very difficult for his original body to execute.
Even if he had managed to do them, it would have been very ungraceful.
However, fortunately, everything was resolved perfectly, and Link also got a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of this world's top power.
"It seems that merely strengthening with one powerful candy is not enough..."
Link pondered, this was not enough to allow him to reach the peak.
"I remember that among the many tool/items in the four-dimensional pocket, there are also many Enhanced tool/items, such as the evolution gun."
"It can be used not only to strengthen oneself but also to strengthen and upgrade other tool/items, so that the effect and power of the tool/items will become stronger and reach a higher level... This is something worth pondering over."
After this exchange with Hawkeye, Link's thoughts on the path he would take in the future slowly began to solidify.
Link was pondering, but the shock this battle brought to others was no less than the earlier fight between Hawkeye and Zoro.
They all stared blankly at Link, who was frowning in thought, their faces dumbfounded.
"To be able to easily block even that kind of slash, and remain completely unharmed..."
The pirates swallowed hard, their fear clearly audible in their voices:
"That guy, is he even human?!"
Whether he was human or not, they didn't know, but they all knew that if they had faced Hawkeye, they would have certainly been dead long ago.
Involuntarily, their gazes towards Link were filled with a sense of awe for a strong person, and even more unease and fear.
"That was terrifying..."
On the deck of Baratie, Usopp let out a long breath, and Nami was also wiping sweat, slumped there.
First Zoro, then Link, these guys who seemed rational and reliable, once they went wild, it was simply unbearable for one's little heart!!
However, while sighing in relief, their gazes towards Link and Zoro, that sense of camaraderie and friendship for their companions, also deepened.
Sanji, next to them, tremblingly lit a cigarette for himself, remaining silent.
But Zoro, and Link's straight figures, kept replaying in his mind.
"Farewell, young captain, excellent swordsman, and mysterious Item Master..."
Hawkeye gave Link and the other two a final look and a smile, then turned and returned to his coffin-shaped boat.
"Wait for me!!"
Finally, Krieg, who had been ignored for a long time, jumped out again, intending to make his presence known.
"One day I'll go to the Grand Line to find you and cut off your head!!"
Krieg was there, shouting at Hawkeye, though he kept a rather significant distance.
Clearly, the towering slash Hawkeye had unleashed earlier had truly frightened him.
But with his ship split in half, if he didn't utter some harsh words, he would appear to be an utterly incompetent boss.
And the truth was, he was indeed a rather incompetent boss.
Hawkeye didn't even acknowledge him, simply sat down on his ship, hoisted the sails, and leisurely departed.
Krieg's commotion, however, pulled Link's thoughts back from their wandering.
"So there's another guy here who's so eager to die, shouting like that."
Putting away Denkou Maru, his gaze also fell upon Krieg.