With his spiral-patterned eyes fixed on Taro, Hawkeye spoke in a solemn tone.
"I want to know exactly what happened. Is Moria alive or dead?!"
The moment Taro heard the name "Moria," his expression became quite lively, and his gaze turned suggestive.
Holy crap, I don't believe for a second that you care about Moria's life or death. You're asking for that Ghost Princess, aren't you?
Tsk tsk! You two are moving pretty fast!
Taro's gossip instincts flared up. Between Hawkeye and the Ghost Princess Perona... cough, cough!
"What's with that look?" Hawkeye's eyebrows shot up, and his gaze turned cold. "Do you know or not?"
Taro coughed twice, his expression becoming more serious. "He's alive, but as for where he is now, I have no idea!"
"What about that report?" Hawkeye pressed again.
Taro gave a mocking snort, his face full of disdain.
"The World Government felt Moria's strength was insufficient to remain one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, so they ordered Doflamingo to eliminate him."
"However, Moria was lucky; he was eventually rescued by one of his subordinates!"
Upon hearing this, Hawkeye's gaze grew even colder, and he remained silent.
When the rabbit dies, the fox grieves!
The World Government's actions filled Hawkeye, a fellow member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, with contempt.
Taro leaned in closer, a strange expression on his face, and winked suggestively with a smile. "Don't go spreading this around!"
Hawkeye immediately lifted his Black Blade, his Aura suddenly erupting.
"It seems you know exactly why I'm asking this?"
Taro suppressed a laugh and shook his head. "No, I don't..."
Before he could finish, Hawkeye had already swept his blade across, slashing directly toward Taro's chest.
Clang!
Taro reacted quickly, drawing half of thunderstorm to block Hawkeye's attack.
"I'll stop talking, alright? Why are you getting so worked up?"
Hawkeye's sweep was merely a statement of his stance and didn't carry much power.
Taro naturally noticed this, so his tone remained relaxed and teasing.
After blocking the strike, he untied the bundle from his back, tossed it to his feet, and sat down cross-legged.
"Since we've run into each other, I might as well visit your place. No problem, right?"
Hawkeye didn't say a word. He turned back to his seat, opened a side panel, pulled out two bottles of red wine, and tossed one to Taro.
"You row!"
Taro caught the wine and burst out laughing. This guy really holds a grudge!
"Fine, I'll row!"
With that, he pressed the hilt of thunderstorm and pushed backward, plunging half the scabbard into the sea.
Surging Internal Energy gushed out, traveling down his arm to the scabbard and stirring up the waves.
"Taro, your ability to learn is truly astonishing!"
Watching Taro's move, Hawkeye tilted his head back, took a swig of wine, and sighed.
Taro also took a drink, swirled the bottle, and said modestly:
"Thanks for the compliment. This is just a small trick, merely showing off before a master!"
As soon as he spoke, Hawkeye's breathing grew a bit heavier.
Taro's lip twitched. Holy crap, I really wasn't mocking the fact that you row your boat with a sword!
Why the hell are you being so tsundere?
Hawkeye placed the wine bottle on the deck and looked at Taro with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.
"It is indeed showing off before a master. This talent for learning is exactly the same as the 'Humandrills' on my island!"
Humandrills?
Taro froze for a moment, then became furious.
"Are you calling me a Baboon?"
...Grand Line, Kuraigana Island.
The former kingdom had been destroyed in the endless fires of war. The Death Qi permeating the island had yet to dissipate, even affecting the nearby sky, making it look gray even in broad daylight.
"Mihawk, the aesthetic of the place you live in is really... hard to describe!"
Taro felt a sense of oppression as soon as he stepped onto the island and couldn't help but complain.
Hawkeye's gaze was full of disdain, but his expression remained calm.
"Only mediocre, third-rate swordsmen would care about such things!"
Taro's lip twitched. Fine, fine, I'm a third-rate swordsman!
You probably became like this because you've lived in a place like this for so long!
Just then,
"Horo horo horo..."
A strange laugh echoed, and then two somewhat adorable ghosts floated out from the woods.
When Taro landed on the island, he had already sensed that the Ghost Princess Perona was nearby, so he wasn't surprised by the ghosts' appearance.
"Horo horo horo!"
The two ghosts let out another strange cry and charged straight at Taro.
[Spiritual attack detected, resisted!]
His Protective Internal Skill fluctuated slightly, blocking the two Negative Hollows.
Taro had no desire to kneel on the ground and say nonsense like "I'm sorry for being born" or "I'm just a worm!"
The ghosts' hands pressed against Taro's abdomen, but they couldn't pass through his body as they usually did with other objects.
Seeing this anomaly, the two ghosts actually showed very human-like expressions of shock.
Their bodies floated horizontally, tongues sticking out, as if they were increasing their efforts to try and pass through Taro's body.
Taro waved his hand and swatted the two silly, comical ghosts away, laughing.
"Go away, stop messing around!"
Hawkeye watched Taro's effortless actions, his gaze sharpening.
"Taro, you hide many secrets."
Taro chuckled. "Of course, everyone has a few tricks up their sleeve!"
"ink dragon Taro?"
With a cry of surprise, Perona floated out from the woods. "What are you doing here?"
Her pink hair was tied in twin tails, she wore a crown on her head, a gothic dress, and carried a wine-red umbrella.
She looked like an adorable loli!
Even though she was actually older than Taro!
But she was just so cute!
"Just call me Taro, Perona!"
Taro greeted Perona with great familiarity.
"You actually know me?"
Perona cried out in surprise again, then she looked at Hawkeye. "Why did you bring a Marine here?"
"This is my home! Do I need your permission to bring someone here?"
Having a bit of a tsundere streak himself, Hawkeye naturally wouldn't back down verbally.
Seeing the two bickering, the smile on Taro's face widened.
"The Warlord of the Sea and the Marine are allies, so isn't it normal for me to be here?"
Perona glared at Taro, then turned to Hawkeye huffily.
"Where have you been the last two days? That Moss-head does nothing but carry huge rocks all day; he's incredibly boring!"
Hawkeye remained expressionless, his tone flat. "Mm."
"What's with that? So cold!" Perona got even angrier, shouting as she floated in mid-air.
"Go tell him there's another 'Baboon' he hasn't defeated yet!" Hawkeye glanced at Taro and said.
Taro's smile froze on his face, and he immediately became enraged.
"Dracule Mihawk, I challenge you to a duel!"
Hawkeye turned around, his expression becoming solemn.
"State your name, and I shall accept your challenge!"
Dammit! This is the last straw!
"Daddy Taro!"
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