"What… what was that thing?!"
"A… a monster!"
"Captain Morgan is dead!"
"The… the ship was cut in half!"
The ground trembled as the split warship slowly sank. Yet the Marines had no time to care, they stared skyward in shock.
The ship-cleaving slash still hadn't faded from their minds.
That unbelievable slash felt like a waking dream.
But if you looked straight into the sky, you'd see howling gales circling the swordsman as he gazed down on them like a god over ants.
Johnny and Yosaku were mixed in the crowd, their eyes bulging in disbelief.
Among the stunned faces, Zoro was equally shaken. As a swordsman, he knew exactly what that attack had been.
He couldn't mistake it—only a Sword Master could unleash a flying slash.
Even in his current state, he couldn't pull it off.
His full-force One Sword Style: Sanjuroku Pound Ho now looked like a clumsy imitation of true flying slash.
He had to cross blades with that man!
Zoro's eyes burned as he tracked the falling figure, his desire to fight almost uncontainable.
Those Marines were in a completely different state.
Boom!
With a roar, the wreck split and rolled, the outer hull turning upward to form a broad platform.
The impact of the sinking scattered the warship's fittings in every direction. Fragments of turrets and cannons bobbed across the sea.
The Marines surfaced, only to see the figure land a short distance away.
Hiroto gripped a cracked longsword and regarded the terrified sailors. "Surrender or die."
"F-for… j-jus—"
One Marine stammered endlessly, unable to finish the word justice.
Should he still speak that line—for justice?
Before a pirate they couldn't possibly defeat?
Before a monster who had sliced a warship in two?
Clank!
A Marine dropped his rifle.
He hung his head, unable to meet his comrades' eyes.
"For justice!"
Suddenly another Marine glanced at the weapon on the deck, then at trembling fellows.
He strode forward and roared, "We're Marines—born to slay pirates!"
Whoosh!
A flash of steel severed his blade and pressed to his throat.
The cold edge froze any further words.
'Fear is life's instinct, courage is humanity's hymn—that's why I can respect you Marines.'
Hiroto gave the brave sailor an appreciative look. He loathed the Marines that erased nations in three years, but not a seaman who defended justice.
With a kick, he sent the man flying ten-odd meters into the sea.
With a flash, a slash split a drifting turret remnant.
"Jump."
At that single word, the Marines lost all will to fight, cast aside their weapons, and leapt into the water.
Against such a monster, resistance was pointless—only corpses would remain.
Nearby, on a single-masted ship, Nami clutched the rail so hard her knuckles whitened.
Watching the scene through her spy-glass, she couldn't find words.
She had seen a ship cut once before, but the hull of an old derelict was nothing like a warship.
And this time, Hiroto had truly sliced the colossal vessel clean in half.
Could Arlong manage that?
Punch a Warship to the bottom…
Impossible. At best he could scuttle it from below.
But never could he match the slash Hiroto had just shown!
Carina murmured beside her, "I don't know what trouble you're in, but maybe you should tell our captain. You can see he's no villain. He's capable and knows plenty. If he helps, your problem might vanish. Of course, that's only advice from a former partner."
Nami stayed silent, gaze fixed on the back standing amid the wreckage.
Hiroto stood on the broken hull, feeling the violent force within.
If strength were a swimming pool, his normal state was a calm one.
The outlet was physique, the moving water itself was power, and how you directed the flow—speed or slowness—was agility.
Perception was something more arcane.
Right now, the outlet was overworking, flooding the pool and spilling into every other aspect.
The water inside surged, rebounding to gather even greater force. Repeating this, the pool became a maelstrom.
But not without cost.
Hiroto's body was no mere pool. Under such overload his frame would tear, collapse—perhaps disintegrate.
'Even so, it's a tremendous boost.' Hiroto concluded.
Splash—
A soaked man climbed onto the wreck: three swords, green hair—Zoro.
Behind him, two fellows who looked ready to cry yet kept their faces tight.
"Hey, you've got time, right?" Zoro asked, eyes blazing.
"…"
The instant Hiroto saw Zoro, he knew what came next.
Should he back off?
Instinctively, he tightened his grip and asked himself.
The ship-splitting slash had looked overwhelming, but it wasn't a true flying slash.
[Budget Shinso] plus [Hypnosis] plus [Steel-Severing Slash] had forged that single cut.
This Zoro might lack the strength of two years hence, yet he was no lightweight. In swordsmanship, he was probably eighty percent stronger than Hiroto.
So, should he retreat?
Hiroto thought of Morgan: before 'killing' Kuro, his build had matched any common Marine.
After he 'slew' Kuro, unified belief and will had swelled his frame and power.
Crocodile of Alabasta had been beaten by Luffy at first, yet after escaping Impel Down, he clashed with Akainu at Marineford and later carried a bounty of 1,965,000,000 berries.
In the One Piece World, a person's conviction and will truly shape their strength and future.
So, should he back down?
Of course not!
Better said, this was an opportunity.
Hiroto leveled his cracked blade. "Absolutely."