Chapter 75: One More Time, And I'll Have No Choice But To Kill You All
"Twelve Zodiacs, Hai Zhu."
"..."
Even though he was already aware of the situation.
But after hearing Hai Zhu introduce himself, Koushirou's heart still couldn't help but tremble.
This was also normal – after all, in the current seas, anyone who knew that the fourth highest executive of the Twelve Zodiacs had appeared at their doorstep would find it hard to remain calm.
"So it's Mr. Hai Zhu."
But he quickly calmed down: "I'll go inform those esteemed guests – Zoro, take Mr. Hai Zhu to the dojo."
With that, he turned and walked down a small path.
"..."
Seeing this, Zoro's heart became even more puzzled – esteemed guests?
Does that mean there are others besides this guy?
"Are they those people?"
Zoro frowned.
He had been practicing swordsmanship under Koushirou for over ten years, so he naturally knew that his master indeed had some very mysterious friends – they would occasionally appear in Shimotsuki Village and stay at the dojo for a period of time.
During that time, most of those people wouldn't stay in the dojo, but would reside in some hidden place, and his master would send them food.
Koushirou never mentioned their identities to the dojo students.
"Is this guy also one of them?"
Zoro pondered, but then he felt that his master's attitude seemed a bit different.
"'Hai Zhu'... Is it a codename?"
And he always felt that he had heard similar codenames somewhere, but lately he had been busy practicing swordsmanship in preparation for sailing, so he couldn't recall it at the moment.
"Anyway, follow me."
Zoro rubbed the bump on his head and led the way.
Hai Zhu followed obediently, putting on his top hat, then followed closely.
"Hey, kid."
He even initiated a conversation with Zoro, as if what had just happened hadn't existed.
"I just heard, you're the 'Great Sword Zoro' of the Three Sword Style, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
Zoro was taken aback, then his eyes turned white, and he roared: "It's Great Swordsman! The world's greatest swordsman Zoro – you did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"Hahahaha, that kind of thing isn't important."
Hai Zhu laughed: "Anyway, I want to ask you about someone."
"It's very important, isn't it? That's my ambition..."
Zoro still wanted to argue, but the next moment Hai Zhu's words made him stop: "The person I want to inquire about is called Shimotsuki Kouzaburo, Mr. Koushirou's father."
"...That old man?"
A figure instantly surfaced in Zoro's mind – an old man who liked to smoke.
Most people in the village didn't know much about him, but Zoro was an exception. When he was young, that old man gave him the first two swords of his life.
He remembered very clearly that old man was indeed his master's father, and moreover...
"He is a famous blacksmith."
Hai Zhu said with a smile, then pointed to himself: "Although I'm not good at forging knives, I mainly refine some metals, but at least I'm also a blacksmith – so, I want to ask you, kid, about some things concerning him."
"As an exchange, I can tell you the locations of some famous swords and some information. After all, besides that 'Wado Ichimonji' on your waist, your other swords aren't considered famous, are they?"
His words were like the whisper of a devil: "Don't worry, I won't ask any questions that would harm Mr. Koushirou, just some unimportant matters. If you don't want to answer, you can simply refuse."
Zoro: "..."
But... Damn it, is this guy a devil?
Not long after, Zoro led Hai Zhu to a room within the Isshin Dojo.
"You sit here, I'll go make you some tea."
At this moment, Zoro's eyes already held some anticipation.
He had no interest in most things, but 'famous swords' were an exception – after all, which swordsman wouldn't want a famous sword that suited them?
And Hai Zhu did indeed tell him the locations of some famous swords, and even two of the decent ones were in the East Blue.
This made Zoro's desire to set sail even stronger.
However, according to Hai Zhu, there was another better sword, whose location was in the Grand Line – Zoro had heard of that place; it was a sea area filled with strong people.
That made him even more excited.
"After setting sail, I'll go to the Grand Line!"
He thought to himself, then turned and pulled the door shut, leaving.
But it was just after he left...
"Since the esteemed guests are already here, can we start discussing business?"
Hai Zhu casually placed his top hat on the tatami mat in front of him, but spoke calmly.
As his words fell.
*Click!* *3
Accompanied by crisp sounds, three figures hidden within the room suddenly appeared.
"Whoa!"
The first figure fell from the ceiling – it was a Mink wearing a steampunk outfit, carrying a giant mechanical backpack on his back.
He threw a small ball at Hai Zhu.
*Snap!*
A second figure appeared from behind the wall – it was a tall, fiery woman, holding a flag, wearing extravagant clothes, smoking a ladies' cigarette, and wearing wine-red sunglasses.
She used the flag as a weapon, suddenly restraining Hai Zhu's hands from behind.
*Boom!*
The third figure appeared directly from the floorboards beneath Hai Zhu's feet – it was a young man wearing a windproof goggles top hat and gloves.
He had transformed his hand into a Dragon's Claw-like form and firmly grabbed Hai Zhu's leg.
"Revolutionary Army 'East Army' Commander Belo Betty, and 'South Army' Commander Lindbergh, and Revolutionary Army 'Chief of Staff' Sabo."
And at this moment, Hai Zhu's voice remained very calm.
"It's a pleasure to meet you three, but... I'm here to discuss a transaction. What do you mean by this?"
As his words fell.
The small ball Lindbergh threw had already stuck to his head.
And Lindbergh himself flew in front of him, relying on that jet-powered backpack: "Stop talking nonsense!"
He said loudly: "We'll talk about transactions later. You must first tell us – how did you know about the existence of this place?!"
"I warn you, this 'RA-4396' miniature bomb is my latest creation. Although its explosion range is severely restricted by my technology, its explosive power is enough to directly turn even parts of a Giant's body into ashes. If you dare to move, whoa whoa, what are you doing?!"
His words were not finished when his expression changed.
Because at this moment, Hai Zhu had already started to move.
"Huh?!" *2
And at this moment, Belo Betty and Sabo's expressions also changed drastically.
Because they found – no matter how much force they used, the other party's body seemed to be completely unharmed.
Sabo's proud 'Dragon's Claw' joint technique was unable to restrain the opponent's joints, and Belo Betty's flag also emitted 'cracking' sounds.
"Damn it!"
So, Sabo immediately made a judgment.
The three of them almost simultaneously retreated.
Then...
*Boom!*
As Lindbergh said – an explosion occurred.
That extremely small but intensely powerful explosion instantly caused the area where Hai Zhu had been to burst into roaring flames, and the tatami floor instantly disintegrated into dust.
"It's over..."
And looking at this scene, Lindbergh was almost stunned: "I just wanted to clarify the source of this guy's information..."
"Hey, Lind, why did you use a real bomb?"
And Belo Betty's expression was also grim at this moment.
"I was thinking, what if he didn't perceive any danger, wouldn't our plan have been in vain? I had a remote control ready, and I could have stopped the bomb at any time..."
"And speaking of which... Is this guy a lunatic? Who would activate a bomb directly without saying a word? Wouldn't a normal person at least say something?"
Lindbergh was clearly a bit troubled.
"Stop talking, the plan was arranged by me, it's all my fault."
But at this moment, Sabo said in a deep voice.
"Anyway, first inform Mr. Dragon of the situation."
And the three of them clearly knew that things had gone seriously wrong.
Originally, they were following Dragon's intention to negotiate a transaction with the 'Twelve Zodiacs'.
But it had to be said, the 'Twelve Zodiacs'' understanding of their Revolutionary Army made them somewhat alarmed.
Isshin Dojo in Shimotsuki Village – this was almost one of their Revolutionary Army's most hidden bases.
In fact, the owner of the dojo, Shimotsuki Koushirou, had never joined the Revolutionary Army out of consideration for the village. He merely chose to assist them in secret because he admired and recognized their will and spirit of resistance.
That such a base was known to others, the shock to the Revolutionary Army was imaginable.
Especially for Shimotsuki Koushirou himself, almost all the executives of the Revolutionary Army regarded him as their closest comrade-in-arms.
Therefore, after the three of them deliberated, they came up with this plan – they originally only intended to make the other party reveal the source of the information, and incidentally test the other party's strength. At worst, they could rely on their momentum to gain the upper hand in negotiations.
Of course, they had never thought of actually harming Hai Zhu – because before coming here, Dragon had already made a ruling on this.
"They have no ill intentions. Contacting us beforehand through 'Rat' was also to avoid conflict. Otherwise, they could have come directly to Shimotsuki Village and used the village to force us to appear."
But very obviously, the situation was not as they had imagined.
This member of the Twelve Zodiacs was actually killed by them in an explosion.
Then, the Revolutionary Army's predicament was imaginable – they would inevitably face retaliation from the Twelve Zodiacs.
Rat, Dragon, Rooster – thinking of these three codenames, Sabo couldn't help but feel a little alarmed.
But it was at this moment...
"The leader once told me a saying – things don't go beyond three."
The sudden sound made the three people's movements stop.
"That kid outside the village was the first time, your three executives are the second time."
Accompanied by footsteps, they saw Hai Zhu walk out from the billowing smoke of the explosion.
He brushed the dust off his top hat.
"Although we're discussing business, there can't be a third time."
He looked at the three of them, his voice calm: "Otherwise... I'll have no choice but to kill you all."
"..." *3
The three executives of the Revolutionary Army had grim expressions.
They looked at Hai Zhu's body – there wasn't a single scratch on him.
"That level of explosion actually..."
Lindbergh could hardly believe his eyes.
"By the way, regarding the question you're perplexed about – how we knew about the information on Shimotsuki Village..."
And at this moment, after Hai Zhu had brushed the dust off his top hat, he put it on again.
He smiled.
"Let this information be a small gift for the upcoming negotiations."
"Seven years ago, Mr. Dragon once visited his hometown, Goa Kingdom in the East Blue, and then saved Mr. Sabo here. After that, your party went to this Shimotsuki Village for replenishment, and only then returned to the Revolutionary Army headquarters 'Baltigo'."
Speaking of this, he also looked at the three people in front of him, whose expressions grew increasingly astonished.
"Mr. Sabo, did I say that correctly?"
(end of chapter)