In the spacious park in Orange Town, at the center stood a wooden log bound in the shape of a cross, embedded in the ground.
Roronoa Zoro was tied to that wood, and the pirates surrounding him with guns trained on him.
Standing nearly two meters tall, Zoro had short, pale green hair and a fiercely determined expression.
After he caught sight of Buggy staring at him from a distance, Zoro bowed his head and thought to himself,
'I can't die in a place like this.'
'I still haven't kept my promise...!'
****
It was a night when only the full moon shone in the sky.
Clang!
Under that moon, a boy and a girl, both just over ten years old, were fighting with real steel swords.
The girl wielded a single blade, while the boy held two swords, one in each hand.
After exchanging techniques for a while, the two lunged at each other simultaneously, and…
Clang!
The two blades flew off into the distance, signaling the outcome of the duel.
'I won, Zoro. That makes it one thousand and one victories without a single defeat.'
'...Damn it!'
The young Zoro knelt on the ground in tears, and the girl sat beside him and spoke.
'Are you mad, Zoro?'
'Of course... I insisted on using real swords and you still beat me!'
'...No, I'm the one who's furious.'
'What?'
'People say that girls grow weaker than boys when they get older, so no matter how hard I try, I'll someday fall behind a boy like you.'
'A girl like me... can never become the world's greatest swordsman.'
As she said this, Kuina's eyes welled with tears.
'I envy you being born a boy. I wish I had been born a boy too...'
'Shut up, Kuina! If you're gonna pick at every detail, I only lost because your sword is better than mine!'
Zoro pointed at Kuina's sword beside her and said,
The blade was straight and the hilt was white.
'What does that have to do with me winning!? A sword is only as good as the person who wields it...!'
'Exactly! And it's not about whether you're a boy or a girl either!'
'And if I beat you one day, will you dismiss it just because you're a girl?!'
'Zoro...'
'If that's your attitude, then why am I even practicing now? That makes me look like a fool! So stop talking like that!'
With that, Zoro stood up, extended his hand toward Kuina, and continued,
'Promise me! That one day, either you or I will become the world's greatest swordsman!'
'We're going to compete to see who gets there first!'
'You fool... you're weaker than me...'
Kuina wiped her tears and, taking Zoro's hand, spoke up,
'Alright, I promise, Zoro.'
****
'What the hell is this? The kids we sent to catch that thief are all dead?!'
'Captain Buggy, that's...!'
As Zoro recalled his past, Buggy shouted from among the pirates surrounding him,
'Two of the three we sent had their heads chopped off, and the third was dead, bleeding from all the seven holes in his face!'
'It must've been the work of that bitch who stole the map of the [Grand Line]!'
'If she was that strong, someone should've died when she stole the map!'
'Ah... yeah, but...'
'The original plan was to take a photo of me standing triumphant over Roronoa's corpse, spread it far and wide, and gain fame.'
'So why is everything a mess from the get-go?!'
'Th-there she is!'
'What?!'
'Over there! I just saw that bitch peeking at us from behind that building, head barely showing!'
Buggy looked at the building his underling pointed to.
As the others turned, the bound Zoro also heard and lifted his head,
'We're busted, Nami. Let's just come out.'
'Ah, we might not be spotted yet! They could be mistaken...'
'With bright orange hair like yours, how could they miss you?'
Luffy, Nami, and the village chief emerged in succession from beside the building.
'Th-there she is, Captain Buggy! She's the one who stole our map!'
'The thief actually comes by herself... Has she come to challenge me, Buggy the Clown?!'
As Buggy spoke, the village chief, seeing Zoro, hefted his spear and shouted,
'Are you alright, Roronoa?!'
'Chief... why did you come here?!'
'Obviously, I came to rescue you!'
'Ah... Chief, could you please not stand here?'
'There are too many of them, Straw Hat! I'll hold off as many as I can...!'
Whack!
Before the chief finished speaking, Luffy struck him on the back of the neck. Zoro cried out,
'Ch-Chief!'
'What are you doing to the chief, Luffy?!'
'Nami, you told him to go somewhere safe before coming here, but he wouldn't listen.'
'I knocked him out so he wouldn't run in by himself and get killed.'
'Ah...'
'Besides, those bastards came out of their building to try to kill Zoro, so you do as you please.'
'You know what I mean, right?'
'Alright, Luffy... but like I said, I'm stealing all their treasure, and if I have time afterwards, I'll help you.'
'So don't expect me to help, okay?!'
Saying that, Nami dashed off toward the building where she'd been hiding.
At the same time, Luffy lifted the unconscious chief's body and propped him against the side of a building, and Zoro thought,
'I've never seen anyone like that in this village, so why did he save the chief?'
'Could he be the chief's acquaintance... but then, why isn't he running away right now?!'
Thinking this, Luffy sprang to his feet, planted his foot, and leaned forward,
'W-what the...?! Where did that guy with the straw hat go?!'
'Over there, Captain Buggy! He's in front of Roronoa!'
The vanished Luffy suddenly appeared in front of the bound Zoro.
'Roronoa Zoro?'
'Who are you, and how did you get here in an instant...!'
While Luffy spoke, Buggy suddenly shouted,
'Who the hell are you?! How dare you interrupt my grand execution show...!'
'My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm gonna become the [Pirate King].'
'By the way, I'm a pirate but I don't do any pillaging.'
'Can't you hear me, you bastard?!'
'I'll get straight to the point.'
Ignoring Buggy's words, Luffy said to Zoro,
'Join my crew, Zoro.'
'...What?'
'Aim! Just kill them both at once!'
As nearly thirty of Buggy's men raised their guns and took aim at the two, Zoro spoke,
'Straw Hat, I don't know what you're thinking, but if you stay here, we'll both be goners!'
'So at least you take the chief and run!'
'No, think about it—it's not that dangerous, that's why I came all the way here...'
'When you run away, tell the chief that I owe him a good meal.'
'...Yeah, when your life is on the line, your head doesn't work so well.'
'Riddle them both with bullets!'
Bang!!!
As Luffy spoke, Buggy's men fired at them.
'[Dragon Claw Style].'
At the same time, the golden aura from Luffy's outstretched palms enveloped them both, forming a golden barrier.
Immediately, the bullets fired at them bounced off this golden barrier, ricocheting to either side.
'W-what the hell is that?!'
'Thank the chief properly in person if you make it out alive, Zoro.'
'Straw Hat, just what the heck are you?!'
'I told you, I'm gonna become the [Pirate King].'
'That move you just showed uses a [Devil Fruit] power, right? Do you know anything about [Devil Fruits]?
'...I know a little.'
'Then what the hell is that golden barrier?! Is he, like, a Devil Fruit user too...!'
'Don't freak out just because bullets don't go through! Cut it with swords or smash it with blunt weapons!'
'Understood, Captain!!!'
As Buggy's men raised their weapons again, Zoro asked Luffy,
'If I refuse to join you, will you not save me?'
'I might not make you my crewmate, but I'll still save you—I like you.'
'...Is that so.'
'I like you too... but I have a condition.'
'What's your condition?'
'I have a dream too, just like you: to become the world's greatest swordsman.'
'But if I ever have to give up my dream because of you, Captain, then kill yourself to apologize to me!'
'My crewmate being the world's greatest swordsman... that's worth risking my life for.'
'Luffy! I found the swords!'
While the Buggy Pirates readied their weapons, Nami shouted from the rooftop of the adjacent building.
Nami was carrying a large bundle on her back and three swords at her side, and Buggy shouted,
'That damn thief... after Roronoa and the Straw Hat, you're next!'
'L-Luffy! Take them out quickly!'
'Got it! Zoro, throw me a sword!'
'Which one of the three?!'
'Throw all three!'
'Right!'
As the pirates charged, Nami hurled three swords down to where Luffy and Zoro stood.
Simultaneously, Luffy pivoted behind Zoro and drew a curved arc with the edge of his hand in midair.
'With the knife edge, cut these ropes…'
'It's a useful skill to learn. By the way, everything I just did in front of you earlier—once you learn it, you can use it too.'
'You make something that looks hard sound so easy!'
The ropes binding Zoro snapped as soon as Luffy's knife edge touched them, and Zoro reached out toward the falling swords.
He first drew the swords from the two scabbards and gripped them, then pulled the handle of the white scabbard from his teeth to draw the third sword.
Then, crossing his arms, he charged at the pirates.
'[Demon Decapitation]!'
Slash!
Zoro, wielding three swords, sliced down the three men charging at the front.
At the same time, those behind them were knocked over by the air pressure and collided with their fellows, and Luffy thought,
'There's something I've really wanted to say to my first crewmate.'
'It's what Roger once told Rayleigh, the [Master of the Near Sea] who later became first mate of the Roger Pirates.'
'I wondered when I should say it…but seeing you in person like this, I can't hold it in anymore.'
Watching Zoro readjust his stance, Luffy's eyes widened and he grinned with his teeth showing, thinking,
'Because you're so cool!'
With that thought, Luffy's body rose into the air, floating above the pirates' heads.
'Th-that guy is flying!'
The pirates, along with Nami and Zoro, watched in astonishment as Luffy gripped his fists and cried,
'Zoro! This meeting is…!'
Shouting this, Luffy thrust his interlocked fists downward and lunged at the pirates,
'Destiny!!!'
Kraang!
As he struck the ground, a deafening boom echoed.
The pirates were sent flying in all directions, and Luffy turned to Zoro and said,
'I really like you, so let's go together!'
'...Pfft, hahahahahaha!'
'Hahahahaha!'
As some of the fallen pirates staggered to their feet, Zoro laughed with Luffy and said,
'The [Pirate King] and the world's greatest swordsman! That's the best combination!'
'Yeah! Let's give it a shot!'
'Oh, and by the way, I don't have the best personality.'
'...Suddenly?'
'But you won't come to any harm because of it.'
'Anyone who's harmed by my personality... is usually someone else entirely.'
After speaking to Zoro, Luffy glared at the terrified pirates and said,
'That's why you don't die a pretty death... Was my explanation lacking?'
'It seems... rather lacking?'
'Then go ask your buddies who went before you.'
'Where am I supposed to go...?'
Thwack!
Luffy struck the pirate's stomach.
The pirate flew past Buggy and crashed into the wall behind, his crushed torso gushing blood,
'Hell.'
Luffy glared at the pirates with a fierce look as he answered.