East China Sea, Cocoa West Village.

Because of the special policy of Debang Company, Keke Yaxi Village has been transformed from a poor fishing village ruled by evil dragons into a prosperous town located on the popular route of the East China Sea in just one year.

The old Dragon Park was demolished and a new town of Cocoa Yasi was born in the ruins.

Wharves, roads, shops, hotels, restaurants...

The infrastructure needed for a new town is gradually being built here.

The first sea train station in the East China Sea is also about to be born in this town.

When Sauron, the green algae-headed swordsman, boarded the dock on a passenger boat, he saw a small town in its early glory;

And this town seems to be a construction site that never stops, creating new things all the time.

Zolon, who had just left the sea from a remote village and had been chopping wood in the barren mountains and old forests because of his livelihood, instinctively felt that such a scene was a little novel.

However, as a sincere swordsman, his attention does not linger too much on those mundane things.

Not long after he came out of the dock, Zoro's sword-sharp gaze stopped at a banner of dazzling gold swords on a white background hanging in the distance—

This flag, which shelters the entire East China Sea, represents a man he wants to challenge:

"Galen..."

Sauron pronounced the two words word for word.

Then, Zoro moved his gaze to a sign beneath the banner and read out two more words in a solemn tone:

"Recruitment."

There is also a line of small print at the end:

"The construction team of the Kingdom of Goya under Debang Company, the first phase of the Cocoa West Station project, temporarily recruits handymen, carpenters, masons, and painters、..."

Of course, these are not the main points, the main points are:

"Eat and live."

Sauron's eyes froze, and he hurried in the direction the sign pointed.

I can't help it, I'm forced to make a living...

Although Sauron's original intention was to come to Cocoa West Village to challenge the sword master Galen, he could not go hungry to challenge a strong enemy, so he could only obediently go to work to make a living.

This also blames others:

Originally, because of the extremely high efficiency of logging, Sauron quickly saved enough money for himself to travel on this trip, and also bought a ticket for the passenger ship early.

However, he got on the wrong boat several times in a row after his departure...

All the money he had saved was lost by Sauron himself.

Zoro followed the sign and walked all the way to the workbench of the recruiter on the construction site.

But before Sauron could speak, the construction site recruiter cast a thoughtful gaze on the three katanas he was carrying at his waist:

"Young man, here to apply for a handyman?"

"Huh?"

Zoro frowned slightly: "No, I'm here to apply for a carpentry. ”

"Carpentry?"

There was a hint of doubt in the eyes of the recruiters:

"Carpentry is a skilled job, but it's not something that a swordsman like you who comes to work part-time can do."

"Cutting wood is not the same as cutting people, if you want to come here to apply for a carpentry, you have to have the corresponding skills."

As he spoke, he pointed to the timber and toolboxes stacked not far away:

"There's wood and tools there, you can show your hands."

"No problem."

Sauron answered without hesitation, and walked slowly over to the pile of wood.

He took a deep breath, his right hand quietly touched the hilt, and half of the snowy blade revealed a sassy cold light from the scabbard.

"Wait!"

The recruiter stopped Zoro in a bit of a daze:

"Instead of using a saw, you want to use a katana to do carpentry?"

Sauron didn't answer, just focused all his mind on the wood in front of him.

With a clear sound of blades unsheathed, a heavy log was easily lifted from the ground into the air by Sauron with a slender blade one inch wide.

Before the log hit the ground, a brilliant and sharp sword light flashed around it.

The cold light was shining, and the sawdust was flying with it.

It wasn't until Sauron calmly put away his sword that the log finally got rid of its sword and fell heavily to the ground.

And by this time, what was lying on the ground was not a single unprocessed log, but a pile...

"A 10-centimeter wooden cube, and by the way, I also made a grinding and polishing?"

The recruiter looked at Sauron's gaze as if he had seen an alien.

"That's right."

Zoro nodded, then pointed to the round pile of wooden beads scattered on the ground, and said:

"I used some beads for the rest of the leftovers, you can take them back to make a bracelet or something."

"This!"

The recruiters were shocked and couldn't help but exclaim:

"In this world, there is still this level of swordsmanship?"

"Ugh..."

Zoro recalled his life as a coolie in the lumber yard these days, and casually said one of his rather sad words:

"Without him, only the hand is familiar."

During his career as a lumberjack in the wilderness, Sauron could not find anyone to sharpen his swordsmanship, so he had to use wood to practice his sword.

This helpless and special cultivation method actually allowed Zoro to temper his control of the sword blade and make his sword path to the next level.

Of course... By the way, he also mastered a magical wood art.

Sauron used this carpentry to conquer the recruiters, and was immediately recruited into the construction team as a senior technician.

It's a pity that it's still early for dinner.

Zoro can only put on his work uniform and hard hat and report directly to the construction site.

"Hey!"

Several workers were resting, and as soon as they saw the new face of Sauron, they greeted enthusiastically: "Newcomer? ”

"Yes."

Zoro nodded politely.

"Where?"

A worker asked, curious.

"Frostmoon Village."

Sauron replied succinctly.

But that indifferent face to everything made the workers who came up to be polite consciously give up the idea of asking questions.

Zoro was here to earn two meals temporarily, so naturally he was not in the mood to engage in any interpersonal interactions.

Now, his primary concern is...

When will the meal arrive.

"Goo-"

A roar of the belly like a thunderclap suddenly sounded.

Zoro, who had never had money to eat, subconsciously thought that this was his masterpiece, but this excessively loud volume still made him quickly distinguish the source of this sound:

It turned out to be a worker standing not far away.

He did not wear overalls and a hard hat, but wore a strange outfit with shoulders, straw sandals, and a straw hat.

"Meat, meat..."

He muttered a meat word in his mouth, and his mouth was even longer...

It was so long that his jaw almost fell to the ground.

Zolon, who had just debuted, was dumbfounded, and was stunned for a moment before remembering the maritime knowledge that the master had popularized for him before leaving:

"Devil Fruit Abilities?"

The surrounding workers seemed to be accustomed to this vision, and just smiled and quipped:

"Hahaha!"

"Luffy, it's still early to leave the meal!"

"Your stomach is like this, how can you challenge that Lord Galen?"

"Huh?"

A few hints of surprise flashed in Sauron's eyes, and he couldn't help but take the initiative to ask his co-workers:

"This Straw Hat Kid is going to challenge Galen too?"

"Haha... Oh, yes! ”

The worker didn't notice a single "also" in Sauron's words, but explained with a smile:

"Luffy, this kid, usually likes to say this kind of crazy thing."

"Every day, I say that sooner or later I will defeat Lord Galen, and I will take back the title of 'One Piece' from him or something..."

"Hahahaha..."

As he spoke, the workers laughed again.

"One Piece?"

Zoro looked at Luffy with a little more curiosity and doubt in his eyes:

The guy in front of him, who looks a little stunned and has been moving bricks on the construction site, still has such a lofty goal?

However, Zoro's doubts and the ridicule of his co-workers did not shake Luffy's mind in the slightest.

In the midst of laughter, Luffy quietly clenched his fists, and his gaze hidden under the brim of his straw hat became extremely determined:

"I'll beat him!"

An incomparably confident and cheerful smile appeared on Luffy's face:

"I've gotten a lot stronger these days."

"I'm sure I'll be able to defeat that guy and get back the title he took from here!"

"Luffy, be sober!"

A worker laughed so hard that he couldn't help it, but he took it seriously to persuade him:

"We all know that your strength is good, and one person can do the work of dozens of people, but..."

"Do you know, Lord Galen, what kind of strength he is now?"

"Do you know what kind of big people he's dealing with right now, Lord Galen?"

He put on a gesture of pointing, and asked Luffy with the fresh information he read from the newspaper:

"Luffy, do you know Whitebeard?"

"I don't know."

Luffy replied very sincerely.

"Does the Golden Lion know?"

"I don't know."

"Does the Sengoku Marshal know?"

"I don't know."

"Does Lieutenant General Karp know?"

"My grandfather?"

“......”

The smiles on the faces of the workers suddenly froze.

Then, they all looked at Luffy with concern:

"Luffy, you can't get sicker and sicker!"

"If you say you want to challenge Lord Galen, how can you recognize grandpa!"

"Huh?"

Luffy scratched his head innocently: "But..."

Seeing that the workers were about to talk about Luffy's psychological state again, Zoro stood up:

"Don't talk about it!"

Zoro stroked the hilt of his sword, and there was a fierce momentum on his body:

"I believe him!"

"yes, my grandfather was..."

Luffy nodded and said.

"That's not what I believe."

Zoro glanced at Luffy angrily, and said:

"I believe in your dreams."

"Because, I see the same look in your eyes as I do."

Zoro's eyes became serious, and he introduced himself to Luffy seriously:

"Roronoah Sauron, I'm here to challenge Galen, a Dao sword master."

"My dream is to become the number one swordsman in the world!"

Feeling the same momentum as himself on Zoro, Luffy's eyes also became serious:

"Monchi M. D. Luffy, I'm here to eat the big pot rice on the construction site! ”

“......”

Zoro choked hard at Luffy's honesty.

However, the firmness in Luffy's eyes quickly moved him:

"When I'm full, I'm going to challenge Galen too!"

"My dream is to become the sea, the sea..."

Speaking of this, Luffy's face became very tangled, and he held back for a long time before saying, "One Piece! ”

It sounds awkward, but everyone understands it.

Because distinguishing real pirates from navigators was one of the focuses of Wallace's propaganda efforts in the East China Sea.

Ultimately...

Two men with great dreams stood face to face, and the gears of fate began to slowly ...

"Luffy, wake up!"

A co-worker hurriedly ran over and patted Luffy on the shoulder:

"The foreman called you to move bricks!"