A seagull skimmed over the Golden Melly, which was docked in the harbor.

In the cabin, Sanji, who was wearing the overalls prepared by Frankie, wiped the sweat from the tip of his nose and was busy with the repair and maintenance of the hull with tools - the real shipwright Frankie had already dived under the surface of the sea, busy with the more important work of cleaning and maintaining the bottom of the ship.

Sanji pulled the saw very precisely, and the special serrations fit perfectly under his control as if they had been sucked into the plank. Then he took off the planks that Frankie had marked, replaced them with new ones, and smashed the nails into them one by one with a hammer - ignoring the fact that what he was doing was, by its very nature, the same way he sometimes handled the cooking, the hard bones, the delicate plating......

"Sure enough, the chef is right, a good chef can apply the concept of cooking to various things, and still do it well! But...... Feed! How drowsy are you, green algae! Come and help! Use your brute force to bring me some pieces of steel! ”

In the patio of the cabin, the swordsman of the Sansword, who was sleeping on a nap with one leg down, heard Sanji's words clearly, but did not look at him, but continued to have a big mouth, put his hands in the green belly roll, and snore.

Zoro knew very well that he didn't really need his help with curling his eyebrows, but he was just habitually mentioning him twice, and he couldn't see him so laid-back and happy - if he really passed stupidly, the other party would definitely laugh and say something like "I'm sorry, I don't need you anymore".

"Cut ......"

Pouting, Sanji knocked the sound of the nail out of rhythm. Zoro simply listened to this sound like a lullaby, and slept more and more comfortably.

Therefore, he had no notice that a gaze was staring at him from the far forest, on the other side of the town on the island.

Suddenly—

Sou! Clang!

After a loud noise, something grazed Sauron's face and was nailed to the ship's mainmast.

“……”

Sauron's eyes sharpened horizontally—it was a short knife, and its strength was so great that it was still shaking indefinitely after being half-stuck in the mast.

Sauron closed his eyes and dodged the dagger that was thrown at his face.

This short knife, there was no doubt just now, it was aimed at Sauron's face, with an extremely strong killing intent. Even when the distance is far away, it can still hide Sauron's perception, but the distance like the one just now is the result of Sauron's conscious control of dodging.

“？！”

Sauron's face grimaced—but then his eyes widened, and his shock was beyond words.

The wooden handle of the bargain-like short knife of some years ago was clearly engraved with the owner's name "ZORO".

It was Sauron's own name, and the clumsy, childish handwriting he had carved himself when he was a child.

Sauron straightened up, looking for the man who threw the dagger.

The hilt of the dagger that was thrown was in the direction of the town, and here was the deck of the ship, and if you wanted to aim at him, you had to stand on the roof of the town's buildings.

Or is it –

"I know that I sleep in the middle of the day, okay, I really need your help now, take your knife and help me chop some steel parts, the error needs to be ...... Well? ”

Sanji, who was sticking his head out of the entrance, squinted at the deck, his forehead fluttering.

The head of green algae, which was supposed to sleep there until just now, is gone.

"This guy shouldn't be ......?"

……

Sauron walked the path outside the town that led to the forest.

The island of Aska is full of mountains, and only near the coast of the sea are plains, where the town is located. A little further in, from the foot of the mountain is an endless forest similar to that of Crown Island.

He walked down the slope in the forest—was there another village ahead? The road should have been walked by many people, and although there were no footprints left, it was very smooth.

The port town gradually faded out of sight behind the trees, and Sauron stood still.

From the top of the ramp came figures - one, two, three, standing side by side, blocking Sauron's direction.

"You're Roronoa Zoro!"

First, a lanky swordsman asked.

I saw that he was wearing metal armor all over, and his long cockscomb-like hair was tied behind him. In the eyes under the helmet, all eyes looked at Zoro with cold eyes.

"Ahahahaha...... We've been waiting for you for a long time! ”

This time, it's a giant man with feminine eyes.

He should be about the same height as the swordsman he was earlier, but his shoulders were twice as wide as an average adult male. His hair was tied in a bun behind his ears, and his arms, which were as thick as the man's waist before, were tattooed with hideous tattoos. The upper body was just shirtless and wore a vest, from the head to the abdomen, there was a scar that seemed to have cut off his body, and the marks after stitching still did not fade.

Even the battle-hardened Zoro couldn't imagine why he had been so badly injured and how he had survived—the spiked maces on his hands were nothing compared to his own.

"Thank you, pirate hunter, no, former pirate hunter."

The third man was a boy like Sauron, who wielded a knife.

The freckled face still looks childish. He looked like he was fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a hat with a broken brim that seemed to have been worn for a long time, and his naturally curly hair was casually threaded, and his appearance was the most normal of the three.

The only thing that is the same is the navy seagull logo on the back of the clothes.

Who threw the dagger at it?

No, not these three. Zoro suddenly figured it out - the guy who could throw the dagger out of the forest to the Golden Merry parked in the harbor far away, Zoro finally knew who he was.

"Please go this way, Mr. Zoro."

The freckled young swordsman smiled kindly and led the way for Sauron.

Sauron, on the other hand, was still expressionless, clutching the dagger tightly.

……

Artillery roared, and smoke flew.

The water on both sides of the Golden Merry, which had spread its sails and made various evasive gestures, was hit by shells one after another, and the temperature of the sea seemed to have risen because of the fierce battle.

"Don't want to run! The hateful Luffy Pirates! ”

The USS Ultimate Smash, to which the Navy G-7 Fortress belongs, fires non-stop.

On the deck of the battleship, the bearded captain of the ship, Rear Admiral Litru, kept shouting the names of these pirates who were closely related to him, while stubbornly chasing the Golden Merry.

"Shoot, shoot! Sink them for me! ”

Rear Admiral Litru, while giving instructions to the adjutant, encouraged the sailors on the deck, ordering them to attack wildly.

Together with the "Ultimate Smash", there are a total of three warships, and the other two, the "Great Applause" and the "Doom", have formed an encirclement from the opposite side. If it were an ordinary pirate, he would have been caught long ago.

"Wow......"

Chopper screamed.

Chopper was drenched in splashes of water from top to bottom under constant naval bombardment, and the deck of the "Golden Melly" was shaking from side to side.

"Why isn't Sauron here? Sanji, aren't you watching the ship together? ”

Luffy shouted as he sat on the bow statue of his captain's special seat and pushed his hand on Polusalino's sunglasses.

"Haven't I said it countless times! While I was helping Frankie fix the cabin, the guy didn't know where to go! Most of them are lost! That idiot! ”

A cannonball that exploded at the nearest position shook the Merry violently, and Chopper was thrown off the bow deck, over the railing and landed on the lower deck.

Here's what happened - Luffy, Chopper, and Nami, who were going to the port town to buy something, were about to return to the ship with their luggage when a Navy warship suddenly appeared on the surface of the sea and launched an attack on the "Golden Merry". In this emergency situation, Luffy realizes that when Zoro is away, their ship has already untied the cable and left the port.

"Really, pestering!"

Nami gritted her teeth in anger on the back deck and glared fiercely at the three warships pursuing behind her.

"Could Zoro get lost while going out for a walk?"

Frankie, who was at the helm in the cockpit, said his powerful arms that had been modified to precisely control the direction of the ship.

"It's not so much a walk as a sleepwalk! The abominable green algae head will only cause trouble! ”

When the war was so fierce, Sanji still did not forget to swallow the clouds and spit out the fog, and at the same time damage his opponent.

"Miss Nami!"

Then he suddenly changed to a tired and attentive voice, and looked at Nami standing in front of the cabin - "What do we do next?" Give the order! ”

"Okay! Let's go find Zoro! ”

Luffy, who really thought of himself as a captain who could give orders, jumped from the bow of the ship, landed on the main deck, and shouted at his companions.

Nami shook her head, "Attention, everyone! Let's move on to the island over there! ”

Hearing the instructions of the real captain, even Chopper, who was tumbling on the deck, stood up, and the whole crew looked in the direction indicated by Nami.

It was a sea area with countless small islands around Aska Island, and although Nami knew that there was a risk of running aground in such a complicated area, she decided to turn there and rely on the Merry's maneuverability to throw the navy away.

"Nami! Don't call the shots! I'm the captain who decides the direction of the ship! ”

"Find out who I am! Luffy! Miss Nami is what she says! ”

"I'm going to find Zoro! Back to the port! ”

"Stupid! Can't you see the current situation? Transfer first, and then find a way to contact Zoro! ”

While the group was discussing their next move, many shells grazed the hull of the ship and fell into the water.

An even more violent explosion seemed to destroy and overturn the hull, and Chopper shouted, staggering back and forth on the deck.

"Wow! It's coming, too! ”

……

Located in the depths of Aska Island, there is a naval dojo.

And since it is a dojo, that is, it is a place where the navy trains soldiers in swordsmanship in white-knuckle combat. But at first glance, it looks like a temple-like building. However, the walls that are three times as tall as ordinary people, the word "MARINE" written on the large iron gates, and the sailors on duty in front of the gate and on the gatehouse all indicate that this is no different from an ordinary naval base.

"I've brought Mr. Sauron here, master."

As soon as he entered a large room in the center of the field, the freckled young swordsman shouted loudly.

On the way to the dojo, the only thing Zoro figured out was the names of these three guys. The taller man in armor was Besmer, nicknamed the "Iron Knight", the big man with woman-like eyes was named Bucongi, and the young swordsman seemed to be named Thoma. All three of them were the personal disciples of the master of this naval dojo, that is, the best disciples.

Inside the large room, dozens of sailors were juxtaposed on the left and right, forming a walkway that resembled a human wall.

Surrounded by them, Zoro squinted his eyes and looked ahead.

In front of the plaque, which reads the word "Justice" in a crisp style, the back of a man with a sword on his back stands in the light that comes in from the skylight.

At the same time, the sailors stomped on the ground with their feet, turned around, and drew their swords together.

The navy on the left and right crossed the sword in their hands with the companion on the opposite side, and when the sound sounded, an arch made of swords was formed. Then they pulled the sword back to their chests together, which was the naval etiquette of carrying a sword.

"Please."

The young swordsman, Thoma, made a gesture of invitation to Sauron.

Sauron walked among the navy without saying a word.

Although they used to be pirate hunters who had a good relationship with the navy, and now they can be regarded as half a navy secretly, these sailors who are far away from the naval headquarters and know that it is impossible to know that they and the others have a relationship with Admiral Polusalino and the naval headquarters actually greet them with a welcoming attitude, which makes Zoro have to be skeptical.

Is it a trap? Although the other party did not ask to take off the three knives on his belly, even if these dozens of sailors rushed up together, Zoro should not lose if he didn't have a weapon in his hand.

Sauron stopped in front of the front pulpit.

The man on the altar slowly turned his head and looked at Zoro.

"This is the master of the Naval Dojo, Mr. Saka."

Thoma said.

The three disciples all knelt on one knee and bowed.

The whole atmosphere is very solemn and serious, and this man seems to know that he is the complete opposite of the fiery Zoro and will not easily show a little emotion. His hair was combed back to his head, the front of his long-sleeved shirt was fastened with a strap, and a man-tall sword was tied to his scabbard with a belt and carried on his back.

The man, known as the master, stepped down from the pulpit himself to greet Sauron.

"Saka ......"

Sauron's eyes widened, and he called out the name of the naval master in a deep voice.

However, this master, Saka, did not respond at all.

The two men looked at each other in silence for a short time, and no one dared to interject, only the air between the two was still flowing.

"I'll leave my life to you."

It was Sauron who broke the heavy silence.

The dagger with the word "ZORO" engraved on it was returned to the opponent who threw it, Saka.

Saka held out his left hand.

Zoro stared at the emotion in Saka's eyes as he handed the dagger over.

Then, glancing at the right hand hidden in the long sleeve; That's right - Zoro knows this naval master. Moreover, he knew him before all the sailors here.

Saka handed the dagger to Thoma, who stepped forward.

"Is this Mr. Zoro's favorite knife when he was a kid?"

Thoma, who was holding the short knife respectfully in both hands, seemed to have a deep interest in the knife.

“……”

"Moreover, it's also a proof of friendship with the master, right? Hehe......"

Thoma's face had the carefree smile that a teenager his age should have.

Saka's lips jerked when he heard these words.

Facing Saka, who finally showed a hint of expression, Zoro's nerves, which had been tense, also relaxed, and he laughed quietly:

"But it's really out of time! Speaking of which, I'm now an enemy of the Navy. ”

Zoro turned to look at the sailors behind him.

"Indeed, I was taken aback. The original pirate hunter has gone to be a pirate himself! Zoro! ”

"For you, who have been pursuing the 'Sword of Justice' since you were a teenager, I should be an enemy that you must not let go!"

Zoro looked up at the word "justice" on the plaque.

"I think you'd better give up being a pirate!"

"It's so easy for you to say, I also went through a lot of things to decide, and ......"

"Ah......h

As Sauron spoke, Saka let out a groan and crouched to the ground.

"Saka?"

"Master?"

"Don't touch me!"

Thoma was about to run over in a panic when Saka shouted and suddenly stood in place again.

"What's wrong? Where is it uncomfortable? ”

Sauron also walked to the pulpit, and Saka held his left hand to his chest, trembling uncontrollably.

"I have something to ask you for!"

Saka's left hand gripped Zoro's arm hard.

“……”

"Can you help me? Roronoa Soron! ”

The naval master looked at Zoro in front of him with a pleading gaze, and even called out his full name, and Sauron, who felt the other party's solemn mood, replied calmly:

"Tell me what's going on......"

……

Finally, the "Golden Merry", which was being pursued by the naval fleet, continued to flee upstream along the river of Askar Island, towards the middle of the dense forest.

"Hey! Green algae head! ”

"Where have you been?"

Sanji and Luffy shouted one by one, but all they answered was the cries of birds and beasts.

"It's a dense forest everywhere, and Zoro doesn't seem to be here, Luffy!"

Chopper, standing on the lookout, said with a telescope in his hand.

Luffy ignored Chopper's statement at all, leaned out of the bow of the boat, and grimaced while shouting his partner's name hoarsely:

"Zoro! Where have you been? Come back soon! ”

"You shouldn't be attacked by the enemy, right? But since he's not in this jungle, he should go to the town, right? No, maybe it's an idiot who can get lost on the spot after all......"

Sanji scratched his head impatiently, leaned against the mainmast and smoked.

"Sauron—Sauron—"

Luffy continued to shout.

"Anyway, where are we on the island?"

Nami suddenly remembered the question and quickly asked it out loud to Chopper on the lookout.

But—

"Hey! There's a big pond in front of you! ”

"Huh?"

"That's called a lake, Chopper!"

Sanji looked ahead and said with a smile.

……

The lake is covered by ancient ruins, and the water is crystal clear.

I saw a girl staring at the sparkling water, swimming on her back in the lake.

The girl's body, dressed only in a bathing suit, was shone by the light reflected off the surface of the lake, and was washed by the lake. The long hair spread out like aquatic weeds, and slowly floated up from the bottom of the lake, revealing its head from the water.

She sucked all the fresh air into her lungs.

Heavenly—

“……”

Pairs of birds, with a good chirp, flew over.

Looking at this scene, her slightly gloomy face seemed to suddenly remember something.

"Since then...... It's been a year......"

Glancing back at the castle on the other side of the lake, Maya continued to swim to the shore. She stepped on the steps of the ruins in the water and slowly walked to the shore of the lake.

On the long hair that grew to her waist, the beads of water like jewels kept falling, and she walked out slowly with her bare feet, carefully holding the three orbs in her arms.

It was not that she wanted to swim in the sun for the comfort of the lake, but for a ritual in which she had to bathe her body in the water in order to pay homage to the gods, leaving no filth.

Maya is a shrine maiden who serves the gods.

She stood in front of the altar, most of the pillars around the altar had collapsed due to years of erosion.

She spread a cloth over the altar and placed the three orbs on it.

On the front wall, there is a relief carving that looks like a shrine maiden.

Maya faced the relief, as if in a mirror, closing her eyes and opening her arms.

Then, she gently touched the surface of the orb, and saw that the three orbs suddenly emitted a faint light.

Maya, whose expression was a little dazed, slowly opened her eyes half-open.

I saw her stretch out her arms again, and then touch the surface of the orb again. The light slowly faded away.

"Huh?"

The ritual ended at the right time.

Maya regained consciousness and turned her head to see on the opposite side of the lake, where a boat broke the silence on the water and drove noisily.

"Pirates?"

Seeing the skull emblem painted on the sails, Maya was speechless in shock.

"Ahh There's a guy over there! ”

Chopper from the lookout shouted at the deck.

"Is it Zoro?"

Luffy, who was half of his body out of the side of the ship, looked desperately in the direction Chopper pointed out - there was indeed a figure on the shore of the lake in the altar-like place made of a pile of stones.

"It's a girl! And、And、And it's a super cute and super pretty type!! ”

Sanji's nose suddenly spewed out a puff of smoke like a steam engine, and although the trajectory of fate was influenced by Polusalino, his life goals still included saying a lot of love words to all the beautiful ladies in the world.

"Hey! Hello! Have you ever seen a guy named Zoro around here? ”

Luffy suddenly shouted.

However, Maya hid behind the altar, quickly put on her blouse and skirt, and then immediately appeared in front of the altar, wrapped all the orbs in cloth and hugged them to her chest, looked in the direction of the "Golden Merry" in a panic, and immediately ran into the depths of the dense forest.

"Hey! Lovely little girl! Don't run! ”

Sanji looks like a squinting pirate at this moment.

"Really, why did you run away?"

"Ordinary people run away when they see a pirate ship, right?"

Chopper didn't expect Luffy to ask such a question - this is the common knowledge of human society that even a reindeer like it knows.

"Hmmm......"

Luffy thought for a moment, then slammed his feet into force, and the "Moon Step" and "Shaving" techniques were used at the same time, and in the blink of an eye, he was at the altar on the shore of the lake.

"Hey! Have you seen Sauron? It's Zoro! It's a vicious-looking guy with three knives, though it's a good guy - have you seen him? ”

"Stop! Luffy! In that case, aren't we like the kind of villains who chase cute girls around? ”

Sanji also quickly chased after him, and then chased Luffy and ran to the depths of the forest to find the girl.

"Really, where the hell are those two guys?"

Following Nami and the others, who also went to land from the shore of the lake, Luffy and Sanji were no longer visible at all.

"Over there!"

Chopper's ears twitched, and he suddenly pointed to the depths of the forest.

The girl could be clearly seen in the distance, and it seemed that Luffy and Sanji hadn't found her hiding at that time, and had already run to the inner part of the forest.

"Don't be afraid! We're not suspicious! ”

"You're not suspicious at all, Frankie, you're a pervert!"

"Hey, Nami, why are you complimenting me again? Although I am indeed a super pervert! ”

Frankie posed for an exaggerated bodybuilding, and just as it was time, the little girl disappeared at the end of the forest.

"Ahh Wait a minute! We have something to ask you! ”

Nami, Chopper, and Frankie ran after them.

After walking for a while in the roadless forest, the group's eyes suddenly brightened, and they suddenly found themselves in a valley with a small river flowing through it.

"Luffy is okay, Sanji is really, where did he go?"

Nami thought of Luffy, who was so stupid that he was hopeless, and then thought of Sanji, who had become unreliable because of his beauty, and hugged her head in annoyance.

"You can't get lost in the forest, right?"

Chopper guessed.

"Lost? They are not Sauron...... Now there are a total of three people whose whereabouts are unknown! These guys are going to get people in trouble! ”

After entering the forest again along the road by the river, the three of them could not find the girl's whereabouts again.

Nami and the others searched the surroundings.

"There's a village over there."

Frankie's telescopic eye was the first to spot the anomaly.

I saw that on the edge of the forest, there was really a village, and there was a high sentry outside.

"Ahh She's over there! ”

On the stairs leading to the village, the girl was running on it in a panic.

So, led by the tallest French, the two of them also ran in the direction of the village.

……

At the entrance to the village, the men with bamboo baskets on their heads all looked back at the girls who ran in in a panic.

"Miss Maya?"

"Guys! Pirate! The pirates are coming! ”

The girl, Maya, shouted desperately.

Hearing this, all the nearby villagers shouted. Of course, some people were frightened by the news of the arrival of the pirates, and dropped everything in their hands on the ground, stunned.

A man with a strong physique came out to meet Maya.

"Pirates? Is this true? Miss Maya? ”

"Ahh Lacs! The pirate ship has stopped at the lake! ”

"Oh...... Damn, it's coming at this time! ”

The man who was made of Lax angrily put down the firewood in his hand and shouted at the other men on the field: "Everyone! The pirates are here again! Men go get their weapons up! ”

"Oh!"

Countless people replied loudly, and all the adult men who could fight ran towards the village's arsenal.

"Miss Maya, my mother-in-law will ask you!"

"Hmm!"

Maya ran away with a cloth bag with three orbs in her arms.

Around the altar of the village, where incense burners and offerings are placed, only women who are qualified to perform sacrifices are allowed to come here.

"I thought there wouldn't be any more pirates coming here......"

"What's going on?"

The women were all terrified by the news of the arrival of the pirates brought by Maya.

"Don't panic!"

"Mother-in-law......"

Hearing the shouts of the mother-in-law, who was standing on the steps of the altar, with a cane in one hand and her back bent deeply, everyone fell silent.

"Anyway, you take the children and hide in the forest."

"Yes!"

The women interrupted the ceremony and scattered back to the village.

- Pick up the knife!

- Get a straw fork!

- Women guarding the children! Please!

- For the sake of prudence, there are still people guarding the back door!

It is impossible for the navy to protect every village on the sea, so almost every village has such a way of dealing with pirates.

"Mother-in-law, you should hide early."

"No, I'll stay here."

The old woman dressed as a shrine maiden refused to leave the front of the altar no matter how much Maya tried to persuade her.

At this moment, a greeting suddenly came - "Hello! ”

"Pirates! Has it already been killed?! ”

Maya turned her body around as if to hide the jewel in her arms.

Appearing in the square in front of the altar, Maya saw a tall, dangerous and perverted man, and secondly, a calculating-looking maiden and her reindeer pet.

That is, Frankie, Nami, and Chopper.

"Miss Maya, please hurry up and hide!"

Several villagers, noticing that the pirates had invaded, appeared in the square with weapons.

"Huh? Your name is Maya? What a name! Mother-in-law, what about you? ”

Looking at the young girl and the wrinkled old woman in front of her, Nami took the initiative to speak in a friendly manner.

But—

"This is not the place for you pirates!"

Holding a shield in his left hand, Lax picked up his mountain knife and roared at Nami and the others.

"This ...... This man's tone is really annoying."

"It seems that we are unwelcome guests, but all the men are fully armed, so they must have a lot of experience fighting pirates, right?"

Frankie took a step forward and slightly blocked Nami - although they weren't really pirates who were trying to invade the village, he couldn't let Nami take the enemy in front of him if they really had a conflict with the villagers over some misunderstanding.

"Compared to this...... There seems to be a lot of interesting stuff here! ”

Nami noticed a boulder entangled in the roots of the tree, and although a large part of it had weathered over time, she could still see the delicate large relief carved on it.

(End of chapter)