One Piece: The Defender of Justice

Ding--!

A distant whisper echoed, and the delicate sword blade easily blocked Zoro's attack. The huge shadow exploded like a bubble in an instant and disappeared into the air.

Impossible...

How could the gap be so big?!

Zoro looked at the halted sword, his arm muscles twitching, veins popping out. He suddenly moved back on his own initiative.

Bang—

There was an air blast, and Zoro attacked again.

When!

Dang, dang, dang!!

The crisp sound of impact was endless.

Zoro held three swords, one on the left and one on the right, busy dealing with the short blades stabbing him from unknown angles.

Swish—!!

"It's over!"

Mihawk calmly brought this unequal battle to an end. His green slashes were overwhelming, as if he was the only one in the world.

However, a huge slash approached him, suddenly splitting towards both sides.

He turned a corner, cutting the boat behind him into planks, leaving Luffy, who was watching the show, confused.

"You are too weak now, and you are not even qualified to make me draw my sword. Come to the Grand Line to find me!"

Mihawk slowly put away his sword, turned around, and sailed away into the distance, leaving the two of them with a lonely back, blending with the water and sky.

Boom—!!

With the broken hull under his feet, Zoro bit the hilt of his sword, staring intently at Mihawk's back, grinning, "Then let's go to the Grand Line. How about it, Luffy?"

"Shishishi!" Luffy lowered the brim of his hat and swung his arm upwards, "Then let's go! Grand Line!"

"So, should we find the Marine Base where you work now?"

Sheathing his sword, Zoro turned to look at his captain.

Snap—!!

Luffy woke up from a dream and slapped his forehead hard, "Oh! I forgot."

"...but I'm so hungry now."

...

East Blue, Cocoyasi Village.

This is an island that exudes the attractive fragrance of oranges. The export trade of oranges is an important economic pillar for the survival of local residents. Large orange groves are distributed in every household.

Especially the Bell-mère family.

Although she is a female, as a former Marine expert, her physical strength is definitely better than that of ordinary villagers, even strong adult men.

Therefore, under Bell-mère's hard work, she soon became a major farmer in the village.

The two adopted daughters have grown up. Many young men in the village are thinking about them, but they are all rejected by Bell-mère.

Bookstore.

On the bookshelves on the wall, a dazzling array of books are neatly placed. Most of them are old and yellowed, but they are maintained very carefully, showing that the store manager cares for these books.

Nautical area.

A girl stood on tiptoes, her bright eyes rolling, searching for books on the bookshelf.

"Aren't there any new books recently, Uncle Joyce?"

The girl asked an energetic old man with speckled white hair.

He is the owner of this bookstore. He is able to open a bookstore in a relatively backward village. Either he has a brain problem, or he has enough financial support to make a living.

After all, judging from the situation in the village, studying is a time- and money-consuming matter, and it is an extremely luxurious thing for the villagers.

Joyce raised his monocle, which had slipped slightly, and smiled kindly, "It's little Nami. The sea has been very messy recently, so I haven't gone out to sea for the time being."

Although the books in the store are a bit old, he still occasionally goes out to sea and brings back some newly released books to satisfy this little thief cat's thirst for knowledge.

"Messy? Did something happen recently?"

Nami's eyes lit up. In addition to the charts of various places, the anecdotes of the sea were also one of her sources of fun.

"Well, Marine is getting stronger and stronger, and the pirates have almost entered their final stage of madness. The rumored plan to clean up the four seas has been implemented, and the execution personnel are almost in place..."

Joyce talked eloquently, describing the current situation on the sea.

"Sea cleanup plan?" Nami tilted her head, her bright eyes looking thoughtful, "Bell-mère seems to have told me about it."

Joyce was stunned and said, "Bell-mère? That's right. After all, she was once an excellent Marine. It's not surprising she knows about it."

Hearing Uncle Joyce's approval of Bell-mère, Nami's eyebrows instantly curved, and a rich smile appeared on her face.

"Haven't you always dreamed of drawing a map of the world? It's just the right time for Bell-mère to recommend you to join the Marines. Not only is your safety guaranteed, but the Marines also have the strength to allow you to reach every corner of the world."

Just when Nami was about to speak, a voice interrupted their conversation, "Nami! I knew you were here. Bell-mère is looking for you everywhere."

The two subconsciously looked outside the door and saw the rough-looking Sheriff Genzo walking in with a fan on his head.

"In this case, you should go back first. You are always welcome here when you are free."

Joyce said with a smile.

"Well, goodbye, Uncle Joyce."

Nami curled her lips, said goodbye to Joyce, and walked past Genzo.

"Nami didn't cause you any trouble, did she? Mr. Joyce?"

Genzo looked at the figure disappearing around the corner and smiled bitterly at Joyce.

Since childhood, Nami would often pick up some books in the bookstore.

Although Joyce saw it, he usually pretended not to notice.

However, Genzo couldn't turn a blind eye and often took the initiative to cover Nami's debts with his own money, so he became familiar with Joyce over time.

"It's okay. Bell-mère has already put some money with me in advance, which is used for Nami's studies."

Over the years, the Bell-mère family's life has been prosperous, and they have enough money for Nami to freely use.

Then, Joyce changed the topic and looked at Genzo with cloudy eyes, "By the way, when are you going to marry Bell-mère?"

"——?!!"

When Genzo heard this, his ears suddenly turned red, and he couldn't help but stutter, "You...what nonsense are you talking about?!"

"Haha~"

Joyce smiled and said nothing.

————

After nibbling on the huge Sea Kings, Luffy and Zoro were refreshed again and looked around with interest.

"Hey! Where are we going now? Zoro?"

Sitting cross-legged, Zoro, who was meditating with his eyes closed, opened the corner of his eye and asked, "Are you asking me?"

"..."

The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence, "Shishishi! In that case, just follow the direction of the current and drift along!"

"Alright!"

Zoro nodded in agreement.

As a sailing idiot and a road freak, this was the perfect choice.

But beneath the sea where they couldn't see, the ocean currents were quietly flowing, pushing the boat forward rapidly in one direction.

Above the clouds.

Atlas, who had released the power of the Monkey Talisman, watched everything below silently.

The establishment of a new government was still under planning.

As a first-hand promoter, he naturally took a break from his busy schedule now.

Of course, these kings had also heard some of the remarks circulated in the Marines.

Among them were many of Atlas' plans to return to the four seas, and these kings naturally didn't believe it.

They just treated it as some baseless rumors.

If we talk about piercing the Red Line and strengthening connections across the world, this is something that is possible and somewhat convincing.

And, it wasn't just them.

There were also many people in the Marines who believed that this was just a way for Atlas to win over people's hearts, but it was too forceful.

Therefore, in the intensive preparations for the establishment of a new government, it was more about wrangling for their own interests.

These troublesome matters were naturally left to Sengoku, the former Marine Fleet Admiral and current Marine Commander-in-Chief.

"According to the timeline, that kid Momonosuke should be arriving in this time and space soon."

Atlas muttered.

Now, Luffy, you are in urgent need of a navigator; otherwise, there's no way to reach Loguetown safely with just you two idiots.

It was a coincidence that Atlas could help arrange it.

Destiny, once one becomes powerful enough, can be manipulated by oneself.

Luffy from the original timeline is not the same.

The way of heaven is vague, and all living beings are numerous.

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