17: Chapter 17 Hawkeye's Black Blade - Night

On the sea, the massive whirlpool created by the sinking of the Krieg Pirates' flagship was gradually subsiding.

Shattered planks, broken masts, and vast stretches of debris shredded by violent wind blades floated aimlessly on the surface.

This Dreadnaught Sabre, weighing thousands of tons, had been sliced in two by that earth-shattering [White Dove Tempest Kick Slash] from Rice just moments ago, and now it had long since sunk to the ocean floor.

Inside the main hall of the floating restaurant Baratie, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Plop, plop..."

Rice shook the water off his wrists and stepped back in through the gap in the damaged outer wall, unhurried.

Due to the intense burst of power just now, faint white steam was rising from his bronze-colored skin, creating a visually striking impact.

In a corner of the hall, several Marine officers who had been eating were now shivering like chaff, their hands holding soup spoons suspended in mid-air, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Rice stopped in front of them, grabbed a clean tablecloth to wipe his fists, and raised an eyebrow at the shivering Marines:

"Hey, you Marines over there. Go back and report to old man Garp that his top disciple has wiped out the Krieg Pirates in the Sambas Sea."

Rice grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, his tone carrying an unquestionable dominance:

"And by the way, tell Headquarters to put the entire 50 million Berry bounty for Don Krieg on the head of me, 'Rice'."

"If even a single coin is missing, I'm taking all of old man Garp's tea leaves when I go back. Understand?"

"Yes... Yes! Lord Rice! We will definitely report this truthfully to Vice Admiral Garp!"

The Marine officers, as if granted a reprieve, turned pale and snapped to attention, giving Rice an exceptionally standard—perhaps even slightly deformed due to sheer terror—Marine salute.

After settling the bounty matter, Rice turned his head, preparing to head back to his seat.

However, at that very instant, a sudden, terrifyingly cold chill that seemed to freeze the soul swept in from the endless horizon.

"Whoosh—!!"

The originally warm sea breeze instantly turned bone-chillingly cold.

Thick white fog rose over the sea, and within that fog, a small, strangely shaped boat, resembling a black coffin, was quietly floating amidst the waves.

In the center of the boat stood a giant black cross, and at the top of the cross, two pale green flames flickered eerily in the sea breeze.

And on that black coffin boat sat a man, quietly.

He had messy black short hair, wore a black hat adorned with white fluff, a black trench coat, and a wine-red patterned shirt underneath.

His hawk-like, sharp yellow eyes were locked firmly onto Rice, peering past the countless floating ruins.

The world's greatest swordsman, the man standing at the apex of all swordsmen— "Hawkeye" Dracule Mihawk!

Mihawk sat on the boat, sweeping a glance over the remains of the Dreadnaught Sabre that had been perfectly cleaved in two by the slash wave and was slowly sinking.

A rare flash of surprise crossed those cold golden eyes:

"I was just bored and wanted to amuse myself with those East Blue small-fry who disturbed my sleep."

"I didn't expect... that someone would have already sliced open Don Krieg's flagship with a slash before I could even act."

His gaze finally crossed the void and landed on Rice's muscular, bare upper body:

"Kid, was it you who cut this ship?"

Facing the bone-chilling sword pressure from the sea, Rice twisted his neck, producing a crisp sound of grinding bones:

"That's right, the tin can that came close deserved a kick."

"Rice..."

Just as Rice was about to walk onto the activity platform, two pairs of hands simultaneously grabbed his sleeve and wrist tightly.

Nami didn't know who the world's greatest swordsman was, nor did she know what terrifying reputation "Hawkeye" represented.

But her instinct, honed from years of struggling for survival on the edge of life and death, frantically sounded the alarm of death at this very moment!

That person...

Just by sitting there, the terrifying pressure and astonishing killing intent he exuded made the hairs on Nami's body stand on end, and her legs couldn't help but tremble.

"Don't go... Rice, don't go!"

Nami's eyes were red, her hands gripping Rice's sleeve tightly, her voice filled with an anxiety and pleading she hadn't even realized herself.

She looked at the terrifying man sitting on the coffin boat, instinctively feeling that if Rice went over, he would face unpredictable danger.

Beside her, Makino also lost her usual composure, her gentle, watery eyes filled with anxiety.

She held Rice's broad palm tightly, her fingertips cold, and whispered urgently:

"Rice, don't challenge him."

The gaze of the two women, filled with worry, affection, and terror, stirred a warm, heroic feeling in Rice's heart.

He stopped, turned around, opened his arms, and domineeringly pulled both young women into his embrace.

Rice lowered his head and kissed Makino's flushed forehead gently.

"Don't worry, my ladies."

Rice leaned into their ears and whispered with an extremely confident voice:

"If you don't touch the highest mountain peak when you set out to sea, how would you know how high you can climb?"

"Watch me from here. I'm made of iron, beaten into shape by the old man; I won't die."

After saying this, Rice released his arms and turned around nonchalantly.

Facing the bone-chilling sword pressure from the sea, he strode onto the "fin" activity platform of Baratie that extended into the ocean.

Nami covered her lips, watching Rice's back with a dazed expression.

And Makino held Nami's hand; although there was still worry in her eyes, there was more pride for her man.

"Splash, splash..."

The black coffin boat stopped a few dozen meters away from the activity platform.

Hawkeye Mihawk slowly stood up straight.

His hawk-like, sharp yellow eyes stared at Rice.

The instinct from years of fighting peerless powerhouses allowed him to see through the terrifying physical vitality within Rice's body at a glance:

"You have the scent of that old Marine bone on you. Who are you to Monkey D. Garp?"

"His top disciple, the adventurer Rice."

Rice grinned, his legs slightly crouching, his muscles tensing up like steel bars in an instant:

"Garp's top disciple... an adventurer, huh?"

"Hawkeye Mihawk, since you're passing by, please, world's greatest swordsman, give me some pointers!"

A sharp light erupted from Hawkeye's golden eyes at this moment.

If it were an ordinary East Blue pirate, he wouldn't even bother using the small cross-shaped dagger hanging around his neck.

But facing this young man who was only eighteen or nineteen years old yet exuded a Garp-style domineering aura, Hawkeye didn't have the slightest carelessness.

He didn't touch the toy-like small dagger, but instead slowly reached out his right hand and placed it directly on the hilt of the massive, pitch-black Supreme Grade sword behind his back— [Black Blade]!

This weapon, known as the "World's Strongest Black Blade," had a wide blade with a perfect irregular flower-shaped temper line.

In Mihawk's hands, it could unleash the world's most powerful, destructive slash.

"This Black Blade..."

Sanji, watching from behind, felt his Observation Haki frantically warning him at this moment.

Before the giant black sword was even unsheathed, he felt as if the space of the entire Sambas Sea was about to be forcibly sliced open.

"Hum—!!"

The moment the Black Blade was unsheathed, the wind across the entire sea area instantly stilled.

"Since you bear the name of that old bone, let me see if you can survive a single strike from my blade!"

Hawkeye held the sword with one hand and swung it casually through the void.

"Swish—!!"

A heaven-shaking sword aura, dozens of meters wide and flickering with pale green fluorescence, carrying a destructive wind pressure that seemed capable of splitting the sea in two, violently rushed toward Rice in an instant!

Wherever the sword aura passed, the seawater was forcibly cleaved open, revealing the pitch-black reefs on the ocean floor.

"What a terrifying slash!"

Rice's pupils shrank.

In the face of this casual strike from the man standing at the apex of swordsmen, his proud [White Dove Iron Body] was nothing more than a thin sheet of paper that would break at a touch.

Dodge!

Must dodge it!

"Calm down... calm down!"

Rice closed his eyes, forcing his spirit to immerse itself into that incomplete Observation Haki vision he had just grasped the threshold of in Syrup Village.

The world around him lost its color in an instant.

The direction of the wind, the rhythm of the airflow.

In the completely dark world, a faint and strange grayish-white trajectory suddenly lit up in Rice's perception.

Not enough!

Still not enough!

The speed of Observation Haki perception couldn't keep up with the near-light-speed slash of the Black Blade.

"Move! I am the man who will tear apart the rules of heaven!"

Rice roared in his heart, and his blood seemed to boil completely in an instant.

The potential deep in his soul was frantically squeezed and erupted by this fatal death crisis!

"Boom—!!"

That grayish-white perception vision underwent a qualitative leap in an instant!

In Rice's mind, the flow of time suddenly became extremely slow.

In that instant, he saw the future two seconds later—the future where his body was split in two by that pale green sword aura, along with the entire platform of the floating restaurant!

Observation Haki—Future Sight, activated!

"Get... out of the way!!"

The moment the future scene flashed through his mind, Rice had already reacted in advance.

One-tenth of a second before Hawkeye swung his blade, as a precaution, his legs exploded with terrifying stepping power on the spot!

[White Dove Shave]!

[White Dove Paper Art]!

"Bang!!"

The marble floor exploded, and Rice turned into a white afterimage, moving backward several meters along the ground in an iron-bridge posture that almost defied physical common sense, like a falling feather drifting in a storm.

"Swish—!!"

The heaven-shaking pale green sword aura swept past violently, mere millimeters from Rice's chest and nose!

The wind blade tore a glaring bloodstain on his chest, and a large amount of blood spilled from his skin, staining his muscles red.

But, he had dodged it!

That terrifying sword aura, capable of slicing the entire sea, slammed into the sea surface behind Rice.

It exploded a towering column of water dozens of meters high on the ocean!

"?!"

Standing on the coffin boat, Hawkeye's hawk-like, sharp yellow eyes erupted with a slight tremor in this instant!

"Before my blade even fell, he had already made a preemptive evasive maneuver..."

Hawkeye's cold-as-ice face was moved.

Future Sight!

This extremely high realm of Observation Haki was accessible to only a mere few.

In Hawkeye's memory, that "Red Hair" Shanks, who had once clashed fiercely with him and whom he deeply respected, had become a monster rampaging through the New World precisely by relying on this top-tier Observation Haki that could almost predict the future.

And this young man, who had just set out to sea in the East Blue, had actually crossed that chasm on the edge of life and death, thanks to his one slash, and grasped the same supreme realm as Red Hair!

"It's not over yet! Mihawk!!"

Rice opened his eyes abruptly, his deep pupils filled with the fanaticism of battle.

Leveraging the momentum of his sideways movement, he stomped his right leg heavily in the void, pulled his right fist back fully, and punched out!

[White Dove Iron Fist Impact]!

The violent fist wind condensed into a white air wave, carrying a shrill whistling sound, and headed straight for Hawkeye's face!

Hawkeye snorted coldly, and the Black Blade was instantly held horizontally in front of him.

"Clang—!!"

A dull and violent metallic clashing sound exploded on the ocean, and the violent airflow shook the surrounding seawater into waves several meters high.

Rice's iron fist slammed solidly into the wide blade of the Black Blade.

The terrifying recoil force sent Rice sliding dozens of meters in the air, landing on the edge of Baratie's "fin" platform, with a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

And Hawkeye's small boat was also forced to retreat several meters on the sea surface under this violent fist power, leaving a long white water line.

Hawkeye slowly sheathed the Black Blade back into the scabbard on his back, his hawk-like, sharp yellow eyes staring fixedly at the young man not far away.

"Interesting."

Hawkeye put the Black Blade back on his back, his voice low and cold:

"That old guy Garp really found an incredible successor. In a place like the East Blue... to actually meet a kid like you."

"Where does your ambition lie?"

Rice wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood up straight.

Although he had suffered significant internal injuries, the wildness and fighting spirit in his eyes became increasingly domineering:

"My ambition?"

Facing Hawkeye's question, Rice laughed arrogantly, facing the sea breeze:

"I am neither a lackey of the Marines nor a prisoner in the eyes of the World Government."

"I want to be a 'Free Adventurer' who tears apart all the rules of this ocean, duels with powerhouses like you, and cannot be bound even by the laws of heaven!"

Hawkeye looked at the arrogant and domineering young man in front of him, a rare trace of appreciation flashing in those sharp eyes.

Hawkeye took a deep look at Rice and said in a deep voice:

"Rice... Garp's disciple. I have remembered your ambition and your name."

"I look forward to the day we cross paths again in the 'New World'."

"I hope by then, you will have the qualifications to make me go all out."

After saying this, Hawkeye didn't linger, boarded the black coffin boat, and quietly sailed away from the Sambas Sea in the afterglow of the setting sun.

That battle, which should have been Zoro challenging Hawkeye and being severely injured by the Black Blade... under Rice's world-shaking punch and his monstrous performance of "Future Sight," was completely erased from the timeline.

Rice, with his ambition and strength, forcibly modified the trajectory of the world.

Inside the hall, Nami and Makino, with red eyes, ran over like lightning and hugged Rice, who was covered in blood but still laughing wildly, tightly.