As the pirate forces dominated by the Four Emperors expelled most of the Marine forces from the New World, the division and competition for territory among the pirates also began in full swing.
In addition to the shrinking territory of the Red-Haired Pirates, other prominent players such as Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido are in fierce conflict.
Wanokuni.
Kaido, who has been holed up in Onigashima for nearly 20 years, has also begun to expand outward in the past few years.
In recent years, there have been more frequent attacks.
Dylan, dressed in regular clothes, strolled through the stinking village.
"Scientists are really full of imagination."
Although Doflamingo lost the help of the little humans, he still partnered with Caesar to create the artificial Devil Fruit.
As for Wanokuni, Queen had no obstruction and naturally followed the development of history and opened a large weapons factory here.
Dylan squatted by the river and checked. The content of metals and many chemicals in the river water seriously exceeded the limit. The surrounding plants were either dead or showing a strange gray-green color.
"Ah~~where is this? Really, I have drifted to such a strange place."
A young voice sounded from the other side of the river bank, and Dylan turned and glanced.
Wearing a cowboy hat and shirtless, Ace walked along the river bank while scratching his head.
Seeing Dylan staring at him, Ace grinned: "It turns out there is someone, please..."
"This is Wanokuni, the domain of Kaido of the Beasts."
Ace frowned. Although he had only entered the New World for less than a year, he had already heard of the reputation of Kaido of the Beasts.
"I am Spade..."
"No need for introduction, Ace, one of the purposes of my coming here is to meet you."
"Ha!!??"
Ace's eyes widened. He had no impression of this guy in front of him. He was so young... Wait a minute!
Ace recalled what his friends who were born on the Grand Line said when they were on the ship.
"In the Grand Line, whether it's Paradise or the New World, most pirates and Marines try to kill each other, usually by defeating, imprisoning, or even recruiting them. However, there are two people who are definitely outside this norm."
"'Akainu' Sakazuki and 'Rairyu' Dylan. For pirates, there is almost no chance of survival once they meet these two people."
Ace looked at the man squatting on the ground not far ahead and compared it with the profile picture in the newspaper in his memory.
Oops!!
"Drifted here?"
Dylan took out two bottles of the cider Mansherry brewed for him from the ring and threw one to Ace.
Ace saw that he didn't seem as scary as the legend said, so he caught the bottle.
"Yes, I don't have a navigator yet, so I got lost when I encountered the current. By the way, Uncle Tom... is he your subordinate now?"
"Well..."
Dylan took a sip of wine and looked at Ace with a calm expression.
"Why do you want to become a pirate?"
Ace was stunned for a moment. From Dylan's tone, he didn't feel anger or murderous intent. It seemed like it was a normal thing.
Like asking Have you eaten today?
Ace was silent for a moment. After he came to the Grand Line, he also heard many legends about old man Garp and the man in front of him.
"You know me?"
Dylan stood up and looked into the distance: "Knowing, in a sense, I know most of your experiences from the time you were born to now. So I am very surprised, why do you want to become a pirate?"
Dylan turned around and looked at Ace: "Want to pursue the so-called 'freedom'? This is impossible, you are not Roger. Or... are you trying to 'prove' something to the world for Roger?"
"You..." Ace tensed up, subconsciously preparing to fight.
The identity of "Roger's son"...
But then he remembered what Tom said: "That man has known about your existence for a long time, and he doesn't have much ill will towards you."
The temperature of his body dropped. Ace held the wine bottle tightly and was silent for a moment before saying, "I want to know, does my existence have any meaning?"
"What did old man Garp tell you?"
Ace was full of surprise, but still replied: "He said that I won't know until I live."
"So what do you think?"
"I don't know..." Ace shook his head: "Everyone is hating and cursing that guy and cursing his blood. I'm very angry. Am I really guilty for this? In that case..."
Dylan glanced at him: "You simply become a pirate, or even become the Pirate King? Then what? Destroy the world? Or announce something to the world?"
"I..."
Ace was stunned for a moment. He had never thought about this question before. Perhaps the reason why he became a pirate was just because people hated him so much that he had never been masked before, and even wanted to torture him with various cruel methods.
If the world is so unkind to me, why should I be kind to them?
"Want to destroy the world?"
Dylan's face was calm. Ace shook his head subconsciously.
"When I was a boy, I did hate the world, but I no longer think so. I just want to sail freely. Gather my friends and look for One Piece."
"That's it... I understand."
Dylan stood up and walked towards the village. Ace didn't know why, so he followed him naturally.
"Aren't you going to catch me?"
"I'm not the one who caught you."
"Um?"
Dylan glanced at Ace, who was much shorter than him: "I am Marine, and I am not old man Garp. You have chosen your own destiny, and you have to face it yourself."
"Certainly..."
Whoosh!!
"Outlander!"
A large net fell from the sky, and Dylan stood still. Ace looked at the people who poked their heads out from all around, and his heart moved. A flame burned the vine net that rushed towards the two of them.
"It's... a sorcerer!!!"
The sallow-looking villagers were shocked when they saw the flames coming out of Ace's body.
This is the power that only the cadres of "Onigashima" have!
Ace glanced at Dylan. If it was just him, he wouldn't have taken action just now. But this man... Although he didn't feel any strong malice or murderous intent during their conversation, all the legends about him prove that this man is definitely not a good person. If they anger him...
"Hello!"
Dylan called out to the villagers who were about to turn around and run away.
The villagers stiffened and turned around in horror. Some of the weaker ones even fainted from fear.
"Them..."
Ace couldn't bear it. These people looked like pitiful ordinary folks and shouldn't...
"Shut up!" Dylan rolled his eyes at Ace. What kind of devil does this guy think he is?
Dylan walked up to the villagers and looked at these poor people trembling with fright and fear.
So pirates are just pirates. They don't even understand the most basic sustainable development.
The world actually expects pirates to save it? It's just nonsense.
After taking out a large amount of food from the ring and placing it on the ground, Dylan said to them, "These foods are well preserved and should be enough to support you for a while. And..."
Dylan took out a few more bags of seeds. These were food seeds that he asked Leo to bring from Greenbit and were very easy to cultivate.
"These seeds are very easy to grow. I can't save you all at the moment, but I can help some."
The people lying on the ground were all happy when they saw the food. One of the old men asked carefully, "My lord, you are not from Onigashima..."
Dylan shook his head. "I'm not. I'm here to find someone, Tenguyama Hitetsu. Where is he?"
"Hitetsu..." The old man looked at Dylan and Ace, and then nodded to them as if he had made up his mind.
"Please come with me."
The mountain behind the Village.
Tenguyama Hitetsu, wearing a mask and costume like a big Tengu, was knitting a bamboo hat next to a wooden house.
"Hitetsu..."
Tenguyama Hitetsu raised his head and looked at everyone. "They are..."
The old man described what happened by the river and then glanced at Dylan and Ace. "They are looking for you..."
Ace was a little confused. In fact, he just followed Dylan here. He didn't know Tenguyama Hitetsu at all.
Dylan untied Shura and handed it to the other party. "I asked the descendants of the Shimotsuki family to look at this sword before, but the guy was vague at the time, so I am here to ask you to help me take a look."
The moment Tenguyama Hitetsu saw the scabbard, his eyes widened. "Shura!?"
"Oh? Is it some kind of famous sword?"
Seeing the other party's reaction, Ace was even more confused.
"Um..."
Tenguyama Hitetsu held Shura in his hand and looked at it carefully before holding his breath and pulling out the blade.
Without Dylan's suppression, the blade was filled with endless killing intent and a bloody smell as soon as it was exposed.
Even Ace felt suffocated.
"This..."
Ding~
Dylan raised his hand and flicked Shura's blade. The originally glowing scarlet blade instantly faded and turned into jet black.
"Black sword..."
Tenguyama Hitetsu looked at the man in front of him with some disbelief. The man who refined Shura into a black sword... How terrifying...
"What? Is there anything wrong with Shura becoming a black sword?"
After hesitating for a moment, Tenguyama Hitetsu asked, "I would like to ask, Shura... Did you refine it into a black sword? Or was it in this state when you got it?"
Dylan nodded. "I captured this sword in a battle more than ten years ago. At that time, its blade was still dark red. I used it for several years before turning it black."
"I see!"
Tenguyama Hitetsu sheathed Shura and handed it back to Dylan.
"I believe the Shimotsuki family told you that it is one of the twelve supreme grade swords, right?"
"Yeah." Koshiro did say that back then, but he seemed to have something unspeakable at the time, and Dylan didn't want to have anything to do with the Revolutionary Army at that time, so he left without staying longer.
"Shura, among the supreme grade swords, is also a very special one." Tenguyama Hitetsu said in a deep voice, "The Shodai Kitetsu that was forged by my ancestors is also among the supreme grade swords. Do you know what makes a supreme grade sword?"
Dylan shook his head. The only supreme grade swords he knew were Yoru, Shodai Kitetsu, Murakumogiri, Ace, and the one he held in his own hand - Shura. Others, even if they are as strong as Shusui, Enma, and Ame no Habakiri, are only in the sequence of great grade swords.
"In addition to having supreme forging technology and almost peerless raw materials, the biggest criterion for a supreme grade sword is that they all represent a certain kind of will, or 'power'!"
"Will?"
Hearing this word, Dylan frowned instinctively.
He disliked fatalism very much.
Born under a red flag and raised in the spring breeze, he believes that all destiny is the result of one's own efforts. (T/N: Yes Yes Yes)
Although it is currently known that the Mythical Zoan fruits may indeed contain some legendary will, Dylan is still a little annoyed once such a thing is attached to his head.
I am not a chosen one, stop doing this!
"That's right! But not everyone can fully understand and discover the will within it. Just getting its recognition is very difficult. To refine them into black swords requires many times or even dozens of times more nurturing than ordinary famous swords."
"As for what the will in it is? There is no way to say this. It can only be understood by the holder. However, I believe that you have been fully recognized by Shura."
"Oh?"
Although his face was shrouded in a mask, one could still see the awe in Tenguyama Hitetsu's expression:
"Shura... is rumored to be the sword of a great warrior who once led all races to overthrow tyranny and eliminate evil."
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