One Piece: I have Hacks

[The Synonym]

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[Catching Up]
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| Four months later... |

...

—Tack!—

A bamboo sword came down with brutality and sheer efficiency, clacking heavily against another.

"Argh!"

Soon, the sword on the receiving end dropped clean from the person's hands, clattering against the floor.

Then, the point of the other sword slashed against the air, stopping just a few centimeters from a man's face, who eyed the sword with a shocked gaze, a bead of sweat rolling down his brow.

Then—

"The duel is over. The winner is Dan!" Koushirou announced from nearby, his loud voice echoing across the stunned silent dojo.

The silence stretched for a bit more, before chatter broke out instantly among the students lining the borders of the dojo.

"For real?! He actually beat an adult...!"

"And that's Yashimura-sensei. He's no small fry either!"

"How long has he even been here?!"

"...About nine months."

"And he already beat an adult?!"

"I wish I had his talent."

"You guys think he can beat Zoro and Kuina yet?"

"No way, those two are way too powerful. He might not lose instantly, though…"

"But don't you guys remember how Kuina seemed to struggle a bit months ago? Perhaps now he can truly put up a fight!"

"Hmm, I don't know. At the end of that duel, he still lost rather disappointingly. I'd say at that point his power level might have been that of a quarter of a Kuina."

"I'd say more like a third. A quarter is too little considering how much he endured that fight."

"Who cares how strong he was before? How many Kuinas is he now?!"

"Considering his feats so far, and taking their last duel months ago as a reference—perhaps 70% of a Kuina, maybe more. I guess it's up for debate until both clash again."

While the students of the Isshin dojo powerscaled their classmates in a strange manner, the subject of their conversation stood in the center of the dojo, breathing steadily as the effort finally caught up with him.

'Well, that went better than I expected.'

Dan rested the handle of his sword against the floor and leaned on it, letting out a quiet huff.

'Didn't even need Tireless for that.'

Today, like every month, was the dueling class. And this time, he'd gone a step further and challenged an adult outright, just to see what nine months of training with Tireless—and a real sword—had actually yielded.

The short answer: a lot.

Not only was he now stronger than a trained adult at still ten years old, he was also fairly confident he could hold his own against a properly formed swordsman.

… A normal, non-superhuman one. No cutting-through-steel bs, and also not early-canon Zoro level.

Just someone who genuinely knew how to use a blade. That was his estimate as to where he stood based on the duel.

And if he was overestimating himself, there was always Tireless to even things out.

All in all, he was finally starting to feel like a One Piece protagonist—barely ten, and already able to contend with armed adults. Who knew how strong he'd be by the time his training arc wrapped up?

He was planning to give it at least four or five more years, so he assumed he'd have built up quite a lot by then.

'Or sooner, depending on how things develop.'

His mind wandered over to his other discovery from recent weeks. After discovering, or rather rememorating, Arlong's situation and the opportunity it might present, Dan had gone looking for more concrete answers about Jinbe's warlord status.

Eventually he'd asked Koushirou, who struck him as the type to keep reasonably current with the world's state of affairs.

He'd started the conversation from Hawkeye's status as a warlord since the guy was a swordsman, and let it drift to the others from there. Koushirou had given a thorough rundown, and Jinbe's name never came up once.

Safe to assume, then, that Arlong was still operating on the Grand Line and hadn't yet come to terrorize a baby-level village in the East Blue.

Which meant there was still time.

For what exactly? he hadn't fully thought it out. He'd decided to figure it out when he got there.

After all, even with the progress he'd made, the thought of actually going up against Arlong was still somewhere between ambitious and delusional—that saw-nosed fishguy was on a superhuman level, while he was just barely cresting adult human. The gap was pretty significant.

'Though maybe I won't need to be equally strong to deal with him...'

He gave the bamboo sword in his hand a pensive look. His hacking system gave him a fairly creative toolkit to think with, after all.

Though maybe he was overestimating what the system could do at this tier.

Either way, that was for later. Jinbe wasn't even a warlord yet, so there was no point rushing.

Huffing, he turned and stored the bamboo sword back in its basket, then settled back into his seat while the other students' stares and whispered commentary washed past him.

Across the room, two people rose from their seats almost in unison.

Kuina and Zoro, up for their duel of the day—though calling it duel of the day would be innapropiate, since the two tended to squeeze in at least three per day, which explained how fast the count had climbed.

Right now's marked their 1,908th.

Ninety-two more to go before Kuina met her match against the stairs of her own house.

'Although, maybe my intervention isn't even needed anymore.'

He figured things had already diverged from canon at least a little, just from his presence.

For all he knew, one of his handful of encounters with Kuina might have nudged one of pair's duels back by a day, which would push the final one back too, and change how everything played out.

Or maybe nothing had changed at all.

—Or maybe something had, but it would still end the same way.

He had no way of knowing. So patience it was.

-Thud!-

"Damn it!"

The dry sound of Zoro hitting the floor pulled Dan out of his thoughts. Kuina stood beside him with the sword pointed at him, a slight smirk on her face.

'And that makes 1,908.'

Dan watched with an amused but quiet snort, his cheek resting against his palm.

One month from now and he'd be free of this self-imposed vigil.

As he thought it, Kuina's gaze drifted over to him for just a moment, her smile carrying a hint of extra pride before she turned and walked back to her seat.

Dan noticed it and felt a faint, slightly uncomfortable awareness of how involved he'd let himself get in something he was supposed to only touch when absolutely necessary.

He let out a quiet sigh under his breath

'Hopefully everything goes smoothly.'

...

°

°

°

| The next day... |

...

'Nice way of screwing me over, universe.'

Dan's eye twitched as he held the newspaper in front of him.

The headline felt like a personal taunt.

{"A Fishman!—Meet the new Warlord chosen by the World Government"}

Just when things had seemed to be going smoothly, this landed the very next day. The irony was almost impressive.

He didn't even need to read the article. He already knew what it meant. Arlong was getting out of prison and coming to the East Blue to stomp around the weak.

Dan rubbed his temple and stared at the headline a moment longer.

There was still time—a few things had to happen first before things developed like that, and the travel from the Grand Line to the East Blue wasn't short. But the window was now significantly smaller than it had been yesterday.

And on top of that, Kuina's situation still needed handling—that alone would eat up the whole month.

'At this rate, I won't be able to do much about how things unfold.'

He knew it wasn't his responsibility to deal with Arlong, and the power gap only made that more clear. But it still left a bad taste in his mouth to just sit on the knowledge and do nothing, especially with a system in his pocket and future knowledge at his disposal.

But as much as it bothered him, things weren't looking particularly optimistic either.

Groaning, he folded the newspaper and lay down on the flat rock he'd been sitting on—the same one he'd started coming to when he needed to think.

The view and the breeze made it decent for that.

"What to do, what to do...?" he muttered at the sky.

The core problem was clear enough. There was too little time, and even with more time, very few things he could actually get done within that.

Eyes narrowed, he opened the system shop.

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[Starter Tier SHOP]

≡ Passive Hacks

▸ Presentable: [10 NP]

▸ WalkingCompass: [25 NP]

▸ SpeedReader: [30 NP]

▸ IronStomach: [30 NP]

▸ Pokerface: [50 NP]

▸ Polyglot: [250 NP]

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≡ Active Hacks

▸ Dry: [10 NP]

▸ Internal Clock: [20 NP]

▸ Clean: [25 NP]

▸ Appraiser: [30 NP]

▸ Tireless: [BOUGHT]

▸ Coward's Eye: [100 NP]

▸ Sugar Rush: [200 NP]

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≡ Scripts

▸ AutoRest: [75 NP]

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≡ Items

▸ Water Bottle: [5 NP]

▸ Jerky: [5 NP]

▸ Clothes: [10 NP]

▸ Golden Pencil: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Pen: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Quill: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Fork: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Spoon: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Lockpick Set: [15 NP]

...

▸ Music Headset: [25 NP]

▸ Fix-everything Tape: [30 NP]

▸ Bugged Smoke Pellet: [30 NP]

▸ Bottle of Hyper Glue: [50 NP]

▸ Gravity Cuffs: [65 NP]

▸ Very Stable Surfing Board: [75 NP]

▸ Intelligent Dumbbells: [80 NP]

▸ Haki Knot (Weak Level): [300 NP]

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A solid catalogue, though most of it was training-oriented rather than an outright boost to his combat capability.

'Proper for the starter tier, I suppose.'

Sugar Rush was an exception to that. The description said it put him in a sensorially-enhanced state.

But even buying it, he doubted it would do much to bridge the gap between him and Arlong.

'Is there anything useful I can even do if I go there?'

His best bet might not be going himself at all, but finding a way to tip off the marines—hopefully someone with actual strength, not fodder that's going to go there and get folded instantly— and get Arlong taken out before he can even get started.

But he had no idea how to make that happen in practice.

He didn't have Garp's number on dial, or Sengoku's, after all.

He didn't even have a Den Den Mushi.

"What a pain." He sat back up and stared at the ocean.

Then his eyes went back to the list, scanning it slowly.

They narrowed.

'Though... if I bought that... then perhaps...?'

He sat with that thought for a while, jaw moving slightly as possibilities branched and crossed in his head. Whatever he was working through, he kept it to himself.

Eventually, he stood up, looking noticeably less clouded than he had a few minutes ago.

"Alright. One month it is."

A smile settled on his face.

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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[Yohnos]

I wonder if Koujirou is trying to protect Kuina or if he's mysoginist, in a world where Big Mom or the Kuja exist

 

[The Synonym]

I wonder if Koujirou is trying to protect Kuina or if he's mysoginist, in a world where Big Mom or the Kuja exist

Click to shrink...

In my view it's just tradition that comes from Wano.

 

[The Synonym]

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[Subtlety]
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| Two weeks later... |

...

Life at Shimotsuki Village remained as simple as ever.

Every day, villagers continued their rounds around the village, watching out for their sworn enemy, while others farmed or fished.

Trades occurred in small amounts over the days. But they still happened every now and then. Mostly with travelers, cargo ships, or passing marines who needed to restock.

On that same routine, the cries of the students at the dojo as they swung their swords remained a constant in the people's daily life. They were the hope of the village, one more layer of security for its future and its people—hearing them filled the villagers with hope.

Today in particular, however, those cries sounded a bit more harsh.

"Argh!"

-Thud!-

At that same moment, inside the dojo, a certain greenhead hit the floor after a sword caught him square in the face.

Standing next to his defeated body, Koushirou gave a faint nod before pointing at the person not too far away who had delivered the finishing blow.

"Winner, Kuina!"

Who was, of course, Kuina.

The girl in question heaved a long sigh as she cleared the sweat from her forehead. Then, without even looking back at the half-unconscious, half-sulking figure of Zoro on the floor, she turned around and began walking back to her seat.

"Do those two not get tired? That's the 1,952nd duel already."

"Ask Zoro, he's the one issuing the challenges every day."

"Maybe he likes getting beaten up. My mom told me about such people, and said to stay away from them."

"Who would even like getting beaten up?"

"Dunno, but I agree with her. Whatever's wrong enough with his head to make him like getting roughed up like that is reason enough to maintain a safe distance."

Kuina caught the tail end of the students' conversation as she walked past, her mouth curling slightly.

As always, she remained unbeaten, proving her father's beliefs wrong.

Zoro was improving—she couldn't deny that. But so was she. No matter how much he chased her, she'd continue to be ahead.

She'd make sure of it.

As she had that thought, her smile widened slightly.

But as she finally approached her seat, her eyebrow twitched as the smile on her face dropped a little.

"..."

Something was ruining her sweet moment of victory.

Slowly, her eyes dragged to the corner of her vision, glaring at Dan.

Instantly, the boy's eyes shifted, looking elsewhere as if he hadn't just been openly glaring at her.

'What's wrong with him?'

Her brows creased slightly, a huff leaving her nose in dissatisfaction.

This had been going on for a while now. For some reason, a few weeks ago, the boy shifted from looking lost in his own world to glaring at her constantly.

She didn't notice at first. But eventually those long gazes became too noticeable and too piercing to stay ignorant of.

And no matter how much time passed, no matter how many times she made it clear she'd noticed by glaring right back at him, he never brought it up—just looked away, and whistled like an idiot, as if trying to feign innocence.

For a while, she wondered if she was being paranoid. But eventually it became clear she wasn't.

And it was starting to get on her nerves.

Narrowing her eyes, she let out a huff and turned back to her seat.

Calmly, she sat back down, her back straight and posture perfect, a clear show of discipline, just like her swordsmanship.

As she did, however, she shot yet another look at Dan.

The boy dodged her gaze again, suddenly looking at the ceiling as if it were the most interesting point in the dojo.

Kuina's eyes narrowed.

Whatever it was, he'd better bring it up soon. Otherwise, her patience was going to snap one of these days.

...

°

°

°

| Hours later, in the afternoon... |

...

Sitting on a rock by the backyard of the dojo, Kuina let out a scoff as she placed a bamboo sword down beside her.

"You're so weak."

"K-kgh...!"

In front of her, flat on his back on the ground, was a beaten Zoro with a bump on his head still sizzling from the recent blow, his expression extremely sour.

Seeing his unwilling face, she grinned, resting her head against her palm. "Why won't you learn, Zoro? You can't beat me. The 1,952 duels before this one should've made that clear by now."

"S-shut up, only losers give up!" Zoro grunted from the ground, slowly pushing himself upright and pointing a finger straight at her. "Besides, I'm catching up to you sooner or later! If you're scared, just say so!"

She sneered, crossing her arms and looking at him with a suspicious gaze. "You know, earlier, after I beat you, I heard some of the boys saying how there are people who enjoy getting beaten up, and assumed you must be one of those... Is that true, Zoro?"

"What?! I'm not a freak!"

"Well, the nearly two thousand duels with zero victories in your favor until now say otherwise."

"Shut up!"

She smirked at how easy it was to frustrate him.

"Well, I'll beat you up whenever you want. So don't hesitate to ask."

"Enough! Let's duel again, and I'll show you who enjoys getting beaten up!"

...

In the end, he ended up sprawled on the ground again, this time more pathetically than before, making that the 1,954th.

Kuina chuckled at the pitiful sight—only for her smile to freeze as she caught sight of something.

Inside the dojo, sneakily staring at them from the door frame, was Dan.

"Alright, that's it!" She stood up.

Zoro looked up at her as if she'd lost her mind, then stared in confusion as she left him behind and made her way inside.

"...What did I do?"

Back inside, she stomped her way over to Dan—who was now sweeping the dojo, acting as if he hadn't done anything.

She stopped right in front of him, arms crossed, staring him down with an upset expression, clearly waiting for him to acknowledge his weird behavior first.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Clearly, she hadn't accounted for Dan having the resolve to keep ignoring her blatant stare without issue for a full minute.

In the end, she broke the silence first.

"What's up with you?!"

Only then did Dan turn to her—his face looking completely puzzled and tilting to the side.

"What's up with me?"

A thick mark appeared on her forehead. "You even have the nerve to deny it?! This is like the one hundredth time I've seen you staring at me!"

"It hasn't been that many times."

"So you accept it!"

"Accept what?"

"Argh!" Kuina massaged her face in exasperation.

While Kuina fumed on her own, Dan's expression flattened slightly.

'Tailing people isn't as easy as they make it seem in media... wonder if the system will have a stealth hack for purchase eventually.'

Sighing, he went back to sweeping the dojo, ignoring the blatant glare and hysterical groans coming from beside him. Koushirou had given him sweeping duty today, so he didn't want to waste much time here.

Of course, he wasn't only sweeping. He was, indeed, observing the blue-haired girl.

As to why he was doing such things? The answer was simple.

To say he was anxious was an understatement.

For starters, the urge to go to Nami's village and unfold his plans there, but having to stay here to prevent the girl next to him from falling down some stairs, had made him grow a bit impatient.

Secondly, yes, the moment of truth was supposed to happen after the 2,001st duel, so there wasn't much reason to be this attentive this early. There were still a few dozen duels left.

However, the thought that things might have already diverted off course from canon without him knowing, and that Kuina's mid-stair tripping tendencies might flare at any second rather than when they originally did in the show, had made him a bit paranoid.

That, plus his urge to get the heck out of there and unfold his plans at Nami's village, didn't help.

Which is why he'd ended up being overly observant of her whenever there was a duel—though maybe a bit too much, seeing as how she had noticed, and clearly wasn't enthusiastic about it.

There were other solutions to his predicament, of course. Like moving the sharpening stone that Kuina had gone to fetch—the one that ended up killing her—down to the first floor of wherever it was, thus making her avoid going up the stairs in the first place.

But who knew if they'd put it back up the moment he turned around.

He could also hide it, for extra security.

But in that case, they could just buy a new one.

Basically, with them being thinking beings, and not robots he could order not to do stuff, this wasn't going to be easy.

Especially because fate in this world was a variable to consider, or at least it seemed like it.

So he wasn't about to take risks. He'd remain on the island—putting all the contingencies he'd previously thought of into motion at the moment of truth—and keep a tight eye until it finally happened, he stopped it, and Kuina learned her lesson around stairs. But not in the lethal way.

Then he'd dip.

If she died even after all that, thanks to fate or whatever... well, he'd feel bad about it. But there was nothing more he could do.

He had a criminal empire to build.

And in it, guilt had no place.

To such thoughts, Dan nodded with his eyes closed, caressing his chin thoughtfully.

But just as he felt he'd arrived at a clean enough conclusion, a sharp voice brought him back to reality.

"Are you listening to me?!"

"...What?" He turned to Kuina, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple.

"I said I'm not going to put up with your sneaky glances anymore. If you have something to say, just say it! Otherwise, stop stalking me!"

"You've got a lot of nerve, coming from the one who stalked me first..." Dan muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?!"

Dan ignored her, thinking about what to do now that she didn't seem like she was going to overlook his vigilance this time.

He could, of course, just walk away and put an end to this. But given that there was still half a month left before the event he was waiting for, he very much doubted he'd stop his vigilance over her.

So he supposed it was better to deal with the problem now, smooth over whatever wasn't working here, and let his plans sail cleanly from here on.

So, smiling slightly, he turned to her.

"There's a reason I've been acting like this."

"Well?" Kuina asked, eyes squinted.

Dan let a pause follow for a moment, then pointed the tip of the broom at Kuina dramatically.

"I plan on challenging you during the next dueling day."

An awkward silence followed, with Kuina apparently taking in the war declaration.

"You?"

Only for a frown to take over her face the next second.

"I've been training my whole life, since I was a literal kid, and you already think you can beat me? With just nine months of training?"

That sounded a bit assholy when she put it like that, but Dan nodded anyway. If it could get her out of his hair for now, passing off his vigilance as merely "scouting the enemy," it worked for him.

Whether he lost or won that match when the day came, it wouldn't matter—not long after, her death event would happen, and after he did what he could to prevent it, he'd be leaving this island for good.

"I see," Kuina nodded, her expression a bit calmer.

Dan was about to let out a sigh of relief—and even more so when she began walking away.

That lasted until he saw her heading toward the bamboo sword pile instead of the exit.

Soon, she grabbed one and tossed it to him. He caught it, the corner of his eyebrow twitching slightly.

"If you're so confident, how about we test whether you're as ready as you think you are?" she asked, her tone leveled, though Dan could read it clearly enough.

She had taken his challenge pretty close to heart.

'I should have seen this coming.'

He shot a wry look at the bamboo sword in his hand, then back at the approaching Kuina.

After a moment, though, he sneered softly, let go of the broom and kicked it clear of the area around him, then settled into his stance.

'No matter. I've been curious either way. I've improved a lot, after all.'

Kuina took her stance a few steps away.

"Don't you dare hold anything back," she said suddenly.

Dan immediately knew what she meant.

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[Tireless Hack Activated!—Time left: 59 minutes, 59 seconds.]

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"I didn't plan to."

Her frown deepened as whatever slight traces of exhaustion that had been on him vanished from one moment to the next.

Still, she gave a short nod and tightened her grip on the sword.

Without a referee to declare the start, nor any spectators to witness it, they had no way to mark the beginning of the fight.

So instead, the two just...

—Tack!—

Lunged.

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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[Hilight]

Dan: She dies because of exhaustion ending with her tripping down the stairs. To save her life I'll make sure she's even more tired.
D. Stairs: Yesssssss, gooooooooood!

 

[Yohnos]

Are we sure that Koujirou isn't the one who killed her?
The elements of the investigation are against him
- He as the mobile (he didn't want her to inherit the dojo, he was against her getting stronger and he gave her blade to her main rival before her body was even cold)
- He is the only witness
- You don't need to sharpen Wado Ichimongi that much.
Maybe he didn't push down D stairs but he has a psychological impact on her

 

[Despacitoleo]

Awsome chapter Down D. Stairs is coming

 

[Plaguedromance]

Thank you for the new chapters!

 

[Plebston323]

Wonder what hax he gets later

 

[Trek]

He needs some memory hacks, if he can't even remember the other warlords then his future knowledge advantage is truly doomed.

 

[The Synonym]

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[Better Than Talent]
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...

As the battle started, both parties rushed at each other, swinging in wide arcs.

—Tack!—

Their swords came crashing down against each other with a dry sound as they collided, and from then on, the two pushed against each other, the bamboo swords trembling under the contrasting pressure coming from both sides.

'I can't...?'

That simple fact seemed to surprise Kuina. Months ago she had been stronger physically—Dan had the advantage in endurance with his strange ability, but she had clearly been stronger at that point.

Yet now she couldn't push him around anymore.

However, despite the surprise, soon she shook the matter off.

'...You may have grown stronger, but there are still things you need training at!'

Gritting her teeth and knowing she wouldn't win a battle of attrition, she changed tactics. Using Dan's focused strength on the sword clash, she let go of her own pressure, and in the gap where Dan adjusted to the sudden lack of opposition, she slipped out of his range before quickly delivering a slash at his blind spot.

—Tack!—

He blocked it—flimsily. He barely had time to react, so he wasn't able to get into a proper stance. It did the job of keeping him in the fight, but it left him in a compromising posture.

And Kuina wasn't about to let that go unpunished.

'Just as I thought, you're still too weak!'

Taking a deep breath, her expression hardened as she began hammering down on Dan from all sides, her speed picking up with each blow.

—Tack!—

—Tack!—

—Tack!—

Dan did his best to block, and under normal circumstances, he might have managed it well enough—but the flimsy block from just a moment ago had trapped him in an unbalanced state, and Kuina wasn't giving him room to regain his footing. Her slashes looked like ricocheting bullets, hitting his guard and then curving down swiftly to rain back on his weak points.

For most people, being constantly hit at their weak points, forcing them to use desperate attempts at blocking and thus being very unstable, would wear them down, cause them to slip, or simply break their guard in due time.

—But in this situation, the exhaustion wasn't accumulating. The pain of each improperly blocked hit was there, muscles and tendons bearing pressures they weren't supposed to… but that was something he could ignore.

Going down wasn't on the table anytime soon.

So the only one who actually began wearing down from all that relentless assault was—

'Why isn't he falling?!'

—Kuina.

And Dan was the first to notice.

In her frustration at having him a sliver away from breaking but not managing to deliver the finishing blow, she'd forgotten that such tactics simply wouldn't be enough.

That proved a grave mistake. The moment she slowed even slightly—

—Tack!—

"...?!"

Dan batted one of her swings aside. Her exhaustion, combined with his completely undiminished strength, was enough to throw her off balance this time instead.

And with that done, Dan smiled.

... and proceeded to start his own counterattack.

—Tack!—

—Tack!—

—Tack!—

—Tack!—

Using his unlimited reserves, Dan turned the tables and became the one hammering down on Kuina's guard. Each of his attacks equal in speed and power to the others—a stark contrast to Kuina's fading strength and shortening breath with every block she had to endure or attack she had to dodge. The more she blocked, the closer defeat felt.

It was in that moment, with her brain in overdrive searching for a way out, that the reality of how much Dan had grown since their last spar finally dawned on her.

Before, even in a similar situation, she would have been fast enough to find a gap to strike him between his attacks.

But now she couldn't find anything of the sort. His speed had increased compared to before, and the efficiency of his movements had improved tremendously as well. Trying to pull something off carried too high a risk of eating a hit instead.

Though, maybe, the fault lay in her own exhaustion slowing her down and keeping her from fighting at her best.

Or maybe it was just the difference that the ability to push off exhaustion granted in fights, and only now was she truly becoming aware of it.

Or perhaps...

'...What father said was true.'

Years of training, all reduced to nothing before the boy in front of her. A newcomer who had caught up to her in mere months.

Sure, he was clearly abnormal—capable of holding off exhaustion in a way that no ordinary person could. But was that really the only reason? Was that alone really enough to trample over years of her effort in just a few months?

Or was it also the fact that he was a boy?

"...!"

That thought brought forth a burst of energy she hadn't known was still there. Feeling anger fill her, her grip on the sword tightened, and she pushed against the burning in her muscles.

Her breathing re-adjusted itself, and soon her eyes sharpened, settling on the attacking figure in front of her.

She wasn't going to lose today, she wouldn't—

—Whack!—

Her thoughts and fury were doused in an instant as a sharp sting hit her palms, followed by the feeling of her sword leaving her hands.

-Clack, clack!-

The sound of it clattering against the ground followed.

"..."

Just like that, so abruptly, what she had thought was her comeback ended.

-Swish-

The tip of a bamboo sword stopped right before her throat as she stood stunned.

"I guess challenging you at the dueling day is unnecessary now."

Dan's comment snapped her out of her trance. Her eyes wandered to the dropped sword, then to her reddened palms.

Losing was one thing. Losing by letting go of your sword in combat was another.

Not only had she lost—she had lost badly.

Her jaw trembled slightly. "How...?"

Dan smirked faintly. "It was a bit of a gamble, but I figured you wouldn't be in the clearest headspace and would try to pull something out of desperation."

Kuina's eyes widened.

"So I just waited patiently until you snapped," he continued, "and used that moment to strike a bit faster than I'd been letting on up to that point... and I guess it worked, didn't it?"

Kuina's lips trembled slightly as she took in his words.

She had been led on from the beginning. He was faster than he'd been showing, and had caught her completely off guard at the last second using that very fact.

She had been read completely.

She had truly lost.

"..."

Kuina fell silent as the reality of her defeat settled over her, thoughts running a mile a minute.

Then, after a few seconds, she spoke.

"How did you know?"

Dan stared at her for a moment, seemingly weighing whether to answer, before shrugging.

He'd be leaving this place soon. There wasn't much reason to care about his relations here.

So, sneering, he answered. "It was obvious. A boy was slowly coming close to beating you, and you weren't able to do anything to stop it... I just saw the moment where the desperation was about to make you slip, and acted accordingly."

A deep frown took over Kuina's face, her teeth gritting.

"... Was I wrong?" She asked, her tone clearly upset.

Dan raised an eyebrow, but she kept going before he could answer.

"Nine months, and you were able to catch up to me—someone who's trained most of her life... Your exhaustion-pushing thing might have helped, yes, but that much?!"

She slouched forward, her hair falling to block her face.

"... If it's not that, then what other reason could there be besides you being a boy?! Is there anything else?! I don't think so!"

Dan looked a bit taken aback by the outburst.

A few sniffles came through as she spoke, making it pretty clear what was happening despite her face not being visible.

In the end, she said one last thing through them.

"... How am I supposed to feel about the fact that my father ended up being right?"

A silence fell between the two after that. Kuina kept her gaze on the floor. Dan, meanwhile, stood there staring at the sulking girl in front of him for a moment, a bit unsure of what to do.

It seemed he may have been a bit tactless with his words.

Realizing that, he scratched the back of his head, annoyed at himself.

For people he wasn't supposed to care much about, and should quickly forget once his criminal career started, they sure made it hard to remain that detached.

Maybe he just didn't have the cold-heartedness required yet.

He let out an annoyed sigh.

"Alright, cut it out." He said, calling her out.

Kuina lifted her head, small tears at the corners of her eyes, looking pretty frustrated—like she was expecting him to laugh at her for what she'd blurted out in a burst of anger.

What she didn't expect was a finger suddenly shoved into her face, making her stumble back a step in surprise.

Only once she was clear of it did she focus back on Dan properly.

"Why you...?"

"In the first place, you're under a big misconception," he said, cutting her off. "You think I caught up so fast because I'm a guy."

He opened his arms wide.

"But the fact is, I caught up to you simply because I'm me."

A beat of silence settled for a moment.

Followed by Kuina's scrunching face of bewilderment.

"... Hah?"

Seeing her reaction, he snorted in amusement. "What I mean is, your father was wrong. The fact that I'm a boy is irrelevant to me catching up to you. Even Zoro hasn't caught up to you yet, has he?"

"..." She didn't answer that, but her expression said enough.

That was true. And not only Zoro—all the other disciples, including the adult ones, had been defeated by her.

So what made the guy in front of her different?

Seeing the look she was giving him, he shrugged with a wry smile. "Then the real reason should be clear enough, right?"

She didn't answer, as if expecting him to just say it.

So he did.

"The answer is that I'm just that good."

"..."

Kuina's mouth opened in sheer disbelief.

This guy... he was unbelievably cocky!

But on second thought, even though she wanted to bring him down a notch, it made sense. Why else would his growth rate be so outrageous compared to the rest of the students? And that was obviously setting aside the other clear advantage he had—the exhaustion thing.

Both clearly abnormal. Both explained by that simple statement.

He was just that good... apparently?

Kuina blinked, looking like she was struggling to come to terms with that. It was the first time she'd been in a position where she was the one lacking in talent—she was usually the one at the top of that ladder.

But now the roles had reversed, and she didn't quite know how to sit with it.

On one hand, she felt relieved. Once again, the supposed limits she'd been told existed since birth were being proven wrong. She could still achieve her goal.

But on the other hand, if the matter of him having greater talent was real—as he said—wasn't that roughly the same problem as before, just shrunk down from a whole gender to a single person? The fact that she might ultimately be unable to surpass another existence remained.

On that thought, Kuina's fist clenched.

Dan picked up on it, his eyebrow twitching at how troublesome she was to calm down.

"Listen, it's not even a talent thing. Even if you were the most talented person in the whole world, you still wouldn't be able to catch up to me."

Kuina's face snapped up at him—not angry anymore, but outright baffled.

"What?"

He had gone from talking plausibly to crazy in an instant. What did he mean by even the most talented person not being able to catch up? How did that even make sense?

Walking closer, Dan slung an arm over her shoulder and gestured at the air above them, sweeping his free hand from one side to the other.

"The thing is, I'm beyond talent. This isn't simply about you. The rest of the disciples, Zoro, your dad, marines, pirates, heck, even Mihawk... none of them will stand a chance against me in due time, and consequently, no one will be able to catch up to me either."

Kuina was not even baffled anymore. She was scared.

When they first met, he seemed relatively normal... who could have thought he had this level of delusion hidden inside?!

She could concede him having great talent. But "being beyond it"... what did that even mean?!

While she struggled to process the words leaving Dan's mouth, he let go of her and stepped back.

"That's why there's no reason to compare yourself to me. Just go for whatever you're aiming for and put me out of your mind."

Those words seemed to snap Kuina out of her trance for a moment.

"... Even though you'll probably beat me to it?"

Dan paused, looking confused for a second—before rolling his eyes as he got it. "Right, the whole becoming the strongest swordsman thing... I'm not interested. My goal is another."

Kuina still didn't look convinced.

Dan's smile twitched in annoyance, so after another roll of eyes, he added something else. "... And besides, even if my goal was that, just because I'm faster than you at getting to the finish line doesn't mean you can't reach it eventually. My talent being higher doesn't cap yours off... At least, it shouldn't work that way, I think."

He honestly wasn't very versed in the power scaling of this world, or in the matter of talent. He knew that stronger Haki was basically what mattered the most at the top—at least according to Kaido. But so long as you put in the effort, you should become pretty strong, right?

Even if for some, "putting in the effort" meant breaking their body apart over and over, unlike the most talented—like Coby. That guy, catching up to Luffy so quickly and learning Rokushiki just as fast, was a pretty clear display of what talent meant in this world. Talent paired with effort, but talent either way.

That, or other factors he wasn't aware of.

'Whatever,'

Dan shook his head and shrugged his wandering thoughts aside.

Looking back at Kuina, he found her deep in thought over his words.

'At least I got through.'

Huffing in quiet relief, he turned around—but before leaving for good, he stopped, glanced back, and gave her a light bump on the shoulder.

That snapped her out of her swirling thoughts. She looked up to find him holding out the broom toward her, like passing down a sword.

"So long as you put in the effort, you should be able to reach your goals. So focus more on yourself, and not on others... Take your destiny into your own hands."

Kuina looked dazed for a moment, her eyes moving between him and the broom.

Her jaw clenched a little as her throat tightened.

But in the end, she nodded and took it from him.

Smiling faintly, Dan nodded back and turned around.

He waved once without looking back, before walking out of the dojo.

"..."

Kuina remained where she was, staring at the spot where he had disappeared. Then, she glanced down at the broom in her hand, inspecting it with a pensive look.

"Take my destiny into my own hands..."

Her eyes shone with newfound realization as she uttered those words.

-Step, step, step-

"...?"

Just at that moment, the sound of approaching footsteps from behind made her turn.

Her father was just leaving his room, heading her way.

Once he got close enough, he gave a quick look around before settling on her. "Kuina, where's Dan?"

She blinked, surprised her father was looking for him, before staring down at the broom in her hand.

"... He just left."

"What? I'm sure today was his turn at cleaning duty—" His eyes drifted to the broom in her hands, eyebrows rising slightly before settling into a small smile. "Oh, I see you took over for him. No issue then."

"Huh?"

Kuina looked at her father, then at the broom in her hands, then at the door where Dan had just walked out.

Then, back at the broom.

'That guy... gave me the broom to skip out on cleaning duty?!'

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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[Plaguedromance]

This chapter was a great read

 

[The Synonym]

This chapter was a great read

Click to shrink...

That's really good to hear, thanks

 

[Despacitoleo]

amazing chapter peak speech

 

[The Synonym]

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[Shoo]
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| A week later, Dan's POV: |

...

"... What a pain."

That left my mouth as I stared at the sky with a bleak look, feeling drops hit my face as I did.

It was a rainy day.

As to why that kind of groan left my mouth?

Well, life can be a bit hectic when you're planning to fight a monstrous fishman capable of turning a house upside down with his bare hands while only being a normal human—and a kid at that.

For now, I have thought of some plans that might help me against him—even if not necessarily to beat him—but before any of those, I had other matters to address first.

Ever since my fight against Kuina, when I finally got to test the result of my training so far and triumphed over her, I've been focusing on the preparations for leaving the island once I stop her fate of being one-shot by stairs.

After all, I was still a kid. My list of resources was scarce at best, so I was going to need more strategizing than simply saying "I'm going to leave."

I needed transport, food for the journey, working knowledge of how not to die at sea, and most importantly—a destination.

Taking off to the sea was no small matter, despite how Luffy may have made it seem by traversing the fearsome ocean in a plain barrel.

It would be pretty lame if my journey to becoming a godly walking cheat ended because my ship flipped on one wrong turn and I fell in and got eaten by a giant fish.

Pretty sure the ROB guy would smite my ass for such a pathetic ending.

So, that meant I needed proper preparation.

And for that, I've been scouting the ships and boats stationed at the docks. More specifically, the ones belonging to island residents that never actually get used and sit there gathering dust—or sea water, technically.

Since everyone on this island knows each other and nobody has much reason to leave other than for business reasons, the rate of stolen ships in this island is basically 0%.

... Which means their security is pretty crap. I'm fairly sure that if I sneak quietly enough one night, I'll be able to take a ship and slip away without much trouble.

For now, though, I'm still in the process of picking which one. Something too big will be a nightmare to manage alone, and something too small might flip if the sea gets a little rough.

So for now, I'm using the time I spend on fishing trips with the crew to get a better look at what's available.

Speaking of fishing trips—I'm also using that time to learn navigation.

Whenever I'm done with my share of the work on the ship, I go and pick Senshi's—our navigator—brain a bit to learn the art of traversing the seas, and sometimes Old Shun's too, since he apparently knows his stuff about navigation but stopped bothering with it a long time ago once Senshi joined to take care of it.

And let me tell you, it's one pain of a subject to learn. Especially in a world where the common knowledge around it isn't exactly advanced. Most people out here rely on instinct and whatever hints the weather gives off, which is fine until you're the one trying to learn it from scratch.

Or at least that's how it is in this part of the sea—or in this crew in specific. Maybe elsewhere it's more structured and advanced.

Either way, that specific part was taking longer to grasp than I'd like.

There are parts to the skill with more clear reasoning to them, though, so I'm not completely lost. At my current level I'd probably manage to sail in calm weather—anything above that and my ship is going down though.

But I'm confident I'll fill in whatever I'm missing by the time I have to depart. With SpeedyGains, it's only a matter of time—and not much of it at that.

The hack applied both to training and to learning stuff, so it was crazy amazing for cramming all the knowledge in my head in the small amount of time I have left before leaving.

As for knowing where I plan on going once I leave—since the sea doesn't come with road signs, as you might expect—I've actually been trying to get Senshi to hand over some maps so I can figure out where Cocoyashi Village actually is.

Sadly, he's given me a few, but none of them have covered enough territory to locate it yet.

But I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

If there's a will, there's a way.

As I thought that, I let out a short laugh.

'It would have been really awkward if, after all this planning, it turned out that Cocoyashi wasn't even the name of the village I'm supposed to go and I've been remembering wrong all along... Haha, yeah... very funny.'

...

Alright, now I'm worried that it's actually not the name and I've been confusing it with something else.

What was Luffy's village called again? I'm not mixing them up, right?

"Oi, Dan, stop standing there like a plank and get over here—these nets aren't going to haul themselves in!"

Old Shun's voice snapped me out of my head.

"Right, sorry."

Maybe I shouldn't be getting lost in my thoughts while the ship is being tossed around by the waves.

I looked up to the darkened and ominous sky.

'This storm is quite heavy, isn't it?'

...

°

°

°

| Hours later... |

...

"Lower the anchor!"

-Clang!-

Once the anchor was down, they put out the plank, and we all walked down to the dock.

"Phew..."

As we finally hit solid ground, I couldn't help but let out a long groan, massaging my face and staring at the now-clear sky with a thoroughly worn look.

'I thought I was a goner. My criminal career almost ended on a random fishing trip before it could even begin...'

While I sat with the fragility and unpredictability of life, and my concerns about needing to actually know what I was doing before setting off to sea solidified very firmly—

—PAF!—

"Ack!"

—a palm suddenly struck my back, making me yelp and spin around to see who the bastard was.

He wasn't hiding, so it wasn't hard to figure out.

Sato. The guy who, for some reason, thought it was fun to mess with me. Also the guy who believed swordsmanship was a conspiracy.

You know him, he was there when I awakened my otherworldly memories months ago.

—and also there every day I go with the crew to fish.

But I didn't narrate for you during those times, imaginary listener, so you obviously wouldn't know about that.

Thus, don't worry if you can't remember his name. He isn't that important anyways.

"Hahaha, wasn't that a valuable experience, little Dan?" he said between laughs, barely able to breathe from them. "When you almost fell off the ship, I almost fell myself from laughing so hard!"

I clicked my tongue.

"That's because you left a bucket of fish in the middle of the deck! I almost tripped and couldn't grab onto anything in time because of it!"

He smirked. "Well, doesn't your sensei teach you to maintain your balance at all times? He must be doing something wrong if you tripped over a measly fish bucket."

"..."

Following that, I kicked him in the calf.

—Whack!—

"AAAARGH!"

He went down pretty quickly after that, clutching the spot I'd hit. It was a pitiful sight, considering I was still only ten years old and the guy in front of me was at least in his twenties—he had a bushy beard, so it was hard to tell.

But the state I left him in was to be expected, honestly. I may train with a sword, but that didn't mean I was going to depend solely on it. It'd be stupid to rely on just a piece of metal against Arlong.

As much as I'd like to believe a sword could damage him, there was also the chance he'd just tank the hit and break the blade with his bare hands right after.

So alongside swordsmanship, I needed to make sure my body itself was as conditioned as possible too.

At least that way, if he landed a punch, I wouldn't have my chest caved in.

—Or at least not die from it instantly.

'Hopefully the show exaggerated his feats...' I thought as I sighed, not exactly looking forward to that particular meeting.

But I wasn't going to say no to kickstarting my criminal career.

It may be dangerous, but with my hacks by my side, it was doable. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be considering it.

'That fish is going to be eating dirt, that's for sure.'

With such thoughts, I turned and walked away, ignoring the pained wails behind me.

Minutes later, after helping the crew unload today's haul and cleaning myself off with a wet rag, I headed home.

Old Shun stayed behind to deal with the merchants who'd been waiting on our arrival to buy the fish as fresh as possible, so I walked back alone.

Before long, I was home sweet home.

Only home wasn't looking as sweet as usual.

"Why the hell are you here?" I asked, staring flatly at who was sitting there.

Sitting on old Shun's log by the fireplace, was Kuina.

... For some reason.

'Did she come here to silence me so that the result of our duel doesn't get out?'

While such thoughts ran through my head, she turned and stood up, facing me.

"I waited here for hours. Where were you?"

I looked at her flatly.

Why was she making this sound like I'd done something wrong?

"I was fishing. See?"

I grabbed a fish from the basket I'd been carrying—I'd planned to grill a couple for dinner—and waved it in her direction.

She stepped back before it could reach her, eyeing it with apprehension.

At that, I sneered, then passed by her and sat down at the log, setting the basket down beside me.

I was hungry, so I was going to eat regardless of my uninvited guest.

I grabbed two flint stones and started striking them together close to the leftover leaves from an old fire in the fireplace.

As I worked on getting a spark, I glanced toward her briefly. "So? Why are you here?"

She looked back at me with a dissatisfied expression. "Can't I be?"

My eyebrow twitched. "That doesn't answer my question."

She huffed, then sighed.

"You mentioned that Yonko—Big Mom, was it?"

I nodded without looking up, still working on the fire.

"Well, you sounded like you knew a lot about the world out there. So I got curious."

I stopped and gave her an incredulous look.

'That's why she's here?'

I told her that months ago.

I thought she'd forgotten about it by now. Guess not.

"I see," I gave a nod and went back to working on the fire. "But why now? That was like five months ago."

A spark finally caught the leaves. I leaned in quickly and blew until the fire took properly.

"Well, uh..." Meanwhile, Kuina seemed to be struggling to find an answer.

In the end, she let out a sigh, like she was resigning to something. "I've been curious since then, but we weren't exactly on good terms at the time, so..."

'And we are now?'

I turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

But seeing her looking all sheepish, I had to assume so.

'Guess my reassuring from last time did a bit too much.'

I groaned inwardly.

'I'm not that good at detaching, am I? Curse this weakness of mine.'

I pulled a couple of fish out and ran skewers through them, then set them over the fire.

If I wanted to detach, I was going to have to try a little harder. And I supposed the first step was not getting too friendly with her.

So, with that in mind, I turned to her, ready to shoo her away.

"Besides, you tricked me into taking on your cleaning duty last time. I think you owe me a little."

Hmm...

She does make a fair point.

Sighing, I made space on the log and pulled out another fish to skewer.

Just looking at her expression, this was going to be a lengthy conversation.

Curse this weakness of mine.

"Alright, what do you want to know?" I asked, defeated.

Hearing that, she smiled victoriously and sat down beside me.

'Well, whatever,' I shrugged my annoyance off.

Regardless of my attempts at detaching, it was just a secondary objective.

I don't think it'd make much of a difference if I humor her here.

And even if it did, my objective would remain the same no matter what.

To show this world the meaning of hax.

…

| Current Duel, 1973th. 27 duels remaining |

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-To Be Continued...-

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(A/N: The deadline is approaching, and Dan is roasting—fish.

I wanted to make a rhyme there, sorry.)

 

[TheDanny]

Damn, I almost missed this fic going up...I mean. Sure I only realized it existed at chapter 16, but better late than never. Probably cause the SFW section of QQ is pretty anemic compared to it's cousin in terms of readers.

 

[Yohnos]

| Current Duel, 1973th. 27 duels remaining |

Click to shrink...

If she dies he can put on his sunglasses and steal the sword, silver lining

 

[Plaguedromance]

Let the man eat his fish in peace!

 

[The Synonym]

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[End of The Road]
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| Two weeks later, dueling day |

...

Dan sat in his spot, watching with his usual bored expression as the duel between two of his classmates finished.

'This has turned from an intimidating day into one that feels like it drags on forever.'

He sighed inwardly.

When he was still a novice, dueling day would strike nervousness in him like crazy. It was the day he'd get to know how much he had progressed, and feel himself rise through the hierarchy clearly.

Also the day he'd get beaten up.

Nowadays it was just routine, and a day where nothing interesting happened.

He could already beat everyone here—save for Koushirou. He wasn't quite sure about how strong he was, but judging from his status as sensei and as father of Kuina, he probably stood a bit above him.

But how that'd turn out if he used Tireless? Dan didn't have an answer.

Not that it would happen. He didn't have a reason to.

Sighing, his gaze turned to the window, watching the sunlight seep in.

As he observed the daylight, his mind quickly went to how his plans had progressed during this time.

'Pretty well.'

That summed it up.

He could consider navigation learned, for the most part. He wasn't a master of the craft, but he could now get from one point to another without dying... In theory.

He had yet to find out whether all the knowledge he'd built up would actually hold once it was time to test it himself.

He had also locked in on a suitable boat to "borrow" once he was done with his matters here, and the plan for stealing it was mostly laid out too.

He had bought plenty of resources for the trip, gotten a general sense of the direction he needed to follow after checking a rather vague but useful enough map of the East Blue, and worked out roughly how long it should take to reach his destination.

He was, in every sense of the word, mostly prepared.

All that remained was saving Kuina from some stairs.

'Why does it sound so stupid?'

Dan massaged his temple at the thought.

As for that matter...

"Next, Kuina vs Zoro!" Koushirou's voice rang out.

"It's happening?"

"Yeah, it's finally happening."

"Their 2,000th duel... god, they've come a long way."

"Will Zoro finally escape his loser status?"

"Nah."

The chatter of the rest of the students made things very clear.

Today was the day... allegedly.

After this duel, at night, the two would engage in one final duel using real swords. Then Kuina would win, and they'd make their promise to become the best swordsmen. Only for Kuina to die by morning.

At least, that's how it was supposed to go.

He, of course, wasn't going to let it happen—but whether things would even play out remotely similarly with or without his influence, Dan was curious to see.

Plenty of things had changed, not only in terms of timing and places, but also in the people involved themselves.

Kuina was a bit more confident... or so he liked to assume.

Also, many of Zoro's and Kuina's duels had probably been postponed, or outright skipped due to Kuina's erratic behavior, which meant the duel in the show would likely have already happened by now.

Fate was runnning late.

And of course, there was the matter of his own presence, which may have affected things in ways he couldn't account for.

All in all, plenty of factors that would make it hard for everything to play out the same.

But you never knew with fate.

Which was why he had plenty of contingencies prepared to make sure Kuina wouldn't be meeting heaven today—Or hell, you never know.

His own vigilance on standby would serve as the last line of defense.

If even that didn't work... then today would leave a very bad taste in his mouth, he supposed.

"Winner, Kuina!"

As he finished that thought, the victor was already decided.

His eyes went to the mat, seeing Kuina smirking over Zoro, who looked dizzy on the floor.

"Two thousand fights, and Zoro still lost?"

"Sensei, are you giving her some kind of secret training?!"

"Just because she's your daughter you shouldn't give her special treatment!"

"That's unfair!"

Outrage surged from the students as they watched their underdog fail to pull off a miraculous comeback.

Kuina didn't even look bothered. She simply walked back to her seat and sat down, calm and satisfied.

Koushirou, meanwhile, could only smile wryly.

"Everyone, I wouldn't do that. The truth is, while Zoro has become stronger, so has Kuina. She continues to push forward, even until today."

"Hngh..."

Zoro let out a soft groan as he pushed himself back to his feet. The rest of the students watched him with worry.

He looked impassive, though. Instead of breaking down like they'd expected, he shook his head briefly and walked toward the dojo's door.

"I'm going to clean my face." That was all he said before he walked out and closed the door behind him.

As he left, everyone looked at a loss.

But soon, all eyes shifted to someone else.

"Oi, Dan, avenge Zoro!"

"You've grown a lot stronger, haven't you?"

"Yeah, come on. You're the only one who can face her right now."

Dan gave them a lazy look.

"Nah."

They looked taken aback by his blunt refusal. But Dan shrugged their betrayed gazes off.

He had no intention of wasting energy on a duel against Kuina today. He had some busy hours ahead.

As he sat there, however, he felt two particular gazes settle on him.

One was Kuina's.

The other was Koushirou's.

Kuina's he could already guess. So he sent her an "even if you demand a duel, I won't accept" look and ignored her from there.

Koushirou's gaze, however, was stranger.

Dan couldn't quite put his finger on why. There was a trace of satisfaction in it.

'Well, who cares.'

He was leaving soon. So he wasn't feeling particularly thoughtful about the opinion of the people from this island or his ties to them today.

They could think badly of him, or judge him. He didn't care.

His journey was about to begin, and they had no place in it.

...

°

°

°

| Hours later, night time... |

...

Dan sat by a cliff, watching with squinted eyes as, in the distance, Zoro ran across the rice field in the direction of the village, carrying two real swords by his side.

"Finally. The wait was killing me," Dan muttered, sounding genuinely relieved.

And it was no wonder he felt like that, he'd been waiting for hours by now.

So, huffing, he stood up and walked away, heading down the cliff.

He traversed the forest that circled the village, moving at an unhurried but steady pace. Before long, he had circled the entire village and arrived at the stretch of forest right next to the dojo.

There, he searched briefly and quickly located the storage shed.

As he did, however, he caught sight of Kuina hurrying inside.

He slipped calmly behind a tree and watched.

A few seconds later she came back out holding a sword of her own, then circled around to the back of the dojo where Zoro was waiting. He gave her a nod, and the two disappeared into the forest to find a secluded spot for their final duel.

They passed close enough to the tree he was using to hide that Dan held his breath for a second.

Once they were gone, he stepped out and let out a quiet huff of relief.

Then his gaze shifted to the storage shed, hardening slightly.

"The moment of truth… Ten months of preparation finally end today."

After uttering those words, he pulled out the sunglasses of anonymity and flicked them on.

'Let's do this.'

Ready and determined, he left his hiding spot and made his way to the shed.

-Creaaaak-

As he entered, he pulled the door shut behind him, sinking the entire place into deep darkness.

Thus, Dan equipped his night vision hack into the passive slot, making the until then pitch black room clear up for him.

With his vision recovered, he smiled faintly and looked around. "Now, where's that cursed sharpening stone?"

He hummed as he scanned the room. Before long, something caught his eye.

Not the sharpening stone—but equally guilty.

"So this is the strongest swordsman in the world. Down D. Stairs."

The renowned stairs, leading to the second floor of the shed.

He sneered at the joke, grabbed the railing, and gave it a slight shake, finding it perfectly functional and not quite murderous.

"Appearances can be deceiving, I guess."

Shaking the humor off, he climbed up.

The second floor didn't take long to search. A large stone sat in plain sight, clearly well-used for sharpening. He picked it up without much thought—heavy, but not for the current him—gave it a brief look, and turned back toward the stairs.

At the top of them, he paused, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple.

"I'm not going to take the fall for Kuina, am I?"

Fate might be feeling funny today.

After enough seconds of hesitation, he shook the worry off and began climbing down carefully. Just in case.

Luckily, fate didn't try anything. He reached the first floor without incident and let out a relieved sigh.

Then, without further business, he stepped outside the shed, turned back, and set the sharpening stone right at the entrance of the shed, blocking the doors.

Why not take it away entirely, you ask?

Because even if he took it, Kuina would still go up the stairs to look for it. Leaving it at the entrance removed the need to go upstairs at all.

Of course, he had thought through a few scenarios in which she might go up anyway—so for those, he'd stay on standby.

—Or at least that was the plan.

"Well, this is an unexpected visit."

Dan visibly flinched as a voice came from behind.

He turned slowly, and felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek as he saw the worst possible person to find there at that moment.

Koushirou.

The only one on this island who might actually be able to kick his ass.

"Sunglassed Bandit. Given your lack of appearances over the past few months, I thought you'd have left by now. But from what I can see, I was wrong."

"..."

Dan didn't answer. He simply stared back at the slit-eyed Koushirou.

"So, why did you come here? Were you planning on stealing something from my shed?"

Koushirou tilted his head slightly to the side, his gaze catching the sharpening stone now sitting in front of the door.

"My sharpening stone? That's a strange thing to steal."

"There's no need for useless chatter." Dan cut him off.

He could try to explain—he was, after all, here to save his daughter. But given his criminal record and the sheer unbelievability of claiming to know the future, he knew it wouldn't really land.

That was simply one of the costs that came with taking this path to criminality.

He had made his peace with it a long time ago, when he decided what his goal would be.

With that settled in his mind, Dan drew his saber and took his stance. Brows furrowing threateningly at Koushirou.

"We both know how this goes, so let's get to it."

Koushirou smiled faintly. "I was just trying to lighten the mood… But very well."

—Kashiiiin—

He drew his sword too, the blade catching the moonlight as it cleared the scabbard.

'Quite fitting,' Dan thought, his mouth curling ever so slightly.

On the last day he was staying here, on the last act he had to carry out in this place, just before the moment of truth—the final boss had arrived to make the last wall to clear before moving on to the next stage.

'The ROB must be having an orgasm from the storytelling going on here.'

His slight smile turned into a smirk.

'Alright. If it's entertainment you want, entertainment you shall receive!'

It was time to fight the last wall in his way.

Time to put all his efforts to the test.

...

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

────────────────────────

(A/N: The last test for Dan. Will he be able to beat Koushirou at such a tender age, or will he be beaten, captured, and executed before all the village?

Hopefully the first one.)

 

[K.st0ne]

It would be funny if situation similar to Shinpachi from Gintama happens. Sunglasses become his own character.

 

[Yohnos]

My suspicion are getting stronger, he was in the house, at night, when Kuina died... He is responsible (you might say "Well yeah that's his house") I'm sure he pushed her!

Also it would be an unexpected end of the fic to have the main character die.

 

[The Synonym]

────────────────────────
[Playing Dirty is What I Do]
────────────────────────

...

Kuina was walking home with a slight smile, letting out a satisfied huff through her nose as she moved through the woods.

At last, the 2,001st duel was over.

Zoro lost—and barely managed to put up a fight, even with real swords.

He may have been more of a challenge in the past, but after the Sunglassed Bandit outran her, and her subsequent defeat at Dan's hands, she had pushed her own training up a notch, which only widened the gap Zoro had already been struggling to close.

He was chasing from close, yes. But that gap had grown, and the duel—their last duel, according to Zoro's own words—had made it clear.

Though even with the loss plain on his face, and the tears that came with it, he hadn't looked completely down.

Despite Kuina's now cemented unbeaten status, he didn't wallow much on it, and rather revealed the next and only goal he'd be striving from now on.

To become the greatest swordsman. Just as she was aiming to.

Thus, seeing their aligning goals, they made a promise—that when both of them had reached the very peak, they would duel one final time and determine who was truly the greatest swordsman.

But until then, their duels were over.

And with that, the night was concluded. Kuina walked home with her sword in hand, watching its shine catch the moonlight with an excited look.

Once again, someone had recognized her worth.

Right now, the path she had doubted so many times felt the clearest it ever had.

If her conversations with Dan were true, the world was truly more vast and incredible than she could have known from this small island. The people stronger than she could have ever believed. And the goal to becoming the strongest swordsman way horrifyingly longer than it had seemed until now.

... But in contrast, nothing of the new things she learned showed her what she feared.

That her goal might be impossible for her.

If anything, it just settled greater heights in her sight. That was all.

The road might be harsh, and rocky... but that didn't mean impossible, did it?

She could do it. She could truly become the best swordsman in the world.

And all she had to do was to continue down this path, no matter what obstacle appeared.

—Though, ironically to this metaphorical path, the actual path ahead was pretty dark. More than a few times she had bumped into surfacing tree roots that hid in the shadows.

'I should have brought a lantern.' She groaned.

Despite it, however, her mood didn't dwindle.

It might be dark right now, but the darkness did little to suppress her growing determination.

Just like Zoro using this defeat as a new starting point, she was doing something similar.

From now on, she would continue climbing with a single objective, no matter what her father said to her.

And one day, she'd be standing at the peak.

"...?"

But as she approached her home, her smile faded. Something was reaching her ears.

-Clang!-

-Kashiiin!-

-Clink!-

The sound of metal meeting metal.

The sound of real swords clashing.

And it was coming from her house.

Her eyes widened, and she broke into a run, pushing past leaves and branches, nearly stumbling more than once on the dark, uneven forest floor.

Eventually she reached the clearing and finally got to see what was happening, her brows lifting at the scene.

"That's...!"

Her father was fighting someone. For a moment, in the darkness, she couldn't make out who.

Then the moonlight caught a familiar gleam over the other person's eyes, and she knew.

"That bastard!"

The Sunglassed Bandit.

Her grip on her sword tightened and she moved to step in—only for her body to flinch to a halt.

Normally, she would have jumped in without a second thought.

But the sight in front of her...

-Clang!-

-Kashiiin!-

-Clink!-

It was a majestic fight.

"Damn it." She took a step back, grip tightening, and could only watch as the two figures rushed at each other repeatedly, exchanging slashes and blocks in rapid succession.

If there was something more shameful for a swordsman than wounds on the back, or losing their sword in combat, it was receiving outside help mid-duel. This wasn't a formal duel with rules, and jumping in against the bandit would be common sense for most people.

But this wasn't about rules or common sense.

This was about what she was seeing—a clash between two experienced swordsmen that she had no right to interrupt. Especially not her father's fight. Not for his dignity as a swordsman, and not with her watching as his daughter.

So, all she could do was hide behind a tree and watch, eyes locked on the collision between her mentor and the criminal who had once slipped through her grasp.

—Screeeeeech!—

A grating sound split the air as both swords gnawed against each other, the two fighters locking gazes through the crossed blades.

Koushirou's brows furrowed as the contest of strength held. "For a criminal my daughter nearly beat months ago... you must have grown incredibly strong in such a short time to be able to fight like this. I'm not sure even Kuina could beat you now."

—Crckrckrkcr!—

Dan smirked, teeth grinding under the pressure. "Maybe so. But to be honest, it still feels too slow for me. For my goal to become real, this is barely a snail's pace."

"Impatience is the undoing of many."

"So is conformism."

A barely perceptible snort left Koushirou's nose.

Then the two shifted their weight and the clash broke. Their swords separated, and in the same breath they were swinging at each other again.

—CLANG!—

Metal rang out and sparks flew as their swords collided, followed by two separating once more, only to rush back at each other immediately.

To any outside eye, they looked evenly matched.

But Kuina, watching from the shadows, knew better.

'Father is going to win.'

Her face was not the slightest bit surprised.

There was a reason he was not only the sensei of this dojo, but the most respected sword instructor in the surrounding islands. He had reached a step further from the average swordsman. Something that no other swordsman was capable of.

She wasn't sure what. She was only aware of it because of the meetings her father had with other instructors, and what she had overheard from them.

But that didn't take away the fact that would decide this duel.

The bandit was good, but he wasn't exceptional… and that was enough to decide everything.

The only reason the fight was still going, she guessed, was that her father was gauging his opponent—measuring his strength, giving him the honor of showing his best before ending it. But once he'd seen enough, once the bandit neared his limit, it would be over in an instant.

"Still..." Kuina's brows furrowed as she kept watching. "When did he become so good?"

She remembered their encounter in the forest. His swordsmanship had been mediocre at best back then. If he hadn't run, she would have cut him down without much trouble.

But now he was actually holding his own against her father. If he were the same as he'd been months ago, this would have ended before she even arrived.

She couldn't make sense of it. How could someone's strength jump that much in just a few months? She had never seen anything like it...

—or actually, she had.

Her eyes widened slightly as the memory surfaced. Someone who, curiously, had shown roughly the same rate of progress in just as short a time.

But she shook her head a moment later.

"He looks too different."

The glasses in particular made the contrast stark. It just didn't add up.

—CLANG!—

While Kuina was lost in her own thoughts, after several more exchanges—deflecting, countering, closing and separating—both fighters pulled back for a brief respite.

Koushirou's breathing was audibly a little more hurried.

Dan, on the other hand, showed not the slightest sign of fatigue. His expression was as composed as at the start.

Koushirou noticed.

"You're a strange one. When Kuina told me she'd been outrun, I put it down to her age, or a gap in physical conditioning... but it seems I'm being outrun in my own way now." He relaxed his posture slightly. "I don't know how it's possible—your constitution and your technique don't seem to account for it… But it doesn't matter."

"..."

Then his posture shifted. It barely looked different from the relaxed stance he had seconds ago, but it wasn't the same. There was no stiffness, but no weakness either.

And in his otherwise serene face, a sharp focus made itself felt.

"I'm going to finish this now, before you can turn this into a battle of attrition."

"...!"

The instant those words left him, Koushirou's figure blurred—swift and sharp.

Dan barely had time to react.

But it was enough.

'I can see it.'

All the training he had put himself through hadn't been for nothing. As if in slow motion, his eyes traced the arc of Koushirou's blade—faster than his body could properly answer, but he moved regardless. Just as the sword came down, he lifted his own and blocked.

Shiiiiiiin!—

He succeeded. The blade never reached him.

-Shick-

But his relief didn't last. As he held Koushirou's gaze, something at the edge of his vision fell and clattered against the ground.

-Cling!-

He looked down.

The upper part of a blade.

"...?" He blinked in disbelief.

Then, he inspected what was still in his hand.

It was the lower half, together with the hilt.

His blade had been cut clean through.

"Dayum," Dan muttered, his mouth twitching in disbelief.

He had expected Koushirou to be strong. But expecting it and watching his steel sword split cleanly in two were different things entirely.

Especially because it had been steel.

'And that can only mean...'

A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead, his eyes settling on Koushirou with a new assessment.

He might have bitten off a bit more than he could chew.

Koushirou's smile widened slightly as he watched his opponent realize he might have made a mistake in fighting him.

"This is the next step for a swordsman—a technique beyond strength or speed. A state in which the swordsman and the sword become one. What he doesn't wish to cut, the sword won't cut. What he wills to cut, the sword will split apart, even steel."

"Yeah... I can see that." Dan muttered, staring at what remained of his blade with gloominess—the one he'd been saving for Arlong, now halved and useless.

Koushirou looked at him with something close to warmth. "I don't know how long someone like you has practiced swordsmanship, but your ability is undeniable. Your style is also incredibly similar to my own, even though I don't remember ever teaching you. Regardless of its origin though, through it I can see a dedication to your goal that is nothing short of admirable. The entire village might hate you, and while that's justified, you have yet to commit something truly irredeemable. Which is why I showed you the path that lies ahead of your swordsmanship—even though I have yet to completely master it myself."

Dan pulled his gaze from the broken blade and looked back at him. "So... you're letting me go?"

Koushirou let out a quiet, amused breath and shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. As the sensei of this village and one of its protectors, I'll do what I must—I'll apprehend you. The reason I showed you this is because you've shown me a character worth changing. Once you've served your sentence, I hope you'll put this knowledge to use and lead your sword toward a better path."

Dan stared at him in disbelief, and Kuina, from the shadows, did too.

"That sounds a bit idealistic, don't you think?" he asked.

"Perhaps. But whether you attain this or not depends entirely on you. I only gave you knowledge of its existence."

"I see..." Dan nodded.

But then his grip on his half-sword tightened.

"Sadly, that won't do. I need to be somewhere else right now. So I'm not getting thrown in a cell."

"Unfortunately, I don't think you have a choice. You're bested."

"Am I?"

Dan smirked.

Then—

—Clang!—

"...?!"

He threw his half sword at Koushirou, who blocked it with a startled look. Understandably—tossing one's own weapon like a rock wasn't a conventional move, even with the blade reduced to a stub.

But that wasn't the end. Koushirou's eyebrows lifted as, after blocking, the other half came flying at him—kicked off from the ground by Dan.

—Clang!—

He blocked that too, but blocking both halves had cost him his focus on Dan himself, who had already slipped into the darkness of the night and become hard to track for that split of an instant.

By the time Koushirou picked him up again—the moonlight catching the gleam of his sunglasses—Dan was already right in front of him, a pistol leveled at his face.

Koushirou reacted on instinct, lifting his sword to knock it aside.

And in doing so, he didn't see the knee coming for his side.

-Thud!-

The blow landed harder than expected. Despite the size difference, Dan's strength was considerable, and even Koushirou couldn't stop himself from taking a few steps back, a sharp breath escaping him as the pain registered.

"That was a bit dirty, wasn't it?" he said, steadying himself with a frown.

"I never said I was a swordsman, did I?"

Koushirou's brows lifted.

Indeed, he hadn't.

The chivalrous code, the unspoken agreement to fight with swords only, the expectation of honor—Koushirou had assumed all of it. And that had been his mistake. This had never been a duel, even when it looked like one.

The only difference now was that one of them had stopped pretending.

Koushirou let out a quiet chuckle. "I see. I made a mistake, then."

He readied his sword.

"I'll apprehend you now."

"Will you?"

Koushirou lunged without answering.

And noticed immediately that something had changed.

Dan simply dashed back, opening distance. Koushirou gave chase, and Dan retreated again. They repeated this at least five times, Dan staying just out of reach each time, until Koushirou finally stopped, his breathing beginning to even out.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Dan shrugged with a smirk. "Didn't I say I wasn't a swordsman? I don't need to clash with you like it's a duel anymore. I'll just let you wear yourself out chasing me."

"..."

The man in front of him was more troublesome than he'd seemed.

Koushirou let out a wry, faintly annoyed smile. "Then I won't give chase."

Dan looked satisfied by that. "Then I'll just walk away."

"..." Koushirou's eyebrow twitched.

Right—he was here to apprehend him. Which meant he had no choice but to give chase. He couldn't simply let him leave.

"..."

"..."

The two stared at each other in silence.

Then—

"Is that so? Then I don't need to hold back either!" A voice came from just behind Dan, barely a meter away.

A blur of blue shot forward, followed by the gleam of a sword.

Kuina.

But just as her sword was falling down on him—

"Ah?!"

—Dan sidestepped at the last instant, slipped behind her, put her in a lock with one of his arms while batting her grip over the Wado Ichimonji away, and—

-Click-

—press the pistol to her head.

"Kuina?!" Koushirou's eyes shot wide.

"F-father!"

Kuina fought to break free, but Dan's strength held her easily.

He smirked at their reaction.

Her surprise attack would have worked on most people—but Dan had been running his night vision from the start and had seen her creeping up well in advance. He'd been perfectly ready when she moved.

"Let her go," Koushirou's expression had hardened.

"Not until you put down your sword."

"Don't listen to him, father—his gun was empty the last time!"

Dan laughed. "That was months ago. I've got ammunition now. Just not much of it, so I'd rather not waste any."

He didn't really.

"So? Drop the sword." He bluffed, gesturing toward Koushirou with a nod.

Conflict passed across Koushirou's otherwise composed face.

But his hesitation didn't last long.

-Clang-

His sword hit the ground, landing on the soft bed of grass.

Dan nodded. "Now kick it over. Since you cut the one I had, I'll need a replacement."

Koushirou did as he was told without a word. The sword slid across the grass and came to a stop near Dan's feet.

Kuina moved to break free and grab it.

Sadly, Dan didn't budge. With Tireless running, his grip and energy weren't going anywhere.

"That's it."

With the sword in reach, he gave a short nod—and released Kuina. But not the way they'd been expecting.

—Whack!—

He brought the pommel of the gun down on the back of her head before she could process she had been freed.

-Thud!-

So, down she went.

"Kuina!" Koushirou's face contorted.

Dan scoffed, crouching to pick up the sword. "Don't worry. I hit her just hard enough. She'll be out for a while, that's all."

Silence stretched as Koushirou stared between him and Kuina.

Dan's eyes drifted to her too, his expression briefly less certain than he'd like.

'She'll be fine, right? I didn't just become fate's replacement for her stairs, did I?'

-Groan-

A small sound escaped her, so Dan let out a quiet sigh of relief.

He looked back at Koushirou, who wore an expression Dan had never seen from him—genuinely angry, the usual calculative look behind those slit eyes replaced with something harder.

"Final order, and she stays safe."

"What is it now?"

"Turn around and drop to your knees."

"...!"

Koushirou's frown deepened. "You're going to kill me?"

"Just do it, or—"

He pointed the gun at Kuina. That was enough.

After a moment's hesitation, Koushirou complied, turning and lowering himself to his knees. His back to Dan. His neck exposed. Without his sword at hand, he wasn't a threat at this distance.

So Dan approached and set the blade against Koushirou's neck.

"I still have the gun on her, so don't try anything."

"..." Koushirou nodded slowly. "Just... spare her life. After you're done with me."

"Hah." A short laugh. "That won't be up for me to decide."

Koushirou didn't follow that, but he didn't have time to.

The sword left his neck.

His face tightened, bracing for what came next.

But what came instead—

-Tack-

—was a small bump on his head. Painful, but not much more.

"...?" Koushirou blinked.

"Checkmate." Dan's voice followed. "A bit dirty—but that's part of what I am, so I don't see the issue."

Koushirou tilted his head to look at him, seeing the smirk.

"I'm not going to kill you," Dan said, and Koushirou went still.

He looked at himself—kneeling, back turned, neck exposed. It was the picture of an execution.

"Then what was this?"

Dan let out a short snort. "Me establishing an absolute victory. At this moment, your life was in my hands. The fact that you'll continue living was my decision."

Koushirou sat with that for a few seconds, turning it over.

What was this man after? Recognition? Self-assurance? Some kind of sadistic streak?

"... Why?" Koushirou asked, unable to piece it together.

The answer was simpler than he'd expected.

"Because the words of the absolute victor carry more weight than those of a loser."

"...?"

"I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I'll keep it short." A note of impatience crept into his tone. "Call it prophetic dreams, or whatever you like. The only reason I came to your house tonight—the sharpening stone, all of it..."

He pointed the sword toward Kuina, still on the ground. Koushirou's eyes followed it.

"...Was to prevent her death."

"...?"

Koushirou was speechless.

Dan continued regardless.

"A while ago, I saw it in a dream. Her death." He pointed at the sword beside Kuina, the Wado Ichimonji. "The morning after her and Zoro's duel with real swords, she decided to give her blade maintenance, went up to the second floor of your shed to fetch the stone, and fell. That's what my dream showed me."

"..."

"Believe it or don't—it's not a credible source, I know. But the point of telling you is so you can at least take some precautions."

"What do you mean?"

"The reason I left the stone at the entrance of the shed is so that she wouldn't need to go upstairs today. But that doesn't solve it for good. Whether her death is something fated, or just a coincidence that was solved with just what I did, it's unknown—and thus, the chance that it could still happen remains. That's where you enter."

"... How?"

"It's simple. Move the sword-maintenance equipment to the first floor. Keep it there. No stairs, no fall. Simple enough, even if I can't tell you how effective it'll actually be. There are countless stories where the path one takes to avoid fate is the one that leads back to it, but it's the only thing that I can think of that can be done that'll assure somewhat that a tragic fall from a second floor won't happen."

"You are speaking as if this is truly a certain future."

"Hey, it's your daughter that is in possible mortal danger, not mine. If you want to just treat this as me having schizophrenia and risk it really happening, be my guest. But I'm just asking you to move stuff down a floor, and watch out for it."

"..." Koushirou didn't have an answer for that.

With that, Dan stepped back, giving him space.

Koushirou rose to his feet, and turned to look at him, his expression difficult to read.

He didn't give chase, didn't move to apprehend him.

He just stared.

After a few moments of silence, he spoke up. "...Why do this? From what I know, you've been tormenting this village constantly, as if you drew pleasure in it. So, forgive me for doubting you, but it seems a bit contrasting."

Dan smiled wryly, and sheathed his new sword—the scabbard left it a little lose, since it was from a saber while Koushirou's sword was a katana, but it'd have to do until he could get a new one.

"You can see that torment I made you guys go through as my payment for doing this good deed—or call this good deed the payment for all that torment. Either way, it doesn't matter to me. You won't be hearing of me after this anyway… or you will, but not from this island."

He turned and walked away. Koushirou didn't follow.

With what he had learned, his lack of a sword, the other party's freaky unending stamina, and his daughter lying on the cold ground, there was no point in chasing after him.

So he only stared as his back slowly disappeared into the foliage.

However, just before he could truly disappear, the figure turned and gave Koushirou a look.

A grateful one.

"Thank you for your lessons until now. I'll be sure to put them to good use."

"...?"

Dan turned around without acknowledging Koushirou's confused expression, starting to walk away, but not before tossing one last line over his shoulder.

"The next time you hear of me, it'll be on a bounty poster."

And with those words, he truly left. Leaving a silent and pensive Koushirou behind.

...

────────────────────────

-To Be Continued...-

────────────────────────

(A/N: And so, he won. A bit cheaply, but Dan was still not quite strong enough to take him one on one in an actual duel. Fortunately, Kuina arrived and came in clutch at the last second to decide the result of the duel for good.

Also, I decided for Koushirou to not have completely mastered the steel cutting thingy/haki, since it feels to me that he spent most if not all his life in the village, and thus, his knowledge about the boundaries of swordsmanship comes mostly from his father and whoever else came from Wano, plus whatever he discovered himself. He is beginning to understand it, given the teachings he gave Zoro in the canon, but hasn't achieved the whole thing nor does he has the need to as he lives in a peaceful place.

So in power scaling, he'd be pre-Arabasta Zoro—minus the super strength of course.)

 

[TheDanny]

He honestly should have just done away with the whole "dreams" explanation and just destroyed the stairs themselves. Just hack it up and no one would use them.

 

[Trek]

Honestly mc is still so weak that I doubt he can beat the fishmen.

 

[Despacitoleo]

Amazing plot hehhehehabhaha

DOWN D. STAIRS HAVE BEEN DEFEATED MAYBE HE'LL GROW TO DEFEAT USOOP OR BUGGY

 

[The Synonym]

Amazing plot hehhehehabhaha

DOWN D. STAIRS HAVE BEEN DEFEATED MAYBE HE'LL GROW TO DEFEAT USOOP OR BUGGY

Click to shrink...

Hmm, maybe you're taking it too far. Those two are at a different realm from fodder like Joyboy or Imu. Even with hacks, Dan's chances are pretty low.

 

[Yohnos]

Ah yes The Princesse Bride style to end a duel!

 

[Plaguedromance]

New sword? Hurray!

 

[foolture12]

Thank you for the new chapters

 

[Vinni_w]

OK. So far so good. It really had that one-piece shtick the reader wants.