16 Chapter 15 (1/2)

Everyone was panicking after what happened. The cooks and the guest of the restaurant were screaming how they are doomed. The Don Krieg pirates from the ship were scrambling about and jumping into the sea. Everyone from my crew, expect Zoro, was terrified at witnessing that power, even I was scared at this. It's simply amazing how strong can one person be. That attack was not even close to his true strength, looking at how relaxed his posture is and his blade still behind his back.

Zoro was ecstatic to see him and had a mad look on his face, he was barely able to control himself. Moments, later a platform was raised from underneath the Baratie and Zoro immediately jumped on it.

”Mihawk, I set sail to meet you and fight you.” Zoro challenged him.

”You are weak and I have never even heard of you. Show me you are worth to fight, by dealing with those fools.” Mihawk pointed at the pirates, from the ship he cut. The whole time he was talking, he didn't stop staring at me.For a moment there I felt paralyzed being stared by those yellow hawklike eyes. I felt like prey in front of an apex predator.

”Capture those fools for me and I will fight you.” After saying that, he jumped and landed right in front of me.

”Where did you get the hat from?” I was barely able to keep my cool under his stare, but I did my best to keep eye contact.

”It was given to me by a friend and I promised to return it to him, once I become a great pirate.”He kept staring at me and I didn't know what to expect to happen next. I was hoping to Oda, he doesn't straight up slice me apart.

”You don't seem that special, what's your name?” He didn't kill me so that's good. I tried my best, to not stutter while saying my name and once I did, I heard him chuckle.

”And your plans for the future?” Mihawk was still staring me with those hawk eyes, but I was already getting used to the pressure, so I was a bit more relaxed.

”To become Pirate King and find One Piece along the way. There are also a few more other things I have in mind that I would like to do.” Despite getting used to his stare, I still felt pressured and suffocated by his presence. It's one thing reading about, but it's a whole other thing being the presence of a powerhouse like Mihawk.

”You Monkeys always have a weird way of thinking and you remind me of him when he was younger, but without a sword. The person that challenged me, was from your crew right? He will die if he fights me. Are you going to let that happen?” Mihawk asked me.

”That's his dream, that's the reason he pushes himself every day. Zoro set sail to find you and beat you, even if he is weaker than you, he will still fight you, simply because that's his dream. His dream is what's pushing him forward. I won't stop him from trying to achieve his dream.”

While we were talking Zoro had already dealt with everyone from Don Krieg's pirates, including Don Krieg himself. The reason Zoro wasn't able to learn Soru with the help of Zeff was that he focused almost solely on Rankyaku and to produce wind blades even with his swords, which he had great success with. Zoro was almost able to cleanly cut steel now, he had the biggest gains from Zeff's torture, aside from me, despite being a sword user.

Hawk-eyes seeing Zoro comeback, jumped to the stage and pulled out a small knife from the pendant on his chest. Zoro got really mad thinking that Mihawk is looking down on him.

”Do not think of me underestimating you, I have already gauged how good you are with a sword, so I will simply show you the difference in our skill.”

Zoro definitely is a genius with a sword, considering he can even use it with his mouth. In the future, he will surpass him. Unfortunately, right now Mihawk is on a completely different level.

Throughout the whole fight, Mihawk was parrying and blocking all of his attacks, while also attacking him at his weak points. A couple of minutes after they had started fighting Zoro calmed dawn. Once Hawk-eyes noticed that he started pointing out his mistakes.

”How are good your skills with only two swords?” After five minutes of fighting. He took out his Yoru, the large sword on his back. Mihawk cut one of Zoro's swords into two and asked him this.

”How good are your skills with only one sword?” Eight minutes into the fight, Zoro was left with only Wado Ichimonji in his left hand.

”How good are your skills without a sword?” Mihawk aimed to cut his last sword, but Zoro positioned himself in the way of the strike and took it himself. He was sent flying in the water, Johny and Yosaku jumped after him, but he managed to pull himself out.

”Come fight me again in a few years once you have improved.” With that, a gigantic whirlwind appeared. Moments later, it disappeared Mihawk and the pirates Zoro captured were all gone with it. Has he eaten a Devil Fruit as well? How did he do that?

We got Zoro back on our ship so that we can bandage him up. He a nasty wound on his back, starting from his left shoulder until his waist. It wasn't life-threatening, but he will need to rest for a long time to recover.

While Ussop and I were patching him up, Nami had gone to Don Krieg's ship and salvaged everything valuable she could find. She looked extremely happy and told me with the amount of money she found there, she now has enough to buy of Cocoyasi Village from Arlong.