Just as Daren easily finished off Gecko Moria, an unexpected visitor arrived at the Marine base.
"How about I be your next opponent?"
A voice filled with fighting spirit came from across the sea. It sounded young, but carried a hoarseness and sharp edge that made it unforgettable.
Momonga's face shifted slightly. He turned to look, and the sight before him made his pupils contract.
A small, pitch-black boat floated steadily across the sea.
The bottom of the boat was covered in strange markings, with a black rectangular silhouette. Blue flames from burning candles lined the hull, giving the vessel an eerie atmosphere—at a glance, it looked like a black coffin drifting across the waves.
Seated atop this coffin-like boat was a lone, gaunt figure.
It was a boy, looking about fifteen or sixteen years old. His short black hair was slicked back neatly, with long sideburns framing his face. He wore a floral shirt on top and black leather pants below.
The boy sat with his legs crossed, a massive pale-black sword strapped to his back, even taller than he was. The slender hilt was shaped like a cross.
The eerie coffin boat, the ghostly green candle flames, and the cross-shaped blade gave the cold, distant boy the aura of a death god, cruising across the sea to harvest souls.
Yet what shocked Momonga most was the boy's eyes.
Deep and piercing, his pupils had dark patterns against a muted yellow background, carrying a sharpness that seemed to see through all things—human nature, life, the world itself. Just one glance sent chills down the spine.
"That kid's eyes... they're not right... sharp as a hawk's..."
Momonga frowned. His hands, hidden under his uniform sleeves, subconsciously sparked with thin blue arcs of lightning, clearly ready to strike at any moment.
He could feel it—an overwhelming sense of threat radiating from this mysterious sixteen-year-old boy!
How was this even possible?
He wielded the Goro Goro no Mi, said to be the strongest Logia fruit, and had mastered Haki as well. Across all of North Blue—and even much of the first half of the Grand Line—there were few who could challenge him.
But right now, from a boy barely sixteen, he was feeling the threat of death! Follow current novᴇls on novel✶fire.net
"My North Blue sure is lively these days..."
Daren also turned, eyeing the boy on the coffin boat with amusement.
"You sure you want to challenge me, Dracule Mihawk?"
As the words fell, Mihawk remained silent, but Momonga's eyes widened in shock.
This mysterious boy... he was on Daren's list!
And just like Gecko Moria, he had come knocking on their door himself!?
Momonga instinctively glanced at Gecko Moria nearby, who, under the Marines' emergency treatment, had barely regained consciousness. His severed arm had been hastily bandaged, and he looked on the verge of death.
"You know me?" Mihawk frowned, fixing a cold gaze on the Marine Vice Admiral.
"I've heard your name before..." Daren smiled. "Though I'm more curious—after seeing how I crushed Moria just now, you should already know my strength, shouldn't you?"
"You're full of it! I hadn't even used my full power yet!" Gecko Moria, not far away, flushed red and screeched indignantly.
Momonga suddenly appeared beside him, shooting him an annoyed glare.
Gecko Moria's face turned even redder. Gritting his teeth, he said,
"I hadn't even used my ultimate move! If I had fused with those hundreds of shadows—"
"Even if you absorbed a thousand shadows, you'd still be no match for Daren. That's not a power you can control," Momonga cut him off, patting the wound on Moria's severed arm.
The intense pain made Moria's whole body tremble as he howled in agony.
"Sure, fusing with hundreds of Marines' shadows would make you strong—strong enough to crush a town or even an island," Momonga continued, "but Daren could do that without even trying."
Moria froze at his words, stammering without being able to respond.
Momonga sighed and said in a tone that was almost comforting,
"Losing to Daren is nothing to be ashamed of. On this sea, you can count on one hand the people who can beat him."
"Stop moving. Your wound's still bleeding. Let me take care of it... or with this much blood loss, you'll be dead in a few minutes."
Gecko Moria gritted his teeth, glaring at Momonga with bloodshot eyes and growled,
"Dammit! You're just a Marine Captain! Who the hell are you to lecture me!"
"I might not be able to beat that monster, but taking you down would be—"
A massive bolt of lightning suddenly crashed down from the sky, blasting into the ruins of a distant fortress and sending flames hundreds of meters high into the air.
"What were you saying?"
Momonga calmly retracted his hand, still crackling with electricity, and glanced expressionlessly at the stunned Moria.
His eye twitched, a bead of cold sweat sliding down his forehead. A flicker of fear appeared in his eyes as he stared at Momonga.
This guy... was a monster too!
Then, he noticed searing plasma gathering in Momonga's hand, reaching toward him.
"W-What are you doing?!" Moria cried out in terror, trying to back away.
But a few nearby Marines quickly pinned him down.
"Stopping the bleeding," Momonga said flatly.
Without waiting, he pressed his electrified hand directly onto the severed stump of Moria's arm.
Gecko Moria screamed in agony, his entire body convulsing violently as he kicked and thrashed uncontrollably.
Sizzle... The scorched flesh filled the air with a sickening stench.
Soon, the screams abruptly stopped as Moria passed out once again.
Mihawk merely cast a faint glance at the commotion, his sharp gaze lingering briefly on Momonga before shifting back to Daren.
By now, Mihawk's boat was less than a hundred meters from shore. He rose slowly to his feet and spoke in a deep voice,
"Your strength is truly beyond imagination. I've never faced an opponent like you before."
Locking eyes with Daren, a fierce fighting spirit burned in Mihawk's gaze. A small smile tugged at his lips.
"But it's precisely because you're so strong that challenging you has meaning, doesn't it?"
He lifted his hand, gripping the massive pale-black sword behind him—the hilt shaped like a giant cross—and drew it.
A resonant hum, like a dragon's roar, echoed across the sea. The once calm waters instantly whipped into a raging storm, waves surging violently as if stirred by a blade's edge.
The massive sword, taller than Mihawk himself, pointed straight at the Marine Vice Admiral standing on the shore. A heavy, crushing aura and a sharp, slicing intent radiated simultaneously from the blade, its tip flashing with a terrifying glint under the sun.
"The blade, a cross-patterned masterpiece... Its name is Yoru."
Mihawk's hawk-like eyes locked onto Daren as he spoke coldly,
"I am Dracule Mihawk. With this sword, I challenge you, Rogers Daren—the 'King of the North Blue'!"
"Draw your weapon. Let me see your true strength."
"And show me... that special swordsmanship of yours!"
p@treon com / PinkSnake