"Hmm!"
Watching the weapon in Smoker's hand, Guina's eyes flashed with seriousness.
"Coated!"
This guy had just fought with her, and his Armament Haki was just starting. It couldn't defend against her slashes.
Now he had actually learned coating.
It seemed she wasn't the only one improving; Smoker had also progressed through combat!
She looked at Smoker, flicked her right hand, and wiped off the bloodstains.
Then she sheathed her sword, leaned forward, and stared intently at Smoker.
So what if he learned coating? He was the swordsman with the strongest attack power!
Let alone coating, even the sturdiest defense, she would still cut through it.
"Hey! Smoke-dude, aren't you coming over? Are you planning to fight me on this street?"
Smoker puffed on his cigar, his legs turned into smoke, and he rushed straight towards Guina.
There was nothing more to say now; it was time to fight.
Seeing Smoker emerge from the hole in the roof, Guina drew her sword and slashed at him.
Clang—!
He blocked it.
Her reason for fighting was the same as Kotaro's: to increase combat experience, practice techniques, and condense Haki.
Since Smoker could block her slashes, he could spar with her and be her whetstone.
She wasn't in a hurry to defeat him.
She quickly raised her hand, then swung it with even greater speed.
The "clang, clang" sounds were incessant.
Meanwhile, Smoker's entire body was elementalized, and he flickered constantly within the smoke. From time to time, he would form a hand, holding his Jutte coated with Armament Haki, and attack Guina.
"Let's go! We're going to buy supplies."
Seeing the two who couldn't decide a winner in a short while, Kotaro yawned, put his hands in his pockets, and walked towards the town.
He hadn't slept for two days. If it weren't for wanting to see the most frequent scene in the One Piece anime and replenish the food on the ship that had been eaten by the villagers on Prometheus Island,
He wouldn't have wanted to land in Loguetown.
He glanced at the execution platform, bought some wine, and then set off for the Grand Line.
He was already getting impatient.
Thinking of this, his lazy steps seemed to quicken.
Hua and the other two were stunned and quickly followed.
Hua pushed his glasses up and looked at the smoke-shrouded street, listening to the occasional sounds of collision from within, and said.
"Aren't we waiting for Guina?"
He wasn't worried about Guina getting hurt, because Kotaro was here, and no one could harm Guina.
Since Kotaro said they were going to replenish supplies, it meant that the smoke-dude definitely couldn't beat Guina.
"No." Kotaro waved his hand and continued forward. "By the time we get back, it'll be good if they've finished fighting. Let's go! I'm going to the tavern and the execution platform. You guys, same as usual, meet me here in two hours."
Standing at the fork in the road, Kotaro continued forward, while Hua and the other two split up to buy the already distributed supply list.
...
Creak—!
In a dark alley, the door of a tavern called "Gol D. Roger" was gently pushed open from the outside.
The piercing squeal of the old wooden door caused a momentary silence in the noisy tavern, which then returned to its original state.
Kotaro, with his hands in his pockets, ignored the noisy pirates on both sides and walked straight to the bar.
Looking at the old man behind the bar, who wore golden hoop earrings and small sunglasses, looking unusually aged, he smiled.
"Boss, aren't you afraid of trouble by naming your bar like this?"
"Hmm!"
The boss raised his right hand to his face, hooked his index finger downwards on the middle frame of the sunglasses, and pulled them down, revealing his eyes filled with vicissitudes.
"My tavern, do I need to consider others' thoughts to name it?"
"Hmm!" Kotaro nodded, sitting on a stool in front of the bar. "That's true, after all, the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, can be said to have started from here."
He stared at the boss, his mouth full of smiles.
"Am I right? Old man."
The boss took out a wine glass, meticulously wiped it, and completely disregarded Kotaro's words.
"Old stories, everyone knows them. What's so noteworthy about them!"
He looked up and stared at Kotaro, saying.
"On the other hand, young man, why are you also setting sail?"
"Me?" Kotaro placed his hands on the bar, crossed his palms, rested his head on the back of his hands, thought for a moment, and then his mouth suddenly curved into a wicked smile.
"Me? I'm planning to take a stroll on the 'Grand Line'!"
"Ah!"
The old man's dim eyes suddenly lit up, and then his face was filled with surprise.
Kotaro saw the old man's reaction and a hint of a smile flashed in his eyes. He then said.
"Thinking of this, I'm getting incredibly excited!"
"No matter how terrifying that sea is for others."
"I, however, am not afraid of these legends!"
Kotaro paused, looking at the old man's increasingly wide eyes, and shouted Luffy's famous line.
"I'm going to the 'Grand Line' to find the 'One Piece'!"
"And become the 'Pirate King'!"
"Uh..."
The entire tavern fell silent, and then erupting into earth-shattering laughter.
"Hahahaha!!"
"Did I hear that right?"
"With your scrawny body, you dare to boast about becoming the Pirate King."
"Who do you think you are!"
"Hahahaha..."
The first half of what Kotaro said was true, but he wasn't as interested in the "Pirate King" and the "One Piece" as he seemed.
He didn't have the ability to save the world.
Kotaro ignored the subsequent mockery.
These pirates would only spend their lives in the East Blue.
Hmm... No, because they were about to go to hell.
Just as the boss was in a daze, a tall pirate walked up behind Kotaro.
He reeked of alcohol and carried a large wine bottle.
He reached behind Kotaro, shouted, and swung the wine bottle towards Kotaro's head.
"Kid, piracy isn't a game! The Pirate King and such, just based on you."
"You're thinking too much!"
These guys, unable to do or dare to do things themselves, logically assumed others were the same.
Therefore, these pirates couldn't stand seeing others flaunt their dreams in front of them.
Because these guys had never thought of having dreams.
Perhaps they once did, but the sea had worn them down.
Thus, they also disliked others having dreams, or rather, they were afraid of others having dreams.
A red light flashed in Kotaro's eyes, and he dodged to the right, easily evading the wine bottle.
The wine bottle smashed against the bar with a loud "crack," and fragments and wine splattered everywhere.
As for the fragments flying towards Kotaro, they stopped in mid-air as if they had pierced jelly.
Kotaro was not as magnanimous as Shanks, who was hit on the head with a wine bottle by the "Bandit King" and still let him go.
Ultimately leading to him losing an arm.
Hmm!
This must be karma.
If there was no "Bandit King," perhaps Luffy wouldn't have his straw hat.
He couldn't be called "Straw Hat Kid" anymore, he should be called "Rubber Kid."
Thinking of this, Kotaro couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha..."
Then he turned around and stared at the tall pirate standing behind him.
He wouldn't let these guys off. He had sensed a strong smell of blood from them as soon as they entered.
These guys had probably just finished a robbery.
Coming to Loguetown, they only dared to come to a secluded tavern, not to the main street.
A group of low-level, yet most cruel pirates.
The tall pirate stood there in terror, trembling all over.
The moment he threw the wine bottle, he was locked onto by Kotaro's aura.
He felt as if his soul was about to be squeezed out of his body by this sudden aura.
His eyes widened in horror, he wanted to cry out but couldn't.
The stool under Kotaro's butt turned, and he slowly stood up. Compared to the pirate in front of him, he looked a bit short.
However, his aura was completely different.
The other pirates in the tavern had stopped laughing by this time. They all stared at Kotaro, their hands reaching for their weapons, their faces filled with cruelty.