Chapter 231: A Draw!
At the abandoned dock, the sea breeze carried the heavy scent of rust and rotting wood through the decaying harbor district.
"Tch… Curly Brows, your body…"
Zoro spat out a mouthful of blood-tainted saliva.
His exposed upper body was covered in charred burns left by electric shocks, while an unnatural dark-red hue faintly pulsed beneath his skin.
"Anyone who didn't know better would think you secretly ate some kind of Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit."
His voice carried its usual mockery, but beneath the raspiness lurked unmistakable astonishment.
"Shut up!"
Sanji still kept both hands in his pockets, though the pose looked especially strained now.
His white dress shirt had long since been shredded into ragged strips by countless sword wounds.
Most horrifying of all were the three massive slashes carved across his chest.
They were deep enough to expose bone, flesh peeled back gruesomely enough to make anyone recoil.
Yet strangely, the wounds were writhing visibly before their eyes. Fresh muscle fibers intertwined and stitched themselves back together as though alive.
"I think you're just jealous!!"
Sanji spat to the side, though the motion tugged painfully at his wounds.
"If you can't handle it, just surrender already, Moss Head."
He lifted his chin slightly, his blond hair glinting dimly beneath the setting sun.
"Losing to the future Pirate King's right-hand man isn't anything to be ashamed of!!"
"Tch—"
Zoro let out a short, sharp scoff.
"Since when did Number Seven start talking back to Number One?!"
Under Sanji's gaze, Zoro sheathed Shusui and instead gripped Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu.
The disdain in his eyes suddenly sharpened into something nearly insane.
Sanji's pupils instantly contracted.
What he saw wasn't merely the black lightning of Armament Haki.
There was something even more terrifying mixed within it.
Crimson-gold arcs of lightning burst violently from Zoro's body like living creatures before surging toward the two blades.
"Damn… Conqueror's Haki Infusion?!"
Sanji's heart slammed violently against his ribs, every hair on his body standing on end.
Memories of Luffy's "special training" over the past three months flooded back instantly.
Those fists coated in Conqueror's Haki had struck far deeper than flesh, hammering directly into the soul itself. No matter how monstrous one's regeneration was, it became meaningless before that overwhelming power.
For anyone who relied on recovery abilities, Conqueror's Haki Infusion was the strictest possible "father."
But—
"No… wait…"
Sanji suddenly shook his head, scattering droplets of blood from his blond hair.
The way those two swords devoured Haki was far too greedy. Far too violent.
It wasn't infusion.
It was consumption.
As though bottomless black holes lurked within the blades themselves, frantically draining everything from their wielder.
"The problem is with the swords themselves?!"
Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu emitted shrill, eerie cries.
Not the normal trembling of steel.
But the starving scream of something alive.
Black-and-red flames erupted from the guards of the blades. Twisted faces and gnashing fangs flickered within the fire as layers upon layers of ghostly shrieks and demonic howls echoed through the air.
Every muscle in Sanji's body tightened like steel cables.
Jet-black Armament Haki flooded across every inch of his body, spreading from his ankles all the way to his neck, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen beneath the sunset.
Three seconds.
The color rapidly drained from Zoro's face until he resembled soaked white ash.
Ten seconds.
The bulging muscles in his arms visibly shriveled. Skin clung tightly to bone, veins protruding like the bark of a withered tree.
His arms looked brittle enough to snap with a single touch.
Yet in horrifying contrast—
His remaining eye burned brighter than ghostfire itself.
Within his pupil reflected the towering black-purple flames engulfing the swords.
"Curly Brows."
"If you can still move after taking this attack…"
"I'll call it my loss."
The instant those words fell—
The twin blades came crashing down.
Sanji only had time to roar:
"You bastard—!!!"
Then—
The world fell completely silent.
The wind vanished.
The crashing waves vanished.
Even his own heartbeat disappeared.
And then—
SHRRRRRIIIIIIKKK—!!!!!
It was the sound of the sea being split apart.
Two colossal walls of water erupted upward along the trajectory of the slash, instantly soaring over a hundred meters high like moving cliffs.
The parted ocean surged violently outward, exposing the brown seabed dozens of meters below.
The scar carved by the attack stretched from beneath Zoro's feet all the way toward the distant horizon, as though a god had plowed through the sea itself.
Everywhere the slash passed, the seawater refused to close.
As if that wound had been permanently branded upon the ocean.
The sea…
Had been split apart!!
————————
"Haa… haa… haa…"
Heavy breathing echoed throughout the silent dock.
The two men lay sprawled on the shattered ground in the shape of giant stars, beneath them muddy earth soaked with sweat, blood, and seawater.
"Hah… Moss Head…"
Sanji grinned despite reopening the cut at the corner of his mouth.
"Fighting you… really gets the blood pumping…"
Crimson-gold traces of Conqueror's Haki still crackled faintly inside his body.
Like countless tiny chains suppressing the instinctive regenerative urges of his Germa-modified body.
Every attempt by his cells to heal was forcefully crushed by that domineering power, sending sharp pain deep into his bones.
"Shut… up…"
Zoro's voice barely squeezed out from the depths of his throat.
Those two cursed blades had completely drained him dry.
Not only his Haki—
Even his physical strength had been greedily devoured.
At this point, he couldn't even bend a finger. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved he was still breathing.
"So…"
Sanji slowly turned his head toward the eye staring back at him from several meters away.
"How do we settle this duel?"
Silence lingered for several seconds.
Then a nearly invisible smile tugged at Zoro's lips.
"Let's call it…"
"A draw."
The moment those words fell, both men burst into loud laughter simultaneously.
"HAHAHAHAHA—!!"
"Kh… hahaha…!!"
Their laughter was hoarse and broken, mixed with gasps of pain, yet incomparably genuine and carefree.
It pierced through the lingering smoke and bloodshed, echoing throughout the abandoned dock louder than any declaration of victory.
It was the purest joy of battle, stripped of everything else.
————————
Night fell.
Inside the royal palace banquet hall—
The long dining table was overflowing with lavish delicacies.
"AHHH—! This is so good!!"
As expected, Luffy's voice became the center of attention.
He was practically sprawled across the table, shoveling food into his mouth with both hands at terrifying speed.
Sauce dripped down the corners of his mouth onto the luxurious tablecloth while piles of bones and scraps formed miniature mountains around him.
"I haven't had authentic Alabasta food in forever!"
"Sanji's cooking is amazing, but the spices here are totally differen—"
He rambled through a mouthful of food, eyes curved happily into crescents.
"IDIOT—!!"
Nami finally snapped and punched him squarely on the head with a loud THONK.
"Could you at least act like a human being?! This is the royal palace!!"
She covered her face, feeling her cheeks burn.
The elegant palace attendants standing nearby still wore perfect smiles, but Nami swore she could see amusement hidden in their eyes.
She sighed inwardly.
How had she, once a cool-headed navigator obsessed with money…
Ended up like this?
Her gaze unconsciously drifted toward the idiot captain still wrestling an entire roast chicken.
Fragments of memory flashed through her mind—
His back as he stood up for her in Orange Town.
The moment he placed his straw hat on her head at Arlong Park.
His radiant smile as he rang the Golden Bell in Skypiea.
Every single time, he had been reckless. Fearless. Charging ahead without hesitation.
And yet, like sunlight, he had forced his way into the tightly sealed corners of her heart.
"Honestly… I can never win against you."
She muttered softly, irritation hiding a tenderness only she herself understood.
At the far end of the table, Princess Vivi sat quietly.
She wasn't eating.
Instead, she rested her cheek lightly against her hand, her clear blue eyes fixed unwaveringly on Luffy.
Within that gaze lingered undisguised admiration, nostalgia, and a deep affection—as though she were staring at a beautiful dream she had finally regained.
Candlelight danced across her flowing blue hair, casting a soft glow across her lovely profile.
Anyone who saw that expression would immediately think of the purest image of first love.
Yet not everyone shared the banquet's cheerful atmosphere.
King Cobra, seated at the head of the table, wore an expression clouded with worry.
Though his posture remained upright, the tension in his shoulders and the frequent glances he cast toward the windows betrayed his anxiety.
The benevolent king seemed burdened beneath an invisible mountain.
Finally, after Luffy finished devouring his fifth platter of roasted meat and let out a thunderous burp—
Cobra took a deep breath and rose to his feet.
"Members of the Straw Hat Pirates."
His voice was calm yet dignified, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
The noisy hall quieted.
Even Luffy stopped chewing and blinked curiously at him.
Cobra's gaze slowly swept across every familiar face.
His throat bobbed.
His hands clenched tightly at his sides, knuckles whitening.
"I… have an unreasonable request."
He bowed deeply, his graying hair glaring beneath the lights.
"Though I am deeply ashamed… though I know this may drag our saviors into danger once again…"
"Could I ask all of you…"
"To save this country one more time?"
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