One side were pirates, the other bounty hunters. It was clear now—this little town was a haven for bounty hunters.
Aeridar chuckled, still peering through his spyglass, clearly enjoying the show.
"Captain, what should we do?" Dimitri tilted his head and asked.
"Uh…" Aeridar's hand froze midair. He lowered the spyglass and furrowed his brow in thought. Then, as if a sudden inspiration struck, a wide grin broke across his face. "Hey, we're pirates, right?! Who wants to come into town for a little fun? The rest of you—sink that pirate ship!"
"We are pirates, yeah! But what the hell do you mean by 'fun' in a warzone?!"
The crew was momentarily dumbfounded. The town was in chaos—bullets flying everywhere. What kind of fun was he talking about?
"Boring," muttered Arlan, rolling his eyes. "I'll stay on the ship."
Oliver slowly stood up from his chair and strolled over. "Captain, I'll go. I want to test my new technique."
"Good. Let's go together. Anyone else?" Aeridar nodded and looked around expectantly.
But the others either didn't want to bother or weren't bold enough to leap into a live firefight. They all shook their heads.
"Tch, buzzkills," Aeridar pouted, then suddenly shouted with glee, "Fine! The rest of you destroy that ship—Oliver and I are gonna rob 'em blind!"
"Let's roll."
Oliver gave Aeridar a lazy glance before leaping from the ship. With a casual thud, he landed smoothly on the dock below.
"Tch, I'm coming too."
Aeridar responded coolly and jumped down as well, effortlessly crossing over thirty meters to the shore.
And just like that, the two strolled leisurely toward the town, as if they were heading off on vacation—not a robbery and potential bloodbath.
Inside a building in town, Captain Gruho of the Gruho Pirates was red with fury, waving a pistol as he bellowed:
"Kill them! Kill every last one of these bounty hunter bastards!"
They'd arrived that afternoon and were welcomed warmly by the townsfolk. A banquet was even being prepared in their honor, which had inflated Gruho's ego. But greed got the better of him. He'd planned to ambush the townspeople during the feast, plunder everything, and restock his ship's dwindling supplies.
The surprise attack worked—at first. But soon, he realized the horrifying truth. These weren't villagers who idolized pirates.
They were bounty hunters.
They'd laced the food and drinks with sedatives, waiting for the pirates to pass out before gutting them like pigs.
Gruho had gotten lucky—his greed made him strike early. Otherwise, his pirate career would've ended right there.
"Don't worry, Captain! We've got the upper hand now! We'll wipe out those bastard hunters for sure!" roared Baz, the burly Head of Combat for the Gruho Pirates, his steel blade gleaming in hand.
The others in the room echoed his fury, cursing the bounty hunters with venom.
"Let's go! Kill every last one of them!" Gruho shouted, storming outside. He was done waiting. He wanted blood.
The Gruho Pirates rallied around their captain, howling as they charged into the fray. With Gruho leading the assault, their morale surged. The bounty hunters, caught off guard, began to falter.
Meanwhile, Gruho's first mate, Bunoji, spotted two unfamiliar figures casually strolling into the battlefield.
One had twin swords—still sheathed. The other carried no visible weapons at all.
Bunoji frowned. He didn't recognize them—but with 140-150 men on their crew, it wasn't unusual not to know every new recruit.
"You two idiots! What are you waiting for?! Get in there and fight! And you—where's your damn weapon?!" Bunoji shouted.
"Huh? Are you talking to me?" Aeridar blinked, puzzled. Was this guy confusing him for someone else?
"Of course I'm talking to you! Who the hell else?!" Bunoji snapped, now pointing his pistol directly at Aeridar's head. "You got a death wish?!"
Aeridar's expression chilled. He slowly raised a hand, eyes narrowing. "Say that again, and you die."
"I've got this one," Oliver said coldly, flashing a wicked grin as he drew his blade—one of the Fifty Skillful Grade Blades: Nagamitsu.
Bunoji hesitated, alarm bells going off in his head. "Wait... You're not from the Gruho Pirates!"
"Heh. We're from the Chris Pirates," Oliver said, resting the back of his blade lazily on his shoulder as he sauntered forward.
"Chris Pirates?!" Bunoji paled. He didn't know the name—but it was clear these two weren't allies.
Panicking, Bunoji drew a second pistol from his belt and opened fire—both guns blazing.
Bang! Bang! Bang—
"One-Sword Style—Flash!"
A blur. In the blink of an eye, Oliver vanished.
Bullets hit only stone, shattering the flagstones beneath them.
A moment later—
Shhhk—
Oliver reappeared behind Bunoji.
With a sickening sound, Bunoji fell to his knees, eyes wide in disbelief. A deep, bone-revealing slash ran across his chest.
"W-Who... are you two really...?" he choked out, blood pouring from his mouth.
Aeridar strolled up, hands in his pockets, wearing a calm smile. "We're pirates too. I'm Aeridar—Captain of the Chris Pirates."
"And now... you can die."
With a flick of his finger—pop—a thumb-sized hole exploded in Bunoji's forehead. His body lurched backward and crumpled to the ground, eyes wide open in death.
He never did figure out who the Chris Pirates were.
"V-Vice Captain!!"
"Am I seeing things?! The vice captain with a 2,000 Beri bounty just died like that?!"
"No way...!"
All around, Gruho's crew stared in shock.
What the hell just happened?
Their vice captain—a man with a 2,000 Beri bounty—was taken out instantly?!
Were they dreaming?
"Aww, guess the secret's out," Aeridar said, scratching his head sheepishly.
"Good. Killing weaklings is boring anyway," Oliver muttered. Ignoring Aeridar, he drew his second blade.
Its black lacquered sheath gleamed. The blade was a fine-quality tachi with a chaotic hamon pattern: Yubashiri.
Yes—that Yubashiri.
The same sword once wielded by Roronoa Zoro before it was destroyed by a Rust-Rust Fruit user during the battle at Enies Lobby.
Back in Loguetown, Oliver's previous sword had chipped beyond repair. As luck would have it, a stray cannonball had blasted a hole in a nearby weapon shop. While looting for a replacement, the terrified shopkeeper—mistaking Oliver for a robber—offered up Yubashiri to spare his family.
Oliver, never intending to kill anyone, accepted the sword with a nod and left peacefully.
When Aeridar later realized what sword Oliver had picked up, he was dumbfounded.
But eventually, he came around.
After all, Yubashiri had been destroyed, and Zoro later acquired an even stronger black blade—Shusui. So now, in Oliver's hands, Yubashiri had found new purpose.
A worthy blade... for a worthy swordsman.
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