Chapter 22: Zoro: "If I'd Known Rok Was This Strong, I Wouldn't Have Rushed In…"
Faced with this desperate situation, even Luffy stopped being reckless and decided to follow Rok's plan.
But what worried him was— just the two Pacifista in front of them were far from easy opponents!
"Three-Sword Style Secret Technique — Three Thousand Worlds!!!"
While the Straw Hats were tense, searching for an opening, the unofficial vice-captain Roronoa Zoro stepped up first— and opened with his ultimate move!
In his mind, if he could take down even one Pacifista, the pressure on everyone would drop dramatically and an escape route would appear.
HUMMM—!!!
A dazzling whirlwind of slashes tore toward one of the Pacifista.
At that moment, Zoro became one with his three blades— unleashing the strongest sword technique he currently possessed!
Three-Sword Style Secret — Three Thousand Worlds!
"Zoro, go!!!"
Luffy roared his name, eyes sparkling with excitement.
The rest of the crew watched with bated breath.
In terms of sheer presence, Zoro's strike didn't lose at all to the slash Rok used earlier that felled three thousand Marines.
Rok's attack had insane range, but for single-target destructive power? Three Thousand Worlds might actually be stronger!
After all, when it came to swordsmanship, Zoro had never lost to anyone except the world's greatest swordsman, Mihawk!
CLANG—!!!
The blades connected.
Zoro's ultimate technique carved deep into the Pacifista— severing most of one mechanical arm in a shower of sparks.
But…
The damage barely slowed it down.
They were machines. No pain. No blood.
Zoro, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.
His old wounds still hadn't healed. Pouring everything into that attack left him wide open.
Almost instantly— both Pacifista locked onto him.
Two mouth-cannons charged with blinding light.
"Damn it!"
Even Zoro felt his scalp go numb.
In his current state, perfectly dodging two point-blank lasers was impossible.
Tanking them head-on? He'd be crippled.
"ZORO!!!"
The crew screamed.
They weren't far, but they were inside the blast radius too.
Self-preservation was already hard enough—no one could reach him in time.
Even Robin's Hana Hana no Mi wouldn't be fast enough.
BOOM—!!!
An endless roar of energy filled the air.
Zoro braced himself, swords raised to block—
But the pain never came.
When he opened his eyes…
Ten meters in front of him stood a tall, lone figure— one-handed grip on his cursed blade Undead, hard-blocking both laser beams with pure Armament Haki.
Rok.
"Hey, Zoro, quit spacing out. You're as bad as Luffy—start moving! Get everyone out now. The Admirals are almost here."
"I'll handle these two tin cans."
Rok stood like a wall, black Armament Haki cloaking his blade as he tanked the lasers.
Good thing Pacifista beams were just a nerfed version of Kizaru's attacks— strong, but not Admiral-level.
He wanted to test them himself anyway.
Verdict: regular Pacifista were nothing special. Just a massive pain for the current Straw Hats.
"What?! You're taking both alone?! No way—they're machines! I'm helping!"
Zoro instantly protested.
Rok had just saved his life—he wasn't letting the guy fight 2v1.
"Rok, don't be reckless! We're coming!"
"Rok-kun, be careful!"
Nami and Robin shouted, beautiful eyes filled with worry.
Even Zoro's full-power attack barely scratched them!
Rok was strong, but against two Pacifista at once— and with poison still in his system?!
HUMM—
Before anyone could finish, both laser beams suddenly jerked upward, firing harmlessly into the sky.
Everyone whipped around.
And their jaws dropped.
Somehow, Rok had already closed the distance.
BAM! BAM!
Two lightning-fast punches— he caved in both Pacifista skulls, forcing their cannons to misfire.
Then—
A crimson slash soared into the heavens like a dragon ascending.
The next instant— two mechanical heads flew.
CRASHHH—!!!
Headless, the Pacifista toppled like fallen giants, crushing a dozen unlucky Marines in the process.
Silence.
Every Marine, every Straw Hat— eyes bulging, mouths open.
These were the monsters that even Luffy (300 million) and Zoro (120 million) together couldn't handle.
And Rok just solo-executed both like it was nothing.
"Damn it… if I'd known you were this strong, I wouldn't have jumped in so fast."
Zoro scratched his head, half-annoyed, half-depressed.
He thought the gap in swordsmanship between him and Rok wasn't that big.
Turns out he was delusional.
Whether pure technique or overall power— Rok was on a completely different level.
No wonder he kept telling them not to be reckless.
The guy could've ended this whenever he wanted.
"Rok… is that strong?!"
Nami's mouth formed a perfect little "o".
She'd seen him fight plenty today, but casually dismantling two Pacifista like toys? She'd never seen anyone their age this overwhelming.
"Hmhmhm~ Rok's always been strong."
Robin smiled calmly—she'd known him the longest.
The man once called the greatest genius in Marine Academy history? Of course he was a monster.
Her only worry had been the poison still in his veins.
HUMMMM—
"Ohhh~ both Pacifista are down already?"
"Who did that? The Straw Hats? How scary~"
A pillar of golden light appeared in the distance.
Followed by a wave of freezing mist rolling in fast.
The Admirals had arrived.
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