Koby swore that since going out to sea, he had never encountered such a magical situation. Even the fact that he was out fishing and got conscripted by pirates couldn't compare.
They were clearly hostages, clearly meant to be used to threaten that man, yet after the butler gave a shout, the Vice Captain actually joined the butler. The kidnappers and the hostage together turned their blades toward that terrifying man.
And the reason was simple.
That terrifying man didn't stop his pace at all.
A surging gale plunged into the crowd. In just a blink, shrill screams, flying severed limbs, and splashing blood transformed into a horrific scene of slaughter.
Such a terrifying scene scared Koby so much that he jumped straight into the sea.
Whoosh!
The sound of the wind grew more and more violent.
Hiroto squeezed out his strength as much as possible. The gale stacked by [Thrust] grew stronger and stronger, ravaging the entire dock like a typhoon sweeping through.
He gradually understood and learned the detailed usage of [Thrust].
An entry isn't fully mastered the moment it's obtained. When he first got [Swordsman], he had spent some time familiarizing himself with it.
The same was true for [Thrust], and because of his swordsmanship level, he quickly found where the problem lay.
Now, it was time for the display of results.
His figure suddenly blurred, turning into a black shadow that crazily dashed back and forth across the battlefield.
Streams of air rapidly spawned and turned into extremely conspicuous gale vortices, expanding to a scale of four or five meters in an instant and continuing to grow.
The center of the eye of the storm was Hiroto, who was frantically stacking the wind.
"What is this!"
"Bastard, if you have the guts, come out and fight us head-on!"
The pirates, the butler, and the guards were in a panic.
It was at this moment that Hiroto's power reached its limit.
As the roaring gale surged incessantly, a figure suddenly appeared in front of the group of pirates.
As Hiroto swung his long sword violently, the gale vortex surrounding him transformed into a solid gale slash that whistled forth.
The slash, several meters long, instantly disintegrated into countless sword beams, whistling and shooting toward the pirates and the others, piercing and dismembering the crowd along the way.
Boom!
The dock shattered and collapsed.
When the surging dust settled, only a patch of crimson remained on the spot.
Shattered corpses and severed limbs floated on broken wood, and the gushing blood dyed the seawater.
Hiroto stood with his sword in hand. The gale blew the hem of his clothes, which were not stained with a single drop of blood, making a flapping sound.
"What was that just now?" Nami asked, her whole body trembling.
"It seemed to be... a flying slash?"
Carina looked ahead with a face full of shock. The feeling of her field of vision suddenly being emptied of a section was incredibly jarring.
"I've heard of it. Rumor has it that on the sea, there are great swordsmen worthy of being called Sword Masters. They can slash out a 'flying strike,' with power as terrifying as a cannonball exploding at close range."
"I thought it was a legend, but now... it seems to be true. Fortunately, he didn't get serious with us."
Lingering fear appeared on Carina's face.
She once again felt lucky that Hiroto had no intention of killing them. Otherwise, there would have been no possibility of winning.
She couldn't help but look to the side, wanting to see the expression of her partner and rival, Nami.
As expected, she was just as astonished and then afraid as herself.
But then, an expression appeared that Carina couldn't understand.
There's a problem!
Carina narrowed her eyes, keenly sensing something unusual.
She carefully studied that beautiful face, which was no less stunning than her own, reading the meaning behind Nami's expression.
It looked like... longing or expectation?
'This person...'
Nami stared intently at the back in front of her.
For a moment, she wanted to beg Hiroto to take action and wipe out the Arlong Pirates to save Cocoyasi village.
But then she thought about how he had only destroyed a pirate crew with a Captain's bounty of 5 million berries, along with Ryder's guards.
She suppressed her thoughts.
The Arlong Pirates were much more terrifying than Alvida.
Arlong's bounty was as high as 20 million berries.
A swordsman who can unleash a Flying Slash comparable to the power of a cannonball is terrifying, but Arlong is a monster who can tank cannonballs head-on.
'Calm down... calm down... I've already failed too many times.'
Just by closing her eyes and recalling slightly, Nami could clearly remember the efforts she had made to kill Arlong.
Poisoning, traps, cannonball explosions...
She had tried so many things, but none had ever worked.
Nami took a few deep breaths and gave up on this unrealistic fantasy.
Besides, she didn't have the capital to hire Hiroto to get rid of Arlong. She should focus on how to steal some 'labor fees' from Carina and slip away when they reach the next island.
100 million berries was her greatest hope.
As for now, the harbor was right ahead, but did she dare go over and steal a ship?
Moreover, judging from the experience in the treasure room, she wasn't very confident about escaping, especially since she couldn't bear to leave these treasures behind.
While thinking, Nami secretly took a gem out of her small bag and stuffed it into her cleavage.
Seeing this, Carina followed suit, stuffing a gem into her already plump cleavage.
'My stamina consumption is so high, it's almost bottomed out.'
Hiroto stopped his movements, summarizing his thoughts while regulating his breathing.
'The core of [Thrust] lies in mobility. The dash speed within short distances is very fast, the air blades whipped up by the gale are secondary.'
'Although it looks like a Flying Slash, in terms of power, it clearly can't compare to a real Flying Slash.'
If it were Zoro from Skypiea, he could have cut down this group of small fry with a single draw of his blade.
But he had to use over a dozen thrusts to stack the wind and consume a large amount of stamina to create the power of this one slash.
Still, it's not bad as a lethal means for clearing trash mobs.
'If I study it further, it might become the opportunity for me to learn the Flying Slash. It truly deserves its green rating.'
—
"Damn it, damn it... how is it possible? I actually lost? Where did Ryder find this monster? Why haven't I heard of him?"
The heavily injured Alvida crawled out of the seawater, covered in blood and looking extremely wretched.
Compared to her arrogance not long ago, she was now full of fear. This powerful enemy she had never encountered before left her with no power to resist.
Hiroto saw this and walked over, standing in front of Alvida.
"I..."
Alvida subconsciously looked up, wanting to beg for mercy when she saw the man's eyes.
Cold, without a ripple, as if looking at a piece of dead meat. That was exactly how she looked when she decided to kill someone in the past.
"Damn bastard, I will absolutely not let you go!"
Alvida gave up her fantasies and shouted angrily, "If it weren't for your despicable methods, I would never have lost!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Hiroto pierced Alvida's heart with his sword and pressed his hand against her during her scream.
Gluttony!
The entry took effect, and Alvida's memories flooded into Hiroto's mind, most of them quickly disappearing.
But many remained in Hiroto's memory, and following them was...
Power! Power! Still freaking power!
[Entry: Brute Force (Green) Obtained!]
[Attribute Update]
[Strength: E+ → E++ (Level of a pirate with a bounty near ten million)]
[Entry: Brute Force]
[Quality: Green]
[Type: Special]
[Effect: Permanently and significantly increases Strength attribute.]
[Consumption: None]
[Remark: Power!]
Hiroto felt heat currents surging through his body, and everywhere the heat passed was a patch of pain.
Like a fierce fire burning, new strength was then born from the burnt 'embers.' It started like a sprout and then rapidly grew strong and along with it came a surging power that far exceeded the past.
The entry provided by Alvida, had now become nourishment for Hiroto's strength growth.
Leaping from E+ level to E++, which was three times the level of E.
In Hiroto's judgment, E level was generally the level of pirates with bounties of a few million.
Arlong should be at the top of the D-level, at least having a blue entry.
'Killing Alvida should allow me to extract another entry. And the Devil Fruit on the island near the Marine Base 153... I'm really looking forward to what follows.'
Hiroto clenched his fist, and the corners of his lips curled up.