Chapter 02 : Shimotsuki Village

A day later, Dylan is back at the branch, just in time to meet the oncoming base chief. The chief is no longer the tall man he was back then. More than ten years have passed, and many things have changed.

The original head of the base, including the Marine who accepted and led Dylan for almost twelve years was gone. The current head of the base is a strong man named Hans, who was only transferred half a year ago, with the rank of captain.

"Dylan," Hans looked at Dylan who was about to walk in, and stopped him, "Have you gone to find 'Red Hair'?"

Dylan nodded. "I looked at it from a distance but decided not to make any contact. After all, this guy has been very popular in recent years."

Hans nodded in agreement. Shanks, this guy has indeed been very popular in the past few years. Although there is a lot of power gap with the older generation, it is said that he has a place in New World.

After Roger's death, the arrogance of the pirates was not suppressed but intensified.

In today's New World, Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Beasts even have their own title, the "Emperor of the Sea".

Nonsense!

"By the way, the pressure on the Grand Line has been increasing over the past few years, and the headquarters has issued a summoning order. I heard that you refused before?"

Hans didn't know much about Dylan's past, only some elderly veterans vaguely remembered that this guy had been in the branch for a long time. Even his military rank has reached the level of a captain, the same rank as him. However, you need to go to the headquarters to be awarded the rank.

"Your title has not been officially completed, this time..."

"I'm going this time, when?" Dylan looked past Hans, looking at the Marine's flag waving in the wind as before.

Hans breathed a sigh of relief.

This guy has very high prestige in the branch, and in many cases, Dylan's opinion is more valuable than his, the head of the base. It makes Hans a bit uncomfortable when his subordinates listen to the other guy more than him.

"As soon as possible, due to the consideration of the distance, I will give you three months, and I will report to the headquarters if possible."

Hans once studied Dylan's information, and the information left by the former base chief shows,

Adams Dylan.

The place of birth is unknown.

orphan.

Joined the Marines at the age of nine.

Calm personality.

Uphold justice and peace.

Then there are the achievements and feats of Dylan supplemented by successive base chiefs. Dozens of pages are densely packed, and although they are all just pirates with low rewards, there are too many to hold. During his tenure, Dylan also personally added nearly four pages of record feats.

'What a monster!' Looking at Dylan going away, Hans muttered.

······

Shimotsuki village.

Dylan stretched as he stepped onto the island. Unexpectedly, this place happened to be on the route. People around saw him throwing the long black sword with strange expressions.

"Are you here to challenge Koshiro too?"

Dylan followed the voice and saw that it was a young man with a sword pinned to his waist.

"No, I am here just to see..."

In the original plot, Shimotsuki Village is inextricably linked to Wanokuni and the Revolutionary Army, and that squinting-eyed Koshiro does not seem to be a simple character.

Before Dylan finished speaking, a rough voice suddenly came from behind, "Hey! You! You sword thief."

Dylan continued to walk forward as if he hadn't heard of it, and the voice behind him burst into anger, "What about you? The one in white, who stole my famous sword, are you going to leave?"

Dylan paused, turned around and looked over at a ronin with a shaved head who was staring at the black scabbard on Dylan's waist with bright eyes. The Ronin licked his parched lips.

This must be a good sword! The ronin could even feel that even hiding it in the scabbard couldn't conceal its sharpness. The onlookers saw him and retreated to the side.

Dylan frowned for a bit. He knows the ronin lied because he got this sword from the legal auction almost five years ago. But that is not the problem. This guy... is a famous ronin in the neighborhood, and he is as fast as lightning. But...he is a rogue, and they don't know why the rogue has such a talent for swordsmanship.

"Was this really your sword?" Dylan raised his eyelids casually, and decided to solve this problem quickly. His tone annoyed the ronin more. But before the ronin could say anything, his voice suddenly turned cold as he added, "This is in my hand, so this is mine now. I Give you five seconds, get out of my sight." A cold voice sounded in Ronin's ear.

Not only was Ronin not afraid, but he laughed, and then he leaned forward slightly, holding the handle of the sword on the left side of his body with his right hand, "In that case..."

However, before he could make a move, a red light flashed, and Ronin suddenly felt a cold feeling on his neck. Then he felt dizzy for a while, and saw a scene that was very puzzling to him. Who the hell is this man?

But before his mind could form any thought, he lost his consciousness as blood sprayed all over his neck.

Instant death!

There was an exclamation from the crowd, but Dylan turned and left without paying attention. There was a slight vibration from the black scabbard around his waist. But he decided to ignore it as he moved in the direction of Isshin dojo where Koshiro lived in.

······

Isshin Dojo.

Koshiro got up slowly when he heard the noise outside and walked to the door. There, he saw Dylan who was already standing in the courtyard, while a large group of people stood outside the gate, seemingly waiting for something.

Koshiro, wearing glasses, smiled at Dylan. "Excuse me..."

Dylan looked at Koshiro's weak look and suddenly thought of something interesting.

"I heard that the master of this dojo is very strong?"

The people watching outside the door said "Oh~~" neatly, and then showed an expression that really did.

"The guest was joking." Koshiro didn't seem to be angry at all and still asked politely. "Excuse me, guest..."

Dylan smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not here to make trouble or do something silly such as challenging you or something like that, I just want to show my sword and ask a master his opinion about it."

"Oh?" Koshiro looked towards the long sword on Dylan's waist.

"Inside please, guest."

Seeing that there was no fight, the people outside the door left in disappointment.

With a pitch-black scabbard and a dark red handle, Koshiro held Dylan's long sword in both hands and frowned slightly. As if with a hint of anticipation and a hint of entanglement, Koshiro slowly pulled out the long sword.

A bloody smell rushed from the black-red sword, and there was even a faint ray of blood escaping from the sword.

"Snapped!"

Koshiro immediately put away the blade and handed it back to Dylan.

"Shura, one of the twelve masters of the Supreme Sword."

Dylan took Shura, stroked the scabbard lightly, and the bloody smell in the air disappeared instantly.

"Is there any special characteristic?"

Koshiro looked at Dylan with some surprise. "The characteristics...hasn't the guest already brought out its characteristics to the fullest?"

"Is that so..." Dylan stood up and greeted Koshiro slightly, "Thank you."

After Dylan left, Koshiro swallowed a bean-sized bead of sweat on his forehead, "Sura...was turned into a black sword by him, and he surrendered to him so much..."

After calming down, Koshiro returned to his original smiling face with squinting eyes and waved to the screen next to him, saying, "Come out, were you scared just now?"

A girl and a boy who Dylan would identify as Kuina and Zoro if he stayed a bit longer poked out from the outside.

"Father...that person just now..."

"Ah...you are still far away from him, but...if you want to become the world's number one swordsman in the future, I think...he must be one of your biggest obstacles."

Just now, Shura just showed a trace of breath, which made the two of them almost faint. Even if they are usually very strong-headed, they can't say anything big at this time.

Kuina clenched her fists tightly, turned and left without saying a word, Zoro on the other hand gritted his teeth and cursed out loud, "Damn it!" and then ran out.

Koshiro looked at the two with a smile on his face.

"The number one swordsman in the world..." Koshiro still felt suffocated thinking of that seemingly unknown man. "What storm would you bring to this world.."

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After verifying Dylan's identity, the sheriff guarding the small port saluted Dylan with a "snap" and watched Dylan go away. The public had confirmed before that it was the ronin who tried to snatch the man's sword, which led to the duel.

Although death by duel is not legally allowed, but... if it was an attack on a marine captain instead, there would be no problem.

On a medium-sized merchant ship, Dylan rested on the side of the ship. However, the shout from the ship crew suddenly woke him up.

"Captain, it's a pirate ship!"

After careful observation, the watchman on the top of the ship added immediately, his voice cracked in fear.

"It's Don Krieg Pirates!"