4. The Sailing Ship Entangling The Giant Dragon

Early in the morning.

On the beach of Shimotsuki Village, the voices of Sorata's and Zoro's roar can be heard from afar.

"One two one, one two one..."

"Zoro, you need to speed up."

Looking at the back of Kuina, Zoro hugged Sorata's legs tightly and ran forward at a faster speed.

Sorata was now riding on Zoro's neck, spreading the domain to put pressure on him.

This is what Zoro requested, but on the condition that he'll be carried on his back during morning jogs.

Looking at Zoro below him, he couldn't help but increase the pressure.

"Hey! Work harder, Zoro, Kuina's back is almost invisible."

Hearing Sorata's gloating voice, Zoro felt his shoulders sink. He gritted his teeth hard, stretched out his right arm to wipe the sweat on his forehead, took a breath, roared, and rushed forward at a faster speed.

"Ahhh...".

The others couldn't keep up as soon as he exerted his strength.

Kent looked at Zoro passing by, gasped, and said, "Damn! Zoro has made great progress this year,"

"Yeah! He is now the strongest among all the boys, except for Sorata. Even adults can't beat him."

Brown turned his head and wiped the sweat off his forehead, looked at Kent, and sighed.

Will, who was running at the end, suddenly accelerated to Kent's side, frowning and said.

"It's a pity we can't train with Sorata."

"No way. We can't we bear that kind of pressure!"

The kid who was running ahead also slowed down.

"Yeah yeah!"

"This guy is the same as Kuina back then. He surpassed all the people in the dojo at once."

Hearing the discussions of the brats behind, the leading apprentice in the front turned his head and scolded: "Okay, don't compare yourself to Zoro. It's not like you don't know how much he usually trains, so hurry up and follow him!"

"Well! Can't compare with him. This guy is like a beast."

The other apprentice nodded in unison, looking at the backs of Zoro and Sorata from a distance, showing admiration.

"Yes!"

Then they roared and strode forward hard.

At the end of the beach, they turn around a corner and walk into a small port, where the sea breeze with a fishy smell is blowing in the salty wetness.

This is the only port in Shimotsuki Village. As the stream flows eastward into the sea, the coastlines on both sides are sunken, forming a natural dock, and this is where the ships of the village enter the sea.

It is a pity that the location of Shimotsuki Village on this small island is really a bit remote, and there are basically no large ships coming and going. The last time Sorata saw a large ship passing by was a few months ago. 

Although it is still early, the sun has just emerged, but the pier is already bustling with activity, and the fishing boats that got up early to fish have now returned.

There are a dozen of fishing boats, large and small, parked in the harbor. On each fishing boat, there are strong men carrying baskets of fish and shrimp down.

Sorata put away the domain, looked at Zoro who was lying on the ground panting heavily, raised his foot, and kicked his ass.

"Get up. Only this level and you are like a dead dog. When will you surpass Kuina."

He pulled Kuina who was watching from the side, and said, "Right, Kuina?"

"Yes! This guy is still so weak."

Kuina looked at the funny Sorata and answered playfully.

Her words can also stimulate Zoro a little bit. Zoro's progress this year is really fast, at least faster than her progress in the past.

With the increase of age, the front of her body gradually bulges, and she can feel that her progress is slowing down.

This made her have to spend more time on strength training.

As for swordsmanship, as she slowly let go of her obsession with the superiority of men over women in the past few months, she can feel that the use of her swordsmanship has become more relaxed and comfortable.

Hearing Kuina's answer, Sorata looked at her face which became more gentle and playful, and smiled with satisfaction.

During the years that he spent with Kuina, she really had a very special spot in his heart. It is also the reason that he's doing everything to prevent her tragic death. 

As for the "whetstone", the culprit that caused Kuina's death, he had already thrown it into the sea, and the attic was sealed off by him.

As for when to open it again, it depends on the situation of Kuina! Anyway, the dojo is big enough, and there are a lot of empty rooms.

'It's outrageous. Climbing a few meters high stairs, and you can fall to your death.'

For a moment, he wondered if this was a drama played by Koshiro and Kuina.

Unfortunately not.

At least until he crossed over, there was no news of Kuina in One Piece, whether it was in the manga or anime.

"Let's go and see what delicious seafood is available today."

He pulled Kuina and walked towards the pier.

"Wait, wait, wait for me."

Zoro's slightly panting voice sounded behind him,

Walking into the harbor, they can hear the voices of many merchants and fishermen bargaining.

These merchants are bridges connecting the villages, information, and goods.

Most of these people are villagers from mountain villages on this island. They transport the fish and shrimp here back to the mountain and then transport the fruit and beasts from the mountain.

Earn on both sides.

Sorata and the others walked straight to the largest fishing boat. They said that it was the largest, but compared to other fishing boats, this boat was just a small sailing boat about ten meters long and several meters high.

This boat belongs to Isshin Dojo, and it is mainly responsible for going to other islands to buy food, it will also go fishing from time to time.

The busy, burly man on the boat looked at the three who were coming and quickly turned his head and shouted into the cabin.

"Uncle Yuki, Sorata, and the others are here."

"Okay, okay, coming out right now."

They saw an old man with white hair and a goatee beard walking out of the cabin holding a big fish basket in his hand.

Seeing the old man, Sorata quickly jumped into the boat, walked quickly to the old man's side, reached out to take the fish basket, turned around, and put it on the side of the boat.

The old man wiped his hands gently on the apron in front of his chest, pulled out a pipe from his waist, and then took out shredded tobacco and stuffed it into the pipe's body.

Then he took out the lighter from his trouser pocket, turned the gears, and lit the tobacco with a "crack".

The old man first leaned against the railing beside the boat, then raised his pipe, squinted his eyes, and smoked heavily.

He raised his head slowly, and looked at Kuina who was coming up from of behind Sorata through the smoke, Yuki recalled and joked, "Kuina, you really look more and more like your mother!"

Kuina stepped forward quickly, lying on Yuki's back, leaning her head over his shoulder and looking down at the fish baskets on the deck.

"Uncle Yuki, did you gain anything today?"

Before Yuki could answer, Zoro, who had just climbed onto the boat, rushed to them and pulled off the lid of the fish basket.

At this time, he looked into the basket again and saw that the fish basket was full of fat and strong lobsters.

When these big lobsters suddenly saw the light, they wanted to scramble to get out, but they were stacked together, and they couldn't get out after pulling one by one.

"What! It's lobster again. I'm tired of eating it."

Zoro dropped the lid and shouted down at the lobster in the fish basket.

Boom——!

Yuki looked at Zoro, who was shouting loudly, and immediately raised his hand and punched him on the head, "You stinky brat, isn't it enough to have lobster? This is the most delicious food around here."

"Yeah, yeah! Zoro, why are you so dissatisfied?"

Seeing Yuki going crazy, Sorata and Kuina quickly stepped back and nodded frantically.

"Hiss... it hurts!!"

Zoro squatted on the ground, covered his head with his hands, looked up at Sorata, who retreated to the side, and shouted loudly.

"Hey! You two are really good at lying. I don't know who said it last time that they are tired of eating lobster."

Yuki looked at Kuina through the smoke, and Kuina quickly shook her head to express that she hadn't said anything.

His gaze then turned to Sorata, who shrugged and said with a serious face: "Uncle Yuki, don't you know me yet? How could I say that!"

After speaking, he turned his head to meet Zoro's angry eyes and winked at him.

At this time, the smiling, strong man next to them said, "Hey! Uncle Yuki, don't tease them. Isn't there a big cargo in the cabin?"

Zoro looked up at Yuki in surprise, and Yuki took a puff of cigarette before looking down at Zoro, "What are you looking at, go and carry it in the cabin!"

Zoro cheered, jumped up, and ran to the cabin.

Yuki then looked at the big man beside him, "Kuby, go help that brat."

"Yes, Uncle Yuki," Kuby followed Zoro into the cabin after saying that.

Sorata walked to Yuki's side and said, "Uncle, any news today?"

"You little brat, why are you in such a hurry?"

He put down his pipe, knocked it on the side of the boat, fumbled with his left hand, took out a stack of papers from his pocket, and handed it to Sorata, "Here! This is the news these days."

Sorata took the paper and unfolded it, leaning against the side railing of the boat, and looked down.

The first news article was impressively written: Goa Kingdom World Noble Ceremony.

Then look down, it turned out to be prepared for the Celestial Dragons.

Sorata stroked his chin and thought about it thoughtfully.

"Hmm... Celestial Dragons, Goa Kingdom, Luffy, Windmill Village."

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

It seems that Sabo was bombed by the Celestial Dragons and almost drowned, and then was rescued by Dragon!

Could it be this is that Celestial Dragons!

If it's the Celestial Dragons, then it should be tonight!

"What!"

At this moment, he suddenly sensed something, turned his head towards the stern, and looked seriously at the distant sea.

"What's wrong? Sorata."

Kuina noticed Sorata's strangeness, and followed him to the stern suspiciously.

"It's a ship, a very large ship."

"Ship?"

At this time, Yuki also came over, looking out of the port suspiciously.

In addition to the clouds and waves, there are only a few seagulls across the sky from time to time.

Looking back, he glanced at Sorata with a hint of shock in his eyes.

"This kid's Observation Haki is too powerful!"

He is an old man who came here from Wanokuni with Kozaburo back then, of course, he knows that he can't sense it, but what does it mean that this kid can sense it?

At this time, the cabin suddenly became lively.

At first glance, it turned out that it was Kent and the other little ghosts who climbed onto the boat one after another and then rushed into the cabin, yelling.

The senior brother who led the team searched around and found Sorata and the others at the stern of the boat.

Seeing Sorata and the others staring into the distance, he didn't ask, but just followed their eyes and looked into the distance together curiously.

At this moment, a faint black spot appeared between the distant sea and sky.

As time passed, the black spot gradually became clearer. From a distance, it was a huge sailing boat dozens of meters long and about ten meters high above the water, with a giant dragon wrapped around its hull.

From a distance, it looks like a living dragon swimming towards the port from the distant sea.

The speed of the sailboat was very fast, and it arrived outside the harbor in a short while.

Seeing the huge figure on the bow, Sorata gradually revealed an expression of excitement.

"It's really them."