Greatest in the World

Even though my negotiations with Hancock did not go as planned, the other Warlords were fish in a barrel. Ever since robbing Crocodile blind, his operations never fully recovered, and all it took was a word in the right ear to have his entire building searched. Crocodile promptly carted off to Imperial Down.

Geko Moria was almost as easy. I sent Gibby to attack his ship and dumped his entire zombie army into the ocean. If they didn't drown, the salt in the water would have taken care of them. There was little chance of him recovering in time to participate in the upcoming fight.

And though they hadn't told me, I knew Bartholomew Kuma was a spy for the Revolutionary Army, or he was undergoing the procedure to have his memory wiped. That left only Trafalgar Law, Donquixote Doflamingo, and Dracule Mihawk. Law would jump at the chance to take down his tormentor, only leaving the swordmaster himself.

Turning the page on the day's newspaper, a wanted poster fell out onto the counter. I usually wouldn't pay attention to such a thing, but the picture on the sheet caught my eye. Picking it up, I saw that Luffy had reached his bounty of four hundred million after the two-year time skip.

Grabbing my Den Den Mushi, I asked the communications officer to send Ace to my lab. A few minutes later, he was walking through my door, readjusting his hat, "They said you needed to talk with me?"

Holding out the wanted poster, Ace grabbed it, and soon he was grinning ear to ear, "So you gotten this far, Luffy, while I appreciate the news, why did you call me all the way down here to show me this?"

"What do you think about bringing him aboard? From what this article says, he was able to take down an entire fleet of impersonating pirates while displaying supernatural abilities." Ace fell silent, " So he's learned Haki, I wonder who taught him."

Realizing that Rayleighing hadn't arrived yet, I knew why. "I think I know who, but that's beside the point. He should be heading towards Fishman island." Ace shook his head, "I don't want him mixed up in this, at least not yet. If he gets hurt, I don't know what I would do."

"Fine, but with a bounty as big as his. There's no doubt he has a tide of people after him. Especially if he's your brother." Scoffing Ace turned to leave, "Don't go behind my back on this one, Soren, I mean it."

Holding my hands up, I smiled, "Don't worry, you have my word. I won't go behind your back." Ace narrowed his eyes before nodding, "Okay then, see you later tonight."

"Maybe, but I have to take care of a few things first." After Ace left, I created a portal and dropped to the other side. Once again, running on top of the water, I reached my destination within an hour.

The murky Kuraigana Island, walking through the ruins, kept a close eye on the spare forests leading up to the castle. But before I could make it halfway, the ground started to rumble.

Turning to the forest, a horde of Humandrils flooded out of the trees, "These guys are the worst." My arm burst at the seams as tendrils of muscle branched out to meet the apes. Within seconds they were all bound though still very much awake as they bit at the strands of holding them in place.

Leaving them there, I continued to the castle. At the door, I grabbed one of the iron knockers and bashed it against the rotten wood. "Mihawk, I've come here to challenge you." Waiting for a minute, I banged again, but it seemed as if no one was home.

"Of course, the one time I come to visit, he's not here." I cursed under my breath, getting ready to create a portal back home. Before I could, however, I sensed a sliver of fighting intent from inside the castle.

Grinning, I took a step back and looked at the tinted windows above, "There you are!" Leaping, I ran up the stone wall before crashing through the window and landing on a table. Spinning around, I point a bone sword at Mihawk, who was sitting at the head of the table, his expression neutral.

"So you were hiding up here, you bastard. You let your fighting instinct slip." Mihawk sighed and patted his lips with a napkin before pushing back his chair and standing, "Did you have to break my windows? It will be a pain to repair them."

Stepping off the table, I pointed my sword at Mihawk, "No matter, I came here today to challenge you to see how my skills match against yours." Sighing, Mihawk was about to say no when he looked at the blade in my hand.

"Where did you get that?" Smiling, I knew that once he noticed my blade was a metio, he would be interested. "Made it myself, do you like it." Mihawk stared at the blade, and for the first time in forever, I could feel Sanguinem's spirit awaken.

Suddenly Mihawk stepped back and drew his sword, "That blade is a curse. It exists only to bring others nothing but suffering and chaos. I must destroy it." The greatest swordsman suddenly emitted killing intent, the strongest I had ever felt before.

Unlike the ones from killers, Mihawks was bright, almost righteous in its quality. Grinning, I formed a scabbard and sheathed Sanguinem, "Sorry, but my sword is a part of me; if you to destroy it, you will have to destroy me."

Mihawk's eyes narrowed, "That was the plan from the moment you stepped on my table."