Chapter 424: Those Are All My Lines!

"Another bout… a monster from the Round Table Knights facing off against a top powerhouse on the sea, and this time the opponent is even the former World's Greatest Swordsman!"

Hawkins's gaze sharpened; he felt he had already guessed the other's plan:

"Britannia is planning to step on the sea's topmost powerhouses to climb up, to forge his own supreme might?!"

"In other words."

"Knight Gao Wen's aim is to rule the sea and wrestle with the World Government?!"

"Even the Pirate King Roger, back in his day, could not achieve such a feat!"

Hawkins's heart surged with emotion.

What One Piece, what Pirate King—compared to the breadth of ambition required here, they were nothing but games of house!

The World Government has ruled for eight hundred years; above the throne of the Pirate King, countless figures have sat, yet not one has ever reached such a degree!

"Drake!"

"Do you still have the confidence to compete with such a man?!"

Drake opened his mouth, then fell silent.

Yet the waves of sound from the spectator stands only rose higher and higher!

The battle just now had been brief, and its outcome had exceeded everyone's expectations.

A mere pawn under Knight Gao Wen—unknown, without even a bounty to his name—had easily taken down the overlord who dominated the West Sea!

One could almost call him the greatest dark horse in the history of this Martial Arts Tournament!

And now.

An almost identical situation was unfolding once more.

Again it was a previously unknown swordsman, again going up directly against a long-established powerhouse of the New World!

On the spectator stands, everyone's appetite was whetted at this very moment!

"Roronoa Zoro?! If I remember right, this guy is also a member of the Round Table Knights!"

"Will he encore the miracle of Black Leg Sanji?!"

"Stepping on the former World's Greatest Swordsman to reach the pinnacle?!"

A corpulent, obese nobleman, stepping on the body of a servant, strained to stand and gazed toward the empty arena in the distance.

His breathing was heavy, his gaze fanatical!

He was one of the most veteran fans of the Martial Arts Tournament; the instinct and craving for blood flowed through his body.

Yet never before—until today—had he been so thoroughly, unconditionally satisfied!

"Truly…"

"Just thinking of such a scene makes one unable to help but tremble all over!"

Beside him, a thin nobleman walking shoulder to shoulder with him, striking a pose, said in a disdainful tone:

"What sweet dream are you having?!"

"With that man as the opponent, even an Admiral, or even an Emperor-level figure, would have to take it seriously!"

"Hawk-Eyes Mihawk!"

"Don't forget—his former title was Marine Hunter!"

"One man, one blade, hunting Marines in the New World, pressing the World Government until they had no choice but to bow their heads and seek peace by offering him a Warlord seat!"

"He and Germa 66 are beings of entirely different dimensions!"

"The former will be drowned by the tide of the new era; the latter absolutely has no such possibility!"

At these words, even the obese nobleman's face flushed red, unable to find any words to retort.

Only because what the thin nobleman said was an indisputable fact!

Hawk-Eyes…

That very name alone was enough to make the Marines and even the World Government wary!

No one even knew exactly how strong Hawk-Eyes truly was!

For them, the highlight of this battle had never been who would win, but how Hawk-Eyes would win!

And how far that man from the Round Table Knights could go!

Such thoughts, the instant the name Hawk-Eyes appeared, needed no discussion, needed anyone's approval—simply because that man himself represented the pinnacle of the sword!

At the very least, the former pinnacle!

But even so, the cheers on-site still rose wave upon wave, louder and louder!

The battle between Sanji and Judge had utterly detonated the atmosphere on-site!

At the front of the spectator stands.

Hawk-Eyes slowly rose to his feet and slowly walked toward the arena.

Katakuri crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the railing, burying the lower half of his face in his scarf, his tone casual yet tinged with teasing:

"Looks like your luck is better than we expected—lock in a spot in the next round just like that."

However.

Before Hawk-Eyes could respond, the black blade Yoru on his back could no longer restrain its instinct and gradually grew restless!

Hmm—!

The hum of the blade spread through the competitors' seats.

Katakuri's eyes snapped open, a flash of sharp light vanishing in an instant:

"That guy is worth you taking him this seriously?!"

He had already sensed the rising battle intent emanating from Hawk-Eyes.

At this moment, Hawk-Eyes had not yet drawn his blade, yet he had already begun to gather momentum; with every step forward, the aura about him swelled another degree!

Ordinary swordsmen were now unable to draw their blades!

This was a pressure akin to an overwhelming force!

After joining the Cross Guild, Katakuri had clashed with Hawk-Eye more than once, yet he had never seen Hawk-Eye assume such a stance!

Laffitte, standing nearby, also looked toward Hawk-Eye, his expression one of astonishment, filled with indescribable complex emotions!

"Such a man, such a blade..."

"If not for this era, you would be the number one in the world!"

The crowd fell silent, deeply agreeing with this sentiment!

At the same time.

At Marine Headquarters, countless eyes watched everything unfolding in the Colosseum through projected screens!

Hiss—!

Sitting in the Fleet Admiral's seat, Akainu crushed the cigar in his hand and, watching Hawk-Eye step by step onto the arena in the projection, spoke with a cold, stern expression:

"That arrogant Hawk-Eye is actually participating in such a boring competition?!"

"Has he become interested in the One Piece?!"

"No!"

To Akainu's left, Kuzan, with his feet propped up on the desk and a lazy expression, spoke up:

"What that guy pursues is likely just a powerful opponent!"

"After all, we have all fought that monster; his strength is beyond doubt. Even if you wanted to capture him, it would be nearly impossible."

"Moreover, two years have passed; exactly how much stronger that monster has become remains unknown."

"The only thing to be grateful for now is that the previous resolution to abolish the Seven Warlords was suppressed by those Five Elders, so we temporarily do not have to clash head-on with that monster."

"Senior Kuzan, I cannot agree with such ideals of yours!"

Opposite Kuzan.

Aramaki, whose real name was Aramaki and who had a head full of green hair, could not help but retort:

"Justice is absolute and must be carried out to the end, even if it costs one's life!"

Kuzan raised his eyelids slightly and glanced at him.

The Aramaki before him could almost be called the brightest new star within the Marines today.

During the Summit War a few months ago, countless Marine soldiers perished, leaving a severe shortage of manpower.

Immediately after Akainu took office, he began recruiting soldiers across the Four Seas.

And the Aramaki before them was the monstrous rookie who had emerged during this recruitment drive.

His combat strength was already comparable to that of veteran Marine Admirals, and what made it even more troublesome was that this man was a thoroughgoing supporter of the World Government!

The justice he upheld...

Rather than calling it justice, it was more accurate to call it the law of the jungle, pure and simple!

Survival of the fittest; the World Government's Celestial Dragons were the heavens.

Everything else was merely something that could be sacrificed!

If not for Akainu being influenced by T-Bone and beginning to ponder the true nature of justice from another perspective, Aramaki would be an even more extreme and fanatical version of Akainu!

What was even more critical was that Aramaki had now essentially become the World Government's proxy within the Marines.

Because of his existence, Kuzan found himself constrained whenever he tried to accomplish certain things.

"Tsk~"

Kuzan curled his lips:

"Young people these days, really~"

"Ko~wa~i~ne~~"

That familiar tone made Akainu's mouth twitch, and he hurriedly interrupted Aramaki, who was about to continue arguing:

"Silence."

"At this World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament, nearly half the combat strength of Britannia's Knights of the Round Table will be in attendance."

"It is also an opportunity for us to understand just how much high-end combat strength Britannia has accumulated."

Hearing this, Aramaki shook his head and said: