Chapter 201

Luffy's face also entered Zoro's line of sight, and he grinned at him: "Hahaha, that's great, Zoro, you're okay."

Zoro stared at him blankly and said: "I'm... still alive?"

"Hahaha, what nonsense are you talking about in broad daylight? Of course you're still alive!"

Luffy pressed the straw hat on his head, lowered his head and grinned at him, his smile extremely bright and innocent.

Zoro stared at him, his consciousness gradually clearing, and the sensations of his body gradually flooding into his mind, confirming to him the fact that he was still alive.

He raised his hand, touched the bandaged chest, and muttered:

"The voice and the figure I heard before... could they all have been hallucinations before I passed out?"

Just at this moment.

A black sword-light in the sky swept across above the sea restaurant, the clouds split apart from the middle.

Even the sky darkened for it, the gale howled, the sea water raised waves!

"!!"

Zoro, lying on the ground, stared blankly up at the sky.

As a swordsman, and one about to step into the realm of Master Swordsman, he could feel the might of that slash more than anyone else present.

"Has the battle between those two begun... Speaking of which, this really is amazing!"

The straw-hatted Luffy gazed up at the sky, his tone full of emotion and wonder.

"Those two people...?"

Zoro was startled upon hearing this, hurriedly looked at Luffy and said: "Who are those two people you're talking about?"

Luffy heard this, lowered his head to look at him, and answered without hesitation:

"It's the guy who slashed you and Luo En."

Hawkeye and... Luo En!

Zoro's eyes instantly widened, a storm surging in his heart.

Sure enough, that wasn't a hallucination earlier!

It really was that guy!

Buzz!

Zoro keenly sensed another terrifying sword-intent soaring into the sky, completely different from the astonishing sword-intent contained in that black slash just now.

It belonged to another person.

He completely ignored the injuries on his body, propped himself up with his hands, struggled to sit up his upper body, and turned his head to look in that direction.

To the southeast of the sea restaurant, extremely far away.

A blood-red sword-qi soared into the sky under Zoro's gaze.

The slash was like a crescent moon, tens of thousands of meters long. The blood-colored sword-light illuminated one side, forging the sky in that direction entirely into a sea of blood!

Its momentum pierced the heavens!

Its edge seemed as if it would pierce through the firmament!

Under the extremely shocked gazes of Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy.

This blood-red sword-qi directly sliced open the entire curtain of sky overhead!

The sea of clouds in the sky was cleaved into a massive rift stretching tens of thousands of meters, blood-red in color, the cloud layers churning.

Everyone at the sea restaurant, and the people on all the islands within ten thousand li, all looked up.

Upon seeing that massive blood-colored rift in the sky, they were all dumbfounded, utterly shocked.

"No way... right?"

Ajin couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, cold sweat streaming down his face.

"Is this really a level humans can reach?"

After that blood-red slash, immediately following was another black slash sweeping across the sky, passing over the sea restaurant.

The sword-qi swept past, the gale howling.

Nami even had to grab the wall beside her to steady herself and not be blown away by that gale.

The sea churned more and more violently, Luffy and their small boat rocked fiercely in the waves.

"This is the power possessed by a top-tier Master Swordsman..."

"Compared to the current me, it's simply like heaven and earth..."

Zoro stared fixedly in that direction, his two hands clenching into fists.

Luo En has already reached that height, and is going to fight that guy for the position of the World's Greatest Master Swordsman?!

Looking at himself in contrast...

He clenched his teeth, his fists squeezing tight.

Isn't this still the same as when I was in the Dao Coffin back then?!

No, the gap might be even larger than before!

Then, what was all these years of desperate cultivation for!

Those two promises... can I really fulfill them?

Can I really still catch up to and surpass him in swordsmanship in this lifetime?

Zoro doubted himself for the first time, his swordsman's heart struck and giving rise to a trace of confusion.

"Ah... Luo En really is amazing, way more amazing than before."

Luffy's emotional voice rang in Zoro's ear. He turned his head to look, and saw Luffy, one hand pressing his straw hat, gazing in that direction, a face full of bright smiles.

"Worthy of being the one I want to chase after."

Zoro stared at the smiling Luffy and couldn't help but ask: "Don't you also want to defeat him? With such a huge gap in strength between you and him, I'm afraid you could never catch up in your whole life! Why can you still smile?"

"Why can't you laugh?"

Luffy looked at him strangely. "Isn't the goal you're chasing better the stronger it is? If you caught up to it that easily, what would be the point?"

"An adventure and a voyage that reach the destination in one go don't seem that interesting either. Sure enough, it's the process that's more fun, right? Even if you can or can't reach the destination, it doesn't matter, right? As long as you give it your all and leave no regrets, that should be enough, right?"

Zoro stared at him, dumbfounded.

Not far away, at the sea restaurant, Sanji — a cigarette dangling from his lips — glanced at him, then looked out toward the far sea, tilted his head back, pinched the cigarette between his fingers, and gently exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Give it your all, leave no regrets…"

He was somewhat moved.

……

The far sea to the southeast.

On Wurendao, two streams of sword intent and sword momentum shot straight into the clouds. A bleak, murderous aura shrouded the entire island, causing the animals on the island to cower flat on the spot, trembling, not daring to move.

Two figures rushed toward each other at high speed.

Then, at the same instant, they swung their blades down at the other!

A flash of blood-colored sword-light and pitch-black blade-light streaked past.

The blades of two Supreme Grade Fast Blades — one blood-red, one black — collided!

Clang!

Accompanied by a clear, ringing sword-cry.

The entire world seemed to fall silent for an instant.

The next second, an incomparably terrifying gathering of wind pressure exploded violently between the two!

Within a hundred meters around the two of them, the space was completely torn apart by their sword momentum in an instant!

Mountain rocks, earth, grass, trees, even dust and sand — all were split in two by the countless sharp sword-qi spilling outward, then two into four, four into eight… finally vanishing into nothing.

Rings of shockwaves, like ripples, spread outward from the two of them, covering the entire island in the blink of an eye.

Wherever they passed, the ground was torn open with extremely deep, straight fissures, and vast swathes of forest were swept flat like a scythe cutting through wheat.

The sea around the island also churned and roared, raising towering waves.

Luo En, single-handedly gripping one of the Supreme Grade Fast Blades — the blood blade Yuki — parried Hawkeye's two-handed downward slash of the black blade Yoru, and flicked it upward.

The violently colliding sword-qi between the two seemed to find an outlet, surging skyward like a flood!

The sky above the island, thick with dark clouds, was instantly sliced open by two slashes — one black, one red!

The thick, pitch-black cloud layer was cleaved with a cross-shaped rift, running tens of thousands of meters long and hundreds of meters deep, intersecting lengthwise and crosswise!

Rolling dark clouds churned, pouring into the rift, but for a long time could not close it back up.

……

【Still more today, will finish typing and post later】