World-famous! The shock of the Red-Haired!

The so-called New World is a sea area ruled by the Four Emperors!

Having been filtered through the first half of the Grand Line, many of the pirates sailing here possess immense strength, making it the most difficult and dangerous sea in existence!

Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, is renowned as the man in the world closest to the throne of the Pirate King!

On this day, an uninvited guest arrived in Red-Haired Shanks' territory!

He sailed in a coffin-shaped vessel, making a grand and swaggering entrance into the territory of a Four Emperor!

That's right, this person was none other than the World's Greatest Swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk.

"Hawkeye, what are you doing here?"

A newly recruited intern pirate asked with a terrified expression, raising his blade to point at Mihawk.

As a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Hawkeye Mihawk was viewed by all pirates as a running dog of the World Government. Naturally, this rookie lackey was terrified of him.

"Do not panic. I am not here for you. Where are the officers?!"

Hawkeye Mihawk remained utterly calm, revealing his hawk-like, piercing yellow pupils.

"Boss! This is terrible—! Hawk... Hawkeye Mihawk has tracked us down!"

Frightened by Mihawk's gaze, the minor leader scrambled and crawled all the way to the core area of the island.

Every pirate crew shared a common hierarchy.
From highest to lowest, the ranks went: Captain, First Mate, Officers, Minor Leaders, Foot Soldiers, and Intern Pirates.

"Yo~ It's Hawkeye. You're quite the rare visitor!"

"I'm feeling a bit under the weather right now. Did you come to test your swordsmanship against mine?"

Shanks wore a stiff expression, hunched under a sun canopy so his expression was obscured.

He had just engaged in a massive battle with his officers and had been drinking heavily; it would be a miracle if he felt comfortable right now.

"Hmph~ I have no desire to duel a guy who lost his left arm right now."

Mihawk pulled a piece of paper from his chest pocket and said in a deep voice, "I found an interesting pirate, and I figured you'd be very interested. He's an intriguing little brat from some small village."

It was a pirate wanted poster!

Luffy in the photo wore his iconic straw hat, and his shiny forehead could practically double as a mirror!

"Huh? Who's this kid? Why does this hat look so familiar to me? Wait, why is my hat in his hands?!"

Shanks froze in place.

"Isn't this Luffy the Rubber Man? How did he turn into a bald guy?!"

Lucky Roux held a chicken leg, looking equally dumbfounded.

"To command a bounty of thirty million Berries right out of the gate... as expected of the kid the Boss took a fancy to."

First Mate Benn Beckman muttered to himself inwardly.

"Good kid! No wonder he looked so familiar—it's the rubber brat! A thirty million bounty for his very first time? That's quite rare even on a global scale."

Shanks gulped down a large mouthful of liquor and burst into a proud, triumphant laugh.

This was the brat he appreciated.
Back then, he had even gambled one of his arms on him, and sure enough, the boy hadn't disgraced him.

"Hold on... Hawkeye, you couldn't possibly have come all this way just to remind me of such a trivial matter, could you?!"

Shanks looked at Mihawk suspiciously.

He knew his old friend's temperament well. While an initial bounty of thirty million was indeed surprising, such a small matter shouldn't be enough to make Hawkeye go out of his way to pay a special visit.

"Hawkeye, you must have other important intelligence to share with the Captain, right?!"

Benn Beckman's gaze instantly turned sharp.

He could tell that the rubber brat had merely been mentioned in passing. The kind of person who could command the attention of the World's Greatest Swordsman was obviously someone else entirely!!

Benn Beckman felt a trace of shock.

Just what kind of person was formidable enough to make the World's Greatest Swordsman take them this seriously?
So seriously that he would travel all the way to the New World just to share this with his 'only friend'?!

Hawkeye Mihawk drew his blade, his palm brushing against the black blade of Yoru, and said with a heavy expression, "During my travels in the East Blue, my black blade Yoru was snatched away from me once."

---!!!

Gulp.

Red-Haired Shanks swallowed hard, clearly shaken to his core.

"Mihawk, you aren't joking, are you?"

All the officers of the Red-Haired Pirates froze as well!

As officers, they knew Mihawk's strength better than anyone. This hawk-eyed man before them was a terrifying entity whose swordsmanship was on par with their own captain's!

Just how many swordsmen were there in the entire world?
Yet despite that, Hawkeye Mihawk had remained firmly at the top, reigning supreme on the throne of the World's Greatest Swordsman for decades!

This was the symbol of terrifying power.

"How is that possible? Mihawk, you're the World's Greatest Swordsman! Who could possibly take your weapon away?!"

Yasopp, Usopp's father, locked his gaze onto Mihawk, attempting to find the truth in the other man's eyes.

"The World's Greatest Swordsman? Heh... In front of that man, I am not even worthy of being called the World's Greatest Swordsman."

"A swordsman's sword is his life! When I couldn't even protect my own weapon, what face do I have left to call myself the World's Greatest Swordsman?!"

Mihawk pulled another wanted poster from his pocket, slammed it heavily onto the table, and smiled bitterly:

"Shanks, can you even imagine it? Facing that terrifying man, I didn't even have the courage to draw my sword and slash!"

Hawkeye Mihawk recounted everything he had experienced in the East Blue to Shanks.

He had no desire to hide this matter from Shanks.
Because Shanks was one of his few good friends!

"Are you saying that a major event where a Sword Immortal descended to the mortal realm happened in Syrup Village?"

"That the swords of every single swordsman within a radius of a hundred miles flew toward him of their own accord? And even you couldn't forcibly retain the Black Blade Yoru?!"

A hint of horror crept into Lucky Roux's gaze, and he didn't even notice the chicken leg dropping from his hand to the ground.

This sounded entirely absurd!

What kind of person could manipulate so many blades at once?
Could he be a sword god descended from the heavens?!

"Ba... Ba-wang?! You're saying his name is... Ba-ba-wang?!"

"Huh? What's going on? I clearly meant to call him by his real name, why did I get it wrong?!"

Shanks' face stiffened, feeling as though he had suffered a humiliating insult.

It was utterly maddening—what was going on here? Why would I suddenly call this guy 'Papa-King'?!

"..."

Mihawk's expression darkened as well.

Even Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, had fallen victim to it?
This name truly was somewhat bizarre!!!

Even though he intended to shout out 'Chu Ba-wang' (Overlord Chu), what slipped out of his mouth was always 'Papa-wang' (Daddy-King)...

"Hey! I refuse to believe I can't even pronounce his name."

Reluctant to accept the anomaly, Shanks attempted to salvage his pride.

He cleared his throat, vowing that he would properly pronounce the three characters for Chu Ba-wang without fail.