Chapter 45: The Promise from Back Then!
"Hawkeye Mihawk, I've been looking for you for a long time!" a certain person destined to be a passerby shouted excitedly at the Great Swordsman in front of him.
"Another challenger? How boring. Your strength doesn't pique my interest in the slightest." Mihawk stared at the passerby without blinking and gave a... well, a very honest yet cold and merciless answer.
"Bastard, are you looking down on me?" The passerby was clearly enraged.
"So, in challenging me, are you prepared?" Sweeping away his lazy tone, Mihawk's gaze grew sharper along with his words.
"Prepared? Of course I'm prepared to take you down!" drawing the blade from his waist, the passerby shouted.
"Then, let's begin!" Mihawk calmly drew the small cross knife hanging from his neck and pointed it at his opponent.
"Bastard, bastard, how dare you look down on me, I'll have your... ugh!" Clearly provoked, the passerby raised his battle sword and charged at Mihawk.
One had to say, while his courage was commendable, his running posture was quite cool, and he had memorized the lines of a nobody perfectly. The passerby, who originally thought he could stage a nobody's comeback, never expected that he would be forced off the stage before he could even finish his lines.
In just an instant, the passerby discovered that the bastard who was just a short distance away was now right in front of him. A cold pain spread from his neck.
Lowering his eyelids to look at the dagger plunged into his throat, the passerby's larynx moved slightly, but before he could utter even half a word, he fell down with a very unwilling look in his eyes.
"Brother Buggy!" With a somewhat pained expression, Hancock had clearly sensed the power of the man called the Great Swordsman.
Looking at the slightly pained expression in Hancock's eyes, Buggy said faintly, "This is a world of the strong. If you want to climb up by stepping on the shoulders of the famous, you must first have the resolve to risk your life. His death wasn't the strong bullying the weak, but merely an ambitious man paying the price for his own foolishness."
Without having experienced the darkness of being sold into the Holy Land, Hancock at this moment was far from being as cold as she was in the anime, so naturally, she couldn't remain indifferent.
"Brother Buggy, I know, I'm just not used to it." As a warrior from Kuja, Hancock wasn't overly sentimental, just a little unaccustomed to it.
"I understand, but you have to get used to it. Otherwise, when you become famous in the future, if you don't act ruthlessly, more and more people will come to bother you," Buggy said, patting Hancock's shoulder comfortingly.
"Hmph, if anyone dares to challenge me, I'll just turn them into an obedient doll! I believe the feeling of a fate worse than death is definitely more memorable than dying instantly."
"Haha, I almost forgot how terrifying your ability is. Let's go. The duel is over, it's time for us to get down to business." Looking at the crowd below that was already dispersing, Buggy led Hancock in the direction Mihawk had left.
Outside the town, Mihawk, who was striding towards where his boat was docked, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
In the next second, an invisible wave rushed towards Mihawk.
It was the intimidation of Conqueror's Haki!
Identifying the Haki, Mihawk's eyes instantly became sharp and excited. He slowly drew the black blade from his back, staring at the two figures walking over from a distance.
"Mihawk, put away your sword. I didn't come here to fight you. I wonder if you still recognize an old acquaintance you met once ten years ago. I've been looking for you for a long time for the promise we made back then." Walking to a spot about four or five meters from Mihawk, Buggy spoke with a slightly excited tone and pointed to his own nose.
Okay, one had to admit, to get someone to remember you, saying a thousand words was less effective than just pointing to his signature nose.
Obviously, Mihawk still had a rather deep impression of this red nose.
"You are... Buggy. That's right, Red-Haired Shanks and I were talking about you two years ago." After a few seconds of confusion, Mihawk recalled the matter concerning this red-nosed fellow.
"Hahahaha, that's right, I'm Buggy. Is that guy Shanks doing okay? I heard about your duel back then. Actually, I guessed years ago that there would be a fight between you two. As expected. By the way, Shanks's Haki is no joke, right!" Buggy said with a loud laugh.
"Yes, his Haki is very strong, but that's what makes fighting interesting. I can't even get interested in fights that are too weak," Mihawk said with great confidence.
"That guy has made quite a name for himself in the New World these past few years. I'm looking forward to reuniting with him. Ahem, let's not talk about that for now. I came looking for you this time for the promise we made back then. Now that we've met again, what do you say about the invitation from all those years ago?" After a moment of reflection, Buggy immediately got straight to the point and asked Mihawk directly.
"If I said we fight, and I'll agree if you win, I think you'd be very happy to hear such a condition, right?" Staring at Buggy, Mihawk suddenly said this.
"Uh, it seems that bastard Shanks couldn't invite you, so he decided to sabotage me instead," Buggy immediately understood the meaning behind Mihawk's words.
"How did you know he invited me?" Mihawk was quite surprised to hear this.
"Although that guy is carefree and seems simple-minded, he's no fool. If you two didn't get along, how could he have even told you about my ability? It would be abnormal for him not to invite you. However, he must have told you that I'm not afraid of being cut. While he wasn't wrong, it was a one-sided view, because that's only the most basic use of the Chop-Chop Fruit's ability. My current use of the Chop-Chop Fruit's ability is not limited to just that level." Buggy was quite confident in the abilities of the Chop-Chop Fruit.
"Oh, you've reached a higher level?" Mihawk asked with great interest.
"At the very least, I can instantly break the black blade on your back into several pieces, just like this!" After speaking, Buggy gently pressed his hand on the ground.
Cracks instantly spread out from beneath Buggy's palm.
Mihawk watched Buggy's action carefully and was very clear that Buggy had absolutely not used his own strength just now. In other words, it was done entirely through his ability.
The nemesis of all swordsmen!
In just an instant, Mihawk came to this conclusion.
And wasn't it true? He wasn't afraid of being cut, and he could damage weapons on contact. It was believed that any swordsman facing the man before him would have more than just a headache.
And it was precisely because of this that Mihawk fell silent after watching Buggy's demonstration.
(End of Chapter)