"This is way too crazy..."
The battle at sea was nearing its end. Without any real powerhouses to back them up, and with two Marine Admiral candidates holding the line, Blackbeard's massive fleet was collapsing fast. Aside from a handful of people who had fled early, the rest were left with only two options—sink to the bottom of the sea or try to swim out of Whole Cake Island.
"The light that pierced the sky! As expected of Roman~~"
Hearing Coby's admiration, Helmeppo, carrying two machetes, let out a sigh.
"Seriously, your Observation Haki is way too much. You can 'see' everything this clearly from this far away…?"
Comparing yourself to others really is frustrating! Back in the day, Coby was just a timid little runt that Helmeppo used to bully. Now, he's strong enough to be on the verge of Vice Admiral level. Helmeppo couldn't help but wonder if Coby secretly had an Admiral or Fleet Admiral for a father. Otherwise, how was it that they trained and fought together, yet the gap between them kept growing wider?
"Well, since Roman seems to be fine, I can relax too."
Though Roman once shot through his palm, Helmeppo now looked back on his past behavior and felt like going back in time to beat himself up! Honestly, if it weren't for the Straw Hat Crew, he wouldn't be the person he was today.
And besides, as a man of the sea, what's a little old wound?
"But that attack… it really was spectacular."
Even all the way out here in the sea battle, they could still see that giant beam of light stabbing down into Whole Cake Island! And if they were actually on the island…
"Hmph, as expected of Roman."
Zoro took one glance at the enormous pillar of light crashing down from the sky, tearing through the island like a divine force, then turned his gaze to Shiryuu, who was now sweating coldly. He pointed his Wado Ichimonji at him.
"Let's wrap this up quickly. My next slash will be your last."
"…Tch, big words."
*Whoosh!*
Shiryuu vanished into thin air, completely disappearing from sight—even Observation Haki couldn't pick up any trace of him. But instead of panicking, Zoro simply closed his eyes and shook his head in disappointment.
"Relying on a Devil Fruit to fight… you claim you love the thrill of slashing people, but in the end…"
"You don't actually love the way of the sword, do you?"
?!
With a hint of lingering disappointment, Zoro's grip on Wado Ichimonji tightened. In the blink of an eye—
"One-Sword Style: Iai… Black Blade—Death Shura!"
The moment Wado Ichimonji was drawn, it transformed into a dazzling flash of light—so fast it was impossible to see its form, impossible to track its movement. If one listened, they could hear the blade's cry, like the furious howl of a Shura, like the wailing of countless ghosts.
But then—
As Zoro calmly returned his blade to its sheath, all the light and sound vanished in an instant!
A burst of blood erupted.
With a single slash, the void itself was split apart!
A tall figure, cleanly severed from the chest down, was revealed midair—completely sliced in half without a shred of resistance!
"Shiryuu… was taken out in one blow…"
The officers of the Blackbeard Pirates felt their minds go blank, overwhelmed with shock and terror.
?!
"A swordsman who doesn't even trust his own blade is nothing more than an amateur," Zoro said flatly.
His words snapped them back to reality. But when they looked at Zoro—he was still standing in the same place, still in his drawn-sword stance!
Then… what they just saw—Shiryuu getting cut in half—was just an illusion?!
No…!
*Cough!*
A thin red line suddenly appeared in midair, followed by a steady stream of blood gushing out, splattering onto the ground like blooming crimson flowers.
And only then—did Shiryuu's tall figure gradually fade into view.
"Your… Observation Haki… broke through…?"
Throughout their fight, Shiryuu had already probed Zoro's swordsmanship and figured out the range of his "mind's eye" technique. But he never expected—
"I'm not like you," Zoro said, standing up straight as he slowly slid Wado Ichimonji back into its sheath.
"In battle, I only trust my sword and my comrades."
To master the sword and to value bonds—that was Zoro's way. The closer he was to his limit, the higher he could rise! Compared to Zoro, Shiryuu, who simply loved cutting people down, was on a completely different level.
"Well—"
With a grunt of admiration, Shiryuu's towering figure slowly collapsed forward onto the ground. It was only then that the spectators snapped out of their daze.
"Just now…"
"That was the presence of a true master swordsman!"
A fellow sword wielder trembled so much that he could barely hold onto his beloved blade.
"The sight of Captain Shiryuu being sliced in half… was just an illusion. That man's sword strike was so overwhelming, so unreal, that before we even realized it, we had already accepted it as fact—our minds convinced that Shiryuu had been cut apart…"
Clang.
A prized sword dropped to the ground. One of the Blackbeard Pirates' officers, completely shaken by Zoro's attack, let out a deep sigh, then turned around and walked away.
"Against swordsmanship like this, I might as well just go open a dojo instead…"
What a terrifying skill! The onlookers were left in complete shock. A few seconds later—
???? Wait, wasn't that guy just using this as an excuse to run away?!
—————
Elsewhere—
"Stitching up and controlling people's bodies… No! Many of them are still alive! They can still be saved…"
Chopper looked at the grotesque "bio-weapons" created from Charlotte family members and felt his anger rise.
"Little reindeer,"
Kria, gripping his longsword, frowned.
"These monsters… were made from my brothers and sisters. They may not fight with skill, but their bodies have been hardened through countless battles. If we're not careful—"
"I'll handle it."
Chopper stepped forward, shifting into his humanoid form. At the same time—
"Enhancement: Agility."
Transforming into a tall, half-beast form, Chopper reached into his medical bag and pulled out—
A scalpel!
"A doctor is someone who studies medicine and saves lives."
Even as the twisted bio-weapons made from Charlotte family members loomed before him, Chopper walked forward without fear.
"I don't want to see this kind of thing happen a third time."
Back on Thriller Bark, the zombie doctor Hogback had already shattered Chopper's faith in the sacred duty of doctors at sea.
"So I'll put a stop to this! Maybe I'm being selfish, but I can't just stand by—because I'm a pirate!"
Chopper's determined gaze passed over the horde of bio-monsters and locked onto Doc Q in the back.
"You don't deserve to be called a doctor! What I mean is—"
"Cough, cough…"
Doc Q, looking as sickly as ever, let out a wheezing laugh.
"I've already told you… My real profession is an undertaker." He coughed again. "Being a doctor is just a side job. Do you really think a few words will make me abandon my 'army'…?"
"No. I don't need words—"
Swish!
As Chopper lunged forward, the bio-monsters in front of Doc Q immediately moved to intercept him!
These weren't slow, mindless zombies like Moria's minions. These were once high-ranking members of the Charlotte family, each with a bounty worth billions. Even after being turned into bio-weapons, they still retained most of their combat instincts.
As Chopper charged in, a wall of flesh rose against him—suddenly erupting with fists, swords, and claws!
Of course, Chopper wasn't about to just stand there and take the hits. With a swift movement, he dodged and dashed right into the fray.
But the moment he was surrounded, it felt like he had stepped into the depths of hell!
The air was so thick with the stench of blood and preservatives that it stung the eyes and made breathing difficult.
All around him were the agonized wails, crazed screams, and hopeless moans of Charlotte family members who hadn't completely died yet.
It was a nightmare—
"Just like Roman said, humans can be even more evil than demons—"
The bio-engineered monsters created from the Charlotte family officers had completely lost all the instincts of living beings—fear of death, exhaustion, hesitation. They charged at Chopper from all directions, trampling over each other in their madness. Even without weapons, they were ready to tear Chopper apart with their teeth, to crush and suffocate him with their bodies.
"Nerve Bundle Cut!"
The scalpel in Chopper's hand glided through the air, smooth and precise, like a master butcher at work. As he stepped forward, the bio-monsters lunging at him suddenly froze, their puppet-like bodies going stiff. Then, as Chopper passed them, they all collapsed to the ground, their twisted expressions slowly fading into calm.
"Rest in peace."
Thud, thud, thud, thud!!
As Chopper walked forward, the bio-monsters kept falling one after another, taken down in an instant. On the other side, Doc Q's eyes widened in shock.
"How is this even possi—"
"As long as I find the nerve connection points you're using to control them, even a child could destroy these monsters."
Chopper held up his shining scalpel, his voice calm.
"For a doctor, this is just basic knowledge, isn't it?"
"Heh... *cough cough*."
Doc Q's face twitched. He didn't know how to respond. What kind of doctor has such ridiculous skill with a blade? And spotting the precise nerve points on a bio-engineered monster at a glance—how could that be so easy? No, it shouldn't be possible at all!
If this reindeer-man ever decided to become an assassin instead of a doctor... even the strongest fighters in the world would be helpless if he got close enough for a single strike.
"A doctor's blade is only meant to heal, not to fight. Just like Sanji, I won't use it for battle."
That's right. The *Straw Hat Crew* had been hiding two sword masters all along—one was Sanji, who used his skills for cooking, and the other was Chopper, who used his for surgery.
Splat.
In an instant, Chopper's scalpel flashed again, slicing through the corpse of Perospero, whose long tongue lolled grotesquely. Behind the body stood Doc Q, the captain of the Blackbeard Pirates' ninth ship.
"I will never forgive someone like you, who desecrates the dead and defiles the duty of a doctor!"
"*Cough*... Not bad, little reindeer *doctor*."
With a cold chuckle, Doc Q suddenly yanked off his tattered, gray-feathered coat, revealing a body packed with solid muscle—completely different from the sickly figure he had pretended to be. But even more disturbing were his shoulders and chest.
It was as if his flesh had been split open, revealing a cluster of heads, all tightly packed together. Each one had a human face, complete with eyes, nose, and mouth. It looked like—some kind of grotesque bio-fusion experiment.
"My body is my true masterpiece."
"By transplanting other people's muscles, bones, and organs, I have built myself a body of ultimate strength! And by grafting their heads onto me, I can wield multiple skills at once—swordsmanship, gunnery, hand-to-hand combat, navigation, even cooking... That's right! This is the essence of the 'Embalmer'!"
Now fully revealed, Doc Q grinned menacingly as he stared down at Chopper.
"Once I kill you, your medical skills will help me evolve even further—?"
But Chopper just turned around and started walking away.
"Your opponent is me."
Splat!!
The chilling voice was followed by the sound of flesh being ripped apart.
Doc Q spun around in shock, only to see a massive twin-bladed sword—*Pretzel*—slicing into him. Holding the weapon was Cracker, his single scarred eye filled with nothing but killing intent.
"I heard that body of yours is pretty tough?"
"Good. It'd be boring if you died too quickly—"
Ignoring the screams behind him, Chopper walked up to Perospero's corpse. He let out a small sigh, then crouched down and carefully rolled up Perospero's long tongue, tucking it back into his mouth.
"This is too tragic... Even in death, his tongue is hanging out like that. I wonder how much suffering he went through before he died..."
Perospero's lifeless face: *Actually, my tongue was always like this.*
(End of Chapter)