As the colossal dragon-headed sailing ship gradually approached, everyone on the dock stopped their tasks and turned their eyes towards it.
"That ship is too big!"
"Yeah! I haven't seen such a large ship in a long time."
"Hey, doesn't the bow of the ship have a face on it?"
"Yeah, a face that big is so strange! Is it a kite?"
"It's too far to see what it is."
...
The morning sea breeze couldn't dispel the murmurs of curiosity on the dock as they watched the approaching grand vessel.
Due to its immense size and deep draft, the dragon-headed ship couldn't enter the harbor and had to anchor outside.
At this point, a smaller boat was seen being lowered from the large ship. The large face at the ship's bow then gracefully leaped down from the vessel.
Bang—!
The entire small boat bobbed violently, as if it were about to capsize. However, it managed to stabilize itself with stubborn resilience.
Behind him, several figures clad in similar black robes descended one by one down the ship's ladder.
As they got closer, the crowd finally realized that the giant "thing" was indeed a person. Their entire face was as large as the bow of the small boat, with only the face exposed, the rest of their body shrouded in black robes, and an estimated height exceeding four meters.
From the exposed face, one could see long, thick eyelashes and an exaggeratedly large mouth. Light blue eyeshadow and purple lipstick adorned their eyes and lips respectively.
The young boys, who were helping Zoro and Koby move fish in the ship's cabin, heard the commotion outside and immediately dropped their work, rushing out to join the onlookers.
Ahua leaned over the railing, pointing at the approaching small boat with amazement, and exclaimed, "Did you see the person with the giant face?"
"Yeah! It's the first time I've seen someone like that," A Tao responded, his eyes wide.
A Luo added, "Look, that boat is also super big."
"Mmm-hmm..." The other companions nodded in agreement.
...
Zoro, carrying a tuna larger than himself on his shoulder, emerged from the ship's cabin, followed by Koby, who carried a fish basket in each hand.
He first scanned the surroundings, not seeing Kouta and the others. Then he called out to Ahua and the others, "Have you seen Kouta and Kuina?"
"At the stern of the ship."
At this moment, Ahua turned his head and excitedly pointed at the sea towards Zoro, shouting, "Zoro, look at the big-faced monster!"
Zoro glanced in the direction of his finger and lost interest.
"Zoro."
"What is it?" Zoro turned to face Kouta and the others approaching from behind.
"You've always wanted to know my strength, haven't you? Today, I'll show you."
Zoro looked at Kouta's excited expression, filled with confusion. He hadn't seen Kouta this excited in a year.
"I haven't really fought much since I broke through, and when I go to find Master, he never goes all out."
Kouta turned his head and excitedly said to Iku beside him, "Today, I can finally go all out and see my true strength. Uncle Iku, please protect them later," he gestured towards Ahua and the others.
"Hey! Kouta, don't underestimate us, we don't need protecting!"
"Yeah, we're strong too!"
The children shouted and gesticulated wildly, with A Luo even flexing his muscles.
"Shut up, you brats! You can't handle them," Iku roared, his expression suddenly changing.
As soon as he saw the face, he felt he had seen it somewhere before. He hadn't seen it clearly from afar, but now that they were closer, he finally remembered.
"What's wrong?"
Kouta asked knowingly, seeing Iku's sudden shift in expression.
"I remember now."
"Remember what?"
"I remember who that big-faced person is."
"Who?"
Everyone looked at Iku curiously, awaiting his answer.
Iku took a deep puff of his pipe, then spoke with a grave expression, "If I'm not mistaken, that person is likely the legendary figure of these past few years."
"The legendary figure?"
"Mmm! It is said that his medical skills are extraordinary. He once saved those whom doctors deemed incurable and nations on the brink of death, earning him the title of the 'legend of salvation' and the strongest okama king in history, Emporio Ivankov."
"What? So he's just a doctor."
At this moment, Ahua pushed up his glasses and excitedly chimed in, "By the way, okama king, what exactly is an okama?" He seemed more interested in the term itself.
"Hmm... Okama... How should I put it? Perhaps a person who is half human and half beast?"
A Luo nodded, stroking his chin with his right hand, wearing a look of profound understanding.
Thump—!
Thump—!
Iku raised his pipe and hit each of them, "Don't interrupt, you brats."
A Luo and Ahua immediately stood at attention and bowed, saying, "Sumimasen."
Iku paused for a few seconds, squinted, and continued, "Don't just think of him as an ordinary doctor. He has a bounty of 85.3 million Berries from the Marines."
"85.3 million?"
The surroundings fell silent. Everyone froze in place. Okama, doctor, these terms they hadn't paid much attention to. But 85.3 million, they understood what such a bounty meant, as the highest bounty in the East Blue was only around 20 million Berries.
Kouta had known from the beginning that it was Emporio Ivankov, the Okama King.
It was precisely because he knew who it was that he was so excited. The opponent wouldn't harm ordinary civilians, and his strength was formidable enough. Kouta could act without restraint, and if anything went wrong, he could pass it off as a misunderstanding.
Yes... Plan successful.
A gust of sea breeze blew, and the static scene suddenly came alive, followed by a clamor.
"Are you kidding me, Kouta? You're going to fight a monster like that?"
"Yeah, even you, Kouta, can't possibly defeat a monster with an 85.3 million bounty!"
...
"Alright, stop arguing. It's not a fight to the death; I'm just going to spar with him."
He explained in a relaxed tone, looking at the noisy children.
Then, he turned his gaze to Kuina and said, "Kuina, lend me the Wado Ichimonji."
Kuina tightened her grip on the sword, looking at Kouta with a hint of worry.
He noticed Kuina's concern, placed his right hand on her head, and said gently, "Kuina, as long as I don't wish it, no one can harm me."
Yes! No one can harm Kouta. Kuina slowly relaxed, removed the sword from her waist, and handed it to Kouta.
"Kouta, give it your all! I also want to know the gap between us."
"Mmm!"
His voice was firm and powerful.
Kouta took the sword, held it in front of him with his left hand, and gripped the hilt with his right. He slowly drew it out a little, the sound of the blade scraping against the scabbard being crisp and clear.
Zing—!
The Wado Ichimonji, one of the 21 Great Grade Swords. Its hilt and scabbard were white, simple and unadorned, a sword that hid its true power. According to Tenguyama Hitetsu, this sword, along with Enma, was forged by Koushirou Shimotsuki.
"A good sword."
Kouta gently sheathed the sword.
Clink—!
Next, he took off the ordinary sword that had been hanging on his left hip and threw it to Kuina, explaining, "This sword cannot withstand my full power swings."
Then, he hung the Wado Ichimonji at his waist, looked up at Kuina and Zoro, turned, and leaped off the ship with his left hand supporting the sword.
Zoro quickly dropped the fish and, along with Kuina, ran to the side of the ship, leaning over the railing and watching Kouta run on the sea.
Behind Ivankov, a young man wearing a bunny-eared hat, vigorously rowing the boat, suddenly looked ahead in surprise.
"Whoa, look! Someone is running towards us on the sea."
Slap—!
A swift, decisive slap landed on the back of his head. Another young man behind him cursed, "Ichiro, what kind of dream are you having in broad daylight? Who the hell can run on the sea? If anyone can run on the sea, I'll eat this oar on the spot."
After a few seconds, he suddenly realized the surroundings had gone quiet.
He quickly stopped what he was doing and followed everyone's gaze ahead. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his eyeballs bulged out.
"Uh..."
There really was someone running on the sea.
Ichiro turned his head and laughed triumphantly at him, "See! What did you just say? You know it yourself!"
Saying that, he handed the oar in his hand to him.
The young man behind him quickly composed himself, shook his neck in confusion, and mumbled, looking left and right, "What, did I say something just now?"
"Mmm... I didn't say anything," he said, becoming more resolute, nodding seriously at Ichiro.
Ichiro's hand holding the oar trembled, and he looked at him in disbelief, sighing, "You are truly shameless."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"Both of you, shut up."
"Yes, Ivankov-sama."
While the two were bickering, Ivankov had already noticed Kouta, and she frowned slightly.
"Are you alright, Ivankov-san?"
"I'm fine, Lightning. I just saw an interesting boy."
From behind Ivankov walked a woman, also clad in a black robe, wearing orange and blue glasses on her head. Her hairstyle resembled the 'clubs' in playing cards, with the left half of her hair orange and the right half white. A lightning bolt scar ran from her forehead to her right eye.
She calmly and gently looked ahead, her right hand extended straight with her palm facing down, while her left hand gracefully swirled a wine glass.
"Amazing! He can actually run on water."
Saying that, she took a small sip from her glass. "Ivankov-san, this boy seems to be heading towards us."
"What do we do... what do we do, he's coming for us!"
Ivankov suddenly made exaggerated movements, bending her knees and trembling all over, her mouth agape as she cried out.
"Ivankov-sama, are you alright!" Ichiro shouted worriedly, seeing Ivankov in this state.
"N-n-no..."
Ivankov's wobbling body suddenly spun 180 degrees, her hands raised high. "I'm not scared at all."
Ichiro and the others on the boat burst into laughter and applause.
"So he wasn't scared!"
"We were tricked again!"
"Haha..."
Lightning stood to the side, watching them with a smile.
She wasn't nervous at all about the approaching Kouta. After all, this was the East Blue, the weakest sea.