The morning sun peeked through the gaps in the window, illuminating the face of a handsome man lying on a bed by the window.
A smile played on the man's lips, as if he were dreaming of something beautiful in his slumber.
However, no matter how beautiful a dream, it was still just a dream. As the morning sun gently tapped the man's eyelids.
Everything in the dream vanished like a mirage, an illusion in the air.
This caused the smile on the man's lips to disappear. He couldn't help but tremble his eyelids, then slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of azure eyes, like a starry sky.
Yesterday, as the sun set, they had sailed to Jaya Island. They hadn't gone to Mock Town but had found a sparsely populated place to anchor and rest.
Well...
They hadn't expected their luck to be so good. They had stumbled upon the legendary Uncle Flying Squid, "Cricket," and his subordinates, the Saruyama Alliance (a team of orangutans operating a salvage ship).
They didn't disturb Cricket, and Cricket obviously recognized the flag on their ship, so he didn't approach.
He probably never dreamed that the one who found the Golden Bell, rang it, and made him believe in Shandora and his ancestors’ tales was on this very ship!
In a few more days, he would lead his subordinates to search for the true Utopia. Though he knew the journey ahead was arduous, he possessed the courage and perseverance to succeed.
For the occasional chiming bells in the sky were their guiding light.
For that, he would gladly lay down his life at sea.
...
Kouta threw off the blanket, his feet landing on slippers as he stepped into them. He stood up and walked to the window, pulling open the curtains with a tearing sound, and then reached out to fling the window open.
The chirping of early birds and the sound of the sea rushed in, instantly clearing Kouta's mind.
Looking out the window at the rising sun painting the horizon, a smile naturally spread across his lips.
There was a reason this sea was so captivating. Even the sunrise was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Huh!"
His gaze shifted downwards. He saw a colossal sailing ship anchored in the distance on the shimmering sea, seemingly engaged in some activity.
From the slightly vibrating air, he sensed something.
"It doesn't look like they're salvaging gold."
Kouta stroked the sparse stubble on his chin with his left hand, pondering for a moment. Then, his eyes lit up.
"These guys aren't looking for the timing of the Upward Current, are they!"
"Hmm..."
"That makes sense. Since Uncle Flying Squid knows Shandora is in the sky, and he's seen the Upward Current, with his personality, he'd be eager to see what's in the sky, wouldn't he!"
Kouta murmured to himself, then lowered his hand and turned towards the wardrobe.
These weren't matters he needed to concern himself with. Everyone who left their homeland to sail the seas had their own stories and their own ways of living. On the path to pursuing dreams, people failed and succeeded every moment.
He didn't know if Uncle Flying Squid would succeed, but all he could do was offer a silent blessing in his heart. Nothing more.
After all, they were strangers, and he wouldn't wait here for a month or two for Uncle Flying Squid.
It was his own choice, his own pursuit, wasn't it?
He opened the wardrobe and took out a white shirt and floral shorts.
His room was simple, just like his usual attire. Apart from a bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and some barrels, there was nothing else.
After getting dressed, Kouta turned and stared at Zankou on the sword rack, lost in thought.
He had initially believed that with the amount of Armament Haki he possessed, he could easily forge Zankou into a black blade by spending most of his day tempering it.
But... he was mistaken.
He discovered that after such a long period of tempering, apart from a slight enhancement of the blade, Zankou remained unchanged.
This taught him that forging a black blade quickly was likely a difficult endeavor.
After all, there were only two known black blades in this world.
One was the legendary Sword God, "Swordmaster Ryuma's" blade, "Black Blade Yoru."
This blade was undoubtedly forged by Ryuma himself, as recorded in Wano Country, and Koushiro also knew of it, which is why he knew about it.
The other was held by the current World's Strongest Swordsman, "Hawk Eyes Mihawk," a black blade renowned as the world's strongest, one of the twelve Supreme Grade blades, "Black Blade Yoru."
This blade was undoubtedly a black blade. He had seen it with his own eyes, but he didn't know if Mihawk had forged it into a black blade himself, or if it was already a black blade when he obtained it.
He had initially thought that as long as his Haki was strong enough and he kept tempering it, the sword would turn black, but clearly, he had oversimplified it.
There were many powerful individuals in this world, and many with strong Haki, so why were there only two known black blades?
He pondered and gradually found an answer.
Whether it was Roger, Whitebeard, or Shanks, even with their world-class Haki and sufficient strength.
It was precisely because their power ascended too quickly from weakness to strength that they didn't have the time to envelop their blades with Haki, allowing the blades to grow alongside their Haki in battle.
Hence, their swords, even the Supreme Grade blades, couldn't transform into black blades.
Both Ryuma and Mihawk were pure swordsmen. They poured most of their energy into their swords from the beginning. They genuinely believed in their swords and fought with them countless times.
This was akin to tempering steel. They repeatedly infused Armament Haki, fought countless battles, thereby allowing the toughness of the Haki to completely meld into the blade, thus becoming a black blade.
With this thought, he couldn't help but shake his head.
His situation was similar to Roger, Shanks, and Whitebeard.
On one hand, his strength was too formidable, with few opponents. When he dealt with weaker individuals, it was usually an instant kill, which prevented true tempering of Zankou.
On the other hand, they shared a common trait: they were not purely swordsmen.
Although Kouta used a sword and his swordsmanship was exquisite.
Most of his swordsmanship was actually derived from his imagination and the spatial domain he possessed.
Otherwise, it was simply the brute force he wielded with his monstrous physique.
His swordsmanship might appear strong, but only he knew that it all stemmed from his vast knowledge and rich imagination.
Stripping away his knowledge and imagination, his actual talent for swordsmanship, while still superior to ordinary people, was truly inferior to Kuina and Zoro.
This resulted in him liking his sword, but not to the point of obsession.
This might also be the reason he couldn't forge a black blade.
Therefore, he was no longer as fixated on Zankou's future and whether it would truly become a black blade.
When he first obtained Zankou, he was indeed very determined and motivated to acquire a black blade.
As for now.
He picked up the sword, hung it at his waist, and a wisp of black energy quickly flowed into the scabbard, coiling around the blade, tempering it at all times.
"Sigh! It's become a habit."
"Let nature take its course!"
Regardless, he would continue to temper his sword. After all, under his tempering, Zankou's blade had indeed become tougher, hadn't it?
And this also served to train the fine control of his Haki.
Kouta looked up and took down his exclusive sake gourd from beside the sword rack. He shook it and found that there wasn't much sake left.
He then refilled the gourd from the barrel behind the sword rack, hanging it at his waist just like Zankou.
His room, though simple, was filled with various types of sake barrels. The newest, from Skypiea, was the most abundant.
Most of the others were bought from islands along the way, including some sake given by Maya and Sakar a few days ago.
This sake was ancient and, of course, fragrant. He was reluctant to drink it, so he had stored it at the back of the sake barrels.
He intended to save it for future banquets.
After all, there wasn't much, just a small barrel.
And the sake he had been drinking lately was from Skypiea.
Patting the sake gourd, Kouta's face broke into a satisfied smile. He then turned and walked towards the door.