"This is simply incredible."
"With just one move, entire swathes of trees were cut down. And not just that, they were sliced into uniform wooden blocks, completely polished and sanded!"
"Absolutely incredible! Is this the power of a top-tier lumberjack?"
As Genny finished his frantic commentary, the entire audience stared in shock at the projection.
Even Mihawk fell silent. He slowly turned his head, fixing Dante with a deadpan stare. "Do you people have a misunderstanding about woodworkers, or about swordsmen?"
A Three-Sword Style Logger? Could Dante even hear what he was saying?
"It was him just temporarily entering the workforce. It can't be helped," Dante spread his hands helplessly. "The pirates appearing in these seas now are mostly rookies with no bounties. The ones with real money on their heads have either run off to the New World or fled back to the first half of the Grand Line."
He sighed. "So most bounty hunters have to find new lines of work, or they'll starve."
Was survival really that difficult for East Blue swordsmen?
After a pause, Mihawk asked, "Isn't that boy your kouhai?"
"I invited him to join the Marines, but he refused." Dante said wistfully. "That kid has his own dreams. He wants to stand on his own two feet and make his mark with his own abilities. I've always respected the dreams of others."
He looked at Zoro on the screen. He had grown so much, becoming mature and steady.
"By the way, what do you think?"
"What do I think? Average at best." Mihawk turned back to the screen. "If this is the surprise you mentioned, I'll admit that specific logging technique did catch me off guard."
It was a truly simple, practical sword technique.
He paused, then added with a note of genuine admiration, "But compared to Kuina, that boy seems to have forged his own unique path."
The image on the screen changed again.
As Zoro displayed his exquisite logging technique, the competitors were equally stunned. No one had expected the joke of a team to hide such raw capability. With a single strike, Zoro had matched the timber output of entire crews.
Staring at the ground littered with neat, polished logs, Sanji's eyes widened. "Didn't expect you Moss Head to have swordsmanship like this."
"Hmph, not bad." Zoro sheathed his swords smoothly, not a single speck of sawdust clinging to his clothes. He glared at Sanji. "And who are you calling Moss Head, Curly Brows? You think I won't cut you?"
"Even if you wanted to you couldn't, Moss Head."
"You really are annoying."
"What a coincidence, I feel the exact same way." Sanji sneered, taking a drag of his cigarette. He looked at Zoro, genuinely confused. "If you have skills like that, why become a lumberjack?"
Did this guy think it was easy to find a decent job around here? Zoro frowned. Glancing at his chipped blades, he clearly didn't want to elaborate.
"Forget it. I'm not interested anyway. Why did I even ask a Moss Head?" Sanji flicked his cigarette ash, ignoring Zoro as he bristled with anger again. He looked at the massive pile of wood. "Your swordsmanship saved us some time, but who's going to haul all this back?"
"I cut it, so obviously you'll haul it!" Zoro shot back.
"No!" Helmeppo rejected the idea instantly. "Come on, Zoro, have some self-awareness! I don't want to have to go searching for you in the jungle again!"
Before Zoro's face could reddened further, Sanji cut in. "That's a bit much. Are you his mother or something? We have a ship right here, and the distance isn't, oh, right. Luffy took our ship. We have to search for it"
He trailed off, then sighed in resignation. "Your worry might be justified. Fine, I'll haul it. You two stay put."
"Of course the cook should haul it," Zoro scoffed. "Did you think you'd just stand there doing nothing?"
"I'll settle the score with you after the competition," Sanji warned, hoisting a massive stack of wood smoothly. He walked toward the shoreline where Luffy had docked their boat, only to freeze. "Where's our ship?"
--**--**
"Although Zoro's logging technique is exquisite, it seems another accident has occurred." Genny's voice rang out at the critical moment. "Their ship appears to have... sunk? What exactly is going on?"
"Oh! We have the replay! The Straw Hat Contractors ship was secretly sabotaged by the Robot Team!"
"Is this a rule violation? Let me check with the organizers."
"We have received a response. That is technically a loophole in the rules, but the organizers acknowledge the error. To maintain the flow, the competition will continue as is!"
As Genny announced the ruling,
"Hey, how is that fair?!" Usopp's face reddened as he jumped up from the starting shore, shouting at the speakers. "I want to file a complaint! Suspend the game!"
"Usopp," Chopper said, scratching his head nervously. "They already said it's a loophole. We just didn't notice it." He looked down worriedly. "Did we lose? Should we just forfeit?"
"Forfeit?" Hearing Chopper's words, Usopp's anger vanished. Something clicked in his mind, and his eyes lit up. "Wait right here!"
Leaving a confused Chopper behind, Usopp bolted toward the competitor encampments.
On the deserted island, Sanji smoked angrily. "What the hell is the Robot Team playing at?"
"What do we do now?" Zoro frowned, looking across the water. "Swim back?"
"We might as well forfeit!" Helmeppo grumbled. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Should we steal someone else's ship?"
Zoro and Sanji narrowed their eyes in unison. They turned to look at each other, malicious grins forming, and were just about to nod when a massive *boom* echoed through the sky.
The three of them looked up. High above, a thick trail of black smoke drifted across the clouds, forming words.
[Destroy all ships, listen to me, we can win, from Usopp]
The trio froze, then their grins widened.
Helmeppo thought, 'What is that idiot planning?'
Sanji thought, 'I have to admit, that's an interesting suggestion.'
Zoro thought, 'Let's do it.'
Without another word, the three men cracked their knuckles and headed for the shoreline, watching the other teams rowing their boats into the shallows.
===============
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