Returning to the branch, I happened to meet the oncoming base commander.

He is no longer the tall man he was before. More than ten years have passed, and many things have changed.

The original base commander, including the Marine who led him in, are no longer here.

The current base commander is a strong man named Hans, who was transferred only half a year ago and holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

"Dylan," Hans looked at Dylan, who was about to walk in, and stopped him. "Are you looking for 'Red Hair'?"

Dylan nodded. "I glanced at him from a distance, but there was no contact. After all, he has been very popular in recent years."

Hans agreed. Shanks, this guy, has really been very popular in recent years. Although there is a lot of gap between him and the older generation of strong men in terms of power, it is said that he also has a place in the "New World."

After Roger's death, the pirates' arrogance not only failed to be suppressed but intensified.

In today's "New World," people call strong men such as Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido the "Emperors of the Sea."

"By the way, Grand Line has been under increasing pressure in recent years, and the headquarters has issued a summons order. I heard that you refused before?" Hans inquired.

Hans didn't know much about Dylan's past. Only some older veterans vaguely remembered that this guy had been in the branch for a long time. Even his military rank reached the level of major through small accumulations. A major needs to go to the headquarters to be awarded the title.

"Your awarding has not been officially completed yet. This time..."

"I will go there this time" Dylan interrupted, his gaze fixed past Hans at the Marine flag fluttering in the wind, just like before.
This guy has a very high prestige in the branch. In many cases, Dylan's orders are even more effective than those of him, the commander of the campus base.

"As soon as possible. Considering the distance, I will give you three months. If possible, I will report it to the headquarters."

Hans once studied Dylan's information, and the information left by the base commander at that time showed:

Adams Dylan.

Place of birth unknown.

Orphan.

Joined Marine at age nine. Calm personality and strong physical fitness.

Advocate justice and peace.

Then there are the past base commanders' additions about Dylan's military achievements.

There are dozens of densely packed pages, and although they are all about pirates with small bounties, the volume is too much to handle.

During his tenure, he also personally added nearly four pages of record achievements to Dylan.

What a monster!

Looking at Dylan walking away, Hans muttered.

....

Shimotsuki Village.

Dylan stretched after stepping onto the island.

Unexpectedly, this place is right on the flight path.

The people around him gave him strange looks when they saw his long black knife.

"Are you here to challenge Koshiro too?"

Dylan followed the sound and looked over. It was a young man with a knife on his waist.

"No, just came to take a look..."

In the original work, Shimotsuki Village is inextricably linked to Wanokuni and the Revolutionary Army, and the squinty-eyed Koushirou seems to be no simple character either.

Before Dylan could finish speaking, a rough voice suddenly came from behind him: "Hey! You there! You knife thief."

Dylan didn't seem to hear anything and continued to walk forward. The voice behind him burst out with anger: "What about you? The guy in white clothes are you going to leave after stealing my famous sword?"

Dylan paused, turned around, and looked over. A Ronin with a shaved head was staring at the black scabbard on Dylan's waist with bright eyes.

The Ronin licked his dry lips.

"This must be a good knife!" he thought. He could even feel that even if it was hidden in the scabbard, it couldn't hide its edge.

The onlookers stepped aside when they saw him.

"This guy... is a famous ronin in the area, and his sword drawing skills are as fast as lightning."

But...he is a rogue, and I don't know why the rogue has such a talent for swordsmanship.

"Is this your knife?" Dylan raised his eyebrow casually and looked at the the rogue samurai.

(a samurai with no master is a ronin)

"I'll give you five seconds to get out of my sight," a cold voice sounded in the Ronin's ears.

Not only was the Ronin not afraid, but he laughed. Then he leaned forward slightly, holding the handle of the knife on the left side of his body with his right hand. "In that case..."

A flash of red light flashed, and the Ronin suddenly felt a cold feeling on his neck. Then he felt dizzy and saw a scene that was very puzzling to him.

"Who is this? Why am I seeing my body? Where is my head?"

There was an exclamation from the crowd, and Dylan turned away without a care.

"I'm so sorry, for spilling something as disgusting as his blood in this road."

There was a slight vibration from the black scabbard on his waist.

...

Isshin Dojo.

Koushirou slowly stood up when he heard the noise outside and walked to the door.

Dylan was already standing in the yard, and a large group of people stood outside the gate, seemingly waiting for something.

Koushirou, who was wearing glasses, smiled at Dylan and said, "What can I do for you?..."

Dylan looked at Koshiro's weak look and suddenly thought of something interesting.

"I heard you are very strong?"

The people watching outside the door uniformly said "Oh~~" and showed an expression that indicated it was indeed the case.

Dylan: "I'm not here to cause trouble; I just want the curator to help me look at the knife."

"Oh?" Koushirou looked at the long knife on Dylan's waist.

"come Inside, please, guest."

Seeing that there was no fight, the people outside the door left disappointed.

With a dark scabbard and a dark red handle, Koushirou held Dylan's long knife in both hands and frowned slightly. As if with a trace of expectation and a trace of entanglement, Koshiro slowly pulled out the long sword.

A burst of bloody air hit the face from the black-red blade, and there was even a faint streak of blood escaping from the blade.

"Snapped!"

Koushirou immediately put away the blade and handed it back to Dylan.

"Sandai Kitetsu, one of the Skillful Grade Blade."

Dylan took Kitetsu and gently touched the scabbard, and the bloody smell in the air disappeared instantly.

"Does it have any characteristics?" Dylan inquired.

Koushirou looked at Dylan with some surprise. "As for the characteristics... haven't you already made full use of its characteristics?"

"Is that so..." Dylan stood up and greeted Koushirou slightly. "Thank you."

After Dylan left, a big bead of sweat dropped from Koushirou's forehead, and he swallowed. "Kitetsu... was actually made into a black sword by him, and it actually surrendered to him..."

After calming down, Koushirou returned to his original smiling face with narrow eyes, waved to the wall next to him, and said, "Come out, were you scared just now?"

Kuina with short hair and Moss Head poked their heads out from the side.

"Father... that person just now..."

"Ah... you are still far away from him, but... if you want to become the world's greatest swordsman in the future, I think... he must be one of your biggest obstacles."

Just now, Kitetsu just showed a hint of aura, which almost made the two of them faint. Even they, who are usually very strong, couldn't say anything big at this time.

Kuina clenched her fists tightly and turned around to leave without saying a word. Upon seeing this, moss Head gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it!" and then ran out.

Koshiro looked at the two of them with a smile on his face.

"The greatest swordsman in the world..." Koshiro still felt suffocated thinking of that seemingly unknown man.

After verifying Dylan's identity, the marine guarding the small port saluted Dylan watched Dylan go away.

The people had previously confirmed that it was the Ronin who tried to snatch the man's weapon, which triggered the duel.

Although a duel to the death is not allowed by law, but... if it were an attack on the Naval Headquarters Major, there would be no problem.

On a medium-sized merchant ship, Dylan was resting on the side of the ship.

The marine on the mast suddenly shouted, "No, it's a pirate ship."

After careful observation, the tone of the marine's voice was distorted.

"It's... it's the Krieg Pirates!"