26: Chapter 26 Tashigi's Shock

After the banquet.

In Loguetown, the sky gradually turned gloomy.

Rolling lead-gray clouds swept low under the drive of the sea breeze, and the moisture in the streets grew increasingly damp, signaling that a storm was brewing in the depths of the ocean.

On the smooth slate road, Rice was walking side by side with Nami and Nojiko, while Makino had gone to purchase ingredients needed for the white dove.

Nami, with her short orange hair, held a high-precision sea chart she had just bought from a nautical supply store, her beautiful eyes flashing with sharp light.

Comparing it with the sky, she analyzed with Rice: "The air pressure in the Sambas Sea is dropping. The climate at the entrance to the Grand Line is far more treacherous than in the East Blue. We must calibrate all the Log Poses before the storm arrives."

Beside her, Nojiko was wearing a neat short-sleeved shirt. She looked at the strange tropical greenery on the streets of Loguetown and said with a relaxed smile: "The soil here is different from Cocoyasi Village. I need to go to a seed shop later to buy some storm-resistant orange tree nutrient soil to take back to the ship."

"The weapon shop is just ahead."

Rice looked up at a dilapidated shop on the street corner with a sign of crossed swords, and strode inside.

...

Pushing open the heavy and slightly rusted iron door of the weapon shop, a unique smell mixed with cold metal, machine oil, and aged wood rushed to his face.

The shop was slightly dim.

On the wooden shelves against the wall, a large number of ordinary standard-issue long swords were neatly arranged, while in the center of the shop, several wooden barrels filled with cheap, defective swords were placed.

At this moment, Zoro was standing with his arms crossed, looking speechless at the pot-bellied weapon shop owner, Ipponmatsu, who had a handlebar mustache.

Because the two nameless steel swords in his hands had been shattered by Rice during their previous sparring match, he urgently needed to replenish his blades.

And near a shelf not far away.

A young female Marine with short dark blue hair and red-rimmed round glasses was holding a thick stack of famous sword catalogs, bustling carelessly between the shelves.

When she looked up and saw Rice entering the door, she was stunned for a moment.

"Rice?!"

Tashigi adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose, her large eyes flashing with intense astonishment.

She was no stranger to the man in front of her.

Their first meeting was at Colonel Morgan's base in Shells Town.

At that time, the powerful physique and overbearing methods Rice displayed left a deep impression on Tashigi.

And just a few days ago, she had seen news in an internal Marineford bulletin that shook the East Blue: This man, who called himself an adventurer, had successively eradicated the Krieg Pirates and the Arlong Pirates within half a month. His accumulated "Bounty Hunter Points" had reached a terrifying 53 million in the Marine hunter system!

"Tashigi, long time no see."

Rice raised an eyebrow and greeted her lightly.

"You... why are you here?"

Tashigi closed the catalog of famous swords in her hand, looking at him with both defensiveness and curiosity.

As a Marine, she held a natural wariness and curiosity toward powerhouses like Rice who existed outside the system but possessed immense strength.

Before Rice could answer, a few extremely arrogant and rude bursts of laughter suddenly came from outside the door.

"Haha! Boss, I heard this shop has some valuable goods!"

Three ruffian pirates holding steel forks and scimitars, with faces full of flesh, swaggered in.

The one-eyed man in the lead spotted the exquisite steel swords wiped clean on the counter and reached out to grab them.

"Stop! I am a Marine Chief Petty Officer, stealing in the shop is not allowed!"

Although Tashigi was a bit clumsy, her duty as a Marine made her instinctively want to step forward and stop them, reaching for the "shigure" sword at her waist.

However, due to her flustered movements, the corner of her clothes accidentally caught on the shelf beside her, and a large pile of heavy scrap metal swords was about to fall on her.

And the one-eyed pirate grinned hideously, his scimitar slashing horizontally, bringing a fierce wind directly toward Tashigi's shoulder.

"Swish!!"

At this critical moment, a sharp whistling sound like wind and thunder suddenly came from the air!

[Soru]!

In an instant, Rice's figure turned into a blurred white afterimage.

Before anyone could react, his tall and straight body was already blocking in front of Tashigi.

Rice didn't even take his hands out of his pockets, just kicked out casually.

"Bang!!"

With a dull thud, the burly one-eyed pirate didn't even have time to scream. His entire body flew backward like a cannonball, smashing through the front door and slamming heavily onto the slate street outside, knocking him unconscious on the spot.

The other two pirates were scared out of their wits, dragging their boss and fleeing the weapon shop in a pathetic state.

Rice slowly retracted his right leg.

He bent down, picked up the scattered catalogs of famous swords, and handed them to the stunned Tashigi.

"Thank... thank you."

Tashigi took the catalog, looking at the man in front of her who was calm and composed, shirtless, and exuding a powerful aura. Her heart trembled slightly for some reason.

At the Morgan base, she only thought this man was overbearing.

But now, knowing he had 53 million points and witnessing his reaction speed as fast as a meteor, a strange, indescribable interest rippled uncontrollably in Tashigi's originally calm heart.

This man was indeed worlds apart from ordinary Marines and pirates.

Rice did not exchange too many pleasantries with Tashigi, his gaze sweeping across the hall.

Nami and Nojiko looked at this scene helplessly, especially Nami, who sighed with amusement: "Rice, wherever you go, you seem to be very popular with these ladies."

Rice smiled, walked to the wooden barrel in the center of the shop filled with cheap, defective ironware.

Under the puzzled gazes of the others, Rice stretched out his right hand, and among the countless pieces of scrap metal, very cleanly pulled out a strange sword with a pitch-black scabbard and a cross-shaped handguard.

As soon as the sword was unsheathed, the temperature in the entire weapon shop seemed to drop suddenly.

Rice examined the twisted, fiery pattern on the blade, casually sheathed it, turned around, and threw the sword directly to Zoro, who was standing on the side: "Zoro, this is the Sandai Kitetsu, known as a 'cursed sword' that devours its master. Since your two crudely made steel swords are broken, why not see if you have the life to conquer the curse of this sword."

"Slap!"

Zoro caught the long sword steadily.

The moment he gripped the hilt, the warlike blood in his body trembled crazily. Clearly, the evil aura of the cursed sword had ignited his interest in an instant.

Rice didn't say another word, nor did he intend to stay and watch how Zoro would test the will of this cursed sword next.

He turned around, walked towards the door, and pulled Nami and Nojiko along.

"Let's go, Nami, Nojiko. It's time to go back to the ship."

Rice strode out of the weapon shop, leaving behind an incredibly broad, overbearing, yet somewhat dashing back for the stunned Tashigi in the sunset glow.

"Rice... a bounty hunter with 53 million points..."

Tashigi stood by the counter, clutching the catalog tightly in her arms, her eyes fixed on the direction where Rice was gradually disappearing into the street through the broken door.

At this moment, for the first time, Tashigi developed an uncontrollable, intense interest in exploring a person, rather than just those steel weapons.

And in the hall of the weapon shop, Zoro looked at the Sandai Kitetsu in his hand, took a deep breath, and slowly drew the blade, preparing to gamble the fate of a swordsman with his own arm.