Chapter Seventy-five: The Dragon's Gang

Hello... Hello...
I was just making a casual remark, did you really have to wipe them all out? That poor, innocent pirate crew...
This is truly outrageous!

The corners of his mouth twitched violently as he listened to Chu Yi’s words. Tiger’s gaze slowly turned toward him, filled with helplessness.

It was obvious to anyone that Chu Yi was testing his sword. But apart from that innocent pirate crew meeting an untimely end, nothing else seemed amiss. So, after a brief moment of silence for the unfortunate pirates destroyed by Chu Yi, Tiger nodded toward him, acknowledging that Chu Yi had managed to enter an initial state of “Focus” and slice a ship in half with a single sword strike.

Mihawk, however, reacted differently.

When Chu Yi entered the “Focus” state earlier, Mihawk’s eyes left the wooden sword at his knee and rested upon Chu Yi. Once Chu Yi shattered the pirate ship ahead with one clean stroke, Mihawk’s lips curved into a faint smile. While smiling, Mihawk said casually to Chu Yi, “Chu Yi, your swordplay is finally becoming a bit more focused. That means the day of our duel is drawing closer.”

“Well, I suppose I can barely ‘Focus’ now,” Chu Yi replied, grinning happily at Mihawk’s praise.

But deep inside, Chu Yi was well aware that he was still lacking.

Not to mention that it took him several seconds to adjust his state to enter “Focus”—in actual combat, if one cannot clear their mind and access “Focus” at will, it means the skill is far from mastered. At the very least, to be able to enter “Focus” instantly during battle, and perhaps one day maintain it effortlessly as Mihawk did, was Chu Yi’s ultimate goal in cultivating this state.

But as for the road ahead, the path would be much simpler!

Now that his true self could enter “Focus,” he felt confident that the rest could be achieved through shadow clones. Previously, because he was heading to Fishman Island and the space under the “Shinra Tensei” shield was limited, Chu Yi hadn’t used the journey to train. But now, with Fishman Island in sight and the threat of Navy pursuit temporarily behind them, Chu Yi, believing he had ample time to train, had no reason to fear Mihawk’s challenge.

With his training plan for Fishman Island tentatively set, Chu Yi smiled at Mihawk and said, “But for now, I can only barely hold my focus, Mihawk. Give me a bit more time—when I can be as focused as you, that’s when I’ll fight you with everything I’ve got!”

“Hm? Mihawk, are you even listening to me?”

“Hey! Hey! That’s really rude, you know!”

As he spoke, Chu Yi saw Mihawk spacing out again and felt an urge to go over and give him a good smack on the head.

But after weighing the consequences...

Forget it! Who knows what would happen if “Hawkeye” Mihawk lost his temper after being hit by Chu Yi—if he went berserk on an island near Fishman Island, he might just sink the whole place with a few sword swings!

With that in mind, Chu Yi’s shadow clone, still maintaining the “Shinra Tensei” shield, led Chu Yi to the bubble enveloping Fishman Island.

The bubble outside Fishman Island was truly remarkable. Even though Chu Yi had played with such marvelous bubbles back at the Sabaody Archipelago with Hancock, he was still amazed by the resilience of the bubble surrounding Fishman Island—it felt as if no amount of pressure could possibly break it.

And since Fishman Island was known as the “Paradise of the Sea,” its scenery was naturally breathtaking. From a distance, Chu Yi felt that Fishman Island was like a land from a dream, and he couldn’t help but click his tongue in awe. Mihawk, though it was his first visit, was entirely absorbed in matters of swordsmanship and paid no attention to the stunning views, making him the dullest among Chu Yi’s group.

Smoker and Lucci, both new to the Navy, had certainly never visited such a sensitive location as Fishman Island before. As a result, upon entering, even they were captivated by the island’s beauty. Only Tiger, returning home after many years, felt a surge of emotion that none of the others could possibly understand.

Yet shortly after their arrival, before Tiger could take Chu Yi and the others on a tour, he led them into a forest. After a moment’s silence, Tiger turned to Chu Yi and said, “Kid, wait here for a while. I have something to take care of. Once I’m done, I’ll send someone to fetch you.”

“Send someone?” Chu Yi chuckled as soon as Tiger finished. “Tiger, are you saying your status here on Fishman Island isn’t low?”

“Of course, even Nep—” Tiger began to boast about his reputation, but catching sight of Smoker and Lucci, both Navy men, he quickly changed tack: “Forget that nonsense, kid. Just stay put and don’t cause any trouble! Remember! Don’t stir up any trouble for me!”

With that, Tiger turned to leave, but recalling Chu Yi’s wild escapades at Sabaody and Mariejois, he couldn’t help but anxiously repeat his warning several times before finally disappearing, still worried, into the distance.

Clearly, in Tiger’s eyes, Chu Yi was a magnet for trouble.

What made it worse was that Chu Yi never seemed to start the trouble—it was always others who provoked him first.

That’s why Tiger had been so careful in his warnings; he was afraid some idiot on Fishman Island might anger Chu Yi. Remembering the destruction of the “Buster Call” and the devastation of Mariejois, Tiger told himself he had to hurry back before Chu Yi accidentally wiped out Fishman Island.

With that, he hurried toward the palace.

After Tiger left, Chu Yi was not bored. In the relatively safe environment of Fishman Island, he could finally use shadow clones to continue his training.

Creating no fewer than a thousand shadow clones, he began to practice “Focus.”

Chu Yi knew that mastering “Focus” was key to awakening his Observation Haki and improving his swordsmanship to the point where a single slash could shatter a ship. The sooner he mastered it, the faster his power would grow.

Immersed in training, time passed quickly.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, two hours had slipped by.

Because his clones were doing the training, Chu Yi’s real body simply sat and watched Smoker and Lucci, inevitably growing a bit bored. Just as he was about to complain to Mihawk about how tedious Tiger was being, a group of Fishmen appeared at the edge of Chu Yi’s sharp vision.

When he saw the leader of the group, Chu Yi narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself:

“That lead Fishman looks familiar...

Isn’t that... Hachi from Arlong’s crew?”