NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8: 8: The Ninth Rank – The Man Titled the World's Strongest!
"Let me see just how powerful the Demon Blade, Thousand Blades, truly is!"
Hawkeye did not coat the blade with Haki. A sword worthy of his attention should possess such strength on its own!
Crack!
In an instant, the Demon Blade, Thousand Blades, was cleaved in two. The broken sword fell to the ground, leaving both Hawkeye and the giant gorilla in stunned silence.
"Awuu! Awuu! Awuuuuu..."
Terrified, the gorilla hastily threw aside its forty-meter-long great machete, waving its arms and hopping anxiously around Hawkeye Mihawk.
Its exaggerated gestures seemed to say: "It's not my fault! You told me to strike! I didn't mean to! Even if the sword broke, you can't blame me for this!"
Mihawk shot it a cold, piercing gaze. Instantly, the gorilla shut its mouth. He then bent down and picked up the broken sword.
Judging from its construction, Mihawk had to admit—this was the most worthless blade he had ever seen.
His disdain stemmed from the fact that the Demon Blade, Thousand Blades, was forged from a thousand individual shards.
The black blade Yoru was hailed as the world's strongest because of its unparalleled hardness.
By comparison, the Demon Blade, Thousand Blades, was an entirely different type of sword.
Yet, despite its flaws, Mihawk still valued it.
There had to be something unique about this weapon!
In the video North Maple (Bei Feng) uploaded, why was the strongest shadow assassin able to wield the Demon Blade in such a bizarre way?
Mihawk pondered over it deeply but found no answer.
"Forget it. I'll think about it on the way to Wano."
He wrapped the broken blade and its fragments in white cloth and made his way alone to a dimly lit underground storage room.
Descending three levels of spiral staircases, Mihawk held a torch in one hand while retrieving a palm-sized golden key. He inserted it into the heavy, dust-covered lock.
Creak—
The moment the wooden door swung open, an intense, dazzling white light burst into the dark cellar. Mihawk shielded his eyes in advance.
"Even after all these years, you still shine so brilliantly—White Blade, Sun."
The piercing white glow was as hot as the scorching sun. It took Mihawk a long while to adjust before he could fully gaze upon the blade he had treasured for years.
The White Blade, Sun was an Ultimate Grade Great Blade, on par with Black Blade, Yoru!
This was a blade that had never been revealed in the One Piece anime.
It was also a sword Mihawk had acquired along with Yoru years ago.
When Mihawk carved his path to becoming the world's strongest swordsman with Black Blade, Yoru, the world acknowledged it as the most powerful black sword.
Mihawk never denied nor confirmed this claim.
Because only he knew the truth—Yoru had a fatal weakness.
And that weakness was this very blade, the White Blade, Sun!
Legend had it that if the two Ultimate Grade Great Blades, the black and white swords, clashed, they would both be destroyed.
Moreover, based on his own analysis, Mihawk suspected that the assassin "Seven" from Bei Feng's video might not even belong to this world. (After all, his art style was vastly different!)
That made Bei Feng's identity even more enigmatic.
To Mihawk, Bei Feng was more mysterious than the Celestial Dragons' origins, more elusive than the missing Void Century.
Now, with Yoru entrusted to someone else, it no longer existed in this world.
The White Blade, Sun in his hands—this was the world's strongest white blade!
Perhaps, that title would only last for a time.
Mihawk absentmindedly touched the broken Demon Blade, Thousand Blades at his waist before shaking off his thoughts.
He strapped White Blade, Sun onto his back, packed lightly, and took some rations.
Summoning a few small gorillas, he ordered them to row the boat as he set out to sea.
"Set course for Wano. This voyage's goal is to find Tenguyama Hitetsu of Amigasa Village!"
With a sharp gaze, Mihawk stood tall at the bow of the boat as massive waves loomed on the horizon.
The giant waves, dozens of meters high, blotted out the sky. If they were swallowed by the sea, they'd all be doomed!
"Keep rowing. Don't let anything distract you. We must reach Wano as fast as possible."
As he spoke, Mihawk drew the White Blade, Sun from his back and casually swung it forward.
A dazzling white slash shot out, cutting across the monstrous wave.
As the distance widened, the slash grew broader, sweeping across the ocean at hundreds of kilometers per hour.
The towering waves, stretching thousands of meters across the sea, came to a sudden halt the moment they touched Mihawk's strike.
For a brief moment, the scene was surreal—the waves suspended in midair.
Only after Mihawk's boat safely passed did they crash down like a torrential downpour.
"Tenguyama Hitetsu—the greatest swordsmith.
I wonder... will he be able to understand the true nature of the Demon Blade, Thousand Blades?"
—
Meanwhile, in a small rental apartment, North Maple had turned the place into a complete mess.
The power of the Six Powers (Rokushiki) was beyond his expectations.
It was practically on par with a supernatural physique!
One word—Awesome!
"I've been stuck in this rundown apartment for way too long. Let's see how many anime coins I have left."
Suppressing his excitement, Bei Feng opened the exchange interface.
He still had over 700 anime coins available.
People were still tipping on his videos, occasionally adding one or two more coins to his balance.
"700 anime coins... if converted to RMB, that's a solid 700,000!"
Bei Feng had never seen that much money in his life. Without hesitation, he exchanged all his anime coins.
Beep…
"Your bank account has received a deposit of ¥700,000. Please check your balance."
"Today's goal—grab Wang Hai, call a few hot girls, and spend every last bit of this money before sunrise!"
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered—he hadn't uploaded his latest video to the Multiverse Projection platform.
Sitting at his computer, Bei Feng found the video in a folder labeled "Study Materials."
[When Dimensional Walls Break, Who Stands at the Pinnacle of Power? This episode ranks anime characters by combat ability. Ranking order is not definitive.]
[This episode's reveal—The Ninth Rank, the Man Titled the World's Strongest!]
"That should do it. Let's see how well it performs."
Excited, Bei Feng clicked the upload button.
[Video under review...]
[Upload successful.]