Sparring

After finishing his meal, everyone came out of the room. Since Liam didn't shout this time, Valentine wasn't awake yet. They walked in front of the deck. Zoro and Liam stood in front of each other.

Zoro wasn't holding his sword. After all, it was just a test of physical strength, not battle strength.

"You guys, if you dare to break the ship, you will pay one million berries each." Nami shouted before they started battling.

Hearing her words, both of them almost fell weak. One million wasn't an easy number. But, they didn't think too much. After all, as long as they don't break the ship, it will be all good.

Both of them got into the fighting position and two seconds later, both of them rushed toward each other. While Zoro was also fast, Liam was faster.

He startled Zoro when he appeared in front of him. Liam threw a punch from the right side toward his face.

Zoro quickly raised his forearms and blocked it but the next second, Liam's left fist struck his stomach.

Zoro didn't flinch. He raised both of his hands and moved his hands to smash Liam's face. But, Liam ducked and turned around. He got into fours and kicked Zoro's chest with his leg.

Zoro was pushed back but he quickly controlled himself and launched a punch toward Liam.

"It seems like he lost." Sanji muttered.

"You mean Zoro? But, the battle has just begun." Usopp looked at him with confusion. Although he could see Liam getting a hand over Zoro, he didn't see Liam beating Zoro.

Sanji shook his head and said "Zoro is good with strength and taking swords away from him means putting a seal in his strength. Not to mention, Liam's battle awareness is not weaker than Zoro even when he uses a sword."

"You didn't see but Liam isn't using his full strength rather than testing his speed. Once he finishes testing his strength, he will test his strength, and that Zoro will lose."

Usopp turned his head at the battle while keenly observing the battle. At this moment, he didn't notice but his eyes weren't simply showing their moves. He was watching them with so much concentration that he was actually seeing their next moves before they make that move.

Of course, Usopp didn't notice it. He simply felt that he was seeing the same things others were seeing. He was a bit frustrated at the same time.

'Damn it, I need to increase the ammo in my arsenal. I need to find a way to make my attack sharper and more explosive.'

On the side, Nami and Vivi were simply watching them, not knowing anything. They were simply seeing Liam punching Zoro from different directions and Zoro not being able to fight back.

While they were fighting, a strange scene happened.

"Kaa! Kaa! Kaa! Kaa!"

A duck came running toward their battle. Valentine was chasing him with drool coming out of her mouth.

"Meat!"

At this moment, it seemed like Luffy had taken over her.

"Caroo! Stop!" Vivi shouted when she saw Caroo rushing toward the battle. When he heard that sound, he stopped but he stopped the moment when Liam and Zoro launched their fists.

"Duck, go away!" Zoro felt like he couldn't stop it.

Liam bit his lip and smashed his left hand on the ground. His body jumped in the air as his fist managed to go above the duck and struck Zoro before his fist could touch Caroo.

Bam!

Zoro got smashed on the wall.

"Hoo! That was close." Liam sighed a breath of relief. He looked at the duck and didn't understand why it came to interfere. Only a second later, he noticed Valentine chasing the duck.

He raised his hand and grabbed Valentine by her clothes.

"Sanji, we will continue our battle later. Cook something for her."

"Miss Valentine, your handsome prince has brought your meal. Please eat it to your heart content."

Liam's mouth opened wide when he saw Sanji in front of Valentine with a plate full of fried rice.

'Damn it! There have to be some limits to these.'

"Liam, I see an island. Is that the Little Garden?" Usopp shouted.

Hearing his words, Liam instantly shifted his gaze and rushed toward the side. He saw a giant island nearly hundreds of meters away. He carefully examined the island and saw a small river.

"Nami, we are going to use that river to enter the island," Liam shouted as he looked at Nami who was also looking at the island and having the same thought.

She nodded her head and said, "Alright, you control the rudder and I will give you the direction."

Liam nodded his head and rushed toward the cabin to control the rudder.

"Are we finally going to an island? I am so excited." Luffy went to sit on his seat and raised both of his hands.

"Hold your horses Luffy! Don't forget we will have enemies waiting for us in that island." Zoro walked toward him and spoke.

"Oh! You are up." Luffy looked at him in surprise.

"Hey, what's with that look? I won't go down that easily." Zoro shouted at Luffy with frustration.

"I know." Luffy giggled and didn't care.

Zoro sighed and clenched his fists. He was frustrated after losing to Liam. In his eyes, Liam not only made such fast progress but also managed to surpass him.

But, he didn't feel down. He knew he must surpass Liam. He quickly returned to the cabin and started training with his heavy weights. He wasn't going to let Liam have a leg on him.

While training, he couldn't help but realize something.

'Zoro, there are swordsmen in this world who can cut nothing. But, they are still better than us. Do you know why?'

'Huh! Sensei, shouldn't it be the opposite? How could a swordsman who can't cut anything can become stronger than us?'

'Zoro-kun, you are wrong. The reason why he can't cut is that he doesn't want to cut. Whenever you swing your sword, it cuts something but there are some things that a swordsman doesn't want to cut. That's why those swordsman who cut nothing are better than us.'

'Sensei…. I truly do not understand what you mean.'

'Zoro-kun, you don't need to rush. You will eventually realize the Breath of All things. And, when you do, you will be the swordsman who can cut nothing.'

'Sensei, don't say it like that. It feels like you are cursing me.'

Zoro closed his eyes and dropped the weight on the floor. He held the hilt of his sword and thought.

'I must become a swordsman who can cut nothing. Only then I will surpass myself. Shichibukai! He isn't like that man. He has an army and probably a lot of stronger people under him.'

'I must be strong enough to cut them.'

At this moment, the door opened up and a figure walked in. Zoro opened his eyes and started lifting the weights while turning his eyes over the door. It was Usopp.

Usopp walked inside and started crafting new weapons for the future. Currently, he had one task and that is to create a weapon that manipulates weather.

But, it was easier said than done. He did have a plan in his mind. He wanted to make a weapon that Liam told him about. A weapon that can control the heat and cold air.

Nami is a genius when it comes to weather. So, if she gets the power of heat and cold air, she would be able to fight. Currently, he and Nami weren't good at fighting.

Even though Usopp had improved himself, he doesn't think he can take down enemies.

While Usopp and Zoro were training, Liam and Sanji started testing their speed. They stood in front of a Whac-A-Mole. It was created by Usopp just for fun but right now, it was going to use by them for measuring their speed.

"Alright, you first." Sanji gave Liam a way and smiled.

Liam took a deep breath and raised his fists.

"Start"

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

"Stop"

When Nami dropped that word, Liam stopped. In front of him, there were some numbers on the top of the Whac-A-Mole.

"Liam- 35 strikes in One Minute"

"Next, Sanji!"

Liam backed down and Sanji came to the front. At this moment, their ship was slowly passing through the river and the shadows of trees were falling on them.

Sanji raised his legs and when the number was changed back to zero. He took a deep breath.

"Start"

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

"Stop"

Sanji stopped and hurriedly raised his head. At the same time, Nami also stated the results.

"Sanji- 58 strikes in One Minute"

Sanji clenched his fists and pulled raised his hands.

"Yes!"