Meiser paid no attention to others' thoughts, instead focusing on his own contemplations.
'Using this method to gradually whittle down the enemy's forces, huh,' Meiser mused silently.
Sanji probably knew as well that these remaining enemies would be dealt with by their group later—a decent strategy indeed.
But there was one prerequisite: the enemy couldn't have anyone stronger than Sanji. Yet from what Zoro implied, that wasn't the case.
At this thought, a trace of concern flashed in Meiser's eyes.
"Tell me about your current deployment," Meiser said. "Also, what's the military strength at Enies Lobby?"
Whether by luck or coincidence, this suited man happened to be the more knowledgeable one.
"Aside from a large number of soldiers—"
"Don't bother mentioning the soldiers on the train," Meiser interrupted.
"..."
"This transport mission is mainly guarded by five CP9 agents. Enies Lobby's standing garrison is around ten thousand."
"I see..."
Though Meiser didn't know CP9's exact capabilities, if Zoro considered them formidable opponents, Sanji likely couldn't handle them alone.
At the very least, one against five was impossible. He could only hope that guy wouldn't charge in recklessly.
As for Enies Lobby's so-called ten thousand troops, Meiser dismissed them entirely. Without powerful individuals guarding it, ordinary soldiers were meaningless no matter how numerous.
After some thought, Meiser asked, "Are there other CP9 members stationed at Enies Lobby?"
"Not sure," the suited man replied. "But CP9's duty is to guard Enies Lobby, so there should be more personnel there."
As for how many or who specifically, he didn't know.
Meiser considered this. Since these CP9 agents had departed from Water 7, Enies Lobby must still have some stationed there.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to reinforce in time if attacked.
And would anyone dare attack Enies Lobby?
Tch, of course they would—weren't they planning to do exactly that?
While thinking this, Meiser released his control over the suited man.
Now that the interrogation was complete, this guy was useless.
The moment the man regained his senses and realized what he'd done, his face paled instantly.
"I..."
What had he just done?!
He'd revealed so much critical intelligence to the enemy?
He was finished. Completely finished.
Even if he somehow survived this, he'd surely face retribution later.
As a seasoned veteran, he knew exactly how the higher-ups handled such matters.
"Under these eyes, no secret remains hidden," Meiser said coolly.
With that, he ignored the broken man and strode past everyone into the next carriage. "Luffy, we've got all the intel we need. We can leave now."
"Sanji's not here..."
"No, he isn't."
Gazing at the distant sea through the rear window, Meiser said, "Sanji's still on the train ahead. Whether we can catch him before he reaches Enies Lobby is another question."
If Sanji charged into Enies Lobby alone, he'd have to face numerous powerful fighters and ten thousand Marine soldiers.
At this thought, a trace of concern flickered in Meiser's eyes.
"Let's go, we need to catch up with him quickly," Luffy said.
Although he trusted Sanji could survive, it would naturally be better to catch up and help their comrade as soon as possible.
Once they reached the roof of the train, Meiser looked at the approaching train and said, "We need to deal with these detached cars, or the Rocketman will be in trouble."
Crashing directly into the detached cars wouldn't be any better either.
"Leave it to Zoro," Luffy grinned, baring his teeth.
As if the two train cars were nothing more than two pieces of cake.
"Oh, alright."
Meiser, who had been about to draw his sword, lowered his hand upon hearing this and calmly watched the approaching train. "Then we'll leave it to Zoro."
He was also somewhat curious about Zoro's slash.
Soon, at Luffy's call, Zoro stood at the head of the Rocketman, calmly observing the approaching cars.
The moment they drew near, Zoro moved.
"Two-Sword Style - Drawing Sword · Rashomon!"
A Flying Slash shot forth, instantly cleaving the two train cars in half!!
The sight left the still-conscious passengers inside the cars utterly dumbfounded.
"The... the cars were sliced apart!!"
What kind of miserable luck was this? They had just escaped one demon, and now their train cars were being chopped apart.
"So strong!!"
Zambai and the others stared in shock. Was this the true power of the Pirate Hunter?!
"But someone this strong... isn't even the captain..." Zambai gulped.
No, wait—that made it even better!
This meant their chances of rescuing their big brother had just increased!
At this thought, Zambai trembled with excitement.
"So this is the slash of a Sword Master..."
Back on the Rocketman, Meiser studied the two swords in Zoro's hands with interest.
His Sharingan had just captured Zoro's Flying Slash, which bore some resemblance to the Wind Release techniques he executed with the Kusanagi Sword.
But strictly speaking, there were significant differences.
Zoro's slash had no elemental attribute—it was pure, whereas his own did.
Zoro sheathed his two swords without even glancing at the severed cars flying to either side, as if it were nothing more than a trivial task.
Then, he turned to Meiser and said, "You also have a sword..."
"I'm not a pure swordsman," Meiser shook his head. "Don't forget, I'm a Ninja."
To him, whether it was a sword or a blade, they were merely tools for killing—there wasn't much difference.
The only special thing was that his Kusanagi Sword could channel Chakra.
"Right," Zoro nodded in understanding.
In the end, Meiser wasn't like him—not a pure swordsman—so it was natural he wouldn't fully grasp what it meant to be a Sword Master.
"This is the slash of a Sword Master," Zoro explained. "After reaching the Steel-Cutting Realm, the next step is to unleash a Flying Slash."
"Reaching this level essentially qualifies one as a Sword Master."
Beyond that lay the realm of the Great Sword Master, like Dracule Mihawk, the undisputed World's Greatest Swordsman he had once encountered.
One day, he would surpass him!
"Flying Slash, huh..." Meiser stroked his chin and nodded. "Got it."
In a way, couldn't he also be considered a Sword Master?
The wind blades he slashed could easily cut through steel without any problem.
"Strange, why is there a giant Sea King's corpse here?" Paulie said with confusion.
The Rocketman moved at high speed, quickly leaving the train car that had been sliced apart behind.
But ahead, there appeared the bisected corpse of a Sea King!
"Seems there's another master swordsman ahead," Meiser remarked after glancing at the Sea King's corpse. "Only a Sword Master could have done this at minimum."
"Leave it to me," Zoro nodded in response.
Naturally, dealing with a Sword Master was his responsibility.