After his trip, Yoriichi had acquired two tiger legs. He didn't know their exact weight, but judging by their size, if the meat didn't spoil, he wouldn't have to worry about food for a while.
However, to avoid attracting other predators with the smell of blood, Yoriichi didn't carry the legs directly to the cave entrance, but instead placed them at the foot of the mountain, quite a distance from the cave.
He also roasted a small piece of the meat to taste it. Although the bird indirectly indicated that the meat was edible, he decided to try a small piece first, just to be safe.
There was no poison, but as for the taste, it wasn't exactly delicious. The blood hadn't been washed away, the meat was tough, and the smell was extremely strong.
Nevertheless, Yoriichi was still very satisfied. After all, this was meat, much better than that unknown paste!
Having confirmed the meat was edible, Yoriichi spent over an hour roasting several pounds of meat to stave off his hunger. He didn't know the exact structure of his body, but even
after several pounds of tiger meat, he was only half full. However, Yoriichi resisted the urge to continue roasting and eating. He built a simple smoking shed at the foot of the mountain and cut off several dozen pounds of meat to extend its shelf life by smoking it.
After spending half a day "preparing" some of the meat, Yoriichi decided to put that aside for now and survey the surrounding terrain.
While the food problem was temporarily solved, Yoriichi's biggest problem wasn't food, but water!
However, this most pressing water issue was also resolved during his second scouting trip.
Having filled his stomach, Yoriichi, carrying his sword, once again surveyed the surroundings. This time, instead of continuing along the forest path, he carefully observed the terrain and then headed towards the lowest point, disappearing into the dense forest.
"These trees are so tall!"
"Without marking them, it's easy to get lost!"
The dense jungle can easily make one lose their way. To avoid this, Yoriichi walked briskly, his long sword flashing, "crushing" nearby flowers and grasses to the ground.
Deep in the island, after walking for about forty minutes following the terrain, Yoriichi finally found a stream. Looking up, it resembled a silver snake winding through the mountains.
The banks of the stream were covered with lush green grass, and further away, there was a dense forest with many giant trees. Yoriichi stopped at the bank, looked around, and then swung his sword to cut down a nearby giant tree that was as thick as a man's embrace. He then cut off a section, hollowed out the core, made a simple vessel, and filled it with water.
"Huh?!"
"Why is this water this color?!"
Scooping up a bucket of stream water, Yoriichi Tsugikuni suddenly noticed that the water in his hand, against the backdrop of the wood, appeared a pale red. Looking towards the stream in surprise, he suddenly realized that the water had also turned a pale red, and as it flowed, the pale red turned into a deep red.
A strong smell of blood filled his nostrils.
"This..."
"What happened?!"
The water source was polluted. Yoriichi Tsugikuni frowned slightly, looking upstream, trying to see something. After a moment's thought, he casually tossed the bucket onto the bank, tightened his grip on his long sword, and decided to go upstream to find the source of the pollution.
Having finally found a water source, he had to investigate the cause of the pollution. If he could find and remove the pollution by going upstream, the flowing water would be clean again in less than an hour.
His biggest problem right now—the water source—would be solved.
Following the stream upstream,
after walking for an unknown amount of time, Yoriichi's vision suddenly opened up. The dense forest was left behind after he climbed a slope.
But the scene before him made Yoriichi hold his breath.
Upstream, there was a wide, flat area, but now this land was littered with corpses, roughly estimated at several hundred. Blood pooled into streams flowing into the river.
This was clearly a battlefield, with flesh and blood smeared on the ground, indistinguishable from one another.
Not far from this battlefield was a small town full of ruins, and thick black smoke was rising from several places in the town.
Yoriichi looked up and saw only deathly silence, without a trace of life. At the same time, the clothing of some of the corpses on the ground instantly caught Yoriichi's attention.
A white cloak stained with blood, with two large, bold black characters on the cloak, gave Yoriichi a strong sense of familiarity.
"Justice."
"The Navy?!" On his second day in the world of One Piece, Yoriichi Tsugikuni witnessed the cruelty of this world firsthand.
Judging roughly from their clothing and the way they were positioned, the "people" on the ground seemed to belong to two camps. The Marines in their uniforms and the civilians wielding pitchforks, hoes, and clubs were likely together.
Opposite them were the strong, muscular pirates carrying various weapons.
Yoriichi entered the battlefield and looked around. He noticed that the number of pirate corpses was far fewer than the number of Marine and civilian corpses, and strangely, there were no women or children among the civilian corpses.
"Did the pirates win this battle?"
"Were the women and children taken away?"
"Or are they hiding?"
Crossing the horrific battlefield, Yoriichi pondered these questions as he walked towards the nearby town.
The once exquisite houses were now ruins, and the once wide streets were now blocked by wooden carts loaded with stones.
On the white stone road, patches of crimson were a shocking sight. Standing in the center of the ruins, Yoriichi Tsugikuni's heart sank. Even though he hadn't witnessed the villagers' resistance against the pirates, he could imagine the horrific scene that had unfolded in the town.
As far as the eye could see, there wasn't a single place that could be called intact.
Entering a nearby house, he was greeted by a chaotic living room and overturned furniture. Pushing open the bedroom door, the pungent stench of blood filled his nostrils. The corpse on the bed made him frown. He sighed, covered them with a blanket, and silently withdrew from the room.
After a brief search, Yoriichi silently traversed the entire town, a low sigh escaping his lips, his grip on his long sword tightening.
There were no demons here.
But the ferocity of humans, even compared to demons, was no less.
At the edge of the town was a high cliff, overlooking a vast sea.
The sea breeze carried away the stench of blood in the air.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni silently drew his longsword, examining the weapon in his hand. The matte black blade reflected his blurred face. Looking at his reflection, he noticed the character "灭" (annihilation) at the base of the blade. Yoriichi understood, muttering to himself,
"I think I know what I need to do!"
"I will use you to bring a glimmer of dawn to this world."
"Black Blade—Dawn!"
As he spoke, dust rose from the ground around Yoriichi without wind, and an indescribable, terrifying aura burst forth from his body, rapidly spreading outwards. In the distance,
the primeval forest rustled, and the waves crashing against the shore were repelled by an unknown force, swirling back into the distance.
Thousands of meters away, a dog-headed warship was rapidly heading towards Dragon's Roar Island.
A middle-aged man in a black suit with a thick beard stood at the bow, his arms crossed, his naval "Justice" cloak billowing in the wind.
"Wruuum!!!"
Suddenly, a terrifying shockwave came from afar, and the previously flowing current completely reversed its direction. Sensing this shockwave, the middle-aged man's expression faltered slightly, then he grinned.
"Conqueror's Haki!"
"I didn't expect such a figure to appear in the small East Blue!"
"E-23 unit lost contact, was that guy responsible?"
"Hahahaha! Interesting, daring to attack our navy, I will never let you get away with this!"
As the middle-aged man muttered, a marine rushed up behind him, gave a crisp salute, and loudly reported:
"Vice Admiral Garp, an unexplained current has suddenly appeared. Continuing on our planned course might lead to accidents. What should we do? Change course?"
Hearing this, Garp turned his head slightly and replied with a smile:
"Don't worry about it, maintain your course. The current will soon return to normal."