"Thankfully, it's not too far!"
Cyrus did one-handed push-ups, a metal block taller than a man pressing down on his back.
On the deck in front of him, a sea chart was spread out.
If it were a sea chart of the entire East Blue, Cyrus wouldn't be confident in navigating by it; he'd most likely get lost like Zoro.
But with this small-scale sea chart, which only depicted the islands near Reverse Mountain, Cyrus could still navigate by it.
"Here... I can probably reach Reverse Mountain in a day or two."
Cyrus supported himself with his left hand while doing push-ups, stroking his smooth chin with his right and squinting his eyes.
This time he was heading to the West Blue.
Although the World Government had discovered Robin, he wasn't in a hurry.
Mainly because being in a hurry was useless.
It had been over a decade since the destruction of Ohara.
The fact that Robin could hide in the West Blue for so long clearly showed how cautious she was.
He didn't think he could find her just by showing up.
Besides, even without his intervention, Robin would be able to escape this time.
It was just uncertain whether Aokiji had secretly helped her or not.
Lifting his right hand, Cyrus easily picked up the metal block weighing several tons from his back, flipped over into a sitting position, and placed it to the side.
Sitting cross-legged, Cyrus grabbed the orange juice from the table beside him and took a sip, then glanced up at the sun in the sky.
The scorching sun had little effect on him.
"I'll dock for a bit, confirm my direction, and then I can head straight for Reverse Mountain."
Cyrus thought for a moment but decided against making a detour to Loguetown.
Although that was where the Pirate King was executed, and pirates and people of this world might want to pay their respects, Cyrus had no such thoughts.
After finishing the juice, Cyrus stood up, grabbed Flame, and began practicing basic swordsmanship forms, one after another.
Cyrus had his own ideas about the path he would take in the future.
But it was impossible to just go all out and use moves that imitated old man Yamamoto right away.
For conventional combat, the phrase "the greatest move is to have no moves" came to Cyrus's mind.
Of course, this phrase didn't exist in this world, but there should be a similar concept.
With diligent practice, the body would develop instincts. When fighting an opponent, it would instinctively react to their attacks in various ways.
What was that saying again?
Effortlessly, at one's fingertips!
Cyrus brainstormed as he practiced.
"In the end, it all comes down to fighting more." Cyrus muttered to himself.
Practicing alone would never improve him as quickly as real combat.
But suitable opponents were few, especially in the Four Seas. With his current strength, not many people were qualified to be his opponent.
It seemed that in the end, he would have to set his sights on the Grand Line.
That was truly the place where the strong gathered on the seas.
Just as he was thinking this, his fully extended Observation Haki detected a large ship speeding toward him.
A pirate ship.
It was just that the pirate flag was a bit strange. It was an all-red flag with a skull that had a peculiar feathered pattern on its head.
Cyrus sheathed his sword and looked at the large ship on the distant sea.
Are they coming for me?
This pirate ship was clearly heading straight for him.
Although he didn't plan to go to Loguetown, if some pirates were looking to die, he didn't mind earning some extra cash.
Walking to the bow, Cyrus fixed his eyes on the charging pirate ship.
Boom! Boom!
Before they even got close, the sound of cannons roared, and several cannonballs flew toward Cyrus's ship.
Cyrus sent out several slashes, cutting the incoming cannonballs apart and causing them to explode in mid-air.
Before the next round of cannon fire could begin, Cyrus stomped hard on the bow, launching himself into the air.
He leaped a hundred meters high, pulled Flame back behind him, then swung it in a wide arc, unleashing a ferocious slash from the blade.
Hah!
On the pirate ship, a tall, thin figure leaped up, sending a similar slash from bottom to top, which collided with Cyrus's slash, and both exploded.
By now, Cyrus had used the force of his jump to position himself above the pirate ship, making eye contact with the figure who had leaped up from below.
'Is that...?'
'That guy from the Donquixote Family?'
'I think he was a gladiator.'
Cyrus landed directly on the attacking pirate ship.
There weren't many pirates on board. The huge deck was set up like a gladiatorial arena.
The surrounding pirates held their weapons, their faces showing vicious smiles.
"I've been waiting for you for days!"
The figure in the large red cloak landed, brandished the unusually long sword in his hand, and sized up Cyrus.
"Did Doflamingo send you?"
Cyrus now understood the situation.
He had dissed Doflamingo on the Den Den Mushi earlier, so this guy sent someone for revenge.
They were fast, to have found out his identity so quickly.
"Hehehe, the Young Master wants me to bring your head back."
Diamante looked at Cyrus in the arena and jumped onto the stage.
"Ohhhhhhhh go Lord Diamante!"
Seeing Diamante take the stage, the surrounding pirates immediately erupted in cheers.
Cyrus glanced at these pirates, then his gaze fell on Diamante.
"That's if you're strong enough."
"Of course I'm strong!"
"I'm an officer of the Donquixote Family, if I were weak, I wouldn't be qualified to follow the Young Master!"
Diamante laughed uproariously, then attacked without warning.
The sword in his hand went limp, whipping about like a strip of cloth.
In the blink of an eye, it was in front of Cyrus.
Then, the cloth-like longsword snapped taut, becoming a sharp longsword again, its blade slashing toward Cyrus's neck.
Lifting his own sword, Cyrus blocked the blow.
Seeing his slash blocked, a hint of smugness flashed in Diamante's eyes, and a sinister smile appeared on his face.
The straight longsword went soft again, the tip stabbing toward Cyrus's neck.
Clang!
Armament Haki hardening.
Seeing this, Diamante wasn't disappointed and immediately retracted his sword.
"I ate the Ripple-Ripple Fruit and became a Flag-Man, hehehe, hahaha!"
There it was, this world's unique self-introduction.
And this guy was getting excited all by himself.
Cyrus checked his health bar.
100%
The last attack had actually depleted a bit of his health, but it was too little to even show up on the bar.
Cyrus's health regeneration was very fast now.
While maintaining Observation and Armament Haki, Cyrus's health was actually constantly decreasing.
However, as his physique grew stronger, his natural health recovery rate had long since surpassed the rate of decrease, so his health bar always remained full.
This also meant that as long as his physique was strong enough, he could maintain his health regeneration even during prolonged battles with powerful opponents.
Facing Diamante's sneak attack, Cyrus's expression was calm, showing no anger.
As his opponent retracted the longsword, Cyrus shot forward, raised Flame high, and brought it down with a heavy slash.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing rang out.
Diamante, who had raised his own sword to block Cyrus's attack, had his expression change drastically as he was sent flying backward by the single slash.