The vast, boundless sea stretched beyond the horizon.
Luke stood on the deck, gently stroking the Falcon in his hand. After unleashing that initial Flying Slash, he had attempted several more trials. Though he could still execute Flying Slashes, their range and power were noticeably inferior to the first one.
“Did I break through or not?”
Luke sighed in frustration, flicking the Falcon with his finger. The gleaming blade emitted a resonant hum in response, as if answering him.
He could sense the sword’s emotions.
According to the original lore, a Sword Master must learn to hear the breath of all things—the breath of stones, trees, and the earth itself.
This unique perception differs from Observation Haki; it seems more like a swordsman’s analytical deconstruction of existence. By analyzing the structure of objects, identifying weaknesses, and striking to destroy them in one blow.
Thus, the feat of Iron Cutting is achieved.
In truth, with the enhancement of a Named Sword, even one who isn’t a Sword Master could potentially achieve Iron Cutting. However, a true Sword Master should be able to accomplish the same or even greater effects with ordinary, commonplace blades.
Simultaneously, a Sword Master should possess considerable control over their power—capable of unleashing Mountain-Slicing, Sea-Cleaving strikes while also being able to spare a fragile piece of paper from harm.
Strictly speaking, Luke was not yet a true Sword Master.
He lacked powerful sword techniques, refined skills, or precise control. He had merely attained the ability to hear the breath of all things, a realization that came to him only after he had executed his strike.
Overall, the first two conditions were relatively straightforward, but the final one was the most challenging to achieve. It required swordsmen to push their limits in life-and-death battles, where their spirits surged to break through into the realm of Sword Mastery.
Fundamentally, this was due to the combination of four other Lukes, including Bleach Luke, which had rendered his spiritual power exceptionally formidable.
If reaching the Sword Master realm were likened to a competitive exam with a passing score of 60 out of 100, others would be straining their minds to write answers, while Luke started with a 50-point foundation—easily passing with minimal effort.
Considering he had nearly sacrificed his senior brothers to the sword earlier, he decided to focus his efforts on “not cutting” during the voyage, ensuring he could wield his power with restraint and precision…
“Swordsman.”
A male voice interrupted Luke’s contemplation. He turned to see a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a sailor’s uniform, likely a crew member of the ship.
“What is it?”
The sailor bowed respectfully to Luke, his tone filled with awe. “Our captain would like to meet with you, if you would be so gracious.”
Many passengers had witnessed Luke’s earlier slash, and news of it had quickly spread throughout the entire vessel. Everyone was in awe of this unknown swordsman.
In the New World, such a level of slash might not be remarkable, and in the first half of the Grand Line, it would merely cause surprise without necessarily commanding reverence.
But in the East Blue, a veritable beginner’s zone, it was an unprecedented, god-like power.
Most passengers had little frame of reference for such strength and could only marvel. However, as a seasoned seafarer, the captain likely possessed more insight than the average person.
“What, your captain wants to invite me for lunch?” Luke rubbed his slightly hungry stomach, a look of surprise on his face as he repeatedly waved his hands.
“That’s not appropriate. I don’t even know him, how could I accept? Forget it, forget it. But since you’re being so enthusiastic, I can’t really refuse either.”
“Huh?”
The sailor froze for a moment. Had he just said the captain invited this swordsman for lunch? Something didn’t seem right.
“It’s not mealtime yet. Tell your captain to prepare the food first, then call me over.”
Luke added, “Prepare more food. My appetite is a bit larger than ordinary people’s.”
“…Yes.”
The sailor awkwardly retreated, wondering if he’d been spending too many consecutive days at sea and should see a doctor about his brain and ears after disembarking.
Luke clicked his tongue lightly. He had left all his money at the Shimotsuki Dojo, keeping only 100,000 Berries for living expenses – barely enough for a few meals.
He’d done this partly because he’d genuinely developed affection for the dojo after living there for a year, and partly because…
Koshiro definitely still had good stuff he hadn’t revealed yet!
At minimum, he should produce a Supreme Grade Sword, right?
In the original story, only three of the twelve Supreme Grade Swords had appeared: Whitebeard’s Kumo-kiri, Hawkeye’s Black Blade Yoru, and the First Generation Kitetsu.
In fact, swordsmen could nurture their own blades. Perhaps Hawkeye’s black blade was cultivated by himself rather than being originally a Supreme Grade Sword.
The remaining at least nine Supreme Grade Swords must have their own origins, and Koshiro’s inner chamber looked like it might contain some.
With my skills, wouldn’t I move him to tears?
“Ke ke ke.”
Imagining Koshiro tearfully passing the Shimotsuki Dojo directly to him, Luke couldn’t help but let out a strange laugh. But then he felt this laughter wasn’t fitting for a righteous person, so he coughed twice and stopped.
He felt that since his intelligence had come back online, he seemed to have become corrupted. He used to be such a pure and good person – there must be a reason for suddenly turning into Chaos·Evil.
After some thought, Luke decided it must be contamination from the other Lukes!
First was Dragon Raja Luke, guilty of the sin of lust.
Relying on his wealth, he maintained an entire girlfriend squad. While his previous daily fooling around was bad enough, after obtaining his cheat code he not only expanded his girlfriend squad but also initiated group battle mode. Recently, he seemed to be planning to visit Kassel to meet the legendary female hybrids who were all exceptionally beautiful.
Always coming up with flashy tricks to tempt him to watch – shameless!
Next was Naruto Luke, guilty of the sin of sloth.
Though he could find excuses to leave the village and run wild, he kept holing up inside, afraid to do this or that, only daring to duo queue with Ayame. Utterly useless except as a battery.
If he wasn’t somewhat diligent in extracting chakra and practicing demon arts, how would someone like him deserve to join their Dead Fire Sea team?
Then came Bleach Luke, guilty of the sin of pride.
Having crossed over for over forty years, he remained merely a freshman at the True Spirit Arts Academy. Despite his limited abilities, he always looked down on other Lukes as R-cards and enjoyed giving them nicknames like “Blacksmith Luke” or “Retarded Luke.”
If not for his childlike appearance, he’d deserve a couple of good slaps.
As for Quanzhi Fashi Luke… well, from memory he was relatively decent. Apart from the embarrassment of training hard for ten years only to get beaten by Zhang Lingyu, he didn’t have many flaws.
But if this guy still can’t save face at the Arhat Ceremony, he might as well quit the group.
After much deliberation, Luke became increasingly convinced of his own perfection as a Luke. Puffing out his chest with confidence, he concluded that he truly was the Luke among Lukes—the real Luke.
“Ugh, what a bunch of misfits. They’re really disgracing the name of Luke.”
If nothing else, which of those guys didn’t rely on him to become Loofah Monsters? For that alone, the other Lukes ought to kowtow to him.