【Eagle Red】Lifetime

"Then... goodbye." Sauron said with his back to the empty living room, turned around and was about to leave.

"Roronoa, wait a minute." The middle-aged man who had been silent on the leather chair finally lowered the newspaper in his hand.

Sauron stopped the foot that was about to step out, subconsciously held the knife at his waist, and turned around slowly.The morning sun shone through the window into a warm room, and the man raised his head against the light. In the dazzling backlight, Sauron couldn't see the other person's expression clearly, but his eyes were still as sharp as an eagle.

Sauron felt that although the person in front of him was sitting in the same place, he still needed to look up. Even though two years of tempering had allowed him to clearly perceive his own progress, that person was still standing in the distant future with an expressionless face. Looking down at the always weak self.

The slight nervousness of the young man in front of him did not escape the eyes of the world's number one swordsman, Mihawk shrugged, "Is there nothing else in your farewell except a word of care?"

Sauron clenched the handle of He Dao Yiwen's knife, and his whole body was on guard, "I don't expect you to be in the mood to fight with me."

"It's really ugly as always," Mihawk showed a slight smile, "I'm really not in the mood, and there's no need to fight with you again. Your future path should be based on your own heart."

Heart?

Sauron lowered his head slightly, but what he remembered was a sentence left by the person in front of him when he first met him - "See yourself clearly and see the world clearly."

"Forget it," Mihawk no longer expected the young swordsman to say anything, he stared at him seriously, "I have something to ask you, Roronoa."

Sauron was a little surprised. He looked directly into Hawkeye's eyes and found a rare solemnity in the other's eyes. He subconsciously stood up straighter.

"Roronoa, what is your dream?"

"Do you want to become the number one swordsman in the world—" Mihawk lightly put the newspaper on the table, "Or do you want to become the partner of the future One Piece?"

"This?" Sauron was a little puzzled, "Is there a conflict?"

"Even if a guy who is alone finds the legendary onepiece, he can't become One Piece, because besides fame and wealth, he has never had a partner who is more important to a pirate." Mihawk said in a rare long paragraph Speaking, he paused for a moment, and continued: "But I have never heard of any swordsman who was once the number one in the world who has a partner other than a sword. Do you understand, Roronoa?"

Sauron's only remaining right eye widened instantly, and after a moment of silence, he finally said in a low voice, "I don't understand...I broke through my limit more than once because I wanted to protect my partner. I don't think that having a partner and becoming stronger It's contradictory."

"There are gains and losses," Mihawk was not surprised by the young man's answer, he slowed down and said slowly: "You used to become stronger to protect others...then there will come a day when you will become stronger because of caring Distracted by others. A person's attention is limited after all, and after reaching a certain limit, only by abandoning some things can we move on."

This seemed to be a proposition that he had never thought about before, Sauron turned his head in silence, thoughtful.

"This choice is still far away from the current you, you can..."

"It's nothing to think about," Sauron interrupted the other party, "I will be the world's number one swordsman, and I will also be the partner of One Piece!"

"Ambition is not small."

"Are you laughing that I will achieve nothing because of greed?" Sauron raised his head and looked directly at Mihawk, "Becoming the strongest swordsman is my dream, and Luffy's partner is my identity. There is no contradiction between the two .”

Listening to the young swordsman's oath, Mihawk didn't say yes or no, but narrowed his pupils because of the next sentence.

"If becoming a swordsman alone like this is the path you have traveled, then I can't be like this. I have learned your swordsmanship. If I copy the past you in terms of mentality, it is just a second you." Suo Long stretched out his hand and pointed at the man in front of him, "What I want to do is surpass you."

"Good ambition." Mihawk didn't get angry because of the arrogant words, his tone remained calm, "Aren't you afraid of failure?"

"Then it would be fine if I died halfway, which shows that I am only a man of this level." The young swordsman responded without hesitation.

"You can go, Roronoa." Mihawk picked up the newspaper again, without looking at the vibrant green at the door.

Sauron secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Being forced to have such a conversation in front of Hawkeye may be more challenging than a sparring.He turned around and strode out of the door, but as if he suddenly remembered something, he stopped hesitantly.

"What else is there?"

Sauron clenched his fists secretly: "You..."

"Hesitation is not your style, Roronoa."

"Could it be that after you became the world's number one swordsman... you have been alone all the time? I remember when you cut off Klick's big ship, you said that it was just a boring way to pass the time."

"...to be alone all the time, waiting for someone to challenge you, surpass you...to end your monotonous and boring life?

Sauron paused for a moment, but still could not wait for a response.He clenched his fists with more force, "Although I don't understand much now, but if a person's state of mind determines his final strength, then what I want to surpass is a stronger you, Hawkeye."

Sauron turned his head and looked at the person who had guided him for two years but still felt alienated from a farther distance.

Mihawk flicked the newspaper lightly, "Are you concerned about me? But there are some things you are not qualified to instruct, young man."

Sauron blushed slightly in embarrassment, turned to the left, "That woman should wait! I'm leaving!"

"The direction is reversed." Mihawk didn't lift his head.

"...I know it!" Sauron blushed and protested loudly.He swept in the opposite direction like the wind, and a bright green disappeared at the living room door.

The sound of the young swordsman's hurried footsteps faded away, and Mihawk continued to read the newspaper.He flipped through the news and advertisements on all the pages of the newspaper, and even carefully read the wanted warrants in it.

This kind of early morning reading is a habit he has developed over the years. Even though the supreme sharp knife named "Black Knife? Night" is already enough to cut off the huge waves in the hurricane, there is another piece of time in this world. Even if it is the world's number one swordsman, he can only stay in it and let it flow naturally, drifting without direction.

The moment Mihawk put down the newspaper, he suddenly realized that there would no longer be a little girl floating above his head in the form of a spirit body asking about today's news. Even if he walked out of the living room at this moment, there would be no more girl The young swordsman who woke up was wandering around in the empty lobby like a headless chicken looking for a way out.

When the sun was gradually covered by the strange-shaped peaks on the west side of Culegana Island, Mihawk had to admit that the sudden change of daily habits was not as simple as making people feel a little uncomfortable.

For example, the Great Swordsman at this moment was taking out a bottle of red wine from the cabinet, and at the same time thought that the next time the little girl took Roronoa to go shopping, he had to remember to ask them to buy wine.Then he suddenly realized that the alcoholic Roronoa had already left, and the stock in the cabinet was still enough for him to drink for a long time.

Mihawk was a little thankful that he responded in a timely manner, otherwise it would be more troublesome to make lunch for three people at noon.

There is no doubt that Sauron and Perona faced each other two years ago and shirked the responsibility of cooking. One stood up and said, "We have a special cook on board", and the other murmured, "Kumasi, I miss you so much. ".Mihawk looked coldly at the two noisy children, and walked into the kitchen without a sound, tied up his apron, and brought out some dishes in a short while.

The two young men were stunned for a moment, while the world's number one swordsman still looked nonchalant.Zoro accidentally noticed that the man he had been thinking of defeating was wearing a pink apron that was very similar to his own cook, and there seemed to be the sound of something breaking in the air.

"Eagle, eagle, and eagle eye can cook???" Perona fluttered up and down in the air holding an umbrella, and the volume was several degrees higher than when he mourned Kumasi just now.

Mihawk poured himself a glass of red wine calmly, picked up the knife and fork in front of him, and just sighed in his heart that Bartholomi would really cause trouble for himself.

In fact, it's unbelievable that a person who has been living alone can't cook.Mihawk doesn't mind cooking more meals by the way, his residence is big enough, and it's not that he can't accommodate two more people, but his headache is that his peaceful old castle will be so noisy for a long time to come.

However, two years have passed so quickly. When the sojourner really left this place and went to his former partner in various ways, it took Mihawk a whole day to admit that there is something wrong with being alone in his home. deserted.

In the eyes of Mihawk, the world's number one swordsman, most things don't matter, even the deserted and boring itself doesn't matter.It’s just that he discovered a long time ago that when people feel a little lonely, they tend to recall something subconsciously, and the memory often evolves into a sentence pattern beginning with "If at the beginning..." to respond to those who have given up. The assumptions arising from choices and paths, such associations may not be mixed with some sentimentality tinged with regret.

And regret is the only thing Mihawk doesn't like.

So, Mihawk simply made a decision, "Let's go out to sea tomorrow."

The four words "going to sea and turning around" are very common for pirates, but if the subject in front is the world-famous Mihawk, it means that after a few days, the major newspapers will inevitably appear with great fanfare and articles about "Wang Wang". One of the Shichibukai—the world's number one swordsman, Hawkeye Joracle Mihawk single-handedly destroyed a certain pirate group and wiped out harm for the people" and other reports.

Mihawk spent the night before his departure on sword practice.

It was already dark outside the castle, and the dark night covered the distant scene. Mihawk concentrated on sensing how his knife wind cut through the waves, and how the broken waves splashed and fell overhead.

He slightly adjusted the pace of his feet. Although he was standing on the seashore with scattered waves, he never had any drop of seawater fall on him.

It was a very fulfilling night, but the world's No. [-] swordsman would never have imagined that those memories he didn't like were like the negative ghosts of a little girl's prank, always secretly staring at his flaws in the corner , always wishing boredly that he would be recruited once-of course, the negative ghosts have never succeeded once.

That night, Mihawk, who usually slept soundly until dawn, had a rare dream.

In his dream, he saw a straw hat flying with the wind fluttering down, and was lightly grasped by a hand before reaching the ground.He followed the hat with his eyes, and finally saw someone with the hat tilted on his head and a broad smile on him.Mihawk found that his hand was gently stretched out to help the man straighten the straw hat, covering the red hair that was dazzling in the sun.

Mihawk suddenly felt unwilling to wake up. Even though he was in a dream, he still clearly knew that such an act of helping the other party's hat never happened.