One Piece: The Archangel's Guide

Chapter 45: World-Breaker

A few days later, Louis and his group, led by Kuina and the green-haired little brat, walked along a path, heading straight for the forge left behind by Shimotsuki Kozaburo.

Just when everyone thought the journey would be uneventful, something that left them speechless occurred.

"Kuina, it looks like that Zoro guy got lost again..." Uta said with a strange expression, tugging on the plain clothes Kuina used for sword practice. When Kuina turned her head, Uta pointed to the green-algae-head not far away, who had abruptly turned around and was now heading into the forest. A look of unshakable shock was in her eyes.

She hadn't expected this green-haired little brat to be so bad with directions. He had just been walking and then, without any warning, turned around and headed in another direction.

Kuina glanced at Zoro, then showed a look of someone who was used to this. "Don't worry about him. He can get lost right at his own doorstep. He's a lost cause."

"Ahaha..." A twitch went through Uta's fair little face. She was clearly shocked. "He can get lost at his own doorstep?"

"Yes, it sounds scary. But once you get used to it, you'll feel it's nothing," Kuina replied, indicating that as long as you have no hope for his sense of direction, you can quickly get used to his almost demonic behavior.

Louis watched Zoro disappear at the edge of his vision and sighed internally. All I can say is, as expected of the King of Getting Lost...

Soon, the group arrived at their destination. At the edge of the mountain forest, two dilapidated wooden houses stood at the end of the road. From the chimney of one of the houses, a thick plume of white smoke was rising.

As if sensing their arrival, the door of the wooden house was slowly pushed open. Koshiro, with a towel tied around his head and wearing a simple kimono, slowly appeared before them. He raised his arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said with a smile, "You've come at just the right time."

"The weapon... I've finished forging it!"

He then stepped aside, letting the group enter the wooden house.

The fire in the forge seemed to have just been extinguished; its surface was still glowing red, and a scorching heat spread throughout the wooden house, making the environment extremely hot. But at this moment, not even Uta, who had the weakest constitution, was bothered by the heat. Everyone's attention was focused on the behemoth placed on the stone table.

"Ordinary swords, or even the naginatas of Wano and the special great halberds of the Flower Country, are not suitable for her because they are too light."

"Miss Yelena's strength is also monstrous. For her, the type of weapon is not really important. Weight is the true key."

"Therefore, when I was forging it, I used every method I could to increase its mass."

As he spoke, Koshiro pushed up his glasses, a smile never leaving his face. "I found suitable materials for forging it among the scrap left behind by my father."

"Scrap?" Kuina's eyes widened. "Why use scrap?"

Louis looked at the cracks on the stone table, which were being pressed out by the black war hammer, and said thoughtfully, "Because the metal's density is too high, making it unsuitable for forging swords, right?"

"That's right!" Koshiro looked around the wooden house, a nostalgic look in his eyes. "Although these materials are of excellent quality, they are too heavy and thus unsuitable for sword forging, so they became scrap."

"A weapon forged from them... I'm afraid only a giant's weapon could compare to it in terms of weight!"

Yelena slowly walked forward to the stone table. She reached out a hand, grasped the handle of the war hammer, and slowly lifted it, revealing its full appearance to everyone.

"She lifted it with one hand?" Kuina was dumbfounded, nearly dropping the Wado Ichimonji in her hand.

The weapon was entirely black, about two and a half meters long. Unlike Yelena's original octagonal hammer, this one was a flanged mace. Except for the grip, the metal handle was covered in four rows of protruding, diamond-shaped spikes that glinted with a metallic luster. The flanges of the mace were also lined with similar spikes.

Louis stared at the appearance of the war hammer, momentarily lost in a rare daze. This appearance... why does it feel like... he thought to himself.

On the other side, Uta looked at the cold steel that Yelena had lifted with one hand, tilting her head as she examined it back and forth. Finally, she couldn't help but complain, "Are you sure this isn't a kanabō?"

Beside her, Kuina, who had been shocked by Yelena lifting a war hammer whose weight was second only to a giant's weapon with one hand, now had a strange look in her eyes. Uta had a point. Now that she mentioned it, the more she looked at it, the more it resembled a large kanabō.

"A shape close to a kanabō is fine too. I don't mind." For some reason, Yelena was not put off by the appearance of this flanged mace that looked like a spiked club. On the contrary, she felt its protrusions would add a lot of killing power.

Koshiro pushed up his glasses and spoke unhurriedly. "Give it a name!"

Yelena heard this and turned to look at Louis.

"World-Breaker," Louis said without hesitation. "How about it?" With that, he met Yelena's eyes.

When Yelena transforms into a Wendigo, she sometimes uses her sickle-like claws to reap lives. Coupled with the appearance of this war hammer, calling it the World-Breaker Hammer seemed fitting.

"World-Breaker..." Yelena looked up at the war hammer in her hand and said thoughtfully, "The hammer to break the World Government?"

"I like it." A smile curled at the corner of Yelena's lips.

At the edge of the coast.

Under Koshiro's instructions, a group of villagers carried various items onto a warship flying a pirate flag. That's right, a warship flying a pirate flag. When Koshiro brought Kuina to see their benefactor off and saw their ship, even he, who had always been calm and composed, couldn't hold it together. He hadn't expected Louis's group to be so bold as to use a warship as their own vessel. Other than the sail and the pirate flag, he hadn't even bothered to disguise it.

After a long time, the calmed-down Koshiro couldn't help but speak. "Lord Louis, are you sure you don't want to change the ship's paint job?"

"If you need, I can help too!"

To this, Louis waved his hand and replied casually, "No need. Would they not recognize it just because the paint is changed?"

"..." Koshiro fell silent. It was true. The structure and style of a warship were too unique. Even if the paint was changed, anyone with a discerning eye would recognize it at a glance.

Soon, all the items gifted by Koshiro were loaded onto the ship.

"We're leaving. I hope we meet again someday." Louis and his group stood on the deck of the warship and waved goodbye to Koshiro.

When they were so far apart they could no longer see each other's faces, Louis's voice carried on the sea breeze to the shore.

"If one day you set out to sea and have nowhere else to go... then come find us, Kuina."

Kuina heard this and stood dazed in the wind. But in the next moment, she smiled and replied, "Okay!"

"I thought you would invite her onto the ship now," Yelena's voice sounded from behind.

Louis turned his head and gave her a rather speechless look. "The average age of our crew is already very young. If we add another one, wouldn't it become a kindergarten?"

"That's true..."

Just then, Uta poked her head out from behind Yelena and asked excitedly, "Louis, where are we going next?"

"Elegia..."