"Your Highness, aren't you going to recruit him?", As the warship gradually sailed into the distance, Gion also flew back onto the ship. Sora withdrew her gaze and looked at Rosse beside her.
In that situation just now, after defeating him, recruiting him would probably have had a high success rate.
Whether it's kingdoms or pirates, recruitment seems to follow this kind of process.
"It's still too early now. Just planting a seed in his heart is enough," Rosse opened his arms and embraced Gion, who had just landed, "Gion, well done."
"I didn't fail the mission," Gion didn't think it was a big deal. If it were back when she had just graduated from the Navy Elite Training Camp, she would've regarded Mihawk as a formidable enemy.
But after following Rosse for nearly a year, all her interactions were with top-tier powerhouses, now Mihawk was just like that in her eyes.
After all, before becoming top-level powerhouses, weren't all those elites once geniuses with talent and determination?
Unbothered by others around, she basked in Rosse's praise for a moment, and only then did Gion rise from his embrace, "He's a decent swordsman. If he wants to grow, he needs to walk his own path."
"Indeed. Mihawk is still just a fledgling hawk. If we interfere too much now, it'll backfire instead," Rosse smiled in agreement, his words also answering Sora's doubts.
Some people are suited for systematic training, while others are better off facing challenges and the unknown.
'Mihawk belongs to the latter group. If we simply assign him opponents, it'll only wear down his sharpness.'
Life-and-death battles born of unexpected encounters, that is the true path of a swordsman's growth.
"Should we make some arrangements?", Sora understood Rosse's thinking. While this kind of growth would be fast, if they didn't intervene, Mihawk might not be willing to submit after becoming strong.
"Of course, just a little bit of minor interference," Rosse nodded with a smile. Non-interference was out of the question, he didn't agree with Garp's free-range education style.
The growth of strength is one matter, but the shaping of character is another.
He looked at Gion, who immediately understood Rosse's meaning. Her beautiful eyes revealed a trace of helplessness, "This isn't my strong suit. At most, I can occasionally appear and knock her down a peg."
Spare her, please. She's fine doing muscle jobs.
Just listening to the conversation between Sora and Rosse, she already knew this wasn't something she could handle.
Seeing her reaction, both Rosse and Sora couldn't help but laugh. Rosse gently pinched Gion's cheek, "Not asking you to be in charge of this. Just cooperate with Sora occasionally when needed. Swordsmen, after all, need a goal. The title of the world's number one great swordsman is quite fitting."
"Me? The world's number one great swordsman?", Gion pointed at herself in disbelief. This time, she understood Rosse's implication, but was even more confused.
With her current strength, there were too many swordsmen stronger than her across the seas. What right did she have to hold that title?
"A title, you see, once enough people spread it, it becomes real. If anyone objects, they can step in front of you first," Rosse's lips curled into a smile. This was an idea that had just occurred to him.
Pure swordsmen typically set becoming the world's number one great swordsman as their goal. If the holder of this title was by his side, wouldn't those pure swordsmen naturally flock toward him?
Once they make contact, whether they show promise or become a future threat, it would be something he could easily deal with.
Rosse wasn't worried about Gion not being able to bear this title.
Though Gion's strength was still a bit lacking for now, she wouldn't be deployed elsewhere for a while and would only stay close to protect him.
Plus, counting himself in, even without Gion, Rosse would still have at least two S-class powerhouses by his side, his personal safety baseline.
Two S-class powerhouses working together could go toe-to-toe with peak Whitebeard.
If someone wanted the title of world's number one great swordsman, let them come and test their strength.
Killing one S-class powerhouse, even without special rewards, guarantees a base boost of 5 million, equivalent to killing ten A-class powerhouses.
That increase alone was proof enough of the weight of an S-class.
If an S-class powerhouse came just for the empty title, Rosse would be happy to take their head first.
S-class powerhouses were extremely rare. On the sea, only admirals, emperors, and legendary pirates belonged to that tier. Even finding a hostile one to kill was difficult for Rosse right now.
After the little interlude on Reverse Mountain, news of Gion inheriting the title of the world's number one great swordsman spread like the wind.
With endorsement and publicity from the world government, even if someone wanted to object, they wouldn't dare do it publicly.
Moreover, Rosse released footage of Gion sparring with Zephyr. Though a bit unfair to Zephyr, he was past the age of chasing fame and was willing to make way for his student. And so, the image of Gion defeating Zephyr with her sword was born.
Former navy admiral Zephyr was defeated by Gion, and Gion was also the wife of a Celestial Dragon. After this series of titles got out, there wasn't even a single voice of doubt.
Though the footage did have some performative elements, those strong enough to see through the video wouldn't bother the world government over something like this.
After all, most of the strong among pirates weren't pure swordsmen and didn't care much for the title of world's number one great swordsman.
Among all the top-tier powerhouses, only one person showed interest in Gion.
———
In the capital square of a certain allied nation, a man exuding innate noble elegance stood quietly before a massive screen.
On the screen, the man ignored Gion's sword techniques, his gaze fixed on the vampire blood wings behind her.
"Jaygarcia Gion, huh? After searching so long for a lead, I didn't expect you to be the one to obtain that fruit. World's number one great swordsman? Wife of a Celestial Dragon? Hmph, all titles I deeply detest..."
The man's gloved hand unconsciously caressed the umbrella sword in his grip, his motion slow, yet with subtle undertones.
Just then, a light breeze quietly swept past, lifting the edge of the man's red cape, which flared like a mass of burning flames.
At the very moment the breeze brushed by, the man's figure suddenly flickered, and in just the blink of an eye, the spot where he had stood was completely empty, as if he had never been there at all, leaving behind only a faint chill in the air to speak of what had just occurred.
———
After spreading the news of Gion inheriting the title of world's number one great swordsman, Rosse had the warship head toward Drum Island.
Drum Island, a land perpetually blanketed in snow, was also the most famous medical nation on the Grand Line.
Rosse's purpose here was simple. First, to let Stella pursue further medical studies; second, to have Sora learn the island's medical knowledge.
Medicine and human biology go hand in hand. To research lineage factors, knowledge in medicine is essential, it would at least save Sora a lot of detours.
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