A man was tied to a cross in the middle of a field, under the blazing summer sun. He remained there, unmoving like a corpse.
Roronoa Zoro had been imprisoned by the corrupt Marine Captain, Morgan's son, Helmeppo, for defending a little girl from getting attacked by Helmeppo's rabid pet dog. As punishment, they had kept him locked up and starved him for just over a week now.
The constant hunger pangs and thirst were gnawing away at him, making it difficult to concentrate or even stand up. Zoro's body was weak, but his eyes suddenly opened, and they showed clarity that a man who hasn't eaten anything for over a week shouldn't be capable of mustering.
'Where am I? Wait...is this?!'
Zoro looked at himself and then his surroundings. He wore a plain white shirt, green haramaki, black pants, and a black pair of boots. An empty dirt field, surrounded by brick walls, with a heavy steel gate marked by the Marine logo. Both the smell and the scent of the sea is also very prevalent, which could only realistically mean that he's either extremely close to the sea, he's surrounded by the sea, or both. Both would indicate he's on a relatively small island.
And as far as his memory was considered, and his memory of his time during it was fairly vivid, this was an exact replica of when he intentionally gave himself up in Shells town for that girl, and wherein he met his captain.
'Luffy...'
His grieving thoughts were interrupted by a lanky arrogant looking prick with a blonde mushroom-like hair and a purple suit, with a Marine soldier just behind him. He had his suspicions but Helmeppo's appearance just confirmed the insane theory in his mind. Zoro never thought looking at that stupid get-up of his could elicit so much joy.
'Now do I just wait or…nah, by this time Luffy's already on his way here anyway and my time's better spent building my physique back up than wasting away in here.'
Helmeppo approached Zoro, a wicked smile on his face as he took pleasure in the swordsman's suffering. He taunted Zoro, relishing in his victory over the once-proud warrior.
"From the most feared bounty hunter in the entire East Blue, where even the most wicked pirates of this sea feared to face, reduced to a lowly criminal because you dared to go against the rightful protectors of the sea. How much longer can you keep going?" Helmeppo gloated.
"You don't need to worry about that. And just to confirm, are you going to still actually honor our agreement?"
"You thought I was actually going to set you free, didn't you?" Helmeppo sneered. "But the truth is, I never had any intention of letting you go. I wanted you to die a slow and agonizing death, starving, for daring to disobey me and challenging my authority."
"Well then, that settles that." Zoro then broke the wooden cross he was tied to through brute force, enhanced by his haki, then immediately backhanded the soldier, with the wood still tied to his arm, who quickly dropped unconscious. Then he loomed over Helmeppo who immediately fell backwards and started pointing at Zoro.
"Waaah. How the fuck did you do that?! Even if you were strong enough to break it before, you still should've been extremely weakened by starvation for over a week now!"
Zoro just grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up casually, and ordered him. "You will take me to where my swords are." Zoro gave him a look that showed he wouldn't mind spilling Helmeppo's blood if he even so much as argued.
"Y-y-yes, of course s-sir, right this way." Helmeppo said submissively.
Zoro thought about using his Conqueror's haki at first, but he knew he didn't quite have the control of not only directing it only to one person instead of just all around him, but also only outputting enough to intimidate such a weak-willed person such as Helmeppo without knocking him out.
He could've easily just cut a path straight through the building, and avoided going through all the confusing corridors and stairs, but he didn't want to make a bad impression towards the other marines in the base since he'd still be staying on the island for a few days after taking care of this whole debacle.
Helmeppo led Zoro to his room where he kept Zoro's swords. After Zoro entered the room and went straight towards the chest where he felt his swords, Helmeppo quickly slipped out of the room and started sprinting towards his father. After Zoro secured his swords, Zoro followed not far behind him.
"Daddy! Roronoa escaped somehow. Somebody must've fed him. Even after a week, he was still somehow strong enough to just break the cross he was tied to." Helmeppo hurriedly informed his father.
Axe-Hand Morgan stood just in front of a statue, easily over 5 times his own great height. He turned around to see his son, ragged from sprinting away from Zoro, after only vaguely hearing about what he just said.
He then proceeded to raise the arm that gave him his namesake, and smacked down his own son with the shaft of his axe-hand.
"You moronic brat, you disgrace me. You should've just executed him and been done with it. Now I have to deal with your mess"
Morgan saw Zoro off in the distance, with his distinctive green hair and three swords. "Men! Execute that fugitive." He ordered.
Marines rushed towards him, their weapons drawn and ready to attack.
'Let's see how much I still have.'
With lightning-fast reflexes, Zoro dodged a barrage of bullets, sidestepping and weaving through the hail of gunfire with ease. He moved with a fluidity that seemed almost supernatural, his body shifting in very efficient ways to avoid each shot just barely.
'Observation is virtually unchanged. Just have to get used to my old body and swords.'
As the Marines closed in, swords raised, Zoro remained calm and focused. With a single swift motion, he unsheathed his own swords and parried their attacks with ease, his movements so fast that they appeared almost as a blur. It was clear to the Marines that they were facing a formidable opponent, one who could've easily killed them if he really wanted to. But to Zoro, it was just him testing his current condition.
Using his swords' pommel and elbows, he quickly neutralized them all with strikes to the head.
"You're all a bunch of failures! Looks like I'm the only reliable person here."
"You sure bout that?" Zoro quipped, then hardened his swords.
Morgan swung down his axe-hand to try and chop the man who ruined his day, in 2 very dead pieces. But Zoro sliced through Morgan's axe like a hot knife through butter. And the remaining energy was transferred into a flying slash that then proceeded to bisect the statue behind Morgan horizontally on the waist area.
"You!" Morgan tried to punch Zoro with his left fist, but Zoro quickly ducked under the punch and cut his side enough for Morgan to collapse, in 1 smooth motion.
'Armament is not all there yet.'
After Morgan fell, all the conscious marines started celebrating. For too long, Morgan had ruled with an iron fist, using fear and intimidation to keep his subordinates in line. He had become a symbol of the corruption and tyranny that had taken root in the Marine hierarchy, and his defeat was a victory for justice and freedom.
Zoro's stomach loudly rumbled, and all the celebrating marines looked at Zoro half-amused and half embarrassed because it technically was them who physically did the starving to Zoro.
"Don't suppose you guys got food for me?"