Thirty marines, led by their lieutenant, froze in place as soon as they saw their 'opponents.' It was not their wisest decision. The front row of marines came to a sudden halt, causing the rear rows to nearly collide with them and create a mess. However, although no one fell onto the pavement, all the marines ended up in a big pile. Before anyone in the rear rows could react, the rest of the marines also saw their 'opponents.' And they too froze, resulting in a rather comical scene. The lieutenant leading the unlucky squad was the first to see the 'Pirate Slayers,' and thus the first to 'hit the brakes.' As a result, he was now standing in front, with the rest of the marines backing up against him, making it look like thirty marines were trying to hide behind their commander. Their deathly pale faces only added to the effect.
"Sweet dreams, boys!" As Nami passed by the petrified marines, she gave them a cheerful smile and waved her fingers at them.
The already stunned marines seemed to fall into a secondary stupor, probably because the first stupor was caused by sheer terror, and the second by Nami's appearance, which could provoke anything but terror. Sanji, holding Nami's hand, and Usopp, who caught up with the girl, were, of course, completely unnoticed by the marines.
"Johnny, Yosaku, take care of it," Zoro ordered as he passed by the marines.
"It's going to hurt a little," the guys grinned in unison and headed towards the marines.
After these words, the already terrified law enforcers seemed to shrink even more. Though, it was more about contrast: the closer Johnny and Yosaku got to the marines, the more obvious the difference in their sizes became. To make one Johnny or Yosaku, you'd need to combine three or even four sailors. It was clear that a whole month of idleness, when the guys only ate like there was no tomorrow — the cooking at Baratie was just too good, especially by Sanji and Zeff — couldn't pass without consequences. It was uncertain exactly how many kilograms they had gained during this time, but all those kilograms were almost evenly distributed over their bodies, making the already huge guys even bigger. Against Johnny and Yosaku, the marines looked like a pack of five-year-old boys in front of a couple of grown men.
It took the guys fifteen seconds to turn the crowding marines into a heap of fallen marines. Another time, Johnny and Yosaku would have enjoyed stretching this moment out, but they had little time: the city was about to go into chaos, and then they could forget about the girls until the next island… and that's in the best case. Who knows what's on the Grand Line? Luffy had been deliberately uninterested in the most mysterious sea of all, so they had practically no information. And even what they had… what good was knowing that the second half of the Grand Line is called the 'New World'? Or that the first half is often referred to as 'Paradise,' while the second is called 'Hell'? Undoubtedly, such information was incredibly stimulating, but practically, it was nearly useless.
At the next intersection, the group split up.
Nami, Sanji, and Usopp went right, where various stores were located. For obvious reasons, most of Loguetown's stores were in the port area, so they didn't have to look far. For the same reasons, Johnny and Yosaku, turning left, quickly found the local brothel. The sought-after establishment was surrounded by local bars and blended in quite successfully as one of them. Although prostitution wasn't banned by the World Government, it wasn't exactly approved either, so to avoid irritating the authorities, all brothels adhered to simple decency rules. You wouldn't see a sign saying 'Brothel', but you might see a bar or pub with a name like 'Aunt Flora's' and a couple of red lanterns hanging on the sides of the sign, supposedly to light up the name at night. For people like Johnny and Yosaku, such lanterns and names were like the ringing of a church bell calling people to morning service. Although, to be fair, people like Johnny and Yosaku could find a brothel even if the entrance looked like a half-collapsed shack in an uninhabited part of the island. Eventually, the guys found themselves inside the establishment they so eagerly desired… Nami, Sanji, and Usopp, however, also quickly found a clothing store that met all their needs.
In turn, Luffy and Zoro went straight into the island at the crossroads. However, after walking just a few hundred meters and under the numerous gazes of passersby — Zoro was recognized at a glance, and the news of the 'Pirate Slayers' arriving in town was spreading quickly — they turned aside and walked through several alleys, emerging on a neighboring street. It was as if the people suddenly lost their sight! It was hard to imagine any other explanation for how people seemed to completely ignore Zoro as he walked among them. Almost every resident of Loguetown knew the swordsman's face. While the world newspapers didn't feature the 'Pirate Slayers' often, local papers had been printing their faces for several years, almost in every issue. And even if someone didn't know Zoro's face, he would still be instantly noticed in any crowd… simply because that crowd would almost immediately clear a path for him. The appearance of a brute coupled with a deadly aura did little to help him remain unnoticed… And so Zoro's unexpected invisibility was all the more astonishing. People around him seemed not only to stop recognizing him but to completely disregard him as a living being, starting to move out of his way as if he were a pole. And this reaction wasn't limited to Zoro.
"You're about to turn twenty, and you still feel like I'm reaching for the blades of a running lawnmower," Luffy scolded the swordsman, walking beside him. And 'surprisingly,' just like with Zoro, people did not perceive Luffy as a living being either. "For your information, I learned to control my aura by the age of ten, and I'm not even a swordsman."
Zoro only snorted loudly in response to this statement but refrained from any comments. He could have said a lot in reply to Luffy's words — "Not a swordsman? Then besides him, Zoro, there weren't any swordsmen at all in the East Blue!" — but he was fully focused on the aura his captain had mentioned. Unlike Luffy, who likely made no effort to control his aura — a result of his vast experience — Zoro was sweating buckets trying to keep his aura contained. It felt like he was holding a full glass of water in his palms and trying not to spill a drop… strangely enough, he was managing quite well! Though it required an almost unbelievable amount of effort. This was why all of Luffy's words remained unanswered: Zoro simply couldn't afford to be distracted by a conversation.
"As I've told you before, if you master controlling your aura perfectly, your strength will increase, if not tenfold, then at least two or three times! Really, right now, when you use haki, it's painful to watch. You're like a leaky watering can! By the time you get such a can to the needed bed, half the water will leak away. And the same goes for you. Although you've learned to use haki, your attacks with haki are like that leaky can — more than half of it is wasted in the void rather than in the actual strike."
Zoro had no counter to this. Long ago, in what seemed like another life but was actually just over two years ago, when he first managed to cover his swords with Will, Zoro thought he could bend the world. To some extent, that was true, but as it turned out, there was a HUGE difference between 'Learning haki' and 'Controlling haki'. And not just a significant difference, but an enormous chasm! A prime example of this was that Zoro had 'Learned haki' over two years ago but had not yet fully learned to 'Control haki'. On the other hand, he couldn't hold his aura for more than a minute even in a stationary position before, but now he could maintain it for several hours while moving… all while listening to Luffy and perceiving the surrounding world. Of course, fighting anyone in such a state was out of the question, but progress was evident. And this progress, as Zoro clearly understood, directly correlated with his strength. The better he controlled his aura, the stronger his attacks became.
"And by the way, I think it's time for you to get new swords… since you've more or less mastered haki and we're heading to the Grand Line," Luffy added after a moment, causing Zoro to almost lose all his concentration.