Declaration

Ling Na felt a pang in her heart at Jerry's attitude towards his father, but she didn't blame her son.

After all, it was that man who hadn't fulfilled his responsibilities as a father. She supported Jerry's pursuit of his future, but that wasn't an excuse for him to disappear for so many years.

Perhaps he had forgotten about the three of them, or perhaps he had died somewhere out at sea.

Now, her children were her entire world.

Upon learning of Jerry's fervent desire to join the Marines, Cifer suddenly had a brilliant idea.

"Smoker, you'd be willing to take in a kid full of justice like this, let him join the Marines, and personally mentor him, wouldn't you?" he said, patting Smoker's shoulder suggestively.

"Are you kidding me?"

Smoker's veins bulged at the words. The cigar he had just narrowly escaped death with was once again in peril.

Smoker didn't have time to teach a child how to get stronger; his job was to capture pirates and guard the entrance to the Grand Line.

"Then it's settled!"

Cifer ignored him and, with familiar ease, agreed on his behalf.

"Kid, once you join the Marines, you'll be under Captain Smoker. When you become strong enough, you can do whatever you want."

If Jerry became Smoker's direct subordinate, his family would also receive a certain degree of protection.

Buying the Savage Dragon for 100 million Belly was a huge bargain for them, so they could only compensate in other ways. Besides, it wasn't like he had to pay himself.

The mother and her two children looked at Smoker. Seeing that he was frowning but no longer objecting, they knew he had tacitly agreed.

Jerry was just a pitiable child. After understanding the reason behind his desire to join the Marines, Smoker didn't mind saving face for Cifer.

After all, thanks to this guy, Loguetown had been much calmer recently. It would be even better if there were no thugs around.

"Tashigi, I have a question."

His gaze then shifted to the bespectacled woman standing nearby, who was staring at the Savage Dragon with a foolish grin like a pervert.

"Mr. Cifer, please speak!"

"A logic puzzle! I want to buy this Savage Dragon right now, but I don't want to pay for it. What should I do?"

Cifer smiled, and Tashigi and everyone else's minds seemed to struggle, leaving them frozen in place.

"So, you're not buying it?"

Tashigi ventured a guess.

"Wrong! I already said I wanted to buy this sword, so how can you say I'm not buying it?"

"You tell me!"

Cifer tossed the question to Smoker, whose grim expression suggested he had guessed something.

"You scoundrel, you're not going to..."

"Congratulations, you guessed correctly! The reward is that the Marine branch will pay for it on my behalf!"

Cifer gently clapped his hands, interrupting Smoker.

"Hahahaha! As expected of my captain!"

Enel couldn't help but burst into laughter as he watched Cifer calmly utter such shameless words.

"Where's the logic in that?"

Tashigi muttered.

"My logic is my logic!"

Cifer struck a pose like Super Vegeta.

"Absolutely not! Don't even think about it!"

Smoker was furious. Even though he acknowledged Cifer as a pirate, he would never allow the man to extend his reach into Marine territory.

Cifer had anticipated this as well and held out a palm to Smoker.

"Five. I will deal with five pirates with bounties over 100 million in the Grand Line as payment for the Loguetown branch covering this cost for me."

Cifer didn't want to spend the money on his ship and then search for pirates everywhere. After dealing with them, he would have to find other Marine branches to exchange the bounties, which was too troublesome.

As for dealing with five pirates with bounties over 100 million, it was no different than stepping on five ants for him. Besides, he hadn't said when he would complete it, so it was all up to fate.

"I agree!"

After hearing Cifer's proposal, Smoker remained silent for a moment before giving his answer.

A mere 100 million Belly was nothing to a Marine branch, but five pirates with bounties over 100 million posed a significant threat to civilians.

It was just an advance payment of bounties, and at a much lower cost. There was no need to be stubborn about it.

"Whoa..."

Jerry watched as the two of them completed a transaction of 100 million Belly in casual conversation, his face mirroring Enel's expression from Sky Island.

In reality, besides Cifer, he had never seen a pirate with a bounty over 100 million. He only knew that the bad guys with bounties in the millions or tens of millions who used to pass through Loguetown were already terrifying.

"Mr. Cifer, please take it!"

Rina respectfully handed the Savage Dragon in her hand to Cifer.

"A Supreme Grade blade! What a treasure!"

Cifer exclaimed, never imagining he would possess a weapon comparable to Black Blade - Yoru so soon.

"This is bad, Captain Smoker!"

Several Marines rushed up to Smoker, reporting what had happened in front of the Marine branch entrance.

"A group of thugs were killed, and their families and other scoundrels are causing trouble at the base entrance?!"

The cigar finally couldn't bear the pressure and snapped under Smoker's anger.

Those thugs were always causing trouble. Many civilians in Loguetown had complained to him, but they weren't pirates and hadn't committed extreme acts like murder or arson.

This wasn't within the Marines' jurisdiction, but for the sake of the townspeople, he had repeatedly thrown those scoundrels in jail for ten days or so.

Yet, they were unashamed and even proud of it. The town guards were also loosely connected to them. Smoker could only focus his energy on dealing with pirates.

As long as they didn't appear before him, he didn't want to bother with them, as it yielded no results.

Now that they were causing trouble, daring to cause a scene at the Marine branch, it seemed he had been too lenient with them!

Just as he was about to turn and lead his men back to handle the situation, he suddenly remembered that there was a troublemaker present.

"You, did you do this?"

"Who knows? But we did step on a few annoying ants on the way."

Cifer and Enel's expressions were natural, as if they had merely stepped on ants, but Smoker could tell that those scoundrels had run into this calamity.

"Smoker! Loguetown must have quite a few news agencies, right!"

Just deterring pirates wasn't enough. There were too many damned people; he couldn't possibly kill them all.

"What do you want to do?"

Cifer didn't reply, merely offering a sinister smile.

Soon, everyone except Cifer and Enel returned to the Marine branch base in Loguetown. A group of local ruffians was gathered at the entrance.

"It's him! He's the base commander!"

Someone with sharp eyes recognized Smoker, and instantly all attention focused on him. The group was surrounded.

"Smoker! If you can't give us an explanation for this matter, we'll surround your base every day!"

Dozens of people shouted, demanding that Smoker find the killer and hand them over by the end of the day.

No matter how much Smoker disliked those thugs, he wouldn't kick them while they were down. He could only endure their insults, waiting for Cifer's answer.

"The killers you're looking for are right there!"

Smoker pointed behind them. Cifer and Enel were standing not far away, and Cifer provocatively beckoned with his finger.

"Kill those two bastards!"

All the ruffians' anger ignited, and they charged towards Cifer and Enel, shouting, afraid they would escape.

Nearby, many news reporters were nervously pointing their cameras at Cifer and Enel. They had received word that this legendary Shichibukai was about to make a move.

"Kid, remember to cover your sister's eyes later."

Jerry recalled Cifer's words before they parted ways and quickly had his sister turn her back, not to look at Cifer.

"This guy... no way..."

Smoker had a guess as to what this madman Cifer intended to do. He had heard that Cifer was, in some ways, similar to Admiral Akainu.

He didn't intervene. For Justice, countless Marines had sacrificed their lives. A mere few dozen ruffians weren't worth his speaking up.

"Kill them!"

"Divine Judgment!"

As the crowd was about to reach them, Cifer calmly gave the order, followed by a thunderous strike from Enel.

Dozens of lives vanished in the blink of an eye.

Cifer walked towards the furiously snapping reporters, scaring them into retreating, afraid of being implicated.

"I don't just kill pirates. Anyone who dares to do evil in front of me will die."

"As for the evil in this world, I am enough!"