"Follow me!"
Joker casually tossed out several specially made smoke bombs, blocking everyone's vision, then grabbed the Straw Hat Crew and ran.
Luffy was still a little bewildered when Joker said, "I'm Shanks's friend." He immediately grinned and followed Joker.
Logically speaking, Navy officers of that rank all possessed Observation Haki. Smoke bombs should never have obscured them. Yet both Borsalino and Kuzan casually unleashed several powerful attacks into the fog. Their mouths shouted things like "Don't run," but their feet never moved.
Only two hot-tempered, particularly stubborn Hawkish Faction Navy Generals charged in. They cried out twice, then there was nothing more. Only after the smoke had completely dispersed did the rest of the Navy finally begin their pursuit.
Once the smoke cleared, only two unconscious Navy officers remained on the ground. The Straw Hat Crew and Joker had naturally vanished without a trace.
Seeing that the Straw Hat Crew had escaped, Borsalino and Kuzan were in no hurry either. When the World Government called to press them, Kuzan just muttered vague acknowledgments. Borsalino was even more outrageous—he spoke into a black wiretapping Den Den Mushi for ages before realizing something was wrong. Oh, he had picked up the wrong Den Den Mushi.
No one could tell whether that old drifter was truly muddle-headed or merely pretending, but after that delay, the Straw Hat Crew had already boarded the Thousand Sunny. There was not even a tail left to catch.
But it did not matter. If the Navy could not be relied upon, the World Government had its own subordinates!
After all these years, the World Government's formerly devastated intelligence organizations had recovered considerably. Although Doflamingo's Dragon Hunting Pirates had infiltrated them until they were riddled with holes, under normal circumstances, they still obeyed the World Government's orders.
Moreover,