A Stir Over Communing with Spirits!

East Blue, Loguetown Marine Base.

The office door was violently slammed open. Colonel Smoker staggered forward and nearly fell, but he caught the doorknob in time and held himself up.

"Colonel! Colonel Smoker, you can't be out of bed yet!"

Tashigi ran after him, clutching his coat.

"I'm fine. It's just a minor injury."

Smoker caught his breath and stubbornly straightened up.

"How could a skull that was nearly pierced through be a minor injury?!"

Tashigi looked frantic. "The doctor said there could be lasting effects if you don't rest properly... And don't smoke cigars while you're recovering, or you'll turn into an idiot!"

"Shut up! You're so annoying, Tashigi!"

Smoker's face was pale and his lips trembled. It was impossible to tell whether it was because his injuries had not healed.

Cough, cough!

At that moment, Momonga coughed and interrupted them.

"Smoker, I remember telling you to recover first. Are you planning to disobey orders?"

"What kind of order is that?!"

He dragged himself to the sofa with difficulty and plopped down, his head buzzing.

Rubbing his temples through the bandages, Smoker asked,

"I heard he's made another move?"

He referred to Lowett.

After nearly dying at Lowett's hands, Smoker was now completely at odds with him and swore he would never let it go.

"That's right."

With a helpless sigh, Momonga knew that even invoking a vice admiral's authority would not stop Smoker. He folded the document in his hands, placed it in the drawer, and said,

"But it has nothing to do with us. You don't seriously think he'll show up, do you?"

If that were the case, Momonga would not be sitting here now.

"I'll go!"

Smoker opened his eyes and stared at him seriously. "Better safe than sorry! If he really appears, I'll arrest him myself!"

"..."

"Fine, go ahead."

Smoker was stunned.

He had already prepared himself to badger Momonga into agreeing, yet he had agreed so quickly?

"Colonel!"

Tashigi stamped her foot anxiously nearby, wanting to speak but stopping herself.

Smoker ignored her, stood up, snapped to attention, and saluted.

"Yes! I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

Then he turned and left.

But halfway there, he suddenly turned back and met Momonga's eyes.

The two fell into an awkward silence for three seconds. Smoker's face reddened.

"I... where am I supposed to go?"

Momonga answered expressionlessly, "Out the door, turn left. Fifth room in the building next door."

Smoker: "..."

If they knew where Lowett was, would they need to wait for him to make a move?

Momonga badly wanted to take back his assessment of that day.

That bastard Smoker was still just as brainless!

Finding someone in the East Blue was difficult. Smoker himself had said those exact words.

The cause of this farce was a message Lowett had released through an East Blue newspaper a few days earlier.

"Do you have regrets?"

"Do you still have many things left unsaid to dead family, friends, or even strangers?"

"You are in pain. You are sad. Countless sleepless nights have left you suffering over and over again, haven't they?"

"But now, an opportunity to make up for it lies before you!"

"I am the 'Black Count,' Lowett, and I possess the ability to communicate with the dead."

"As long as you bring me what I want, I will give you a chance to hold on to the past."

Beneath that, there was a wanted poster for Zango, the former captain of the Black Cat Pirates and the "Hypnotist."

"Find him. Bring him to me. Take back your reward."

"Of course, if you want to know where a certain dead Great Pirate hid his treasure, I can tell you that as well."

First, emotions. Then, profit.

To be honest, Momonga had been tempted when he first saw the message.

Because he knew better than anyone what methods Lowett possessed. Even something as unbelievable as zombies had appeared. Was communicating with the dead really so strange?

How could anyone go through life without regrets?

Momonga had plenty of memories that tore at his heart and nearly drove him mad.

But he quickly calmed down.

"What a fine scheme to lure the tiger from the mountain!"

That was Momonga's guess.

He was stationed in Loguetown precisely to stop Lowett from slipping into the Grand Line while he was not paying attention.

Keeping Lowett trapped in the East Blue might be a disaster for its people, but to the Marines, it was like catching a turtle in a jar. They had to stay on guard.

Momonga did not dare gamble, nor would he.

But what about everyone else?

For the past two days, this had been the most talked-about subject among Loguetown's residents. It had even reached Smoker while he was recuperating.

Some doubted whether it was real, while others suspected Lowett was setting a trap to kill people. After all, he was the "New Overlord of the East Blue" with a bounty of 55 million Berries. Both sides could use that as justification to convince themselves.

But there was also a small third group that believed it completely.

Given the East Blue's population, those people had sprung into action, searching the entire sea like a tide for Zango.

The rumors even grew more outrageous, claiming that finding Zango would lead them to the gold left behind by Unan, the "Gold Thief."

That was one-third of the world's gold!

It instantly ignited countless ambitious people and turned into a treasure hunt involving the entire population.

"Despicable bastard!"

Momonga gritted his teeth in hatred at the way Lowett toyed with people's hearts.

Even if it was ultimately proven false, Momonga, who knew of the grudge between Lowett and Zango, had to admit that Lowett had already achieved his goal.

Zango had been the only one to escape alive from that deserted island. Then Monka had happened to receive a report at that very time. The scheme behind it was obvious. Lowett would never let him go.

What relieved Momonga, however, was that Lowett had not revealed his ability to summon the undead.

That was what truly made the Marines wary!

If he had revealed that as well, Momonga was certain that Sengoku would immediately send reinforcements, gathering the strength of the entire East Blue to form the hundred-thousand-man army Smoker wanted and launch a manhunt.

The Marines had not revealed his exact abilities. Clearly, Lowett had keenly noticed that and maintained a certain tacit understanding with the Marines.

But that understanding was exactly what Momonga did not want to see.

The more that was the case, the more troublesome Lowett became in Momonga's eyes!

East Blue, Shimotsuki Village.

A middle-aged man with a greatsword strapped to his back walked down the street. Noticing the curious children staring at him from the roadside, he turned around and forcibly squeezed a trace of a smile onto his fierce face.

Something that could barely be called a smile.

"Um..."

"Ah! A monster is going to eat us! Run!"

Crash!

The little brats scattered in all directions, leaving the bounty hunter's eyelids twitching wildly.

So what if I'm ugly?

My parents gave me this face, and I'm proud of it!

Rubbing his nose, the hunter prepared to check out the center of town. It ought to be livelier there.

But then, a voice sounded behind him.

"Hey, who are you?!"

It was another young man.

The pirate hunter sighed. Imagining the other person running away in fright, he turned around.

"I'm a bounty hunter, looking for pirates."

"A bounty hunter? Another one?"

The young man frowned and muttered, "Why have Bounty Hunters kept coming here these past few days?"

He hadn't been scared away?

The bounty hunter raised his head in shock and looked over.

The youth was not particularly tall, but he was extremely lean and sturdy. His muscles were well-defined without looking bulky, giving him an agile, nimble impression. He had a clump of slightly unkempt moss-green hair, wore a white T-shirt on his upper body, a green haramaki around his waist, dark green pants, and black boots.

His entire outfit was purely for ease of movement, without the slightest sense of style.

But the most eye-catching thing was the wooden sword in his hand.

A wooden sword?

There was a dojo in this backwater place?

The bounty hunter froze for a moment.

There seemed to be a fairly famous dojo in this area. What was it called... Isshin-ryu?

"Wait! You said another one? Someone has already come here?"

He suddenly realized something and pulled a wanted poster from his clothes. "Have you seen this guy?!"

The youth was naturally Zoro. His brow furrowed at the question.

"Never seen him."

"Really? Think carefully. Someone who looks like him would do!"

"You're annoying. I said I haven't seen him."

Zoro let out a rough breath and waved a hand. "Who you want to find is your business. Just remember not to cause trouble in the village, or I won't let you off."

With that, he ignored the bounty hunter's expression of irritation and speechlessness, turned around, and headed toward the forest.

No, there was definitely something suspicious!

The bounty hunter had seen enough of the world to know better. The slight contraction of Zoro's pupils when he answered told him that he had definitely seen that man.

"Hidden in the forest? That's very possible!"

Watching Zoro walk away, the bounty hunter made a decision he would regret for the rest of his life.

"I'll follow him and take a look!"