Misunderstanding

Smoker was hot-tempered and hated evil with a vengeance.

Whenever he lost his temper, he smoked—and flew.

So after hearing Wallace's accusations against the Loguetown Marines, Smoker impatiently shot into the sky. Taking advantage of his Devil Fruit Ability, he reached the vicinity of the Loguetown Marine base in a very short time.

He wanted to see for himself whether Wallace's revelations were true.

As the highest-ranking Marine base in the East Blue Sea, the Loguetown Marine base was quite large, with a vaguely majestic air about it.

Under Wallace's guidance, Smoker quickly noticed the Marine flag hanging from the towering building.

Half a block away, Smoker silently descended from the air and returned to solid form, then steadily set the slightly dizzy Wallace down on the ground.

"Cough, cough."

Being swept through the sky at high speed in a cloud of smoke was not a pleasant experience. Wallace coughed dryly for quite a while before recovering.

"Colonel Smoker, the Loguetown base is right ahead!"

"If everything is as usual."

"You'll see what Commander Hammer is doing the moment you get there."

Smoker said nothing. He merely gripped the Jitte tightly in his hand and strode toward the Loguetown Marine base with murderous intensity.

Wallace straightened his somewhat disheveled collar and followed closely behind him.

Smoker's appearance could only be described as extremely unfriendly.

His upper body was half bare, massive knotted muscles exposed. He had silver-white delinquent hair and a huge cigar constantly belching secondhand smoke.

As for the biker jacket he wore, even with the word "Justice" written across the back, it had none of the righteous air of a Marine cloak. Instead, it looked more like some gangster group's tasteless uniform.

No matter how one looked at him, he did not seem like a good person.

And when a two-meter-tall brute like that walked toward a Marine base with a blunt weapon in hand and a gloomy expression on his face—

He looked even more suspicious.

"Stop!"

The two Marine soldiers guarding the base entrance hurriedly raised their guns at Smoker.

Smoker stopped walking and fixed the two guards with a murderous glare.

"Y-you..."

One of the guards felt his scalp go numb under Smoker's gaze and could only grip his flintlock tighter. "You're a pirate, aren't you?!"

Based on Smoker's appearance, the guard had made the most reasonable judgment possible.

Smoker's expression did not change. He merely took a deep drag from his cigar.

After exhaling a thick smoke ring, Smoker prepared to reveal his identity as a Marine Headquarters colonel and force his way into the Loguetown base for a surprise inspection.

"Of course—"

"Hahaha!"

Before he could say the word "not," the guard had already laughed and lowered his gun.

"If you're a pirate, just say so!"

"First time in Loguetown? Why do you look like the world's wronged you?"

"Huh?"

Smoker's face stiffened, and he even forgot to smoke.

"Stop wasting time. Come with me!"

The guard once again put on a friendly, harmonious smile.

"The venue is behind the base. The other pirate crews have already arrived."

"The venue?"

Smoker was even more dumbfounded.

"You got lucky!"

The other guard warmly patted Smoker's arm and said,

"Commander Hammer is about to be transferred away. This is your last chance!"

The arm gripping the Jitte suddenly tensed, his finger joints turning white.

"Calm down!"

Wallace quietly moved closer to Smoker and reminded him in a low voice.

"Huff... huff..."

Smoker took several heavy breaths before finally managing not to smash the guard's head with his club.

"By the way."

The Marine soldier leading the way suddenly turned around and asked, "Which pirate crew are you again?"

"Uh..."

Wallace glanced at Smoker, whose mouth and nose were smoking with rage, and casually answered, "The White Smoke Pirates."

Loguetown Marine Base, commander's office.

Commander Hammer, the current commanding officer stationed there and a Marine Headquarters officer, was leisurely enjoying afternoon tea in his office.

Hammer was already middle-aged, but his neat, tailored white suit and meticulously combed short hair made him look quite energetic.

He looked almost like the perfect Marine officer. Even the few streaks of gray at his temples lent him a calm and composed air.

Several literary works of considerable taste sat on the neatly arranged desk before him.

Commander Hammer sipped his tea while flipping through the pages of the book in front of him, looking every bit the refined gentleman.

From this scene alone, no one could have imagined that Commander Hammer was actually the local tyrant ruling Loguetown.

Nor could anyone have imagined that while Commander Hammer quietly drank his tea, a loud and chaotic pirate gathering was in full swing on the other side of the Marine base.

And Commander Hammer was the mastermind behind that pirate gathering.

Of course, he never showed his face personally.

Commander Hammer always had his trusted subordinate, Lieutenant Charles, handle the dirty, exhausting work of dealing with those insignificant East Blue pirates.

Keeping himself hidden behind the scenes as much as possible was the first principle of Commander Hammer's operation of the Loguetown "pirate toll station."

"About twenty more days..."

Commander Hammer looked at the book before him, but his heart remained far from calm. He could not help muttering to himself.

"The officer Marine Headquarters sent to replace me will soon arrive. It's time to start cleaning up the evidence."

Countless names flashed through Hammer's mind. They belonged to subordinates he could not fully trust.

His gaze gradually sharpened, filled with mercilessness and cruelty.

"Colonel Smoker?"

Hammer silently savored the name again.

Commander Hammer had received the transfer order from Marine Headquarters, so he naturally knew what kind of man his successor was—

A Logia Devil Fruit user, Admiral Zephyr's prized disciple, and a Marine Headquarters colonel at such a young age.

He had never met Smoker, but Hammer, who came from Marine Headquarters himself, had naturally heard of the White Hunter Smoker.

"Heh!"

Hammer gave a cold snort.

For Marine Headquarters officers, being assigned to one of the Four Seas branches—especially a place like the East Blue, the weakest sea—was practically equivalent to banishment.

Hammer, who had once aspired to a high position, had seen his path to promotion at Marine Headquarters cut off by the post of Loguetown base commander, wasting many years for nothing.

But Smoker was different from Hammer.

Smoker's rank as a colonel was completely mismatched with a lowly post like Loguetown base commander. Anyone with eyes could tell that sending him to Loguetown was merely a form of training and tempering by his superiors.

Whenever Hammer thought of this, he felt an indescribable hatred toward Smoker, a stranger he had never even met.

"Commander Hammer!"

A panicked subordinate suddenly pushed open the office door and said in a trembling voice, "S-something terrible has happened!"

"What is it?"

Hammer gently set down his teacup and replied unhurriedly,

"Did some blind pirate at the venue refuse to pay? Do I need to handle it myself?"

"No!"

The subordinate's voice trembled even more.

"A ship full of Marines has arrived at the docks! The moment they disembarked, they formed up and started marching toward the base!"

"Marines?!"

Hammer's calm expression finally shattered, and uncontrollable panic appeared on his face.

Marines from other East Blue branches could never leave their jurisdictions and visit Loguetown without orders from their superiors.

That meant these Marines were very likely... the elite Marines from Headquarters coming to replace him.

But Hammer still clung to a faint hope and asked in a low voice,

"Among those Marines... is there a man in a white suit and a Justice Cloak?"

"..."

The subordinate thought back carefully before answering,

"No one was wearing a Justice Cloak, but there was indeed a tall man in a white suit at the front of the Marine group."

"He had thick brows and big eyes, with such a righteous look that he seemed like an officer!"

Commander Hammer's expression immediately turned dark and uncertain.

Justice Cloaks were ceremonial uniforms even low-ranking officers could have.

But Justice Cloaks did not even have buttons. To keep them from falling off during battle, one could only rely on one's own "power of justice."

Therefore, low-ranking officers without sufficient strength naturally did not dare wear such flashy clothing into battle. They only wore Justice Cloaks on occasions like gatherings and oath-taking ceremonies.

Over time, fighting in a Justice Cloak became a symbol of the strength and status of Marine officers.

The fact that the man was not wearing a Justice Cloak did not ease Commander Hammer's suspicions.

Because he was wearing a white suit.

Commander Hammer himself came from Marine Headquarters, so he naturally knew that Marine officers all had a tailored formal suit.

This suit was not much different in style from an ordinary suit, and it was easy to match outfits with common civilians.

But standing at the front of a group of Marine soldiers while wearing a white suit—

That was unquestionably a Marine Headquarters officer!

"Damn it!"

"Why did the Headquarters people arrive so quickly?!"

Hammer suddenly erupted from his silence and smashed the desk before him with one palm.

The exquisite teacup, elegant books, and sturdy desk were all shattered by that strike, crushed and mixed together into a heap of trash.

"C-commander?"

The subordinate asked fearfully, "Should we run?!"

"Run?"

"Loguetown is full of pirates right now. Even a blind man could tell something is wrong here!"

"If we run, it would be no different from confessing outright!"

Hammer gritted his teeth and said,

"They've already landed in Loguetown. Do you think you can escape a Logia user's pursuit?"

"Then what do we do?"

The subordinate asked in a panic.

The office fell silent once more as Hammer sank into deep thought.

After a long while, Hammer's twisted face gradually returned to normal, and his voice became colder and calmer than usual.

"Prepare cash and treasure. As much as possible."

"Also, bring out the Seastone Bullets I've been keeping."

"Finally, notify Lieutenant Charles. I want to see him."

"Yes!"

The subordinate hurriedly acknowledged the order and immediately turned to leave.

"Genius Smoker?"

A trace of resolve flashed through Hammer's eyes. "Let me see what you've got!"