Misunderstanding

Smoker was an impatient man who hated evil.

When he got agitated, he would emit smoke and take to the skies.

So, after Smoker listened to Wallace's accusations against the Loguetown Marines, he couldn't wait to take flight. Using the convenience of his Devil Fruit ability, he quickly flew to the vicinity of the Loguetown Marine base.

He wanted to see for himself if Wallace's revelations were true or false.

As the highest-level Marine base in the East Blue, the Loguetown Marine base was quite large, with a vaguely imposing aura.

Guided by Wallace, Smoker quickly noticed the Marine flag hanging on the tall building.

Across half a block, Smoker quietly descended from the sky, returning to his solid form, and steadily placed the slightly dizzy Wallace on the ground.

"Cough, cough..."

Being wrapped in a cloud of smoke and flying at high speed in the sky wasn't a pleasant experience. Wallace coughed for a while before recovering:

"Captain Smoker, the Loguetown base is just ahead!"

"If everything is as usual..."

"You'll be able to see clearly what Commander Hammer is up to with a single glance."

Smoker remained silent, but gripped the Jitte in his hand, radiating a murderous aura as he strode towards the Loguetown Marine base.

Wallace tidied his slightly disheveled collar and followed closely behind.

Smoker's appearance could be described as extremely unfriendly.

Half-naked, with large, knotted muscles exposed, silver greaser hair, and a constantly burning cigar emitting secondhand smoke...

And his biker jacket, the kind favored by delinquents, even with the word "Justice" added on the back, didn't have the righteous feel of a Marine coat. Instead, it resembled the twisted uniform of some underworld organization.

He didn't look like a good person at all.

And when such a two-meter-tall strongman, holding a blunt weapon and with a gloomy expression, walked towards a Marine base...

It looked even more out of place.

"Halt!"

The two Marine soldiers guarding the entrance of the base saw Smoker and hurriedly raised their guns to meet him.

Smoker stopped and scrutinized the two gatekeepers with a murderous gaze.

"Y-you..."

One of the gatekeepers felt his scalp tingle under Smoker's gaze and tightened his grip on his flintlock rifle: "You're a pirate, aren't you?!"

Based on Smoker's appearance, the gatekeeper made the most reasonable judgment.

Smoker's expression didn't change, he just took a deep puff of his cigar.

He blew out a thick smoke ring, and was about to reveal his identity as a Marine Headquarters Captain and then directly break into the Loguetown base for a surprise inspection:

"Of course..."

"Hahaha!"

Before he could even say the word "not," the gatekeeper laughed and lowered his gun:

"You could have just said you were a pirate!"

"First time in Loguetown, huh? Why such a bitter and resentful look!"

"Huh?"

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

"Don't waste time, come with me!"

The gatekeeper put on a friendly smile, like water to fish:

"The venue is behind the base, the other pirate crews are already there."

"Venue?"

Smoker was even more stunned.

"Consider yourself lucky!"

The other gatekeeper patted Smoker's arm in a deliberately enthusiastic manner and said:

"Commander Hammer is about to be transferred, this is your last chance!"

Smoker's arm, gripping the Jitte, suddenly tightened, so much so that his knuckles turned white.

"Calm down!"

Wallace quietly moved closer to Smoker and whispered a reminder.

"Huff... Huff..."

Smoker took a few deep breaths before finally managing to resist the urge to smash the gatekeeper's dog head with his Jitte.

"By the way..."

The Marine soldier leading the way suddenly turned his head and asked, "Which pirate crew are you guys from?"

"Um."

Wallace glanced at Smoker, who was fuming with rage, and casually replied, "The White Smoke Pirates."

Loguetown Marine Base, Base Commander's Office.

The current garrison commander, Marine Headquarters Commander Hammer, was leisurely sitting in his office, enjoying afternoon tea.

Hammer was already middle-aged, but he looked very energetic in his neat, well-tailored white suit and meticulously combed short hair.

He looked like the perfect Marine officer; even the few strands of white at his temples added to his calm and measured demeanor.

On the neatly arranged desk, there were also several literary works of decent taste.

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

Looking at this scene, no one could imagine that Commander Hammer was actually the local tyrant who dominated Loguetown.

Nor could anyone imagine that while Commander Hammer was quietly enjoying his tea, a noisy pirate gathering was in full swing on the other side of the Marine base.

And Commander Hammer was the mastermind behind this pirate gathering.

Of course, he never showed his face personally.

Commander Hammer always had his confidant, Lieutenant Charles, take care of the dirty and tiring work of dealing with those insignificant East Blue pirates.

Staying hidden behind the scenes as much as possible was Commander Hammer's first principle in running Loguetown's "pirate tollbooth."

"About twenty days left..."

Commander Hammer looked at the book in front of him, but his heart could not calm down. He couldn't help but mutter to himself:

"The commander sent down from Marine Headquarters to replace me is about to arrive. It's time to start cleaning up the traces."

Many names flashed through Hammer's mind, all of them subordinates he couldn't completely trust.

His eyes unconsciously became sharp, full of ruthlessness and cruelty.

"Captain Smoker?"

Hammer chewed on this name again in his mind.

Commander Hammer had received the transfer document issued by Marine Headquarters, so he naturally knew what kind of person his successor was—

A Natural Logia fruit user, Admiral Zephyr's proud disciple, a Headquarters Captain at a young age...

He had never met Smoker, but Hammer, who came from Marine Headquarters, had certainly heard of the White Hunter Smoker's name.

"Heh!"

Hammer snorted coldly.

For Marine Headquarters officers, being assigned to a branch in the Four Seas, especially the weakest East Blue, was basically the same as being demoted.

Hammer, who once yearned for a high position, had cut off his path to promotion at Headquarters in the position of Loguetown Base Commander, wasting many years.

But Smoker was different from Hammer...

Smoker's Captain rank and the low-end position of Loguetown Base Commander were completely mismatched. Anyone with eyes could see that his dispatch to Loguetown was only considered training and tempering by his superiors.

Whenever he thought of this, Hammer felt an unspeakable hatred for Smoker, a stranger he had never met.

"Commander Hammer!"

A flustered subordinate suddenly pushed open the office door and said in a trembling voice, "B-bad news!"

"What?"

Hammer gently put down his teacup and said calmly:

"Could it be that some pirates at the venue don't have eyes and refuse to pay? Do you need me to take action personally?"

"No!"

The subordinate's voice trembled even more:

"A ship of Marines has arrived at the pier! They formed a line as soon as they disembarked and are heading towards the base!"

"Marines?!"

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

Marines from other East Blue Marine branches absolutely cannot leave their jurisdiction and visit Loguetown without orders from their superiors.

Then this group of Marines is very likely... the elite Marine from Headquarters who is replacing him.

But Hammer still had a faint sense of luck, so he asked in a deep voice:

"Among this group of Marines... is there a man wearing a white suit and a justice cloak?"

"..."

The subordinate recalled deeply and replied:

"There is no one wearing a justice cloak, but there is indeed a tall man in a white suit at the front of the Marines."

"That guy has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looks righteous. He looks like an officer!"

Commander Hammer's face immediately became gloomy and uncertain:

The cloak of justice is part of the dress uniform given to even low-ranking officers.

However, the cloak of justice doesn't even have buttons; keeping it from falling off during battle relies solely on one's own "power of justice."

Therefore, low-ranking officers who lack sufficient strength naturally wouldn't dare wear such flamboyant attire onto the battlefield, only donning the cloak of justice for gatherings, rallies, and other such occasions.

Over time, wearing the cloak of justice in combat has become a symbol of the strength and status of Marine officers.

The fact that the man wasn't wearing a cloak of justice didn't dispel Commander Hammer's doubts.

Because he was wearing a white suit.

Commander Hammer was originally from Marine Headquarters, so he naturally knew that Marine officers all had a custom-made suit uniform.

This suit wasn't much different in style from ordinary suits, and it was easy to run into someone wearing the same thing.

But standing in front of a group of Marine soldiers, while wearing a white suit...

This was definitely a Marine Headquarters officer!

"Damn it!"

"How could someone from Headquarters arrive so quickly?!"

Hammer erupted from his silence, slamming his palm down and shattering the table in front of him.

Exquisite teacups, elegant books, and the sturdy desk were all crushed and turned into a pile of garbage by this one blow.

"C-Commander?"

His subordinate asked tremulously, "Should we run?!"

"Run?"

"Loguetown is crawling with pirates right now; even a blind man could see there's something wrong here!"

"If we run, it's as good as admitting our guilt!"

Hammer said through gritted teeth:

"The other party has already landed in Loguetown; do you think you can escape from a Logia-type user who's hunting you down?"

"Then what do we do?"

The subordinate asked in a panic.

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

After a long while, the twisted expression on Hammer's face gradually returned to normal, and his voice was even colder and calmer than usual:

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

"Also, bring out my treasured Seastone Bullets."

"Finally, notify Lieutenant Charles; I want to meet with him..."

"Yes!"

The subordinate hurriedly agreed and immediately turned to leave.

"The prodigy Smoker, huh?"

A hint of determination flashed in Hammer's eyes: "Let me see what you're made of!"