Among Whitebeard's seventeen divisions, some were special divisions with specialized functions.
For example, the First Division led by Marco had the nature of a medical unit, while Blamenco's Sixth Division was a shipwright unit responsible for repairing the fleet's ships.
The Fourth Division, led by Thatch, handled meals for the entire crew.
Thatch's main occupation was head chef of the Whitebeard Pirates; being a swordsman who wielded a unique kitchen-knife sword style was only his side job.
From the standpoint of combat strength, Thatch was not among the strongest of the seventeen commanders. In terms of swordsmanship, he was several levels below Vista of the Flower Sword of the Fifth Division.
Still, if he could not compare to the best, he was better than the rest.
Thatch was, after all, one of Whitebeard's commanders, with a shipful of brothers under him. Taking down some unknown pirate crew from the New World was hardly difficult.
The moment the arrogant pirate leader heard Thatch's title as commander and saw the Whitebeard flag flying from the warship, he felt as though he had fallen into an icy abyss.
Within minutes, the pirate crew that had easily defeated Smoker was utterly wiped out before Thatch.
The battle ended swiftly, and Thatch walked over to Smoker and the other Marines.
Facing Thatch, a member of an enemy force, Smoker instinctively felt tense.
"Don't worry."
Thatch lacked the overbearing air common among pirates. Instead, he gave off a gentle, approachable feeling.
"I saw everything that happened earlier."
"You're a man worthy of respect. We won't harm you."
"..."
Smoker kept a cold face and said nothing.
This absurd reality, where pirates had become their saviors, was difficult for this veteran Marine to accept.
Thatch did not feel offended. He merely turned to his men and said,