"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
It was the sound of military boots crushing through the rainwater.
Hundreds of fully armed Navy soldiers, carrying spears and marching in neat formation, swiftly sealed off the entire central square.
The pitch-black gun barrels radiated chilling killing intent through the curtain of rain.
At the head of the formation, a silver-haired man wearing a coat emblazoned with the word "Justice" slowly rode forward on a large motorcycle trailing white smoke.
"White Hunter" Smoker.
He had two cigars clenched between his teeth. The curling smoke did not disperse even in the torrential rain; instead, it gathered ever thicker, shrouding his upper body in a hazy veil.
"Straw Hat Kid Luffy..."
Smoker stopped his motorcycle and drew the Seastone Jitte from his back. His gaze was as sharp as a hawk's, locking firmly onto Luffy.
"The farce is over. You want to go to the Grand Line? It won't be that easy."
"Tch, the Navy."
Sanji frowned as he looked at the densely packed soldiers surrounding them. "We're surrounded. And there are quite a few of them."
"Clang—"
With a push of his thumb, Zoro slid Wado Ichimonji half out of its sheath once more. Fighting Spirit rose in his eyes. "Hey, Luffy. Should we kill our way out?"
Ronan held the Ebony Staff and quietly watched Smoker.
His Observation Haki spread out silently, covering Smoker.
Yet the information that returned left him slightly disappointed.
Smoker's aura was far stronger than that of an ordinary navy soldier, but in Ronan's perception... his threat level was not high.
The current Smoker might possess the invincible defense of a Logia, but his Haki was practically nonexistent, and his Physical Technique was still within ordinary limits.
If he had no other trump cards, then his strength... probably could not even activate