Smoker

He bought a little of every one of the several hundred fruits to taste. Just sampling fruit had nearly filled him up!

Among them, he picked out several varieties that could be promoted directly.

Quite a few plants in the One Piece World were shared with Earth, such as oranges, bananas, pineapples, apples, and so on.

The fruit he intended to promote first was called the Tang Peach. These peaches were large, freestone, fuzz-free, and sweet, without the tart, astringent taste of ordinary peaches. They tasted more than a level above Earth's peaches!

At any rate, if he had to choose a hundred times, he would choose to eat Tang Peaches every time.

And while Tang Peaches differed from regular peaches, the difference was not that great. He could simply claim they had mutated in his own peach orchard. Whether others believed it or not, he certainly did.

There were other fruits that could be promoted as well, such as Long Island Pineapple and Li Jiao Banana, but they could not be the first choices.

The land around his home was not suitable for growing pineapples or bananas, so those would have to wait.

There was another important reason: Tang Peaches had to be grown through grafting. Planting a peach pit directly would not produce a Tang peach tree.

Other fruits, however, could grow simply by planting their seeds somewhere suitable. Unless he only sold heavily processed goods instead of the finished fruit, there was no way to keep them secret.

"Tang Peach Town..." Zhou Qi noted down the place and planned to have Tannis take him there later.

It was summer now, the perfect season for grafting peach trees. In another month or so, autumn would begin. Grafting could still be done in autumn, but the survival rate would be much lower than in summer.

After leaving the fruit shop, he had originally wanted to check out a restaurant, but the fruit had left him rather full...

"Next time!" Zhou Qi swallowed helplessly as he smelled the delicious grilled fish next door.

Well, he could look at a clothing store instead. He wondered what the fabrics here were like and whether there was a chance to make money.

Back in his hometown, aside from growing fruit and farming, there was also a weaving industry.

It was all rather low-end and had never made much money. The best option for young people was basically to leave home for work. That was why, despite his family owning a peach orchard, he had not wanted to go back.

If someone could make a fortune in their hometown, who would want to leave it behind?

After walking only a few steps, Zhou Qi suddenly felt the atmosphere throughout the street change.

The smiles on everyone's faces vanished at once, their voices dropped considerably, and they unconsciously cleared the middle of the road.

Zhou Qi had no interest in standing out. He followed everyone else to the side of the road and looked into the distance.

He saw a group of more than thirty people in tattered clothes, wearing black pirate hats and carrying blades, shouting as they came over from the docks.

"So this is the signature unit of the One Piece World: pirates?" Zhou Qi was rather curious, but after two looks, he lost interest.

It was obvious these pirates were not doing well. Out of the thirty people, only eight had weapons.

Their clothes were so tattered that the thirty of them could not even scrape together a single garment without holes.

They were filthy too. Even from so far away, he felt as if he could smell something foul.

How should he put it? Even the homeless people he had encountered in reality dressed better and were cleaner than them!

"It's the Hyena Pirates," someone beside him whispered.

"That's right. The one leading them is their captain, Deba the Hyena. I heard he's incredibly bloodthirsty. He's raided plenty of merchant ships and never left a single survivor!"

"Shh, keep it down. They're coming!!"

Zhou Qi listened in from nearby, then looked at the pirate nicknamed the Hyena. He was around 1.82 meters tall, wearing rubber shoes, with curly hair and an eyepatch. His clothes were so dirty that their original color was no longer visible.

His hair hung in clumped strands. Those were genuinely filthy dreadlocks...

With that getup, he did not look like someone who had robbed several merchant ships. Couldn't those ships have had at least one clean outfit?

Or was he deliberately refusing to change clothes?

"Does this Hyena have a bounty?" Zhou Qi asked.

"Of course. One million Beli. But what does that have to do with you?" the passerby snapped. "Don't tell me you're going to kill him?"

"It really has nothing to do with me." Zhou Qi nodded. This passerby had quite the temper. Was he not even allowed to be curious?

As for beating pirates to earn money...

It was not impossible, but he could not do it in front of so many people. If his reputation spread, would Baroque Works not come sniffing around?

They were recruiting Bounty Hunters.

Hmm, speaking of Baroque Works made him think of Nico Robin again.

Robin was not only beautiful, but also extremely capable. Setting aside her photographic memory, her Devil Fruit ability could create hundreds of hands and hundreds of eyes, allowing her to handle hundreds of documents at once!

If she learned programming languages and algorithms too, could she alone replace a hundred programmers?

But if he wanted Nico Robin, he would have to go up against Crocodile...

Crocodile did not know Haki, nor was he a high-agility type. He should not be difficult to deal with.

But he was a Shichibukai appointed by the World Government. If Zhou Qi touched him, he might be branded a pirate and hunted down.

It would be best to bring a Marine along, and Smoker would be a good choice.

So, he should first become a familiar face?

The Hyena Pirates had a clear destination. They simply continued straight ahead.

Seeing that they were not hurting anyone, the bystanders gradually grew bolder. At first, they only watched from the sidelines. Then they began following behind them. Before long, someone simply called out.

"Deba the Hyena, where are you going?"

Hearing that, Deba shouted, "I'm going to the place where Roger was executed and announce that the Hyena Pirates are entering the Grand Line from this day forward!"

To his surprise, Deba actually answered. The onlookers became even more excited.

"But Captain Smoker is in Loguetown. Aren't you afraid of him?"

"Smoker? Hmph, I'll make sure he never returns!" Deba replied arrogantly. "First I'll kill Smoker, then I'll steal a warship, and then I'll enter the Grand Line!"

"Is he a Devil Fruit User?" Zhou Qi turned and asked.

"There's no intelligence saying so," the passerby beside him replied.

"Then why is he so bold?" Zhou Qi could not understand. Smoker was a Logia Devil Fruit User. In the East Blue, that power was practically invincible!

You were a minor pirate with a bounty of only one million. Why were you gambling with your life?

"Uh..." The passerby shook his head. He did not know either, but...

"Why think so much when there's a show to watch?"

"That's true!" Zhou Qi nodded and followed the crowd. There would definitely be a fight to watch soon. There were no martial arts films left in reality, so it would be nice to enjoy one here!

Should I record it and post it online? After thinking it over, he decided against it. Since he had decided to get rich quietly, he should stop thinking about becoming famous.

"Rumble!" The group had not gone very far when Zhou Qi heard the roar of a motorcycle engine. Looking up, he saw a handsome white-haired man in a white Marine uniform riding toward them with a cigar in his mouth and no helmet on his head.

When Deba saw the vehicle, his eyes immediately lit up. The huge tires and imposing design captivated him instantly.

It could not be helped. Smoker's motorcycle really was cool. Even Zhou Qi felt a little envious looking at it.

"Marine, your bike is mine now. As payment, I won't kill you. Hurry back and inform that Smoker at your base. Tell him Deba the Hyena has come to take his life!" Deba stopped the motorcycle and spoke with a smug expression.

Smoker ignored him. With a wave of his hand, white smoke poured from both hands and enveloped all thirty pirates in the blink of an eye.

"Take them all away!"

"Yes!"

The Marines who had come running behind the motorcycle answered and stepped forward to do their work.

The entire process was clean and efficient.

"That's it?" Zhou Qi, who had been hoping to see a fierce battle, was speechless. But then he remembered that Alvida, Buggy, and Luffy's group had all been instantly defeated when they encountered Smoker.

Could a pirate like Deba, with a mere one-million-Beli bounty, possibly exchange more than two moves with Smoker?

Not a chance!

Smoker had not even gotten off his motorcycle. After dealing with the pirates, he turned the bike around and prepared to leave.

Seeing this, Zhou Qi hurriedly called out, "Captain Smoker, please wait!"

"Hm?" Smoker paused and turned to look at Zhou Qi. "What is it?"

Zhou Qi hurried over and asked, "How long does it take you to get from here to the base?"

"Three minutes," Smoker replied. "And?"

"What I want to discuss isn't convenient to say here." Zhou Qi smiled. "How about we meet at the Marine base in three minutes?"

"Hm?" Smoker paused, then looked Zhou Qi up and down again.

At 1.76 meters tall, he was a short man in the One Piece World. He looked thin and weak, wore glasses, and did not seem particularly capable in a fight.

As for his looks, who in the One Piece World cared about looks?

His clothes were simple too: a plaid T-shirt on top, sweatpants below, and a pair of Red Star sneakers on his feet...

That outfit did not make him look like a local of Loguetown. Yet judging by the material and his fair, clean complexion, he looked either wealthy or noble.

A pampered young master?

Smoker could reach the base in three minutes because he had a motorcycle.

This guy did not look strong, and his physical condition did not seem like that of someone who knew Geppo. How could he reach it in three minutes?

Could he be a Devil Fruit User?

"Fine." Smoker nodded, turned his motorcycle around, and vanished down the street with a buzz.

Only the still-busy Marines and the spectators remained behind.