Behind the tavern, the dimly lit warehouse reeked of the sulfur and saltpeter in its gunpowder, and all kinds of weapons hung on the walls.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Just a pile of weapons?" Lina sighed in disappointment. After rummaging through everything, he'd found less than seventy million berries.
For the biggest underground trading post in Loguetown, how could there be so little stuff? And so little money, too?
Still, even a mosquito's leg was meat. Besides the money, he'd also packed up plenty of weapons and a few bottles of good liquor...
After setting the tavern on fire, Lina headed to another black market controlled by Bartolomeo and sold the weapons off cheap.
As he was leaving, he spotted someone selling Log Poses, so he bought ten of them.
What was interesting was that this black market really did look like a marketplace, with scattered stalls along a street and all kinds of vicious-looking people and cloaked figures coming and going.
"This is just like something out of a novel." Lina couldn't help smiling. "With the weapons I sold, I made about a hundred and twenty million."
The good news was that he'd gotten his hands on some Seastone.
The even better news was that it hadn't cost him a thing, and he'd even made a profit.
Lina left the black market with his money and headed back to the ship, planning to check whether Sanji's competition was over yet.
Suddenly, the clear sky darkened. As if summoned by someone, dark clouds raced toward Loguetown.
Lina unconsciously quickened his pace. Just as he passed a certain plaza—
"Look at that guy!"
"He's smiling!?"
Hearing the crowd shout, Lina stopped and turned to look.
In the middle of the enormous plaza, a red-nosed man dressed like a clown stood atop the towering execution platform. Below him, Luffy was shackled to it, grinning broadly.
"Wahahaha! Straw Hat Kid, today I'll use your head to announce that Lord Buggy is about to enter the Grand Line!" Clown Buggy cackled as he raised his blade.
"Holy crap! It's just like that iconic painting!"
Even though Lina had read the original story, seeing this scene with his own eyes still made him blurt out a curse.
"Damn, it's a little far." Lina muttered and charged forward, drawing his pistol and aiming at Buggy on the execution platform.
He'd prepared the custom-made gun in case Smoker intercepted them on the way. It was loaded with Seastone bullets.
"Bang!"
Just as Buggy raised his blade, Lina's bullet struck him in the shoulder, spraying a fleck of blood.
"Damn it, what is this!?" Buggy snarled through gritted teeth. His body went limp, and he collapsed onto the platform. After rolling once, he fell off.
Luffy looked at the fallen Buggy in confusion. Following the sound of the gunshot, he spotted Lina below, and his grin grew even wider.
"Shishishi! So you didn't die after all."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Lina reached the execution platform and broke Luffy's shackles. "We have to go, Luffy. Back to the ship."
Lina had already spotted Smoker in the distance, riding toward the plaza on his oddly shaped motorcycle.
He didn't want to fight Smoker, even though Seastone bullets had made him much less of a threat.
But defeating Smoker wouldn't get him anything, and he couldn't afford to waste bullets that cost several million each.
"All right! Let's go, Lina."
"Yeah. Let's pick up Sanji on the way."
Lina and Luffy jumped off the execution platform and ran south, toward where their ship was docked.
A light rain began to fall. The two raced onward, while Smoker pursued them relentlessly on his personal motorcycle.
"Hey, Sanji!"
Lina spotted Sanji jogging ahead, carrying a large blue-and-white fish in both hands—the Elephant Trunk Tuna he'd won in the competition.
Sanji looked back at the sound of Lina's voice and saw him and Luffy racing toward him. "Oh, it's you two. What's the rush?"
"Run, Sanji! The Marines are behind us!" Neither of them slowed down as they raced right past him.
Caught off guard, Sanji stayed where he was. Only when he looked closely did he spot Smoker on the motorcycle.
"You bastards! Couldn't you pretend you didn't know me? Now you've dragged me into this too!" Sanji shouted, then took off running.
Luffy and Sanji each grabbed one end of the fish, and the light rain gradually turned into a violent downpour.
Huge drops battered their faces, and the rain made it harder and harder to see.
"This won't work! His motorcycle's way faster than us!"
"He'll catch up in no time if we keep this up!"
"Should we fight?"
"Don't waste time. Keep running." Lina stopped them. "When he catches up, I'll treat him to a big one."
As time passed, the three drew closer to the port, but Smoker reached it ahead of them.
"White Launcher!"
A hoarse growl rang out, and Lina and the others turned to look behind them.
A mass of white smoke came billowing toward them. At its front was Smoker's upper body!
"Straw Hat Kid Luffy, your pirate game ends here!" Smoker glared at him and drew back his arm, ready to punch.
"What is this thing?" Luffy cried in surprise. He dodged the punch and swung a kick at Smoker, but his foot sank into the smoke and hit nothing.
"What's going on?"
"I missed? No, I hit him!" Luffy and Sanji were clearly shocked.
"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!" Unwilling to give up, Luffy threw punch after punch, but every one passed straight through Smoker's body.
"It's no use, Luffy! He's a Logia user. You can't touch his real body with ordinary attacks." Lina shouted quickly as he drew his pistol.
"You know a thing or two." Smoker glanced at Lina.
"Then is he invincible?"
"How are we supposed to fight him if we can't touch his real body?" Luffy and Sanji were clearly taken aback.
"Now that you know, you should give up. With your strength, there's no way you can beat me." Smoker spoke calmly, his low voice sounding like a declaration of their fate.
Lina wasn't fazed. He pointed his gun at Smoker. "Six million a shot. What a waste to use it on you."
"It's useless. Stop struggling!" Smoker growled. He made no effort to defend himself against Lina's raised pistol, instead leaving himself wide open as he swung a powerful punch at him.
"Bang!"
The instant Smoker threw his punch, Lina pulled the trigger. The bullet struck Smoker first.
"Pfft!"
What happened next took Smoker by surprise: the bullet didn't pass through his body the way Luffy's punches had.
A spray of blood burst out as Smoker stared in shock. Flying low over the ground, he stumbled, then crashed heavily onto it.
"Haki!? No, that's not it." Smoker's first thought was that the bullet had been coated in Haki. But in the next instant, a wave of weakness washed over him, and his legs reverted from their smoke form.
Seastone!!
"How is this possible?" Smoker lay helplessly on the ground, watching them run farther and farther away, his face full of frustration.
Seastone was extremely scarce. Even the World Government had to collect it from across the world by various means.
They even went so far as to work with pirates, spending huge sums to buy Seastone from Wano Country, which Kaido controlled. The price was extraordinarily high.
Aside from the World Government, only a handful of pirate groups in the Grand Line had any.
"How could a pirate from the East Blue get his hands on something like this!?" Smoker couldn't believe it.
"Nice one, Lina!" Luffy grinned, showing all his teeth.
Sanji, though, was more observant. He looked at Lina in puzzlement. "How'd you do that? You said Logia users couldn't be touched."
"Can we not talk about it? My heart's bleeding." Lina groaned in anguish.
Then he explained Seastone's effects and told them about his trip to the underground trading post that day.
By the time they reached the port, everyone else had already arrived.
The rain gradually stopped, and the dark sky inexplicably turned clear and bright once again.
"What strange weather," Sanji said, gazing up at the sky.
Lina, on the other hand, didn't think much of it. He lit a cigarette and boarded the ship. "Come on, Sanji."
"Shishishi! Next stop, the Grand Line! Set sail!!"
At that moment, on a street in Loguetown, Smoker lay on the ground, waiting for his men to come rescue him. He didn't even have the strength to dig out the bullet.
Suddenly, he heard a low, amused chuckle behind him.
"You're a sorry sight, Smoker."
"What are you doing here?" Smoker turned around in surprise.
"I happened to be nearby on business, so I came to see the youngsters off."
"See them off?" Smoker asked, looking a little puzzled. He didn't seem worried that the person before him might attack him.
"Yeah. See them off."
Before you continue