Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
When Loi's warship docked at the port, it naturally attracted quite a bit of attention.
After all, the enormous sea beast carcass placed behind the warship was hard to miss.
"I'm going to report the mission to Vice Admiral Billoss."
"Hans, take the brothers from the Second Squad and escort this guy to prison. Once Headquarters confirms his identity, send him to Impel Down along with the criminals detained during this period."
"Fal, take the brothers from the First Squad into town and sell the sea beast meat. While you're there, arrange a victory feast at the usual place."
Loi spoke with practiced familiarity. Clearly, this wasn't the first time he had arranged things this way.
"Yes, sir!" *2
At the mention of the "victory feast," the eyes of the Detention Unit Marines instantly lit up.
Only then did Loi disembark on his own, planning to report to his superior.
But—
"Hey!"
The moment he reached Oris Plaza at Marine Headquarters, a familiar voice reached his ears.
Hearing it, he inwardly cursed and hurriedly turned to flee.
Before he could run, however, clouds of white smoke had already surrounded him.
"How have you thought over what I said before?"
As the question rang out, a figure slowly condensed within the smoke.
Hearing the other man's words, Loi answered without hesitation, "Not well. Smoker, I have no intention of leaving the Detention Unit!"
That's right.
The other man's identity was obvious from his iconic white hair, knotted muscles, the cigars that never left his mouth or chest, and the distinctive weapon called the "Jitte" strapped to his back.
The Marine Headquarters Colonel, Logia Smoke-Smoke Fruit Ability User, "White Hunter" Smoker.
"Loi Amos!"
Smoker bit down on his cigar and roared, "You bastard, don't joke with me!"
"Who's joking with you?"
Loi shot him an annoyed look.
Of course, he knew what Smoker wanted.
In fact, Smoker and he had joined the Marines in the same intake and were comrades.
And naturally, when a Logia Ability User was right in front of him, Loi wasn't about to let that ability go to waste.
Thus, during the period after joining the Marines, training, and carrying out missions as a trainee, Loi had gotten along well with Smoker. They were genuine friends.
However, once recruit training ended, they made completely different choices.
With his Logia ability and outstanding strength, Smoker naturally became an elite whom the Marines focused on developing. He had even entered the elite training camp of the former Marine Admiral "Black Arm" Zephyr.
Loi, meanwhile, had decisively chosen to join the Detention Unit.
As a result, although they had joined at the same time, their ranks were now two full levels apart.
That was precisely why Smoker had come.
He was already a Colonel of Headquarters, and according to Headquarters' rules, once a Marine Headquarters officer was promoted to Vice Admiral, he faced two choices.
Either join the fleet of a Vice Admiral or even an Admiral, or go to the Four Seas to manage a Marine Branch.
The former was the choice of most officers of Vice Admiral rank. Following senior officers on missions allowed them to rise through the ranks more quickly.
But as a famously hardheaded troublemaker within all of Marine Headquarters, Smoker had no desire to serve under some Vice Admiral.
So he had already made his choice. He would go to his hometown, Loguetown, to manage the Marine Branch there.
That was also why he had come looking for Loi.
"I told you, I need an outstanding adjutant."
He stared at Loi with a dark expression.
"And I told you I'm not going. I remember recommending Lieutenant Tashigi to you. She's a fine Marine."
Loi spoke with a solemn expression.
Leave the Detention Unit?
Who would make up for the Devil Fruits he was missing then?
But the instant he finished speaking—
"Boom!"
A tremendous sound of something tearing through the air reached Loi's ears.
Then—
"Whoosh!"
Loi's figure vanished from where he stood, while Smoker's Jitte slammed into the ground.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
Under Smoker's tremendous strength, the white ground of Oris Plaza instantly split apart, leaving a huge gash.
The Marines passing nearby were startled.
"What's going on?!"
"Enemy attack?"
Some Marines instinctively pulled back the bolts of the flintlock muskets behind them and loaded them.
But then they saw a shocking sight.
After making the restoration project on Marineford's ground more difficult with a single strike, Smoker's figure did not pause in the slightest.
"White Blow!"
He shouted in a low voice. Countless fists formed from smoke instantly flew from his body and swung continuously toward Loi!
"Hey, hey, hey! Smoker, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?!"
Yet amid the countless swinging fists, Loi's figure kept shifting and weaving.
Not one of the fists Smoker sent out could touch him.
Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit Model: Snow Rabbit LV1—Loaded—Grants some of the Snow Hare's traits, strengthens the body in all aspects, and additionally enhances hearing and speed. Rat-Rat Fruit Model: Gray Rat LV1—Loaded—Grants some of the Gray Rat's traits, strengthens the body in all aspects, and additionally enhances agility.
But Smoker ignored him completely.
"White Impact!"
As he continuously bombarded Loi with fists formed from smoke, his lower body transformed into surging smoke, sending his upper body rushing toward Loi.
The Jitte in his hand rose high before crashing down again!
"You're serious?!"
Loi cried out when he saw this, then raised one hand.
The ability within the Fruit Encyclopedia switched again.
Ox-Ox Fruit Model: Great Rhino LV1 Strong-Strong Fruit LV1
The strength capable of sending a sea beast flying with one punch once again filled Loi's body. He simply raised his hand and blocked Smoker's Jitte!
"Boom!"
The immense force instantly shattered the ground beneath Loi's feet again.
Yet even under such tremendous strength, Loi remained completely unmoved.
He merely looked at Smoker and said in a low voice, "If you keep this up, I really won't hold back!"
"Come on!"
Smoker shouted, and his arm transformed into white smoke once more as it shot toward Loi.
Seeing this, Loi gritted his teeth. "You bastard!"
He stopped holding back. One hand continued gripping Smoker's Jitte, while the other turned into a palm.
At that moment, the ability within the Fruit Encyclopedia switched again.
Human-Human Fruit Model: Great Buddha LV1—Comprehensively strengthens physical qualities and allows a small amount of shockwaves to be released from the hands.
A golden shockwave suddenly burst from his palm.
"Boom!"
A deep ravine suddenly appeared in the ground, while the smoke that made up Smoker was instantly scattered and blasted away by Loi's palm strike.
Only after landing in the distance did he reform into Smoker's figure.
At the same time, the Marines in the surrounding area were almost all blown off their feet!
Some Marines who had no idea what was happening even raised their weapons, assuming an attack had taken place.
Only after seeing that both people at the center of the battlefield were wearing Marine uniforms did they reveal stunned expressions.
"So strong. They're practically monsters. Who are these two?"
"I know the white-haired one. He's 'White Hunter' Smoker!"
"The mad dog in Headquarters who ate a Logia and is notorious for disobeying orders?"
"Who's the other man? He can actually fight him?!"
"Is he an officer from the elite forces?!"
The Marines discussed it animatedly.
The strong always attracted attention, no matter where they were.
Without a doubt, even at Marine Headquarters, battles of this level were still uncommon to most Marines.
But Smoker paid no attention to the surrounding discussion.
He merely kept his cigar between his teeth, his expression still dark. "Your physical strength and your 'Wave Fist' have indeed grown stronger!"
That was true.
Smoker was one of the people in all of Marine Headquarters who knew Loi best—or at least, that was what he believed.
Thus, he had known for a long time how astonishing Loi's talents in speed, strength, and reaction were.
In fact, if he hadn't personally seen Loi swimming in the sea, he might even have suspected that Loi was an Ability User.
Besides that, he had seen the "Wave Fist" Loi had just used long ago.
According to Loi, it was a style that "used the invisible fluctuations in the air when throwing a punch to trigger a shockwave." Smoker had secretly studied it many times, but he had never been able to understand how Loi did it.
But that wasn't important.
There were plenty of strange and remarkable people on this sea. He had even heard that someone in the Revolutionary Army could pierce rocks by blowing kisses.
What truly mattered to Smoker was that he couldn't understand Loi's choice!
Most Marines believed that anyone who voluntarily applied to join the Detention Unit was probably a coward who didn't want to face danger head-on.
But Smoker knew that Loi wasn't like that.
"Do you remember that little girl from Kishira Village?"
He bit down on his cigar and spoke in a low voice.
"Back then, to help her retrieve the money for her mother's medical treatment, you chased pirates with me across an entire stretch of sea, personally fighting your way through a town full of pirates and capturing them all!"
"I saw your justice with my own eyes, Loi. Tell me what you're really thinking!"
"You have this kind of strength. Why don't you go to the front lines and make a name for yourself? Why are you hiding in the Detention Unit as a mere captain?"
He growled the question.
But faced with Smoker's interrogation, Loi remained calm. "Justice?"
He took a flask from his sleeve and gulped it down.
He looked quite heroic.
However, judging from the black, fizzy liquid spilling from the flask, what he was drinking was clearly cola.
Then he grinned. "What you saw wasn't my justice, Smoker. It was merely basic conscience."
"Besides, I'm not an ambitious man. I think the Detention Unit is pretty good!"
Hearing this, Smoker grew even more furious.
"You bastard."
White smoke surged wildly from his arm, clearly showing that he was preparing to attack again.
If words couldn't make him understand, then they would communicate with fists. That was the kind of man he was!
But just then—
"Smoker."
The sudden voice made Smoker's movement stop.
"Oh!"
"Who's that stunning beauty?"
"She's Colonel Hina, 'Black Cage'!"
Excited voices also came from among the Marine crowd, and crimson hearts appeared in the eyes of quite a few Marines.
A beautiful pink-haired woman with a graceful figure, also dressed in a Marine uniform, walked out from the crowd.
"I just got back from a mission and found that you'd caused another disturbance. Hina is very troubled."
She had a thin cigarette between her lips and looked helplessly at Smoker.
"Your last punishment hasn't even been lifted yet, has it?"
As Smoker's friend, she had long been cleaning up after the troublemaker, and she clearly had plenty of complaints.
Although Smoker's momentum had weakened by three parts, he still stubbornly said, "Hmph! This time, it wasn't my fault. It was this bastard—"
He decisively removed himself from responsibility and turned around, trying to get Hina to join him in condemning a certain good-for-nothing who refused to improve.
But when he turned around, he discovered—
How could there still be anyone standing where Loi had been?
"That bastard ran again!"
Realizing that Loi had fled, Smoker's veins bulged with fury, and he clenched his fists.
Before he could give chase, a circle of black iron bars surrounded him.
From behind him, Hina's voice had already taken on a dangerous edge. "Trying to run? Explain yourself! What kind of trouble are you causing this time? Otherwise, Hina is going to get angry!"
Smoker's expression finally turned flustered.
Before you continue