Heading to the Grand Line

In the dark warehouse behind the tavern, the air reeked of gunpowder and sulfur, and weapons of all kinds hung on the walls.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, just a pile of weapons?" Reiner sighed in disappointment. After rummaging through boxes and crates, he found less than 70 million Beli.

For the biggest underground trading spot in Loguetown, this was all it had? And so little money.

But even a mosquito's leg is meat, no matter how small. Besides the money, he also packed up a good amount of weapons and a few bottles of good liquor.

After setting the tavern ablaze, Reiner went to another black market controlled by Bartolomeo and sold off all the weapons at a low price.

As he was leaving, he saw someone selling Log Poses and bought ten of them.

Interestingly, this black market truly resembled a market, with scattered vendors lining a street and fierce-looking individuals or cloaked figures coming and going.

"It's like something out of a novel," Reiner couldn't help but smile. "With the weapons sold, I probably made about 120 million."

The good news was that he got Seastone.

The even better news was that it cost him nothing, and he even made a profit.

Reiner left the black market with his earnings, heading back to the ship, and checked to see if Sanji's competition was over on the way.

Suddenly, the clear sky began to darken, and dark clouds gathered rapidly over Loguetown as if summoned.

Reiner instinctively quickened his pace. Just as he passed a certain square, "Look at that person!"

"He's smiling!?"

Hearing the shouts from the surrounding crowd, Reiner couldn't help but stop and look over.

In the center of the vast square, on a towering execution platform, stood a red-nosed man in clown makeup. Below him, Luffy was cuffed to the platform, grinning widely.

Holy crap! A world-famous scene?

Wait, why is the King of Luck here? I didn't even provoke him.

"Heh heh heh! I heard the girl who stole my nautical chart joined you guys. Looks like she's not here to save you, huh?" Clown Buggy sneered, raising his blade.

"Then let your head pay the price!"

"Damn, a bit far," Reiner cursed under his breath, rushing forward while pulling out a pistol and aiming it at Buggy on the execution platform.

This was a special gun Reiner had prepared in advance to prevent Smoker from intercepting him on the way, loaded with Seastone bullets.

"Bang—!"

Just as Buggy raised his blade, Reiner's bullet struck Buggy's shoulder, splattering a bit of blood.

"Damn it, what is this!?" Buggy gnashed his teeth and cursed, collapsing weakly onto the execution platform, then tumbling off.

Luffy looked at the fallen Buggy, a bit bewildered. Following the sound of the gunshot, he saw Reiner below, and his smile widened.

"Heh heh heh! So you didn't die after all."

"What are you doing?!" Reiner rushed onto the execution platform and broke Luffy's handcuffs. "We need to run, Luffy, back to the ship."

Standing on the execution platform, Reiner could already see Smoker in the distance, riding a strangely shaped motorcycle towards the square.

He didn't want to fight Smoker. Although Smoker's threat was much smaller now that he had Seastone bullets.

But there was no benefit in defeating Smoker, and wasting a bullet worth several million Beli here was out of the question.

"Yosh! Let's go, Reiner."

"Mm, and we'll pick up Sanji on the way."

Reiner and Luffy jumped off the execution platform and ran south, where their ship was docked.

The sky began to drizzle, and the two ran, with Smoker relentlessly pursuing them on his custom motorcycle.

"Hey, Sanji!"

Reiner spotted Sanji jogging ahead, holding a large blue and white fish with both hands—the Elephant Trunk Tuna he'd won in the competition.

Sanji turned at the sound, seeing Reiner and Luffy running wildly. "It's you guys. What's the hurry?"

"Run, Sanji, there are Marines behind us!" The two didn't slow down at all, running straight past Sanji.

Sanji, momentarily stunned, remained standing. Only after a closer look did he spot Smoker riding his motorcycle.

"Bastards! Can't you pretend not to know me? Now you're dragging me into this!" Sanji roared and sprinted off.

Luffy carried the fish head and Sanji carried the fish tail, as the gentle drizzle gradually turned into a downpour.

Large raindrops pounded their faces, and visibility in the rain curtain worsened.

"No good, their motorcycle is much faster than us!"

"At this rate, we'll be caught soon."

"Want to fight?"

"Don't waste time, keep running." Reiner stopped them. "I'll give him a big surprise when he catches up."

As time passed, the three got closer to the port, but Smoker reached it before them.

"White Rocket!"

A hoarse growl echoed, and Reiner and the others instinctively turned to look behind them.

A cloud of white smoke billowed towards them, and at the forefront of the smoke was Smoker's upper body!

"Straw Hat Boy Luffy, your pirate games end here!" Smoker glared, winding up his arm to punch Luffy.

"What is that thing?!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise, dodging the punch and following through with a kick at Smoker, but his foot missed and plunged into the smoke.

"What's going on?!"

"Missed? No, it should have hit!" Luffy and Sanji were visibly shocked.

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!" Luffy, unwilling to give up, threw punch after punch, but each one passed right through Smoker.

"It's no use, Luffy, he's a Logia user, normal attacks can't touch his real body," Reiner quickly shouted, pulling out a pistol at the same time.

"You're quite knowledgeable." Smoker couldn't help but glance at Reiner.

"Doesn't that make him invincible?"

"How do we fight him if we can't touch his body?" Luffy and Sanji were clearly stunned.

"Since you know, you should give up. With your strength, you can't possibly beat me." Smoker said calmly, his low voice seemingly announcing their end.

Reiner was unfazed, pointing his gun directly at Smoker. "Six million Beli a shot, it's a real waste to use it on you."

"It's no use, stop struggling!" Smoker growled, completely unguarded against Reiner, who was holding a gun, and swung a heavy punch at him with his guard wide open.

Bang—!

The moment Smoker threw his punch, Reiner pulled the trigger, and the bullet hit Smoker first.

"Pfft!"

An unexpected scene unfolded before Smoker: the bullet didn't pass through his body like Luffy's punches.

A splash of blood spurted out under Smoker's shocked gaze, and his low-flying body, skimming the ground, stumbled before falling heavily.

Haki!? No, that's not it. Smoker's first reaction was that the opponent's bullet was coated with Haki, but the next instant, a feeling of weakness spread through his body, and his elementalized legs reverted to their original form.

Seastone!!

"How is this possible!" Smoker lay on the ground, unwilling to accept it, watching the others gradually run off. He was too weak to even get up.

Seastone is extremely rare, and even the World Government has to use various means to collect it from all over the world.

They even go so far as to cooperate with pirates, spending a fortune to trade for Seastone with Kaido's Wano Country, and the price is incredibly expensive.

Aside from the World Government, only a very few pirate factions in the Grand Line possess any.

"A pirate from the East Blue, how could he get his hands on something like this!" Smoker couldn't believe it.

"Nice work, Reiner!" Luffy grinned, showing his teeth.

Sanji, however, was much more observant, looking at Reiner in confusion. "How did you do that? Didn't you say Logia users have intangible bodies?"

"Don't even mention it, my heart is bleeding," Reiner said with a pained expression.

He then explained the effects of Seastone to the two of them, as well as his visit to the underground trading post earlier that day.

By the time they reached the port, everyone else had already arrived.

The rain gradually stopped, and the previously gloomy sky inexplicably turned clear and sunny.

"What strange weather," Sanji mumbled, looking at the sky.

Reiner, unfazed, lit a cigarette and boarded the ship. "Let's go, Sanji."

"Hehehe, next stop, the Grand Line! Let's go!!"

Meanwhile, on a street in Loguetown, Smoker lay on the ground, waiting for his subordinates to rescue him. He didn't even have the strength to dig out the bullet.

Suddenly, a low chuckle came from behind him.

"You look quite pathetic, Smoker."

"Why are you here?" Smoker turned back in surprise.

"I happened to be handling some business nearby, so I thought I'd stop by to see the youngsters off."

"See them off?" Smoker looked a little puzzled, seemingly unafraid that the person in front of him would attack.

"Yes, see them off."