The dim warehouse behind the tavern was thick with the sulfur-and-nitrate stench of gunpowder, its walls lined with every kind of weapon.
"Jeez, it was just a pile of arms?" Reiner sighed in disappointment. After rummaging through the place, he found less than seventy million Berries.
This was supposed to be Loguetown's largest underground trading venue. How could it have so little stuff, and so little money?
Still, even a mosquito leg was meat. Besides the cash, he packed up plenty of weapons and several bottles of fine liquor.
After setting the tavern ablaze, Reiner went to another black market controlled by Bartolomeo and sold off the weapons at a low price.
Before leaving, he spotted someone selling Log Poses and bought ten of them in one go.
Interestingly, this black market really did resemble a market. Vendors were scattered along a street, while the people coming and going looked either vicious or cloaked in hoods.
"It's just like something out of a novel." Reiner could not help smiling. "Including the weapons I sold, I made around a hundred and twenty million."
The good news was that he had bought Seastone.
The better news was that he had not spent any money and had even made a profit.
Reiner left the black market with the money, intending to return to the ship and check whether Sanji's competition had ended.
Suddenly, the clear sky began to darken. Dark clouds seemed to have been summoned by someone as they rapidly gathered over Loguetown.
Reiner unconsciously quickened his pace. Just as he passed a plaza—
"Look at that guy!"
"He's smiling!?"
Hearing the crowd's shouts, Reiner stopped and glanced over.
In the center of the enormous plaza, atop the towering execution platform, stood a red-nosed man dressed as a clown. Beneath him, Luffy was shackled in place, grinning widely.
Holy shit! A famous scene from history?
No, wait. Why was that lucky bastard here? Reiner had not even provoked him.
"Heyhahaha! I heard the little lady who stole my nautical chart joined you. Looks like she wasn't planning to come save you either." Buggy the Clown raised his blade with a savage grin.
"Then you'll pay the debt with your head!"
"Damn it, I'm a little too far away." Reiner cursed as he charged forward, drawing a pistol and aiming it at Buggy on the execution platform.
Reiner had specially prepared this gun in case Smoker intercepted them on the road. It was loaded with Seastone Bullets.
Bang—!
Just as Buggy raised his blade, Reiner's bullet struck him squarely in the shoulder, spraying blood.
"Damn it, what is this!?" Buggy gritted his teeth and cursed. His whole body went limp, and he rolled off the execution platform.
Luffy was baffled by Buggy's sudden collapse. Following the gunshot, he spotted Reiner below, and his smile widened even further.
"Shishishi! So you didn't die after all."
"What the hell are you doing!?" Reiner climbed onto the execution platform and broke Luffy's handcuffs. "We need to run, Luffy. Back to the ship."
From atop the platform, Reiner had already spotted Smoker in the distance, riding a strangely designed motorcycle toward the plaza.
He did not want to fight Smoker. Although Seastone Bullets had greatly reduced the threat he posed—
There was no benefit in defeating Smoker, and wasting bullets worth several million each on him was out of the question.
"Alright! Let's go, Reiner."
"Yeah, and we'll pick up Sanji on the way."
Reiner and Luffy jumped off the execution platform and ran south, toward where their ship was docked.
A light drizzle began to fall. The two ran all the way while Smoker relentlessly pursued them on his custom motorcycle.
"Sanji!"
Reiner spotted Sanji jogging ahead, carrying a huge blue-and-white fish in both hands. It was the Elephant Trunk Tuna he had won in the competition.
Sanji turned at the sound and saw Reiner and Luffy sprinting toward him. "It's you two. What's the rush?"
"Run, Sanji! The Marines are behind us!" Without slowing down in the slightest, the two dashed straight past him.
Sanji stood there for a moment, unable to react. Only after taking a closer look did he notice Smoker riding the motorcycle.
"Bastards! Couldn't you pretend not to know me? You had to drag me into this too!" Sanji shouted as he took off running.
Luffy carried the fish's head while Sanji carried its tail. The light rain gradually turned into a raging downpour.
Raindrops the size of beans pelted their faces, and visibility through the curtain of rain grew worse and worse.
"No good, that motorcycle is much faster than us!"
"At this rate, he'll catch us soon."
"Should we fight?"
"Don't waste time. Keep running." Reiner stopped them. "Once he catches up, I'll treat him to something big."
As time passed, the three drew closer and closer to the harbor. However, Smoker got there ahead of them.
White Rocket!
A hoarse roar rang out, and Reiner and the others instinctively turned to look behind them.
A mass of rolling white smoke surged toward them, and at the front of it was Smoker's upper body!
"Straw Hat Boy Luffy, your pirate game ends here!" Smoker glared furiously as he drew back his arm and threw a punch at Luffy.
"What is this thing!?" Luffy cried out in shock. He twisted aside to evade the punch, then swung a kick at Smoker, only for his foot to pass straight through and sink into the smoke.
"What's going on!?"
"It didn't hit? No, it definitely hit!" Luffy and Sanji were clearly stunned.
Gomu Gomu no Gatling! Luffy refused to believe it and unleashed a barrage of punches, but every blow passed directly through Smoker's body.
"It's useless, Luffy. He's a Logia user. Normal methods can't touch his real body." Reiner shouted quickly as he drew his pistol.
"You know a thing or two." Smoker could not help glancing at Reiner.
"Doesn't that make him invincible?"
"How are we supposed to deal with him if we can't touch his body?" Luffy and Sanji were visibly shaken.
"Now that you know, you should give up. With your strength, you can't possibly defeat me." Smoker spoke flatly, his deep voice seeming to declare their fate.
Reiner did not care. He aimed his gun directly at Smoker. "Six million per shot. Using one on you is seriously a loss."
"It's useless. Stop struggling!" Smoker roared. He made no effort to defend himself against Reiner's raised gun and swung a heavy punch at him with his guard wide open.
Bang—!
The instant Smoker threw his punch, Reiner pulled the trigger as well. The bullet struck Smoker first.
Pfft!
Something beyond Smoker's expectations happened. Unlike Luffy's fists, the bullet did not pass through his body.
Blood sprayed before Smoker's stunned eyes. Flying low above the ground, he staggered before crashing heavily onto the street.
"Haki!? No." Smoker's first thought was that the bullet had been coated in Haki, but the next instant, weakness swept through his entire body, and his Element Transformation legs reverted to normal.
Seastone!!
"How is this possible!?" Smoker lay helplessly on the ground, watching them gradually run away with an unwilling expression.
Seastone was extraordinarily scarce. Even the World Government had to collect it from all over the world through every possible means.
They even cooperated with pirates, paying enormous sums to trade with Kaido's Wano Country for Seastone. Its price was absurdly high.
Apart from the World Government, even on the Grand Line, only a handful of pirate forces possessed any.
"How could a pirate from the East Blue possibly get his hands on something like this!?" Smoker found it impossible to believe.
"Nice one, Reiner!" Luffy grinned, showing all his teeth.
Sanji was much more attentive. He looked at Reiner in confusion. "How did you do that? Didn't you say a Logia user's real body couldn't be touched?"
"Don't ask. My heart is bleeding." Reiner clutched his chest in anguish.
He then explained the effects of Seastone to the two of them, as well as his trip to the underground trading venue that day.
By the time they reached the harbor, everyone else had already arrived.
The rain gradually stopped, and the previously gloomy sky somehow returned to a bright, cloudless blue.
"What strange weather." Sanji looked up at the sky in puzzlement.
Reiner did not care. He lit a cigarette and boarded the ship. "Let's go, Sanji."
"Shishishi! Next stop, the Grand Line! Set sail!!"
On a street in Loguetown, Smoker lay on the ground waiting for his subordinates to rescue him. He did not even have the strength to dig out the bullet.
Suddenly, a low, mocking chuckle sounded behind him.
"What a sorry sight, Smoker."
"Why are you here?" Smoker turned back in surprise.
"I happened to be handling something nearby, so I came by to see the young ones off."
"See them off?" Smoker looked slightly puzzled, as though he was not worried that the person before him would attack.
"Mm. See them off."