Smoker's Actions

About an hour ago.

A man entered Loguetown from the northern entrance.

He had silver-white hair, wore a tourist beach shirt, and sported a pair of sunglasses.

Most striking were the cigars stuffed into every pocket of his clothing, dozens in total.

And the man had two freshly lit cigars clenched in his mouth.

As a Logia Devil Fruit User, Smoker had quite the smoking habit, but today was the first time he felt such an urgent need to smoke.

The reason was probably that man—

Lynn Barek.

The mere thought of that name made Smoker feel intensely irritated.

"Saving people from pirates is the Marines' duty, so why is a wanted criminal interfering!"

Smoker held the cigars in his mouth, his brow furrowed.

The surroundings were familiar—

Loguetown.

Returning here again reminded Smoker of the past.

Years ago, in Loguetown, he had personally witnessed that man's execution, and the prelude to an era that man had personally ushered in.

When that era's carnival began, Smoker looked at the people completely consumed by fanaticism and felt a deep sense of fear within him.

After that, to combat that fear, he joined the Marines.

Perhaps because of what happened back then, or perhaps due to his duty as a Marine.

Regardless, he just felt irritated by the man named Lynn Barek!

This irritation wasn't hostility or hatred, but a sense of disagreement with Lynn's actions and personality.

Although some Marine colleagues thought Smoker lived too seriously, Smoker clearly had no intention of changing, as that was simply his nature.

Precisely because of this, Smoker hadn't expected Lynn to cooperate with him from the start; he was already prepared to rescue the hostages from Windmill Village by himself!

As a Logia Devil Fruit User, Smoker had that confidence.

"I can't let him look down on the Marines!"

Smoker took a puff of his cigar, his gaze sweeping over the bustling streets of Loguetown.

Protecting the peace of this sea was the Marines' duty, and he would never allow the beautiful scene before him to be easily trampled by pirates!

"First, I need to find the pirates' hiding place."

Smoker exhaled a puff of smoke and began to search the streets discreetly, all by himself.

Those pirates hadn't arranged a meeting point with Lynn, so they must have stationed lookouts throughout Loguetown to prepare for Lynn's arrival.

Smoker's first task was to find them and ask where the pirates' base was.

However, several tens of minutes passed, and Smoker found nothing.

Just as he was about to switch to another street to continue his search, a sudden shout caught his attention.

"Hey, hey, hey, looks like there's a fireworks show at the west port!"

"Hurry and go see it, or you won't be able to catch it!"

Guided by those shouts, the crowd gradually began to move towards the west port.

"Hmm?"

Smoker sensed something unusual. He carefully observed those shouting; they were all people dressed in civilian clothes but wearing hats and cloaks to conceal their identities, appearing mysterious.

After shouting, those people quickly blended into the crowd, their presence completely hidden in the blink of an eye.

Pirates?

Smoker pondered, feeling something was off.

From their actions of guiding the crowd alone, he could tell that those mysterious individuals were highly trained, their coordination comparable to that of a single Marine unit.

"Tsk, looks like more troublesome people have come to Loguetown."

Smoker watched those mysterious figures subtly guiding the crowd, his mind constantly pondering one thing—why were they doing this?

Suddenly, Smoker noticed a few people running against the flow of the crowd, heading east out of Loguetown.

Judging by their appearances, they looked somewhat fierce, and they weren't making any effort to hide their presence, clearly not part of the same group as those mysterious individuals.

Who were they?

Smoker's gaze shifted slightly, and he quickly made a decision: he would follow them to see.

Because Lynn had landed at the west port of Loguetown, and he himself had wasted considerable time changing clothes and patrolling discreetly.

If Lynn's normal pace was taken into account, he shouldn't still be at the west port, and the crowd surging towards the port hadn't made any exclamations or screams, so the port should still be calm.

Smoker grabbed a passerby and asked, "Where does the east side of Loguetown lead?"

The passerby replied, "It's the backstreet, but sir, you shouldn't go there. It's very chaotic, and a lot of thugs and hoodlums live there."

That's the place!

Smoker's eyes narrowed. He didn't know what the pirate named Kuro was planning, but everything he'd seen along the way pointed to one thing—

Something was definitely happening to the east!

"Knowing Linley, perhaps he had those mysterious people guide the crowd westward to keep them out of the fight," Smoker mused. "But who were those people?"

Despite his mind being full of questions, Smoker was a man of action. He didn't dwell on it too much and began running towards the backstreet in the east of Loguetown.

Along the way, Smoker encountered several areas of commotion. Apparently, there had been fights, and the victims were still lying on the ground, their conditions unknown.

The direction was right!

Smoker rejoiced inwardly. To speed things up, he found a spot and jumped onto a rooftop. Then, using his Devil Fruit ability, he transformed into smoke and darted across the rooftops, heading straight for the backstreet.

When he was not far from the backstreet, Smoker could already hear the clamor—people shouting, and the sound of things being smashed.

Had they already started fighting?

Smoker frowned and involuntarily picked up his pace.

Just then, a dark shadow on the rooftop suddenly caught Smoker's attention.

Smoker looked intently and saw that it was just a pile of junk. But upon closer inspection, he realized that a person was actually hidden among the debris!

It was already night, and visibility was poor.

Smoker crept closer and finally saw more clearly.

He saw a purple-haired man wearing heavy black armor hiding among the junk. He was holding a long-barreled sniper rifle and aiming it towards the backstreet.

Who was he? Friend or foe?

Smoker used his ability to move closer and finally saw the man's full face. He immediately recognized him.

It was the pirate with a bounty of 17 million Beli, Admiral Krieg!

Smoker had seen Krieg's wanted poster when he was organizing his files.

In the East Blue, this man's name was notorious.

Although Smoker often found Linley annoying, he also believed that Linley would not associate with such a notorious pirate.

If that was the case, then he was an enemy.

Was he hiding here with a sniper rifle to ambush Linley?

Smoker slowly crouched down, looking for an opportunity to strike.

The moment Krieg adjusted his position to continue aiming, Smoker's right arm transformed into smoke. His five fingers clenched into a fist, and he decisively struck!

White Shot!

Smoker had practiced this elemental-infused punch countless times. Even the wild beasts on the deserted island rarely survived it. The goal was to incapacitate the enemy quickly with a single blow.

However, the instant Smoker's fist hit Krieg's armor, a feeling of powerlessness suddenly washed over him.

"Ugh!"

Smoker's eyes widened as he instantly identified the material of the armor—

Seastone!

Lost in cyberpunk, luckily I have drafts...

Ah, not panicking at all, hmm!