Loguetown.
A group of pirates was walking down the street when disaster suddenly descended from above.
A man with blue-white hair fell from the sky, wrapped in white smoke.
"White Vine!"
With a low shout from him, a miraculous scene unfolded.
The white smoke swirling around the man suddenly intensified, then swept out like ropes.
"What!?"
"It's the White Hunter!"
The pirates turned pale in shock. They tried to struggle, but it was utterly useless. Before long, they were all subdued and captured alive.
The man then controlled the smoke, binding the pirates as he headed back toward Loguetown's Marine Branch.
Along the way, pedestrians who saw the scene all broke into smiles.
"Look, that's Colonel Smoker!"
"Colonel Smoker caught another group of pirates!"
"He's really reliable. The White Hunter truly lives up to his name!"
"Yeah, compared to Smoker, the previous colonel was worlds apart!"
"Loguetown has become so safe lately, all thanks to Lord Smoker!"
Yes, this man who could control white smoke was Smoker!
A Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Fruit user!
Known as the White Hunter!
And the sight of Smoker controlling white smoke to bind pirates as he walked was nothing unusual to the pedestrians.
Because scenes like this were not rare.
Ever since Smoker had become the colonel of Loguetown's Marine Branch, they had seen him capture pirates alive countless times.
Thanks to Smoker, they had enjoyed peace and safety during this time.
After all, as the gateway town from the East Blue into the Grand Line, Loguetown attracted countless ambitious pirates every year.
Its public safety had been easy enough to imagine.
But after Smoker took office, Loguetown's security had improved dramatically.
Large numbers of pirates fell into his hands like prey.
Thus, besides earning the nickname White Hunter, the man had naturally won the love and admiration of Loguetown's people.
The Marines at the branch felt the same way.
When they saw Smoker return, the branch Marines hurried out with immense respect and helped deal with the captured pirates.
Smoker withdrew his smoke and took out a cigar, about to take a puff, when a short-haired woman with a sword at her waist strode out of the branch.
It was Smoker's adjutant, Tashigi.
The moment Tashigi saw Smoker, her expression darkened. "Colonel Smoker, we just received news about Natsuya!"
"Natsuya..."
Smoker murmured, his gaze flickering.
Serving in the East Blue, there was no way he could be unaware of Natsuya.
Thanks to some connections within the Marines, he even knew the true reason Natsuya had been given a bounty of one hundred million Beli.
Of course, regardless of the reason, since the Marine Government had issued a warrant for Natsuya, Smoker had a duty to take action against him.
But in Smoker's view, with Natsuya now wanted, he should not have acted too conspicuously.
There was a strong chance he would disappear into hiding. After all, he was an elite from the CP Department.
What Smoker had not expected was that news of Natsuya would arrive so soon.
With that thought, Smoker became interested. "What news?"
Tashigi replied, "Natsuya appeared in Cocoyasi Village. He even wiped out the Marine Branch there and the Arlong Pirates!"
"Hm!?"
Hearing that, Smoker narrowed his eyes.
He had not expected Natsuya to do more than merely stay hidden. He had caused quite a stir instead.
He had heard of the Arlong Pirates as well. Their captain, Arlong, had held the highest bounty in the East Blue before Natsuya.
Destroying a pirate crew like that, along with a Marine Branch, was indeed no small matter.
As Smoker was thinking this, Tashigi continued, "Natsuya has already left Cocoyasi Village. His current whereabouts are unknown."
"Oh, and this information came from Vice Admiral Garp's side."
"Vice Admiral Garp is personally leading the pursuit of Natsuya. They believe Natsuya may enter the Grand Line through Loguetown, so they told us to increase our patrols and not let him escape."
Smoker was genuinely surprised upon hearing that.
Garp had personally set out to capture Natsuya!?
But after giving it some thought, Smoker understood.
It was probably Sengoku's order.
He likely figured that Garp was vacationing in the East Blue anyway, so he might as well be given a minor task.
If that Natsuya had truly made Garp willingly go after him, his bounty would not have been one hundred million, but at least one billion!
With that in mind, Smoker became even more interested.
Could he capture Natsuya before Garp made his move!?
In Smoker's eyes, having Garp deal with Natsuya was making a mountain out of a molehill. Smoker himself was more than enough.
At that thought, Smoker ordered, "Tashigi, take some men and guard every entrance to Loguetown. Notify me immediately if there is any news!"
"Yes!"
Tashigi answered and immediately went to make the arrangements.
Yet she was somewhat surprised as well.
From what she knew of Smoker, her superior had clearly developed an enormous interest in Natsuya.
That had never happened before!
As she thought about it, Tashigi also became curious about the Natsuya she had never met.
But would he really come to Loguetown!?
Two days later.
A pirate ship appeared on the sea with a thunderous rumble.
Nami stood on the deck, facing the sea breeze and laughing heartily.
The reason their voyage rumbled so loudly was that a gigantic sea beast was breaking through the waves in front of the pirate ship!
The enormous sea beast was black and white, half fish and half cow. It was Momoo, the combatant of the Arlong Pirates!
No, it should have been called a former combatant of the Arlong Pirates!
Now, Momoo had become their ship-puller!
At that thought, Nami suddenly turned and looked at Natsuya behind her with admiration. "Lord Natsuya, how did you do it? You even tamed Momoo. That's amazing!"
Hearing that, a faint smile appeared on Natsuya's face.
Come to think of it, Momoo becoming their ship-puller had been a coincidence.
After they left Cocoyasi Village, they encountered Momoo while passing an island.
Perhaps because Natsuya had severely injured him, an accident had occurred, leaving the creature stranded on the beach.
Natsuya had still been enthusiastically developing his Door-Door Fruit abilities at the time. On a whim, he used his power to send Momoo back into the sea.
Unexpectedly, after returning to the sea, Momoo latched onto Natsuya and stubbornly followed the pirate ship.
Natsuya had not thought much of it at first, but when he tried using the Mirror of Heart Door, he was surprised to discover that it worked on Momoo too.
He quickly understood Momoo's feelings.
It probably wanted to repay him.
And considering that Nami's navigation skills had yet to mature to the level they would reach in the future, Natsuya simply followed Caribou's later example and took Momoo in as a ship-puller.
The facts proved that Natsuya had made the right choice.
A few days ago, Momoo had safely carried them through a storm. Now, it was swiftly bringing them close to Loguetown.
At this moment, as the outline of a town gradually emerged over the distant sea, Nami's attention was drawn to it.
"That must be Loguetown up ahead, right?"
"I heard that Colonel Smoker, who recently took office in Loguetown, is incredibly powerful!"
"They call him the White Hunter. It seems he has some special ability that lets him easily capture pirates, just like hunting."
"Lord Natsuya, we need to be careful when we go ashore this time."
By the end, Nami's expression had turned serious.
Momoo's existence was not entirely beneficial.
At the very least, their food consumption had increased considerably.
So before entering the Grand Line, they had to resupply in Loguetown.
But that meant they might encounter Loguetown's Marine forces, perhaps even that White Hunter, Smoker, whose name had been spreading everywhere lately!
Hearing that, Natsuya's lips curled upward.
Smoker?
Heh.
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