Bartolomeo, You've Got Some Real Nerve!

"Rumble..."

At the same time, thunder rumbled overhead, followed by a bolt of lightning descending from the sky. By sheer coincidence, it struck Moke.

However...

Everything had gone exactly as Moke expected.

Under that bolt of lightning, Moke's entire body exploded. He turned into countless flecks of mud that splattered in every direction. Yet in the next instant, those flecks rapidly gathered back together.

Moke had returned to normal, though he was now standing on the ground.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he laughed inwardly. Dragon, you sneaky bastard. I knew you'd pull something like this.

"Uh..."

In a corner of the square, Tashigi was utterly stunned. Smoker's eyes widened as well, and he turned to Tashigi. "Didn't you say he had an ability similar to the Dice-Dice Fruit?"

Similar to the Dice-Dice Fruit, my ass!

That had clearly been Elementalization!

He was obviously a Logia user, most likely the user of the Mud-Mud Fruit.

At that moment, Smoker's gaze at Moke changed even more. A swordsmanship genius and a Logia user—if someone like that joined the Marines, he would surely achieve great things in the future.

He might even become one of the future Admirals.

Then his gaze fell on Luffy, immediately turning icy. "That guy is the priority now... Tashigi, follow me..."

The moment he finished speaking, his entire body turned into smoke and shot toward Luffy at tremendous speed...

But by then, Luffy had already broken free. He had also spotted the Marines, and more importantly, Nami and Usopp had arrived.

They grabbed Luffy and ran...

"Tsk, tsk..."

Moke watched Smoker and Tashigi chase after Luffy, then saw the worshipful look in Bartolomeo's eyes as he stared at Luffy. He could no longer suppress his excitement and began to laugh.

"I truly never expected that you were not only a formidable swordsman, but also the user of a Logia-type Mud-Mud Fruit." At some point, the weapon shop owner had come to Moke's side.

He wore a smile, and his gaze toward Moke carried a hint of ingratiating flattery.

Moke turned to look at the owner, somewhat puzzled. He did not understand why the man had come over.

So he asked, "What is it?"

The owner hesitated, but quickly made up his mind. "It's like this. My wife has a younger sister named Ata. She's a cook who loves making food. In pursuit of better culinary skills, she went to the Grand Line. She said there were better ingredients there, and she wanted to see them for herself. If... I mean, if you go to the Grand Line and happen to pass Chef Island, please help my wife and me ask about her whereabouts. The last news we received from her was from there."

After saying that, the owner gave Moke a deep bow.

"Huh?"

Moke was quite surprised. In the original story, the owner had never mentioned this to Roronoa Zoro!

It seemed that because of him... this world had already begun to change.

Precisely because of that, he suddenly wanted to see what those changes would be like. He nodded. "Don't worry. I'm going to Chef Island, and I'll ask around about Ata for you."

The owner froze slightly. He had only asked Moke to inquire about Ata if he happened to pass Chef Island.

Because he understood perfectly well that he did not have the standing to ask Moke to make a special trip to Chef Island just to look for Ata.

"Uh..."

After coming back to his senses, the owner wore an expression of utter disbelief.

Then he was overjoyed. "Thank you so much..."

Just like in the original story, with the help of Dragon, that overpowered father of his, Luffy's group successfully escaped Loguetown and headed for the Grand Line.

Before long, they sailed upstream and charged up Reverse Mountain. With that, they took their first step into the Grand Line.

Moke's attention was now focused on Bartolomeo.

He wanted to see exactly how Bartolomeo had obtained the Paramecia-type Barrier-Barrier Fruit.

Time passed bit by bit. Once Smoker had followed Luffy and left as well, Loguetown became a chaotic place.

After all, Loguetown had been able to remain the most stable place in the Four Seas, despite East Blue being the weakest sea. Smoker had played a major role in that...

But now, without Smoker's deterrence, pirates and street thugs like Bartolomeo all ran rampant.

Bartolomeo in particular had always been lawless. Once Smoker left, no one could restrain him anymore.

"Boss... We found out something. The one coming to our Loguetown is Colonel Wild Dog from East Blue Base 12."

"Who?"

Bartolomeo was completely dumbfounded.

There were three great scourges among the East Blue Marines: Colonel Morgan, Colonel Rat, and Colonel Wild Dog.

Only an idiot like Smoker did not know about them... The common people below had long known all too well. Still, to be fair, those three were indeed the three great scourges of East Blue.

But their strength...

Each was weaker than the last...

Bartolomeo laughed. "I'm about to set sail anyway, so I'll use their heads to make a name for myself. At the same time, I'll be getting rid of a scourge for Loguetown."

He had been born in Loguetown, after all. He did not want Colonel Wild Dog to eventually become the highest-ranking official in Loguetown. Otherwise, the entire town would likely end up living in hell.

Moke, who had been secretly watching Bartolomeo, raised an eyebrow.

What kind of place was Loguetown?

It was the throat of East Blue. Marine Headquarters would never allow a weakling to hold that position. Even if the man's character was poor, his strength had to be up to par.

Even if he was not as strong as Smoker, he would still have enough power to deter the pirates of East Blue.

Otherwise, all of Smoker's hard work over the years would go to waste.

Bartolomeo had some strength, but only compared to ordinary people. Against whoever had been sent to replace Smoker, he would have no path but death.

"Damn..."

Moke's mind was full of doubts. Could there be some other explanation?

Or had this guy obtained the Barrier-Barrier Fruit before this? Otherwise, Moke did not believe the current Bartolomeo could defeat the person the Marines had sent to replace Smoker.

Three days later, a small warship sailed into Loguetown's harbor.

Before long, a group of Marines disembarked, led by an exceptionally tall Marine colonel.

"Tsk, tsk..."

The moment they left the harbor and entered the town, Bartolomeo led a group of people to surround them... He stared at Colonel Wild Dog with disdain and said arrogantly, "Colonel Wild Dog, I know you've embezzled quite a lot. Hand some of it over for my brothers to share. Otherwise, you won't get through today unscathed."

Moke, hidden in the shadows, twitched at the corner of his mouth. "Bartolomeo really has some nerve!"