"Mark, is this where Pirate King Roger was executed?" Daisy asked, looking at the wooden execution platform.
Mark nodded and ran his hand over the weathered platform, a strange glint flashing through his eyes.
There was nothing remarkable about the platform's appearance.
But the meaning it represented was entirely different.
This was where Pirate King Roger had been executed, and where the chaos of this sea had begun.
With a whoosh, Mark used Attraction Force to fly onto the platform.
"Boss, what are you going up there for?" Chiu Chiu asked, craning his head upward.
"I want to see what Pirate King Roger saw in his final moments."
Mark stood atop the execution platform and looked down at everything below.
His heart was incomparably calm as he swept his gaze around.
The view was vast!
He could take in all of Loguetown at a glance!
Everything below seemed especially tiny!
At the end of his gaze lay the boundless sea!
The entrance to the Grand Line, the Red Line, faintly appeared before his eyes.
A strange feeling stirred in Mark's heart. He could not describe it. Just as he stared out at the distant sea, lost in thought, a discordant voice rang out.
"Pirate, get down from there. That is not where you belong. Come with me to Impel Down!"
Mark followed the voice and saw a white-haired man in a Marine uniform, with two cigars clenched between his teeth.
Behind him stood a blue-haired woman with a sword at her waist, along with several Marines. They were organizing the evacuation of the surrounding civilians.
Smoker...
Mark narrowed his eyes slightly. White mist swirled around Smoker's body; he had clearly come with hostile intent.
He lowered his head and said seriously to Chiu Chiu beneath the execution platform:
"Chiu Chiu, take Daisy back to the pirate ship immediately. I'll be there shortly."
"Yes, Boss!" Chiu Chiu was about to pull Daisy away. From his boss's expression, he could tell this Marine was not someone to be trifled with.
"Mark..." Daisy had wanted to say that she would stay, but after seeing Smoker, she changed her words. "Be careful!"
She had encountered Smoker in Loguetown, East Blue, before. But she had not been a pirate then, so Smoker had not targeted her.
Still, she knew him fairly well. The words Logia alone were enough to leave both her and Chiu Chiu helpless. Staying would only burden Mark.
Chiu Chiu grabbed Daisy and flew into the air.
"How can I let you escape!"
"White Fist!!!"
Smoker threw a right punch at Chiu Chiu.
His goal was to wipe out every member of the Morse Pirate Ship here. How could he possibly let anyone run away?
"Are you underestimating me too much?"
Mark said coldly. Black energy surged around his right hand as he threw a black-tinged punch toward the attack aimed at Chiu Chiu.
Bang!
The White Fist and Dark Fist collided in midair, then both dissipated into nothingness.
While Mark and Smoker were entangled, Chiu Chiu had already carried Daisy far away. Smoker could only watch the two figures shrink into the horizon before saying coldly to Mark:
"Once I capture you, I'll go after those two and capture them as well."
Mark leaped down from the execution platform and landed before Smoker, his voice utterly emotionless.
"You have no chance, Marine."
"Whether I have a chance or not, we'll only know after we fight, you bastard!!!"
Smoker swiftly drew the Jitte from his back and swung it at Mark.
He was fast!
But Mark was faster...
In a fight on level ground, Silent Step was extraordinarily effective.
Mark vanished from sight, and no one knew when he had drawn his massive axe.
Smoker only saw an axe shadow hurtling toward him at extreme speed. He did not dodge. The Jitte's trajectory remained unchanged, and a mocking smile appeared on his face.
He was a Logia-type Devil Fruit user. Why would he fear a slash...
Splurt!
But in the next instant, his expression froze.
That axe shadow tore open a wound across his chest, deep enough to expose bone. Blood streamed from it without end.
Before Smoker could react, another axe shadow followed and knocked the Jitte from his hand.
Mark reappeared, using the handkerchief he carried with him to pick up the Jitte before slinging it across his back.
Such a dangerous weapon should be kept in my custody.
Smoker truly was Zephyr's disciple. After losing his Seastone weapon, the wounded Smoker quickly retreated.
He covered the bleeding wound on his chest. The pain instantly drenched his forehead in cold sweat.
"Pirate, you can actually use Armament Haki!!!"
"..."
Mark wore a noncommittal expression.
"Marine, you have stayed in East Blue for too long. Do you really think your Devil Fruit power can block my attacks? Logias... are not invincible!"
Caught off guard, Smoker had not only suffered severe injuries, but had also lost his Seastone weapon to Mark.
That was how battle was—ever-changing in an instant. There were countless examples of people losing their lives because of a moment's carelessness.
"Damn it!!!" Smoker cursed under his breath.
He should have known that since Mark was Gaban's disciple, it was entirely possible that he could use Armament Haki.
But Smoker had underestimated him because of his age and had been severely injured in a single blow. His expression immediately turned as ugly as if he had eaten shit.
"Captain Smoker!" Tashigi stepped forward to support Smoker, her face full of worry.
When she lowered her eyes and saw the bone-deep wound, her worry deepened even further.
The wound was too large and too deep!
Mark held the Mountain-Splitting Axe inverted in his hand, blood dripping from its blade onto the ground.
The destructive power of such a heavy weapon ranked among the very best of all cold weapons in the world.
Its blade was broad and heavy. Mark was naturally strong to begin with, and with the Combat Bracer's enhancement, his current strength made even the one-ton Mountain-Splitting Axe feel as light as a feather.
Overwhelming strength paired with a deadly weapon—given Smoker's wide-open defenses, severely injuring him with one axe strike was only natural.
Smoker forced himself to stand steady and said coldly, "Pirate, don't get too arrogant. I'm only injured. I'm not dead!"
He activated the power of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
His lower body turned into white smoke, and both arms transformed into smoke as well.
Smoker rushed toward Mark.
"Even if I was careless, you, a pirate, cannot defeat me so easily."
"White Vines!"
His arms transformed into white smoke vines and lunged at Mark.
"Dark Fist!"
Mark's arm transformed into darkness as he threw a punch.
The darkness formed a massive explosive fist that slammed toward the White Vines.
Bang!
Darkness and white mist collided. The Dark Fist exploded, transforming into Dark Flame that spread ten meters in every direction, devouring and burning everything.
The white mist dispersed, reforming into Smoker's body.
Through Mark's continuous development, the Dark-Dark Fruit's powers had made tremendous progress.
Because Dark Fist had been modeled after Fire Fist, its explosive and devouring effect had also gained a burning effect—the corrosive power inherent to the Dark-Dark Fruit—making it increasingly similar to Fire Fist.
Only the color of the ability differed.
One was black, the other yellow.