Defeated Again

A certain tall building near the execution platform.

Smoker looked at the sprawled figures below. Only when the cigar in his mouth fell did he suddenly clench his fist, his knuckles cracking.

"Damn pirates! They actually did this to my men—"

It was not hard to understand why he was so furious. Not only did this pirate possess the rare Armament Haki of the Grand Line, but he also had such terrifying destructive power. Where the hell had he come from?

As a former student taught by Marine Admiral Zephyr, Smoker naturally knew about the power of Haki. But for a pirate from a barren place like the East Blue to know it as well was simply absurd!

"Listen up! Pursue the Straw Hat Pirates immediately! Make sure every last one of them is captured!"

The Marines beside him could feel Smoker's intense fury and hurriedly straightened up in acknowledgment.

Just as they reorganized their forces, they discovered that Buggy the Clown had just regained consciousness. Together with Alvida and the few remaining pirates, he was preparing to pursue Luffy. Still seething with anger, Smoker directly used the power of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit to capture them. It had to be said, they were truly unlucky.

While the Marines were using Prison Balls to detain Buggy the Clown and the others, Dragon, standing on a rooftop in the distance, burst into laughter. "Interesting, what an interesting man. He actually possesses Conqueror's Haki too. The World Government will have quite the headache ahead of them. Hahahaha!"

Then, another bolt of lightning descended from the sky. Once the light faded, Dragon had vanished from where he stood.

The rain grew heavier and heavier.

Seeing the Marines catching up behind them, Luffy and the others wished they could sprout wings and run even faster.

Zero also sighed inwardly. His level was still too low.

Although he had affected the Marines with max-level Conqueror's Haki, its range was too small, at most covering half the execution grounds. Even that was only possible because most of them had gathered together. Even so, they quickly regrouped and resumed pursuing them.

If he had gained a few more levels, perhaps they would not be in such a miserable state. One burst of Conqueror's Haki to knock out every Marine in Loguetown—that was how it was meant to be used!

But Zero was only fantasizing. In the end, he was simply not strong enough!

As they ran, the group spotted a short-haired woman ahead of them: the Marine swordswoman Tashigi.

From Zoro, they learned that he and Tashigi seemed to have some history, and that she was demanding Wado Ichimonji from him. Thus, Zoro told the other three to leave first while he remained behind for a swordsman's duel with Tashigi.

Luffy and the others did not object. Trusting Zoro's strength, they urged him to finish quickly before resuming their escape.

Just as the three were about to reach the harbor, a man and a motorcycle suddenly appeared before them.

"Straw Hat, you know this already. If you don't defeat me, you won't be able to enter the Grand Line!"

Smoker stood with his arms crossed. His confident demeanor left Zero speechless. Had he forgotten that he had already lost once?

"Sanji, Zero, go on ahead. I'll defeat this guy!"

Just as Luffy got into a fighting stance, Smoker shouted, "Straw Hat, you're far too confident in your own strength. Do you really think you can defeat me alone? The other two, stay here as well!"

With that, he activated the Smoke-Smoke Fruit. Three enormous arms surged out from his body and reached straight for the three of them.

Luffy and Sanji were caught before they could evade, while Zero leaped up a moment earlier—only for the smoke to curve around and catch him from below, putting him in the same predicament as the other two!

"This smoke!"

"Damn it, I can't break free!"

After the smoke arms seized the three of them, Smoker raised them high into the air!

"Gum-Gum—Pistol!"

Luffy stretched out his rubber arm to attack Smoker, but it passed straight through him and caused no damage. Even when he attacked with both arms afterward, it was completely useless.

As for Sanji, his techniques mainly focused on close-range combat, and being bound by smoke severely weakened his fighting ability. But even if Sanji could use his kicks, he probably would not be able to harm Smoker any more than Luffy could. After all, their Armament Haki was still only at the stage of just learning about it!

At this moment, the only one who could influence the battle was Zero.

So, he drew Startled Dragon and said to Smoker, "Smoker, using the same trick a second time is boring."

Buzz!

Armament Haki coated Startled Dragon, and a blade of light slashed out, instantly severing the three smoke arms!

Luffy and Sanji landed first and launched another attack against Smoker, only to be caught by his smoke once again and hurled into a nearby wall.

The two of them now felt a deep sense of helplessness. Was this the strength of a Logia Devil Fruit user?

At this point, only Zero and Smoker remained on the battlefield.

"Your turn!"

Smoker flew over using smoke, drew his weapon, and smashed it down at Zero. Zero blocked it with Startled Dragon. Then Smoker soared high into the air, and one illusory smoke arm after another rained down, bombarding Zero relentlessly.

"Pirate, stay here!"

The moment his words fell, a blade of light shot up from below and slashed toward Smoker at tremendous speed. Unable to dodge in time, Smoker was struck in the right arm, and blood immediately gushed out!

"Damn it!"

Even after being cut, Smoker only paused briefly before once again using smoke arms to attack Zero's position. The sight made Luffy's eyes turn red as he called Zero's name and stretched out his rubber arm again to strike Smoker in the sky.

"Luffy, calm down. Look!"

Hearing Sanji's words, Luffy retracted his extended arm and finally saw Zero already standing behind Smoker!

"You're putting up quite a fight, but we have to set sail. So, sorry about this!"

Zero's voice sounded from behind him. Smoker turned around, only for his vision to suddenly be flooded by red light.

Luffy and Sanji saw only a flaming flying dragon emerge from Zero's blade. It struck Smoker, completely engulfing him, then descended before the two of them with unstoppable force!

Boom!

In an instant, centered on where the flying dragon struck the ground, the surrounding bricks and tiles shattered continuously. The terrifying shockwave even forcibly split several nearby buildings in half!

Once the commotion subsided, Zero slowly descended to the ground. Standing at the edge of the crater, he looked at Smoker, who had already fallen unconscious.