War-Torn

"Strange. Where did that Sand Crocodile go?" Li Ziming frowned. "And without Robin's help, who knows whether Luffy will make it through the desert safely?" He considered following the Straw Hat Pirates, but first pulled a Den Den Mushi from his coat. After making a call, he nodded.

"So Crocodile went straight to the palace. He must really trust those bombs to take care of me and the Straw Hat Pirates." Li Ziming scoffed. "Has he forgotten I'm the Bomb Man?"

With mischief on his mind, Li Ziming took out another Den Den Mushi and made a call. "That street? All right, got it. The Straw Hat Pirates? They've probably vanished beneath the water by now."

After hanging up, Li Ziming smiled oddly. "Tch. It's a shame I didn't get to see the look on Crocodile's face."

With that, Li Ziming found a camel in the city and headed for Alabasta's capital, Alubarna.

"It's always the people who suffer in a war." Li Ziming watched the people fighting in the streets and sighed helplessly. Anyone who came near him was knocked unconscious by the Shockwaves from his explosions.

"Found you, Explosion Man." Smoker stood before Li Ziming.

"That was fast." Li Ziming was surprised, but after a moment, it made sense. In the original story, Crocodile had intercepted them along the way. Without him, the Straw Hat Pirates would naturally make better time.

"But it looks like you've teamed up with the Straw Hat Pirates?" Li Ziming gave Smoker a strange look. "Planning to give up being a Marine and become a pirate?"

"I'd never become a criminal. I just want to know where you learned the Six Powers. Only Marine officers of general rank and those CP9 people learn those techniques." Smoker's face darkened. "Are you with the World Government?"

"You know too much," Li Ziming said grimly. But just as Smoker was about to speak, Li Ziming's expression turned carefree. "I've always wanted to try saying that. It really does make me feel more like a villain."

Seeing Smoker's face darken further, Li Ziming shrugged. "I've got nothing to do with those World Government bastards. Nothing to do with the Marines, either. I learned the Six Powers and Haki from an old man's notes. He'd used them to pay his bar tab."

"Hmph. If you're a Marine traitor, I'll bring you to justice!" Smoker said coldly.

"Well said!" Li Ziming applauded. "But I'm already wanted, aren't I? You don't need to prove I'm a traitor to bring me to justice."

"Uh..." Smoker froze, seemingly wondering why the question mattered so much to him.

"All right." Li Ziming readied himself to fight. "Smoker, you didn't come here just to ask me that, did you? Even pirates are trying to save this country. Don't you think you should do something too?"

"I don't need you to tell me that." Smoker's upper body turned to smoke. "White Snake!"

"It won't work. The Shockwaves from my explosions can blow your smoke away. Don't think your Logia powers alone are enough to beat me." Tiny explosions kept erupting around Li Ziming, forming an Explosion Barrier over his skin.

"My attacks aren't that simple!" Smoker suddenly emerged from the smoke behind Li Ziming and thrust his Jitte at him.

"Using the smoke to hide yourself before striking..." Li Ziming blocked the blow with Armament Haki. "Not a bad idea, but don't you think your attacks are a little predictable?"

"I don't!" The surrounding smoke formed countless fists, all of them smashing toward Li Ziming at once.

"Is that it?" Li Ziming raised an eyebrow and used the Shockwaves from his explosions to hold the smoke at bay again.

"Not even close!" Smoker suddenly put more force behind his attack. His Jitte broke through Li Ziming's defense and struck him across the body.

The Seastone drained Li Ziming's strength so thoroughly that he could barely muster his Haki. The blow landed without any defense to soften it, and he felt several ribs crack.

Smoker pressed his advantage, swinging his Jitte at Li Ziming again.

"Again?" Li Ziming frowned. Unlike the others, he hadn't grown up in the world of pirates. How long had it been since he arrived here? Developing his Devil Fruit powers this far had been hard enough; he simply couldn't take much punishment. Another blow like that, and he knew he would be out of the fight.

"Looks like I'll have to try something special." Li Ziming tilted his head back and poured all the liquor in his hand into his mouth. The alcohol took effect at once. His mind was perfectly clear, but his whole body felt as if it were burning.

Smoker seemed to sense the danger too and sped up his attack.

Li Ziming used Soru to escape the strike, only for countless fists of smoke to appear around him again.

This time, Li Ziming neither dodged nor blocked. He let the fists batter him, and in doing so, seized the handle of the Jitte. "Art... is an explosion!"

At his words, the Jitte exploded, scattering into countless fragments.

"How..." Smoker stared at the Jitte in disbelief. He had never expected a weapon made of Seastone to be blown to pieces. Before he could finish speaking, the fragments lodged in his body, leaving him unable to move.

"My powers can't act directly on Seastone, true. That doesn't mean the explosions I create can't damage it." Li Ziming offered an explanation for how he had shattered the Seastone. "The heat and pressure from the explosion broke it apart. As for why the Seastone didn't affect me..." He shrugged. The thin Explosion Barrier covering his body took a lot of stamina to maintain, but it worked remarkably well.

"All right, let's go." Li Ziming hoisted Smoker onto his shoulder, carefully keeping the Seastone fragments from touching him.

"Where are you taking me?" Smoker demanded.

"To your men. You don't want to die in the middle of this fighting, do you?" Li Ziming shrugged and carried Smoker off in search of the Marines.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Smoker could no longer make sense of Li Ziming's actions.

"Ha, it's just a plan. One that follows Crocodile's thinking. And I didn't come up with it, so don't blame me." Li Ziming hurried to disclaim responsibility.

"So you are plotting something." Smoker nodded, then said to Li Ziming, "Get me two cigars."

"No. I hate the smell of smoke." Li Ziming refused without a second thought. "And who do you think you are? Why the hell should I do what you say?"

Smoker looked ready to say more, but the scene ahead stopped him.

People fought everywhere. Bodies fell one after another, blood and flesh flying. It was a scene straight out of hell.

"Let's go." Li Ziming shook his head and started to carry Smoker away.

"You're not going to intervene?" Smoker frowned. "You're strong enough."

"Being strong is one thing. What you can do with that strength is another. Take the three admirals: Akainu and Kizaru can't necessarily do what Aokiji can." Li Ziming shook his head. His powers were good for killing, but saving people? He could use a Shockwave to give someone a concussion and knock them out, but doing that to a whole crowd was exponentially harder than doing it to one person.

"Besides, it looks like this war will be over soon." Li Ziming watched dust rise from collapsing buildings all around the square. He guessed the Straw Hat Pirates had clashed with the officers of Baroque Works and probably won.

"But will it be that simple?" Smoker's words suddenly reminded Li Ziming that, if he remembered correctly, there was still a massive bomb somewhere nearby.

"Mm, your men are here too." Li Ziming saw Marines rushing toward them and set Smoker down. "I'll be going, then."

"You bastard! I'll catch you!" Smoker shouted angrily.

"Anytime." Li Ziming waved without concern and disappeared from Smoker's sight.

"So you've made it to the palace underground?" Li Ziming took out a Den Den Mushi and made a call. "Then you've seen the Poneglyph? Good. See? I was right, wasn't I? Mm-hmm, I know. I'm going to deal with that bomb now. Be careful yourself. You got the antidote from Kureha, but Crocodile's strong in his own right. Straw Hat went after him? Then you should be safe, but stay on guard. All right, I'll hang up." Li Ziming finally ended the call and looked up at the clock tower ahead. "Huh. Should I give them a surprise?" Clearly, his mischievous streak was acting up again. The only question was who would be unlucky this time.