Smoker

Following Simon's gaze, they indeed saw warships appearing around the island, closing in on them. Clearly, the Marines intended to force them onto the island.

The warships did not want to let them escape, nor did they want to destroy their ship. Instead, they surrounded it from every direction.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

Cannon fire exploded behind them. Rogge and the others made no attempt to intercept the shells, because they were not aimed at the ship. They were meant to force them onto the island.

So Rogge and the others were not worried. They leisurely headed toward the island anyway. Since they had already been surrounded, the moment they tried to turn around and leave, the warships would probably start firing at their ship.

They were not afraid, but there was no need to fear the Marines either. It was not as though they had never fought Marines before. What was there to be afraid of?

The ship rocked with the waves as it headed toward the deserted island. The island was clearly not very large, lush and verdant, though unfortunately uninhabited.

The Marine encirclement gradually tightened. Once they watched the pirate ship dock, the warships stopped advancing and merely surrounded the vessel. On the shore, Smoker sat atop a wooden crate with two cigars clenched between his teeth, his hands resting on his knees and his fingers interlaced.

"So you were waiting for us here." Rogge walked off the ship with his hands behind his head and addressed Smoker.

"Marshall Rogge." Smoker stared at him.

"Don't call me that. Marshall is just a surname I made up. My surname is Law, and my name is Rogge," Rogge said.

"That is none of my concern. The wealth from Earthfire Island is still on the ship, right? I am here to arrest you." Smoker stood up and clenched his fists.

"That depends on whether you have what it takes. I do not want to waste words either. If you want to fight, then try it. Is the lady beside you fighting too?" Rogge asked with a smile as he looked at Hina.

Hina said nothing. She simply looked at Rogge and silently lit a cigarette.

"Smoking is bad for you. A girl who smokes gets cigarette breath. I do not like women who taste like smoke when kissing," Rogge said.

"You do not even have a woman. Have you kissed anyone before?" Jelly could not help asking from behind Rogge.

"Shut up. Can't I fantasize about it?" Rogge snapped.

"Actually, women who smoke do not taste too bad when you kiss them," Ham said with a grin.

"How would you know?" Rogge tilted his head, his wide-eyed expression looking remarkably like Billy's as he stared at Ham in utter surprise.

"I will take you sometime." Ham gave him a mysterious smile.

"You are the best, bro." Rogge patted Ham on the shoulder, and the two exchanged smiles that only they understood.

Smoker felt that these people were beyond saving. They were actually chatting casually right in front of him. Were they not taking him seriously, or had they simply given up hope?

From what he knew of pirates, these guys were definitely not the latter.

Buzz!

Smoker tucked his arm at his waist, and white smoke billowed from his wrist, merging with the cigar smoke at the corner of his mouth.

"A Logia Devil Fruit user." Simon looked at the white smoke in Smoker's hand enviously.

"Unfortunately, it is a trash Logia Devil Fruit. If he had the abilities of one of the Navy Admirals, I would have run without a word. But this guy's power is nothing to fear," Rogge said with a light laugh.

White Snake.

Before Rogge had even finished speaking, Smoker launched his fist directly at him. It shot forward like a cannonball, trailing white smoke as it sped straight toward Rogge.

"Are you courting death?" Rogge raised his fist and threw a punch as well. The two fists collided.

"Smoker, be careful!" Hina warned from behind him.

Bang!

Rogge's fist collided with Smoker's, but Smoker's fist suddenly burst apart like a smoke bomb. White smoke instantly enveloped all of them.

Puff! Puff! Puff!!!

Ham and the others immediately leaped out of the smoke. No one wanted to stay inside when they could not see anything.

"Where is the captain?" Simon asked in surprise after looking around.

"He is probably still in there." Jelly understood Rogge better and answered calmly.

Kill!

The Marine soldiers charged forward and attacked the six of them.

Ham and the others could no longer worry about Rogge. The Marine soldiers swarmed them, and they had to deal with the Marines. Hina also joined the battle, with Jelly as her opponent.

Rogge had told them about Hina's ability. Being restrained by it would be troublesome. Jelly's ability was well suited to dealing with Hina, and he would not need to worry about getting bound. He could have his vines deal with Hina's Black Cage.

Within the white smoke, Rogge watched his surroundings warily. Smoker's presence remained constantly beside him. Although everything was a blank expanse of white, Rogge did not need his eyes to track his opponent.

"Over here."

Rogge searched for Smoker's position. The white smoke could not attack him. It was not magma or ice; smoke had no offensive power at all. Rogge waited for Smoker to make his move.

Sure enough, Smoker was not someone who could hold back. He appeared behind Rogge, wielding his Jitte and thrusting it fiercely at him.

But he did not know that all his movements seemed painfully slow in Rogge's eyes. Rogge did not even need to look. He tilted his head aside to dodge, spun around sharply, and drove his elbow hard into Smoker's chest.

Bang!

It was still just a cloud of smoke. A large hole opened in Smoker's chest. Without Armament Haki, it was far too difficult to hit a Logia Devil Fruit user with fists alone.

Whoosh!

Smoker spun his weapon and raised the Jitte, smashing it down viciously at Rogge's head.

Unfortunately, Rogge still dodged easily. The two were like characters in a turn-based game: Smoker could not land a hit, while Rogge could not hit Smoker with his fists. One could evade, while the other could turn into an element.

"Let's see how many more times you can dodge." Smoker was angered. Vast amounts of smoke poured from his body, forming a hand that seized Rogge's body.

Smoker instantly appeared before Rogge and thrust the Jitte toward his stomach.

Bang!

Rogge took Smoker's blow head-on. But before Smoker could celebrate, Rogge had already grabbed the Jitte's shaft. Rogge remembered that only a small part of the weapon's end was made of Seastone. The rest was not Seastone, or it would not have been kicked apart beneath the Pirate Empress's foot.

Shatter!

Crack!

Smoker watched helplessly as his weapon was smashed to pieces. Before he could recover, Rogge had already raised his fist and struck violently at his head.

Puff!

Smoker was shattered directly, his body dispersing into vast clouds of smoke as he hid again.

"There is not enough oxygen." Rogge frowned. The oxygen in the smoke had been cut off, and he could already feel himself running short of air. He had to leave the smoke's range, so he rushed out of it. Yet Smoker's smoke continued following him.