All or Nothing! (Please Follow)

White Snake!

Smoker roared and threw a straight punch in midair, unleashing a snake-shaped torrent of white smoke.

"Such a limp attack is useless against me. I hope that the next time we meet, you'll..."

At that moment, Van vanished in an instant and reappeared at the bow.

The next instant, a blast of fist force tore through the stern, sweeping over where he had been standing before finally blowing the roof off the cabin.

"Damn old man, no sense of honor!" Van was secretly alarmed. Good thing I was inside the Operation Room, or I definitely wouldn't have dodged that!

The reason he had not taken Hina and the others hostage was that he feared Zephyr would go mad and pursue him relentlessly.

Judging from that attack, the admiral was clearly enraged. If he had not been worried about hurting innocent people, the refugee ship would likely have already been reduced to rubble.

"Move, now!"

Van wrapped an arm around the mermaid's waist, and with a flash, appeared ahead of the refugee ship.

The sea lay directly below them. Blushing, the mermaid reminded him softly, "Sir! I can't move properly like this. Please change positions, then hold on a little tighter!"

"I forgot to ask earlier. What's your name?"

Van did not stand on ceremony. Using both his hands and feet, he tightly latched onto the mermaid from behind.

The position was far too intimate. It looked as though he were riding on the mermaid's back, preparing to dive into the sea for treasure.

"My name is Blue Moon. I'm an Icefish Mermaid."

The mermaid wiped her burning cheeks. By the time she lowered her hands, her expression had become incomparably resolute.

"I'll definitely get you out of here. Please rest assured, sir!"

"Blue Moon? Then you must be really playful, huh? Hahaha!" Van could not help laughing.

The mermaid was still confused when she heard him continue, "Then I'll be counting on you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the two fell into the sea together, and the Operation Room enveloping the refugee ship vanished at the same time.

"Finally, I'm back in the sea."

Feeling the sea's motherly embrace, Blue Moon was so excited that tears fell on the spot.

But she got a little too excited. With a powerful flick of her icy-blue tail, she began diving rapidly.

"Oh no! I forgot to tell her that if Zephyr isn't chasing us, there's no need to dive all the way to the seabed."

The instant he was enveloped by seawater, Van felt as if his body had been hollowed out, as though all his strength had vanished in an instant.

He knew it was an illusion. His strength had not truly disappeared; it had merely been temporarily sealed by the seawater along with his Devil Fruit powers.

Once he left the sea, his lost strength would quickly return, and his powers would function normally again.

But he could not get out now, nor could he speak and tell Blue Moon about his situation.

"Damn hand! Hold on tight!"

With the last of his strength, Van grabbed the only piece of clothing on Blue Moon's body as though clutching at a lifeline.

Blue Moon noticed the strange feeling against her chest, but she did not pay it much attention at first.

In her view, she had been diving too quickly, and Van was afraid of being flung off, so he had grabbed there.

Even if he had done it on purpose, she would not have minded, much less when it was an act born of urgency.

But only a few seconds later, she felt the weight on her back disappear. The person who had been clinging to her was gone.

"Lord Van?"

Blue Moon stopped in confusion and turned to look behind her.

Van's cheeks were puffed out, and his entire body swayed like a corpse as he slowly sank.

"I actually forgot that sir is a Devil Fruit user... Good thing there aren't any undercurrents here, or it would be troublesome if he got swept away."

Blue Moon felt both guilty and relieved. She hurriedly swam over and held Van in her arms.

So as not to hinder her swimming while ensuring she would not lose him again, she tore off her chest wrap and firmly tied Van against her chest.

"Thanks, I guess!"

Van barely forced out a smile in response to Blue Moon's rescue, though he was still anxious beyond measure.

Though he was much more comfortable than before, if he had a choice, he would rather go above and breathe some fresh air.

"Lord Van is smiling. He must think my method is great."

"Then let's go even deeper. That way, we won't have to fear the Marine admiral chasing after us."

Blue Moon's confidence soared. She dived a little farther before beginning to swim forward.

"What a deadly pleasure!"

The double assault of salty bitterness and fishy sweetness brought tears streaming down Van's face, yet Blue Moon failed to notice at this moment.

He had no other choice. He could only bury his head, close his eyes, and entrust his life and death entirely to her.

"To actually entrust his life to a mermaid he just met... What a crazy guy!"

On the refugee ship, Smoker took several deep puffs of his cigar, barely suppressing the shock in his heart.

As a Devil Fruit user himself, he knew he did not possess the courage or resolve to dive into the sea, especially while conscious and still able to choose otherwise.

"Lord Van..."

Monet and Sugar called out with tears in their voices as they emerged from the cabin, followed by quite a few slaves.

"Why aren't you arresting those damned pirates and slave traders?"

"Why are you making things difficult for our savior?"

"Why..."

The crowd was emotional, growing more unrestrained as they spoke. Yet Smoker never retorted, silently enduring their questions and curses.

Only after the crowd fell quiet did he speak in a muffled voice. "Someone fell into the sea earlier. He was from your ship, right?"

"Fell into the sea?" Monet thought of the boy who had jumped overboard earlier. "Probably."

"He told us what happened to you." Smoker swept his gaze across the crowd. "Please rest assured! We're from Marine Headquarters, unlike those scum from the branch bases."

"Can we go home?" someone asked.

Smoker nodded. "Once the information registration is complete, the Marines will send you home."

Hearing that they could return home, joy appeared on everyone's faces. Only Monet continued asking, "What about Lord Van?"

"Even if he survives, he will still be a target of the Marines. And the bounty hunters of the Underworld will not let him go either."

Those words merely stated the Marines' position and attitude. Smoker himself did not particularly want to get involved.

His temperament was tougher than that of most Marines, and he clearly distinguished good from evil, following his own principles.

At first, when he did not know the full details, he had indeed wanted to capture Van with Hina and the others to obtain the promotion reward.

Later, after learning what had happened from the slave boy, he had hesitated and chosen to stand back and watch.

Just now, Monet and the others had all been questioning the Marines, while Van would rather jump into the sea to escape than use the slaves or Marines as bargaining chips to save his own life.

That stark contrast gave him a preliminary answer: the right and wrong determined by the World Government and the Marine higher-ups through bounty notices did not represent true good and evil.

"Nothing will happen to Lord Van!"

Monet growled at Smoker, startling everyone else into widening their eyes.

At that moment, bedraggled figures began falling from the sky like dumplings.

They were Hina and the others who had fallen into the sea earlier. Zephyr had put their bodies back together and tossed them onto the ship.

"Smoker! Why didn't you make a move earlier?"

"Yeah, why were we the only ones embarrassed while nothing happened to you?"

"This guy must have wanted to reap the benefits, but got too scared to act in the end and let the enemy escape..."

The other elite Marines all voiced their dissatisfaction with Smoker. Hina alone was the exception.

She first took a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, found it soaked through, and tossed it away with a frown.

"Shut up! We were simply outmatched. It has nothing to do with Smoker!"

"If you're not convinced, go capture him yourselves!"