Colonel Smoker

Artificial Devil Fruits already existed now. As for whether there were identical fruit abilities, Moyun did not know.

Perhaps they had already appeared, but there simply had not been any news.

"I understand. I'll work hard."

Hisoka puffed out his thin little chest. He looked about seven years old and stood around 1.2 meters tall.

Moyun was quite satisfied with that. At last, he was no longer the shortest male in the group.

Never mind that Hisoka was only seven. Moyun simply ignored that fact.

"Try turning your left hand into vines and attacking with it."

Following Moyun's instructions, Hisoka slowly transformed his left hand into vines. The process was somewhat slow, but he had succeeded nonetheless.

"Looks pretty good. Keep training hard, Hisoka."

Such a great ability as the Vine-Vine Fruit absolutely could not be wasted.

"We seem to be almost there. I can already see the shore."

Kuina wiped the sweat from her forehead. She had just finished her morning training and was preparing to change clothes.

Moyun had naturally seen it too, and a faint sense of anticipation rose in his heart.

After all, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Dragon, was finally about to appear here. In a sense, this would be Moyun's first time meeting a big shot.

He wondered whether Luffy and his group had arrived yet.

"Everyone, pack up. We'll be getting off the ship soon. Buggy, you should leave quickly later. I can see your ship is here too."

Moyun had not actually seen it, but he was certain that Buggy's men had to be on this island.

"Just wait and be scared! I'll be able to teach you a lesson soon!"

Buggy laughed excitedly, while Moyun did not even spare him a glance. That left Buggy deeply dissatisfied.

After all, Smoker was still on this island. To be safe, Moyun found a secluded pier to dock at.

Unexpectedly, there was another ship here as well: the Going Merry.

"Looks like Luffy has already arrived. He probably got here not long ago."

Moyun drew that conclusion because the island was still completely quiet, with no major commotion yet.

Smoker probably had not discovered Luffy yet.

"Olvia, Kuina, remember to put on your masks and cloaks."

Moyun intended to keep a low profile. He had come here merely to meet Dragon, and when they had been in Nami's hometown last time, Captain Nezumi had probably reported him as well.

Yet for some reason, there was no bounty on him.

Luffy's thirty-million bounty should have been everywhere by now.

Perhaps Moyun had never defeated any pirates with high bounties, so the Marines did not take him seriously.

By the time Moyun and the others disembarked, Buggy had already vanished without a trace.

"Moyun, that big-nosed guy ran away."

Hisoka rubbed his nose and looked up at Moyun. Why was he not going after him?

"It's fine. He should run. It would be strange if he didn't. Let's go buy some supplies."

"I want ice cream."

"Buy it, buy it, buy it!"

The group headed toward Loguetown. At that moment, Luffy was searching all over town for Roger's execution platform.

"Do you know where the Pirate King's execution platform is?"

"Who are you? How come I've never seen you on this island before?"

With two cigars clenched between his teeth, Smoker frowned as he looked at Luffy.

Why did this kid look somewhat familiar? He felt like he had seen him somewhere before.

"Oh, I just arrived in this town. I wanted to take a look at the place where the Pirate King was executed."

Luffy grinned at Smoker, but Smoker did not speak for a long while.

"You don't know either?"

Luffy scratched his head in distress. He had been searching for quite some time, and somehow he had wandered all the way to this pier. It seemed he still needed to find someone and ask.

"Follow the direction of the smoke."

Just as Luffy was about to leave, Smoker spoke indifferently.

"Thanks!"

Luffy froze for a moment, then quickly understood as he looked at the smoke rising from Smoker's cigars.

Smoker silently watched Luffy's departing back without saying anything.

"Colonel Smoker, what do we do next?"

"Search. What else can we do?"

Smoker shot the speaking Marine a glare. He really had no initiative at all!

Meanwhile, Moyun quietly watched the scene from a corner not far away.

Sure enough, this was where Luffy and Smoker first met. Buggy had likely already reunited with his subordinates.

Once Luffy found the execution platform, Buggy should make his move as well.

"Why are we hiding here?"

"Because we're eavesdropping."

Moyun lowered his head to look at Hisoka, who was curious about everything, and vigorously ruffled his golden hair.

Just as Moyun had guessed, Buggy drifted around the town and soon found his pirate crew.

"Lord Buggy! We finally found you! Boohoohoo!"

Mohji looked at Buggy in delight, rushed forward, threw his arms around Buggy, and burst into tears.

"Get off me! Why didn't any of you come looking for me? You've actually been sightseeing around this town the whole time! Do you even respect me as your captain?"

Seeing how carefree they looked, Buggy was instantly enraged. Did they know what kind of days their great Captain Buggy had endured lately?

He had been bullied every day by two tiny brats!

But now, he could finally get his revenge.

"We were following Straw Hat Boy here. You don't know yet, do you? Straw Hat Boy is on this island too, and his bounty has already reached thirty million!"

As Mohji spoke, he took out Luffy's wanted poster.

Buggy's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Had he been cut off from the world for too long? When had all this happened?

"What exactly is going on?"

"I heard that Straw Hat Boy defeated Arlong, so his bounty shot up all at once."

"I see. Then let's catch that brat first."

Buggy weighed the pros and cons between Moyun and Luffy. Luffy's head was worth more, so he would catch Luffy first.

"But Captain Buggy, can we beat Straw Hat Boy?"

Mohji looked at Buggy, hesitant to speak. Why was the captain, who had only just returned after being sent flying by Straw Hat Boy, so confident?

"What did you say?"

Buggy's expression instantly darkened. His subordinate actually dared question his ability!

It seemed Mohji's skin had been itching ever since Buggy had been away.

"I'm the great Buggy! How could I possibly lose to some brat wearing a straw hat?"

Buggy grabbed Mohji by the collar and stared into his eyes.

"Why get so angry?"

A woman's voice suddenly rang out. A beautiful woman in a large hat was leaning quietly against the wall, watching them.

When had she appeared? Buggy had not even noticed.