One Piece: Starting by Refusing Red-Hair's Invitation

Without money, he couldn't buy wine.

Without wine to drink, he'd get a terrible headache...

So.

After all that, he still had to make a trip to the Marine base.

"Fine," Lin Mo said flatly.

Rayleigh laughed. "Then I'll wait for you at the tavern. Hahaha!"

With that,

Rayleigh turned and headed toward the tavern without a worry.

Lin Mo dragged the twenty-one people along the road to the Marine base.

As he passed through Central Square, he drew plenty of attention.

"Look, what's that kid doing? How is he strong enough to drag so many people? And who are they?"

"Hey, isn't that the thug from West Street with a thirty-thousand-Beli bounty?"

"And those Bounty Criminals from East Street are in there too! Don't tell me everyone that kid's dragging has a bounty on them."

"Looks like it. Wait... why does that kid look so familiar?"

"Ah! I remember! He's the one who caught a bullet with his bare hand this morning!"

"I remember him too! My God, who is that kid? He caught a bullet barehanded, jumped from that height without a scratch, and now he's caught all these Bounty Criminals. He's incredible..."

Lin Mo kept walking in silence, ignoring the voices around him.

At last, he reached Smoker's Marine base.

The Marines stationed there saw a child dragging twenty-one unconscious people all by himself.

Every one of them stared in disbelief.

"Kid, who are all these people you're dragging?" one Marine couldn't help asking.

"Bounty Criminals," Lin Mo said grimly.

"What?" The Marine gaped. "You mean every one of them has a bounty?"

"Yeah."

"My God, did you catch them all by yourself?"

"No."

"Ahem. Then let us help you take them to Colonel Smoker's office."

Lin Mo gave a faint nod.

Several Marines eagerly came over and helped carry the Bounty Criminals into Smoker's office.

Smoker's office wasn't very large to begin with.

The twenty-one unconscious people took up more than half of it.

Lin Mo didn't have to wait long.

Soon, Smoker's voice came from the hallway outside.

"Did anyone come looking for me while I was gone?"

"No, Colonel!"

"Aokiji... Forget it. Go thaw out those frozen Pirates first."

"Yes, Colonel!"

Then,

Smoker opened his office door.

When he saw the mountain of people piled inside,

he stopped dead in the doorway, his mouth twitching. "Someone tell me what's going on here!"

Loguetown: Smoker's Challenge

Loguetown was the town closest to the entrance to the Grand Line.

That was precisely why

so many Bounty Criminals hoping to reach the Grand Line had gathered there.

Where there were Bounty Criminals, especially a lot of them, there were Bounty Hunters.

Ever since Smoker had been transferred to Loguetown,

Bounty Hunters had shown up every few days with captives, asking him to sign off on their rewards.

Most brought in two or three Bounty Criminals at a time.

But what was this?

"Ah, Colonel Smoker, you're back!" A Marine hurried over to report. "Colonel, they all have bounties. We've checked!"

What? Every one of them?

Smoker froze for a moment.

His gaze immediately landed on Lin Mo, who was leaning against the far wall and drinking wine.

That kid!

Smoker's brow tightened.

He circled the pile of people in the middle of the office and walked toward Lin Mo.

"Kid, did you catch all these guys?"

Lin Mo lowered his Wine Gourd and gave Smoker an indifferent look, then a calm nod.

Though he'd only caught half of them.

If he said so, Smoker might get suspicious.

Smoker narrowed his eyes. "Are you a Bounty Hunter?"

"I'm a traveler."

"A traveler?" Smoker didn't believe him. "What kind of traveler catches this many Bounty Criminals? Are you that short on money?"

Lin Mo didn't deny it. "Yeah."

Smoker still had doubts about Lin Mo's identity.

But there was one thing he felt sure of.

The kid probably wasn't a Pirate.

"Hey, what's the total bounty on these guys?" Smoker asked, glancing at the Marine by the door.

The Marine snapped to attention. "Reporting, sir! Four million, five hundred and fifty thousand Beli in total!"

"Get them all registered."

"Reporting, sir! They're already registered!"

Smoker fell silent.

"Bring me the paperwork to sign," he said.

"Yes, Colonel!"

The Marine immediately handed over the bounty forms he'd already filled out.

Smoker signed his name and passed the forms to Lin Mo.

Lin Mo accepted them without hesitation.

Mission accomplished. Time to go!

But as he moved to leave,

Smoker blocked his way. "I have more questions. What's your name?"

"Lin Mo," he answered flatly.

"Age?"

"Ten."

"Hm? Ten?" Smoker paused, then asked, "When did you start training in Armament Haki?"

Lin Mo stared at him. "Less than a month ago."

"What?" Smoker blinked, then burst out laughing. "Haha! Couldn't you come up with a better lie? There's no way someone who's trained in Armament Haki for only a month could catch a bullet barehanded."

Lin Mo couldn't be bothered to explain.

Just then,

from outside the office,

a lazy voice drifted in.

"Well, well? Why are there so many people piled up in here?" Aokiji appeared in the doorway.

When he spotted Lin Mo in Smoker's office, he scratched his head. "Huh? He really did come?"

"What do you mean, he really came?" Smoker asked, puzzled.

Aokiji waved a hand. "Nothing. It's not important."

"So what are you doing in Loguetown?" Smoker asked.

"Can't I visit without a reason? I happened to be passing through, so I came to see you."

"Good timing." Smoker clenched his cigar between his teeth. "The anniversary of Roger's death is in a few days. Plenty of Pirates who admire him are bound to come pay their respects. If you have nothing else to do, stay and help catch them."

Aokiji looked put out. "I didn't come to catch Pirates. That's your job. Catch them yourself."

"You're a Marine too. Isn't catching Pirates your duty?"

"Ah, what a pain." Aokiji scratched his head, showing no enthusiasm at all. "I was just out for a walk and happened to pass by. They're only a few small-time Pirates. You can handle them."

Smoker said nothing.

"You're an Admiral from Marine Headquarters. Is that really something you should say?"

"You haven't changed a bit." Aokiji waved him off. "Fine, fine. Since you put it that way, I'll help you this once."

"What do you mean, you'll help me this once?" A vein bulged on Smoker's forehead. "You're a Marine too! Catching Pirates is already your job!"

"All right, all right, I get it. Don't be mad. What about this kid?" Aokiji asked, pointing at Lin Mo as he headed for the door.

Smoker narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly, his lower body turned to smoke.

In a flash, he appeared in the doorway and blocked Lin Mo again.

Smoker had eaten the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, a Logia Devil Fruit that let him transform his body into smoke.

He could also make his smoke solid to trap enemies.

His power might have looked troublesome to deal with,

but in the world of Pirates, it was hardly one of the more impressive Logia abilities.

That much was clear from the fact that, after he followed Luffy into the Grand Line, he never won a fight.

"Lin Mo, you can leave after you've answered my questions," Smoker said, standing firmly in his way.

Lin Mo said nothing.

"You're not from Loguetown, are you?" Smoker asked.

Lin Mo had no desire to talk to him, but refusing to cooperate would only mean more trouble from the man.

After a moment's thought, he nodded.