Playing the Tactical Game (Continued)

If the Navy's top fighters hadn't grown stronger, it might not have been able to hold this rampaging era in check.

"Hey, Smoker. Still thinking about yesterday?"

Atlas watched Smoker, who was still lost in thought, and shook her head with a teasing smile.

Kyros had already told her roughly what happened.

Strictly speaking, Smoker hadn't lost. They were both Logia users, and with no great gap in strength, forcing a draw wasn't too much of a stretch.

But given the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's destructive power, there had been no way for Smoker to come out of it looking good.

"No, I'm not, Atlas!"

Smoker's face stiffened, then he shook his head furiously.

"I was wondering if that so-called World Destroyer is really that strong. Do we need a Shichibukai coming with us?"

Smoker glanced at the blue figure sitting cross-legged nearby, his face full of confusion.

The World Economy News Paper made the man's destructive power and appetite for destruction clear enough, but did the Navy really need to make such a production of this?

Byrnndi World had been thrown into Impel Down before the Great Pirate Era began, about twenty-two years ago.

He belonged to the same era as Roger and Whitebeard.

But he had left the stage so early that hardly anyone present had much of an impression of him.

"Yeah, I think so too. He's just an old man past his prime."

Atlas sighed. "Too bad Sengoku and the others wouldn't listen to me. They're being far too cautious about Byrnndi World."

"Byrnndi World. A Devil Fruit User whose power increases the speed and size of objects, up to a hundredfold."

Kyros pulled a crumpled intelligence report from somewhere and read it out word by word.

"That thing... looks familiar."

"Admiral, I dug it out of the