Gawain VS Smoker! (Tuesday Recommendation Slot Data PK, Please Follow!!!)

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After hanging up, Gawain raised his eyes toward the distant sea.

Thick smoke churned, completely obscuring his vision. Only the roar of an engine drew ever closer.

At this moment, the influence a Logia could exert over its surroundings was displayed to the fullest, far beyond anything Gawain had previously imagined.

His Observation Haki had only just awakened and was not yet fully under his control, let alone usable in actual combat.

But even by instinct alone, Gawain could sense the savage, beast-like presence concealed within the dense fog.

Kansei Masamune in his palm had begun trembling with excitement. Krieg had clearly failed to satisfy it, but the opponent before him certainly could!

There was no need to probe.

Gawain could judge the incoming man's strength: the same as his own, Bronze-tier power that stood head and shoulders above everyone else in the East Blue!

"He's here!"

Gawain's gaze sharpened as a tall figure holding a Seastone Jitte suddenly shot out from the billowing white smoke.

Who else could it be but Smoker?

Using the thrust of the thick smoke erupting behind him, he abruptly accelerated, moving so fast the eye could barely follow.

His exaggerated Seastone Jitte stabbed forward with the momentum.

His first move was a killing blow!

He was clearly supremely confident in his own strength!

"How truly... arrogant~"

The corner of Gawain's lips curled into a faint smile. Rising battle intent made him grip Kansei Masamune tighter, veins bulging across the back of his hand.

Smoker was the strongest opponent he had ever encountered. Even setting aside his nearly unsolvable Logia abilities, that remained true. After all, how could a man born from Marine Headquarters and personally trained by Zephyr possibly be mediocre?

He had suffered plenty of losses in the original story, but that was in the New World, where monsters roamed everywhere—not the East Blue.

"Now that's a performance worthy of the White Hunter's title!"

Gawain sighed inwardly, but the long blade in his hand darted out like a nimble serpent, knocking aside Smoker's thrusting Jitte.

Screech—!

Blade scraped against steel, sparks flashing through the air.

Their gazes met.

Smoker's eyes were filled only with extreme gravity. In that brief instant, he reached a startling—or perhaps expected—conclusion:

The man before him was a creature from an entirely different dimension than the East Blue's other pirates.

That strike had borrowed its momentum from his charge and given him the initiative, yet Gawain had still neutralized it with such ease.

Someone capable of that was not merely known in the East Blue; even on the Grand Line, he would have made a name for himself!

"How can the East Blue have someone like you?!"

Gawain smiled faintly.

"Didn't a monster like Roger once come from here as well?"

"Roger was an exception. He was different from everyone else."

Smoker's gaze was icy, but he had no desire to waste further words on Gawain. Seeing his first strike fail, he swept the Seastone Jitte in his hand sideways like a blade.

After Gawain evaded with a sidestep, Smoker pressed his attack, the Jitte dancing through the air and casting countless black shadows that bore down on Gawain like a curtain of rain!

The Jitte had been designed specifically to counter blades, and the one in Smoker's hands had been custom-made to suit his status as a Devil Fruit User.

Besides being the natural bane of Devil Fruit Users, the Seastone embedded at its tip was hard enough to withstand the cuts of famed blades!

The next instant.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The dense barrage fell like raindrops, smashing the deck beneath their feet to pieces.

Yet amid such relentless attacks, Gawain's expression did not change in the slightest. Only his body and heart gradually heated up as his dormant fighting instincts were fully awakened under Smoker's assault.

Compared to Krieg, Smoker was the opponent truly worth fighting.

"Come!"

After a thunderous roar, Smoker's descending offensive suddenly halted.

Because the long blade in Gawain's hand swung even faster, blocking every downward slash Smoker delivered from midair!

Sparks flew everywhere. Both men, with battle intent surging within them, swung their weapons on instinct.

In combat at such speed, thought and hesitation were nothing but burdens that slowed one's attacks.

Only by entrusting everything to instinct! To the will to fight! To your desire for victory!

Could you find that fleeting opportunity to win amidst an increasingly fierce battle.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

With every collision, Smoker felt his arms trembling uncontrollably. An unsettling realization surfaced in his mind:

"What's going on?!"

"This guy is faster. His sword swings are at least thirty percent faster than at the start."

Along with Smoker's confusion came a complete reversal in momentum...

Whoosh!

A sharp sound tore through the air. Kansei Masamune swept past Smoker's face, nearly splitting it down the middle.

Yet not a drop of blood spilled. Only white smoke churned, and the wound healed in an instant.

"Just as I thought, a Logia's elementalization is troublesome."

Gawain sighed, yet his blade showed no mercy as it carved countless wounds across Smoker's body—all of which were evaded through elementalization.

This special ability, which could almost completely negate physical attacks, gave Logias the highest floor among the three types of Devil Fruits. In an unexpected encounter, facing one without Armament Haki was practically unsolvable.

After this battle, he had to put learning Armament Haki on the agenda.

A trace of gravity appeared in Gawain's eyes.

An ability where I can hit you but you are not allowed to hit me was practically cheating. Worse still, it was truly infuriating to fight against.

"It seems you know about Logia abilities as well."

"Without Armament Haki, even if you can suppress me in technique, you cannot inflict any damage on me!"

Smoker's expression remained blank, but inwardly, he was profoundly shocked by the strength Gawain had displayed.

He was not from the East Blue to begin with, but an elite personally trained by Zephyr at Marine Headquarters.

The places where he was meant to fight freely were the Grand Line and the New World, yet now he was being suppressed in the East Blue to the point where he had to rely on his ability to recover the advantage?!

If Hina and the others from his class learned of this, he would be nailed to the pillar of shame!

"You're too dangerous! I can't let you continue!"

Smoker's gaze darkened further as killing intent arose within him.

"White Smoke Launcher!"

He took a deep draw on his Cigar and abruptly activated the Smoke-Smoke Fruit's power.

Billowing white smoke spread in all directions, condensing into countless smoke columns like white serpents as they swept toward Gawain!

"White—Snake!"

Gawain sprang backward, but the long blade in his hand slashed through the air, firing a silver-white blade aura that instantly blew apart all the smoke Smoker had gathered.

Without Armament Haki coating it, intangible white smoke was still far too weak in terms of destructive power.

Yet after the surrounding smoke had fully dispersed, Gawain discovered that Smoker had long since vanished from the distance. He suddenly looked up.

The tip of the Jitte grew larger and larger in his eyes...

"I've got you!"

In midair.

A smile had already formed at the corner of Smoker's lips.

White smoke was weak in destructive power, but in the East Blue, where Observation Haki had yet to become widespread, it was incomparably useful for feints!

"Don't be a pirate in your next life!"