Looking at the Marines lying all around him, Smoker stared at Liu Qing's clone in disbelief and shouted, "Conqueror's Haki? Impossible! You haven't even left the East Blue! How could you have Haki, let alone control it so precisely?"
The clone said, "Why so many questions? Your horizons are just too narrow. Now have a proper fight with our traveler and combatants. Don't worry, we're not pirates who commit every crime imaginable. We won't touch anyone who's unconscious, so fight without worrying." With that, he ignored Smoker, jumped onto a rooftop, and sat cross-legged, ready to watch their battle.
Smoker drew the Jitte from his back, his eyes fixed on Luffy and the others. Before anyone could react, he used White Smoke Launcher and charged straight at them.
Watching Smoker close in at high speed, Luffy and the other two each unleashed their own attacks.
"Gum-Gum Gatling!"
"Swordless Style: Tornado!"
"Diable Jambe: Breast!"
All three gave low shouts and attacked Smoker in turn.
Watching the three attack, Smoker said disdainfully, "It's useless. Even if I stand still, you can't hit me. Just surrender quietly."
Just as Smoker was showing off, he suddenly saw a layer of pitch-black substance appear on their hands. Before he could react, a string of attacks struck him.
"Urgh!" Smoker spat out a mouthful of blood and pointed at them shakily. "A sneak attack! No honor at all! You tricked and ambushed an honest man!"
"Why do all of you know Armament Haki? With your circumstances, you couldn't possibly have encountered an ability like Haki this early," Smoker said, unwilling to accept it.
Luffy laughed heartily. "White Smoke Guy, you mean Haki? That's simple! We met Dracule Mihawk of the Shichibukai at the Baratie. Liu Qing fought him, then asked him for the Haki training method."
Zoro continued, "You really are unlucky. We only learned Haki yesterday afternoon. Right now, we can only coat a fist or a palm."
"Exactly, exactly. We were about to leave, too. Why did you have to stop us? Now you've gotten yourself beaten up," Sanji said smugly.
"So what if you know Haki? I can turn into my element on my own! Ahhh! Die!" Smoker climbed to his feet and charged again.
Luffy shouted, "Gum-Gum Gatling!"
Zoro shouted, "Swordless Style: Wild Slashing!"
Sanji shouted, "Wild Kicking!"
Smoker: "..."
A barrage of bangs, cracks, and thuds rang out.
Accompanying them were Smoker's screams. "Ahhh! Fuck! Don't-don't hit my face!"
"Not down there! Don't, don't, don't! Don't hit down there! Ahh! It hurts!"
"Fuck! You're ambushing me again!"
Clearly, Smoker's deliberate elemental transformation couldn't withstand the three attacking together. Out of every ten attacks, he could basically dodge two or three, but still had to take the other seven or eight.
Another half hour passed. Smoker had been getting beaten for almost a full hour. Now he lay on the ground, his clothes in tatters and his trousers beaten clean off him. His entire body was covered in bruises, especially his face, which was so swollen that even his mother wouldn't have recognized him if she were standing there.
"That was one satisfying fight!" The three straightened from their beating stances and spoke in unison.
"Knowing Haki really does make you stronger than not knowing it," Zoro remarked.
"Yeah! Who would've thought a few types of Haki could make such a huge difference?" Sanji agreed.
"Friends, we're setting sail! Onward to the Grand Line!" Luffy shouted excitedly.
Paying Smoker no further attention, everyone ran toward the Going Merry.
After Luffy and the others ran off, the Wood Clone came over and crouched in front of Smoker. "Young Smoker, only Haki can reign supreme over everything. You can't dominate the seas with Devil Fruit abilities. Go, find the Fleet Admiral and learn Haki." With that, the Wood Clone dispelled the Clone Technique, turning into a small piece of wood right before Smoker's eyes.
Smoker picked up the wood and held it in his hand. A firm conviction rose in his heart. He took out his Den Den Mushi and called Sengoku.
"Weslie, Tibbie, Paddi, Sparky! Slowy, Softie, Wolnie, Wolffy!" A Den Den Mushi ringtone rang out in the Fleet Admiral's Office at Marine Headquarters.
"Click!" The call was answered.
"Hello, this is the Fleet Admiral's Office at Marine Headquarters. I'm Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Do you have something to report?" Sengoku kept his eyes on the documents on his desk as he picked up the Den Den Mushi with one hand.
"This is the East Blue, cough, cough-the East Blue's Loguetown. I-I'm Smoker, cough, cough. The Straw Hat Pirates just came to Loguetown. I-I-"
The Fleet Admiral interrupted Smoker excitedly. "You caught them all? You're that strong? Was Liu Qing absent, and you caught Luffy and the others? Find a way to stall Liu Qing. I'll send Kizaru over to support you right now. Garp happens to be nearby, too. I'll tell him to go as well. You've earned major credit!" With that, Sengoku was about to hang up.
Seeing things going wrong, Smoker didn't dare keep speaking in broken phrases and blurted everything out in one breath. "No, no! Wait, Fleet Admiral Sengoku! I didn't catch them! Liu Qing got the Haki training method from Dracule Mihawk, and all the Straw Hat Pirates' top fighters have learned Haki! They beat me until I barely looked human! Boohoo!" The more Smoker thought about it after speaking, the angrier he became, and he burst into tears.
"Boohoo! Fleet Admiral, I request permission to learn both types of Haki! And I want to leave Loguetown! I want to form a pursuit squad! I'm going to capture the Straw Hat Pirates!"
Sengoku sighed. "Oh, fine, fine. Approved. Wait in Loguetown for a couple of days. Garp should reach you within that time. I'll contact him shortly. Just ask him for the Haki training method when he arrives. As for Loguetown, I'll have Garp stay there for a few days until Headquarters sends someone to take over your position. Handle the rest as you see fit." It wasn't that Sengoku wanted to agree, but he knew that bastard Smoker too well. Even if you objected, he wouldn't bother listening.
Then Sengoku picked up the Den Den Mushi, explained the situation to Garp, and hung up to resume his work.
Meanwhile, over with Luffy...
Everyone ran back aboard the Going Merry together. The instant they boarded, the Going Merry set off toward the Grand Line.
At the same time, at an underworld gathering place in Loguetown, Bartolomeo arrived at his grandmother's house with a group of his followers.
Bartolomeo cautiously said to his grandmother, "Grandma, I want to follow in my idol Liu Qing's footsteps. I'm planning to go out to sea as a pirate. Do you have any advice?"
"Advice, my ass! If you lot go out to sea, you probably won't even know what killed you!" the old woman scolded.
"Aw, don't be like that, Grandma. How about this? I'll take half my followers out to sea and leave the other half to look after your daily needs. I promise I won't do anything dangerous," Bartolomeo said cautiously.
"Since you want to go out to sea so badly, go ahead. Take this Den Den Mushi. Call me if there's anything you don't understand. I know plenty about things at sea. It might save your lives. You'd better protect this Den Den Mushi. If it dies, just you wait." As she spoke, his grandmother took out a Den Den Mushi and handed it to Bartolomeo with that warning.
She continued, "The ship I used to sail is in the storeroom downstairs. Find your own way to get it out to sea. It's yours. Stay safe."
"Don't worry, Grandma! We'll definitely come back safely! Boys, carry the ship to the harbor!" Bartolomeo shouted.
One day later...
On the azure sea, a sailing ship bearing a skull in a straw hat slowly moved across the water.
At that moment, Nami looked at the sea chart in her hands and said, "Our food might not last until we reach the Grand Line, so we need to resupply once more. Luffy eats far too much. We need to prepare more food this time. Besides, we don't know the Grand Line's sea charts, so getting to the next island will depend on luck. There's an island nearby. Let's replenish our supplies there."
Swaying from side to side in boredom, Luffy said, "Sure, let's go there."
Elsewhere, at the same time Luffy and the others left Loguetown, a warship was sailing toward Warship Island, an island not far from the Red Line, through the waters nearby.
A little blond-haired girl secretly lowered a small boat onto the sea while the Marines guarding her weren't paying attention, then quietly climbed down into it. Riding the current, she moved away in the opposite direction from the warship.
Because of the Marines' carelessness, an entire night passed before they discovered the little girl was missing the following morning.
While everyone was still dreaming, one of the soldiers guarding the little girl shouted, "Bad news, Lord Nelson! Apis is gone!"
"What? How were you guarding her? You can't even keep watch over one little girl! What use are you?" A lavishly dressed man weighing nearly a thousand jin walked out.
"Hurry up and find her! Search along the route we sailed last night! She's just a little girl. Even with a boat, she couldn't have gone far!" Nelson said angrily.
At once, the entire warship began turning around, retracing the previous day's route to search for Apis.
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