East Blue, Loguetown.
Usopp, Sanji, and Luffy were running toward the shore.
Usopp said, "I can see the exit! We're almost at the shore! Come on, guys, keep running!"
In Loguetown, Luffy had run into Buggy and his crew, who had come looking for revenge.
Sanji knew that getting tangled up with Buggy and the others would waste a lot of time.
It would definitely draw powerful Marines, which would delay their departure.
So Sanji had simply told Luffy and Usopp to run toward the shore and set sail as soon as possible.
Just as they were about to reach the harbor, they saw a Marine standing at the end of the street.
The Marine had short silver hair and wore a cloak with "Justice" written on the back, with a Jitte resting on his shoulder.
A Tricycle stood beside him.
It was none other than the newly promoted Marine Rear Admiral Smoker.
Seeing him, Sanji couldn't help asking, "Who is it this time?"
Luffy's Observation Haki stirred, and he sensed the powerful aura faintly radiating from Smoker. He couldn't help frowning.
Smoker raised an eyebrow when he saw Luffy and his companions appear.
He had taken Lott's words to heart.
Lott had once said that, in two years, a pirate with considerable strength and an extremely powerful background would pass through Loguetown.
At first, he hadn't thought much of it, but as Lott made a name for himself at sea, he figured Lott wouldn't have said something like that for no reason.
So when Lott became the Fifth Emperor, he returned to Marine Headquarters to begin systematically studying Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
His goal was to stop this pirate with an extremely powerful background from passing through Loguetown.
And this happened to be exactly two years later, just