Smoker the White Hunter

Lott had actually noticed the woman long ago, but he had paid her no mind. Since they had already caused a stir, there was no point in skulking around anymore.

Zoro slowly turned around, about to refuse, only for the words to change as they reached his lips. "You... who are you? Why do you look so much like her?"

The girl looked fifteen or sixteen, with black hair and red-framed prescription glasses, and held a sword in her arms.

The girl was, of course, Smoker's second-in-command-Tashigi.

As though she had not heard Zoro, Tashigi reached out to touch the Wado Ichimonji at his waist.

"Hey, hey, hey! Just because you look like her doesn't mean you can touch my sword!"

Zoro stepped back and to the side, resting a hand on his three swords, his face full of wariness.

"I just saw the pattern, curvature, and length of that sword. Is it the Wado Ichimonji?" Tashigi's eyes brimmed with fervor.

"What's wrong with you, woman? This is my sword. What does it have to do with you?" Zoro stared at Tashigi, his face slightly flushed.

If any other woman had offended him like this, he would have drawn his sword and slashed at her already, but faced with that face, Zoro really did not know what to do with her.

Holding Slashing Shigure in her left arm, Tashigi extended her right hand toward Zoro. "Please let me have a look at that sword. My dream is to collect all the Famous Swords in the world."

"What does your collecting Famous Swords have to do with me? This is my sword." Seeing the sword-obsessed look on Tashigi's face, Zoro hurriedly gripped Wado Ichimonji tight.

"Let's get out of here! There's something wrong with this woman!" Zoro turned away, unwilling to get tangled up with her any longer.

Only after seeing the three swords hanging at Zoro's waist and the three teardrop earrings on his ear did Tashigi realize.

"Then... you're Roronoa Zoro?"

Zoro really did not want to face this woman again, but had no choice but to turn his head and nod.

"I will never let a villain like you take that sword away! I'm taking that Famous Sword back!"

Hearing Tashigi say that, Zoro instantly grew irritated! It seemed he would not be able to leave without teaching this woman a lesson.

"Come and try, if you think you can."

Unsurprisingly, Tashigi still lost to Zoro after two moves.

And that was with Zoro going extraordinarily easy on her. Otherwise, he could have sent Tashigi to meet her ancestors in a single move.

Looking at Slashing Shigure embedded beside her head and the two men leaving, Tashigi's eyes filled with resentment as she shouted at Zoro's retreating back, "Why didn't you just kill me? Because I'm a woman?"

Zoro turned around and covered his eyes. "Don't say that with that face!"

Just then, Lott patted Zoro on the shoulder. "Someone's coming."

Zoro sensed his surroundings too, and sure enough, a three-wheeled motorcycle was approaching from the end of the street. Only when it drew closer could he make out the rider.

The man had white hair and two cigars clenched in his mouth, his Marine cloak thrown wide open to reveal his solid chest and abs. A Jitte was strapped to his back.

Who else could it have been but Smoker?

Smoker got off the motorcycle, walked over to Tashigi, and helped her up. "Young lady, can you still stand?"

Tashigi spoke, somewhat embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Smoker-san. I was too useless."

Smoker shook his head. "It's not your fault. This enemy is no ordinary opponent."

As he spoke, he raised his head to look at Lott. "Isn't that right, Lott?"

Only then did Tashigi register Smoker's words, looking over in surprise. "Wh-what? You're Lott? Lott with the 200 million bounty?"

Unable to keep up the act, Lott could only nod and take off his sunglasses. "As expected of Smoker the White Hunter. You even recognized me like this."

Smoker did not pursue the subject. Instead, he asked, "What are you doing here, Lott?"

Lott looked at Smoker and inwardly shook his head. A perfectly good Logia Devil Fruit had been wasted just like that.

Before Haki was introduced, when abilities could only counter one another, it had been practically invincible.

After Haki was introduced, he had become weak as hell. By the time he reached the New World, he had become someone even the Four Emperors' dogs could trample on.

Somewhat speechless, Lott said, "To go to the Grand Line, of course. Why else would I come here?"

Smoker looked as though he understood. "As I thought, your sights aren't set on just the East Blue."

Then his expression changed, and he snapped, "But whether you're Lott or some other Lott, whether your bounty is ten million or 200 million, this is my territory. I won't let a single pirate through!"

He took a deep drag on his cigars, reached behind him to draw his Jitte, and pointed it at Lott and Zoro.

Just then, however, a cloud descended from the sky before turning into an orange-haired girl.

"Lott, how about leaving this Marine to me?"

Lott looked at Nami, then shook his head. "He's a Logia Devil Fruit user. Nami, you haven't learned Haki yet. You can't handle him."

A giant peng appeared on the scene as though it had teleported. Before it even landed, its beak opened and closed. "Lott, we need to finish this quickly. I spotted a warship out at sea. It looks like it's that old man Garp. I've already told Ling'er to get the ship moving."

The giant peng turned into Kuro, who surveyed the scene before him, then turned to Lott with a worried expression.

Hearing the news Kuro brought back, Lott knitted his brows tightly.

Garp? He really is a troublesome one. I wonder how big the gap between us is right now.

"Zoro, Nami, let's head back to the ship. Leave this to Kuro." With that, without waiting for either of them to refuse, he took them both and flew toward the Skybreaker.

A vein bulged on Smoker's forehead. "Who said you could leave?"

"White Snake!" With that shout, his right hand, holding the Jitte, turned into a stream of white smoke and attacked Lott and the others.

But the instant he struck, Kuro pinned it beneath his foot.

"Sir Marine, you'd better be good and stay in Loguetown." Kuro reached up and adjusted his glasses.

Seeing Kuro easily pin down his transformed right hand, Smoker broke into a cold sweat and spoke in disbelief. "H-Haki? How could anyone in the East Blue know Haki?"

"There's plenty you don't know. How could I possibly explain it all to you?" Kuro shook his head and looked into the distance, in the direction Lott had left.

He did not know how strong Garp was, but from his captain's expression, he knew that if they encountered Garp, they would be in for a tough fight.

It seemed he, too, needed to deal with this smoking Marine captain quickly.

Seeing the disdain in Kuro's eyes, Smoker was furious. "So what if you know Haki? I'm the Marine captain protecting this island!"

"White Vine!" Both his arms turned into smoke and coiled toward Kuro.

Kuro calmly adjusted his glasses, his right hand turning into a wing.

"Armament Haki Hardening! Peng Wing Blade!"

A jet-black layer coated his wing. Then he bent his legs slightly and appeared behind Smoker at a speed that almost resembled teleportation.

"So fast!" Before Smoker could finish his exclamation, a massive wound opened from his left shoulder to the right side of his abdomen and began spurting blood. Then he slowly collapsed.

"Smoker-san!" Tashigi cried in disbelief. Smoker, who had seemed practically invincible in her eyes, had been taken down in a single blow!

"The captain told me to pass on a message: don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're a Logia Devil Fruit user. Go back and learn some Haki from your teacher Zephyr!"

"In two years, a pirate with an extremely powerful background and strength that can't be underestimated will pass through here."

"Also, we're not quite the kind of pirates you think we are. You'll see in the future. I don't know why the captain thinks so highly of you."

With that, Kuro turned into a giant peng and vanished from the spot.

"W-wait. Cough, cough, cough." Smoker struggled to stand, but Kuro's slash had been placed just right: it would not kill him, yet left him unable to move. In the end, he could not get up.

"Captain Smoker!"

"Smoker-san!"

"They're over here!"

By then, his subordinates were hurrying over too. But the enemy was long gone.

"Bring me a Den Den Mushi, now! I need to call headquarters!"