Was it because he trusted Smoker as a person?
Of course, that was part of the reason. If it had been Akainu facing him, Xia Chen certainly wouldn't have trusted him to hold back.
Better to kill the wrong person than let anyone escape-that was Akainu's guiding principle!
But most importantly, Xia Chen had Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, which let him constantly observe what was happening inside Smoker's body.
That was the real reason Xia Chen hadn't dodged, even at the very last moment.
Otherwise, actually relying on trust in someone's character would have been far too unrealistic.
Casually putting the Beli in his hand into System Space, Xia Chen continued racing through Loguetown.
Ten minutes later~
When Xia Chen sensed a certain presence, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly into a smile.
"Finally found you!"
Xia Chen arrived where he had sensed the presence and discovered a very old tavern. It was completely quiet inside, without a single sound from a customer.
But now there would be!
Xia Chen pushed open the door and walked in.
Hearing the door open, both people inside instinctively turned their gazes toward him.
One was a man wearing a green cloak, seated at the bar. The other was an old man sitting behind it who looked like the owner.
"Yo, hello there!"
"Bartender, give me a glass of rum!"
Xia Chen walked straight up to the bar and spoke to the old man.
Although the old man was a little surprised by Xia Chen's arrival, he still went to get him a drink.
While the old man was fetching the drink, Xia Chen greeted the man beside him:
"Hello, Dragon. Are you here to see Luffy?"
The moment Xia Chen finished speaking, an immensely powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki radiated from Dragon and pressed down on him. At the same time, Dragon fixed him with a piercing gaze and asked, enunciating every word:
"Who are you? Why do you know me? And... you seem to know a few things!"
Feeling the pressure bearing down on him, Xia Chen remained utterly calm on the surface, but inwardly he was very surprised.
Should I say that's only to be expected of the Revolutionary Army's leader? This Conqueror's Haki really is powerful!
Xia Chen answered calmly:
"Don't be so nervous. I'm the vice-captain on Luffy's ship. If you've seen his wanted poster, chances are you've seen mine too."
"Hm?" Hearing that, Dragon seemed to recall something, then looked at Xia Chen and asked uncertainly:
"Demon King Xia Chen?"
"Bingo!" Xia Chen snapped his fingers, a faint look of pride appearing on his face.
It wasn't for any other reason. It was simply that this epithet was just...
So perfectly to his taste that he couldn't help giving another thumbs-up to whoever in the Marines had come up with it.
"You look rather different from your wanted poster," Dragon said calmly, then withdrew his Conqueror's Haki.
After learning that Xia Chen was a member of Luffy's crew, Dragon became much less wary of him.
He trusted Luffy's judgment. The companions he chose certainly wouldn't be people of poor character. They wouldn't do anything to harm him. But a moment later, he asked about something else he was rather curious about.
"By the way, how did you find out about the relationship between Luffy and me?"
"Garp told me!" Xia Chen lied with a perfectly straight face.
As long as the person in question wasn't present, Xia Chen would make up whatever stories he liked about him. It wasn't his first time doing this, anyway.
Dragon accepted Xia Chen's words without suspicion, because there really weren't many people who knew that Luffy was his son.
And Garp was also the person most likely to do something like this. So it was perfectly normal!
But since Garp had told Xia Chen about this, that proved the man before him was someone trustworthy.
For a moment, even Dragon's gaze grew much warmer as he looked at Xia Chen. He also became completely at ease with him.
Someone vouched for by both his father and his son was someone he could trust!
"So, you've come to see me this time because..." Dragon asked curiously.
He didn't know that Xia Chen had known beforehand that he was on this island. He merely thought Xia Chen had discovered him by chance.
"Nothing much. I simply came to meet the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Luffy's father."
"To see the presence of a leader who dares to openly oppose the World Government!"
"And now that you've seen me, what do you think?" Dragon asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmm... not bad, I suppose~"
After pondering for a moment, Xia Chen answered seriously.
"Hahahaha..." Dragon suddenly burst out laughing, looking at Xia Chen with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
"I consider my strength fairly respectable by this world's standards, and I thought my presence wasn't bad either. I never expected to earn nothing more than a 'not bad' from you!"
"Kid, you've got some pretty high standards!"
"Of course. After all, I'm using myself as the standard, so naturally it's a little high!"
"Oh~" Hearing that, Dragon immediately grew interested and couldn't help asking, "So you'd rate yourself as average?"
"No, no, no!" Xia Chen shook his head, then gathered his words before saying:
"Just a simple number one in the world!"
Dragon froze on the spot. So your assessment of me is 'not bad,' but your assessment of yourself is number one in the world?
Still, Dragon was someone who had seen plenty of the world. He didn't get angry, but instead said calmly:
"You're quite confident in yourself. That's a good thing, but... young people still need to rein themselves in a little!"
"Being too confident isn't a good thing."
"So... how about you knock my confidence down a peg?"
At this point, Xia Chen finally revealed his purpose.
That was right. He had come to find Dragon to fight him.
Oh, no-to put it more elegantly, he should call it testing his own strength!
He was very curious about just how strong he could become after entering his Demonized State, because that would determine how arrogantly he could conduct himself!
And for someone to fight him at full strength in his Demonized State, the first requirement was that they had to be extremely strong. Second, they had to be willing to fight him and hold back against him.
Otherwise, if he charged into Marine Headquarters right now, plenty of people would surely be willing to fight him. But barring any surprises, he'd most likely be heading to Impel Down for some rest and recuperation afterward.
And clearly, Dragon met all of those conditions.
There was no question about his strength. He was certainly extremely powerful!
Besides, by Xia Chen's grand method of rounding things off, Dragon was his uncle. An uncle would surely hold back against his nephew, right?
As those thoughts churned through his mind, Xia Chen grew a little dazed. Why did it feel as though he'd recently become so fond of claiming uncles?
"I have wandered half my life, lamenting only that I have yet to find an enlightened lord. If you would not spurn me, sir, I am willing to take you as my adoptive father..."
No, no, no!
Xia Chen shook his head hard. He was claiming an uncle, not an adoptive father. He'd switched to the wrong script!
Dragon stared steadily at Xia Chen, then spoke after a long while:
"Since that's what you have in mind, I'll play along!"
"Then let's go. We'll find somewhere on the island with no one around..."
With that, Xia Chen instantly vanished from the spot.
Seeing this, Dragon shook his head slightly.
"Young people really are too impatient. He didn't even wait for his elder!" With that, his figure also instantly vanished from the spot.