Above a forest outside Loguetown, a trail of white smoke raced in a certain direction at tremendous speed.
Smoker wore a grave expression. Just half an hour earlier, he had still been searching all over Loguetown for traces of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Then he had suddenly sensed powerful shock waves from a battle outside town.
Without a moment's hesitation, he had rushed toward their source.
This place was near the edge of the island, some distance from Loguetown, so even after traveling for half an hour, he still had not arrived.
Moreover, the shock waves had stopped several minutes ago. He had no idea whether he would still find the combatants when he arrived.
And...
Judging by the shock waves from earlier, he was nowhere near a match for the people fighting.
But he had come without hesitation anyway. Loguetown was under his jurisdiction, and he had to make sure nothing went wrong.
Anyone who wanted to destroy this place would have to step over his corpse first!
At that moment, two people stood quietly at the center of the battlefield.
Dragon looked at Xia Chen in surprise, beginning to understand why Xia Chen was so confident in himself.
If he had possessed that kind of strength at Xia Chen's age, he would have been even more arrogant!
At that thought, Dragon inexplicably felt the urge to recruit Xia Chen and could not help asking:
"Interested in joining the Revolutionary Army?"
"Joining the Revolutionary Army?" Xia Chen froze for a moment. He had not expected Dragon to want him to join the Revolutionary Army, but... he was not interested!
"I'll pass. I still prefer being a pirate!"
"Being free to do whatever I want is great!"
"All right, I've accomplished what I came for, so I'll head back now! Bye~"
With that, Xia Chen turned and walked toward Loguetown.
Just then, Smoker hurried onto the scene and came face-to-face with Xia Chen, who was about to leave.
"Yo, Mr. Marine. To think I'd run into you even somewhere this remote. It must be fate~"
Xia Chen greeted Smoker.
But Smoker seemed not to have heard him. Instead, he stared at the scene in horror.
Before him lay a stretch of land ravaged beyond recognition, and all the surrounding trees had been reduced to wood chips. An empty zone several li across had formed within the forest.
Seeing his reaction, Xia Chen did not disturb him and simply walked slowly past. Just as he was about to use Moon Cloth to return to Loguetown, Smoker stopped him again, just as before.
"Demon King Xia Chen!"
The same words came from Smoker's mouth, but unlike their first meeting, his tone no longer held any doubt, only absolute certainty.
"That's me!" This time, Xia Chen did not deny his identity as he had before, openly admitting it instead.
He no longer had any reason to keep pretending. His goal had been achieved, so he was no longer afraid of trouble.
"You actually dared to lie to me? I'll throw you into Impel Down!"
With that, Smoker charged at Xia Chen, drawing the Jitte from his back.
In his view, since Xia Chen now looked different from his wanted poster, it had to be because he had eaten a Devil Fruit.
And the weapon in his hand, embedded with Seastone, was precisely the bane of Devil Fruit Users!
Unfortunately, the fantasy was beautiful, but reality was harsh!
He had misjudged one thing: the gap in strength between him and Xia Chen was far too vast!
Xia Chen did not even turn around. He merely shifted slightly to the side and dodged Smoker's attack.
"H-how is that possible?"
Smoker was shocked, a drop of cold sweat running down his face. Then Xia Chen's calm voice reached his ears.
"Mr. Marine, you're pretty brave!"
"Do you think my three-hundred-million bounty is inflated? Or... are you just too confident in your Logia powers?"
Bam!
Smoker went flying backward countless times faster than he had attacked, then slammed heavily into the ground several hundred meters away.
"Gah!"
Smoker had barely struggled upright before he coughed up a mouthful of blood. His eyes were full of gravity as he looked at Xia Chen.
"Mr. Marine, you're a little weak. Want to catch me? You're a hundred thousand years too early!"
With that, Xia Chen continued walking away. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped and waved at Smoker.
"Oh, right. Thanks for the Beli!"
(╬▔皿▔)╯!
You've gone too far!
Smoker struggled up from the ground. Even if he could not beat Xia Chen, he was still going after him!
But just then, a hand pressed down on him as he tried to rise.
"You can't beat him!"
Smoker slowly raised his head to look at the man before him, horror appearing in his eyes.
His attention had been entirely on Xia Chen earlier, and he had completely failed to notice the other person's identity.
"Dragon!!!"
When Xia Chen returned to Loguetown, he arrived just in time to see a massive bolt of lightning strike down from the sky.
"Hahaha... Guess I'm not dying!"
Luffy patted his straw hat and spoke happily.
At the same time, torrential rain began pouring from the sky, accompanied by fierce gusts of wind.
Seeing this, Xia Chen spoke directly to Luffy:
"Let's go, Luffy. The Marines are already on the move. If we don't leave now, it'll be too late!"
"Oh, it's you, Xia Chen! What are you doing here?"
Hearing someone call him, Luffy spoke happily when he realized it was Xia Chen.
At those words, Xia Chen could not help pressing a hand to his forehead.
No wonder the Straw Hat Pirates in the original story always escaped by the skin of their teeth. With you standing around chatting like this, aren't you just asking the Marines to find you?
"Never mind why I'm here. I'll talk, and you listen, okay?"
"Marines. Coming. So, run. Got it?"
"Oh, oh, oh, got it, got it!" Luffy nodded.
"Then what are you standing around for? Run!" Xia Chen snapped as he watched Luffy remain rooted to the spot.
"Oh, okay!"
Luffy immediately ran off, but...
"Straw Hat Boy, stop right there!" Buggy's voice came from behind.
But to Xia Chen's surprise, Luffy actually stopped.
Seeing this, Xia Chen could no longer hold back. You freaking bastard, you really love dragging things out, huh?
Xia Chen checked the direction and discovered that a long alley right here led straight out of town. A smile then appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Using Soru, he appeared beside Luffy in an instant and sneered at him.
"Since you don't want to leave on your own, let me help you!"
Then, after aiming in the right direction, Xia Chen kicked Luffy away.
In an instant, Luffy flew toward the outskirts of town at tremendous speed.
Remaining where he stood, Xia Chen clapped his hands together and smiled.
"Isn't that much faster? Seriously!"