the next day,
The Alabasta sun is still scorching hot, like it's going to bake you alive.
When Luffy emerged from the desert, his entire face was tanned a dark red, and his tongue was lolling out like a dog's.
His eyes were fixed intently on the outline of the town ahead, almost popping out of their sockets.
"Food--Food--I want to eat--!"
He didn't hear Nami calling him to wait behind him at all; his legs suddenly quickened.
The rubber body bounced up on the dry ground.
He grabbed the walls on both sides of the street with both hands, his rubber arms stretching out for more than ten meters, and his whole body was propelled forward like a slingshot by the enormous elastic force.
Gum-Gum Rocket!
Luffy's body traced a crooked arc in the air, moving at an absurdly fast speed.
Pedestrians on the street only felt a gust of wind pass by, and didn't even see the person clearly.
His target was the tavern directly ahead.
The tavern's sign featured a large lizard with a piece of roasted meat in its mouth, an image that was more tempting to Luffy than anything else.
"Meat--!!!"
Luffy's roar echoed throughout the entire street.
At that moment, in that tavern,
Smoker was sitting at the bar, a glass of whiskey in his hand and his signature cigar in his mouth.
He was wearing a naval captain's white uniform, the word "Justice" on the back slightly wrinkled from sweat.
Beside him, Tashigi was flipping through a stack of documents, her brow furrowed so deeply behind her thick glasses that it could trap a mosquito.
"According to intelligence, the Straw Hat Pirates will definitely pass through Alabasta."
Tashigi pulled an arrest warrant from the documents and placed it on the bar.
The wanted poster featured Luffy's grinning face, with the words "30 million Beli " prominently displayed.
" Straw Hat Luffy, from the East Blue, is a Paramecia Gum-Gum Devil Fruit User."
After causing havoc in Loguetown, it fled into the Grand Line and is currently active in the waters near Alabasta.
Smoker took a swig of whiskey and slammed the glass down on the bar.
The bottom of the glass collided with the wooden bar counter with a dull thud.
"That kid's bounty has gone up again?"
"It just hasn't been updated yet. He's done so much along the way— Captain Morgan in Shells Town, the Krieg Pirates at Baratie Restaurant, and the Fish-Man in Cocoyasi Village, he beat them all up."
Smoker chuckled coldly, took the cigar from his lips, flicked off the ash, and the smoke drifted away in the dim light of the tavern.
That kid is a troublemaker.
He escaped in Loguetown last time, but this time I'm determined to lock him up in Impel Down.
He pulled his Jitte from his waist and placed them on the bar.
That weapon, with its tip inlaid with Seastone, was prepared to deal with Devil Fruit User.
Just then, a voice came from the other end of the bar.
"Hello!"
"Are you two talking about Monkey D. Luffy?"
Smoker and Tashigi turned their heads at the same time.
A young man wearing an orange cowboy hat sat in the corner of the bar, with a half-eaten bowl of fried rice in front of him.
"Who are you?"
Smoker's hand was already on the Jitte grip.
The young man put down his chopsticks and turned to face Smoker.
A casual smile played on his lips, but there was no joy in his eyes.
"If you want to capture Luffy —I, as his older brother, will not allow it."
Tashigi nearly dropped the documents in her hands.
She pushed up her glasses, carefully scrutinized the young man in front of her, and then her expression instantly changed.
" Captain Smoker —he is Fire Fist Ace! The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates! Bounty—"
"A bounty of 550 million Beli."
Smoker's voice suddenly turned cold.
He slowly lifted the Jitte sanitizer from the bar, his entire body tense.
Portgas D. Ace.
A great pirate under Whitebeard's command.
What is your purpose in being here?
Ace picked up his rice bowl, casually took another bite of fried rice, chewed it, and then slowly said...
"Chasing after a traitor. And while I'm at it—checking out on my brother."
Tashigi instinctively drew Shigure from her waist; the blade reflected a cold light under the lamplight.
"Is your brother Straw Hat Luffy?"
The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and the pirate Monkey D. Luffy —are brothers?!
"Ah, yes, but that's not important."
Ace put down his spoon, stood up, and faced Smoker and Tashigi with one hand in his pocket.
His expression remained relaxed, but the invisible pressure emanating from him caused the temperature in the tavern to slowly rise.
Smoker tightened his grip on his cigar.
His combat experience told him that the man before him was very strong.
Anyone who can become the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates is definitely not an ordinary person.
And what does the sudden appearance of the Whitebeard Pirates here signify?
"You've come to arrest your so-called traitor, but it's probably not that simple, is it?"
"You don't need to worry about that."
Ace's right hand hung casually at his side, a flame silently igniting on his index finger. The orange-red light was particularly dazzling in the dim light of the tavern.
"In short, I won't let you touch a single hair on Luffy's head. What he does in Alabasta is his business."
"Then, as a naval captain, I have even more reason to capture you!"
Smoker held his Jitte across his body, smoke billowing from his wrists, his entire arm transforming into swirling white smoke.
" Tashigi, step back. This is not a battle you can interfere in."
"But--"
"Step back!"
Just as the two were about to clash—
"Have a meal--!!!"
A deafening roar erupted from outside the tavern's doors.
Immediately afterwards, the tavern door shattered, sending wood chips and door fragments flying everywhere.
A red figure shot in through the door at incredible speed.
Luffy's body remained in an extremely contorted posture in the air.
His legs were still hanging outside, but his hands were gripping the rafters inside the tavern, his rubber body stretched like a slingshot rubber band.
He wasn't looking where he was going at all.
No, it should be said that he didn't want to look at the road at all.
His eyes were fixed on the food cabinet behind the bar, which displayed roast meat, bread, fruit—and a whole roasted lamb.
"Meat!!!"
Luffy let go.
Gum-Gum Rocket —His body shot out like a cannonball, so fast that the three people in the tavern didn't even have time to react.
Then it struck Smoker precisely in the back.
Boom--!!!
Smoker was thrown forward like a white bowling ball, his body flying out of control, and the Jitte slipped from his grasp.
His back felt as if he had been struck by a charging rhinoceros, and his spine cracked several times.
But it's not over yet.
Luffy's impact propelled Smoker forward, and then—he crashed into Ace, who was standing nearby.
The three of them, linked together like three bowling balls kicked into the air, crashed through the tavern wall.
It left a large, human-shaped hole in the wall and flew into the warehouse next door.
Smoke and dust rose everywhere.