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The party lasted all night.
At one point, Luffy, still on his mission to find prosciutto and cantaloupe, ended up wandering into Bellemere's grave. Ajian (Genzo) gave him a symbolic little scare, and Luffy promised not to bully Nami.
When morning came, the once-bustling Cocoyashi Village finally quieted down.
Partygoers were passed out all over the place.
As for the Straw Hats...
Luffy was snoring loudly while still eating meat in his sleep.
Sanji and Zoro had somehow ended up sleeping back-to-back with their feet pushing into each other's faces.
Nami and Nojiko were cuddled up sweetly, sleeping peacefully.
Usopp had crashed in the middle of a crowd—he'd been bragging like crazy all night.
White Night, who'd gone to bed early, was now sitting nearby, smiling at the scene in front of him.
Not long after, as the crew started waking up and getting ready to continue the celebration, a rhythmic sound of footsteps echoed in the distance.
"Yeah, this should be the place."
Smoker stepped forward, took one look at the crowd, and got straight to the point:
"We'll take custody of Arlong's crew and Captain Nezumi from here."
Seeing Smoker's grim expression and the Marines behind him, village sheriff Ajian stepped up and offered to lead the way.
So, aside from Smoker, the Marines followed Ajian to where Arlong and Nezumi were locked up.
Smoker, meanwhile, turned his attention to the remaining people. After comparing them to the info in his head, he quickly picked out the Straw Hats.
"Hmph. You see me and don't even try to run?"
After talking to Sengoku earlier, Brian had shared everything about the Straw Hats, just like he'd promised White Night.
So Smoker already knew who they were—pirates without a flag.
Normally, when pirates see a Marine, they run. That's just how it goes.
But these guys? Nothing.
That kid in the straw hat just kept eating like nothing happened.
Honestly, you couldn't blame them. It was all White Night's fault.
Since Zoro had joined, they'd seen White Night casually chatting and joking with Marines more than once.
So when they saw Marines again, their first thought was probably, Oh, White Night must've called them. No reason to panic.
Even Luffy, after getting smacked around a few times, had finally learned to pause before reacting.
In short, if the Marines show up, don't run—just wait and see what White Night says.
...Which, of course, made Smoker feel totally disrespected.
Did he not look intimidating enough or something?
He snorted again and growled,"Reckless pirates, huh?!"
Teaming up with the Marines, calling the Fleet Admiral directly...
Yeah, Smoker knew exactly who was behind all this.
Was it bravery or plain stupidity?
Judging from the fact they beat Arlong's crew... probably not stupidity.
"So, are you here to arrest us, Mr. Marine?"
White Night spoke calmly, unfazed. From the moment Smoker showed up, he'd already guessed how this would play out.
His smile deepened—because he was confident that Smoker wouldn't arrest them.
In the original story, even after the crew had bounties, Smoker still let them go in Alabasta.
And while they hadn't saved a whole country this time... they had freed twenty villages.
So yeah, White Night felt sure that Smoker, being who he was, wouldn't arrest them—even if Sengoku had told him to.
And White Night was right.
Sengoku had given the order: "Play it by ear. Preferably arrest them."
But Smoker? He didn't care.
Still, just because he wasn't going to arrest them didn't mean he wasn't going to mess with them a bit.
Why? Because White Night's smug, I know exactly what you're gonna do expression was really pissing him off.
It was like White Night was silently saying, I've already figured you out.
Who wouldn't get irritated by that?
"And what if I am here to arrest you?" Smoker said in a low voice.
The moment he spoke those words, the atmosphere shifted.
White Night was still smiling as if nothing had changed.
But everyone else?
Luffy stopped chewing, put a hand on his straw hat, and stood up—his face serious.
Zoro and Sanji stood side by side. Zoro tied on his bandana; Sanji lit a cigarette.
Even Nami and Usopp didn't hesitate—they grabbed their weapons and stared Smoker down.
In a split second, the laughing, easygoing crew had turned into a group of hardened warriors.
They didn't say a word—but they didn't need to.
Smoker blinked, then chuckled."You guys... you're actually kinda impressive."
What he didn't expect, though, was the reaction from the villagers of Cocoyashi:
"You trying to take our little Nami away?!"
"Are you with that rat-faced Captain Nezumi, here to bully our saviors?!"
"Luffy and his crew are our guests. We won't let you do as you please!"
"Marines are always the bad guys! You can't take Nami or White Night!"
Even the kids started shouting at him:
"When we needed help, Nami and her friends were the ones who saved us!"
Nojiko stepped forward and spread her arms wide.
She shouted at the top of her lungs—
"You unreliable bastards! If you want to take them away, you'll have to step over my dead body first!!!"
"That's right!!!"
"You'll have to get past all of us!!!"
Seeing this scene, Nami's eyes filled with tears.
Zoro let out a small smile at the corners of his mouth.
Sanji's gaze softened as well.
As for Luffy and Usopp, they were already hugging each other and bawling like babies.
Bai Ye : Are you two idiots or what???
Even Smoker didn't expect that just one sentence could trigger such a huge reaction…
He'd somehow stirred up the villagers' rebellious spirit against the Marines.
If Sengoku were here, he'd probably be cursing Smoker out right now.
But hey, this was Smoker we were talking about, so he just looked a little surprised, then went right back to puffing on his cigar.
Whatever. Let the higher-ups who actually care about their reputation deal with it.
He looked at Bai Ye, who had been brimming with confidence from the start, and couldn't help but ask:
"You—no, you all—what exactly are you after?"
Of course, Bai Ye knew what Smoker was really asking.
From a Marine's point of view…
Ever since Luffy and Bai Ye defeated Alvida and arrived at Shells Town,
They'd been hunting down pirates with bounties over 10 million berries in the East Blue—
And every time, they made damn sure the Marines knew about it.
That's right. In Fleet Admiral Sengoku's analysis,
Bai Ye wasn't working with the Marines for money—it was to show them just how strong they were.
Yeah, anyone who wants to become a pirate has got a few screws loose,
But even someone as smart as Sengoku couldn't figure out why they were doing all this.
So he gave Smoker a mission: find out what the hell these guys were really up to.
And when Smoker asked the question, Bai Ye wasn't the least bit surprised. In fact, it was like he'd been waiting for it.
He opened his mouth and calmly said:
"To let the Marines—or rather, the whole world—"
"Witness the birth of a legend!"
"....."