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"To let the Marines—or rather, the whole world—"
"Witness the birth of a legend!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Bai Ye felt something shift deep inside.
It was like he'd somehow clicked with this world on a whole new level.
A strange, fleeting feeling—but he didn't dwell on it.
"Legend, huh? Tch."
Smoker snorted. He got what Bai Ye meant right away.
This guy was showing off on purpose—so that when their pirate crew was officially formed, they'd make a huge splash.
And really, what better way to make a name for yourself than with a high bounty?
Whether they liked it or not, Marine bounty posters had basically become a measure of fame.
To boost their rep, some scumbags out at sea would even go as far as wiping out whole towns.
Smoker looked at Bai Ye again.
This man was doing it all for the fame too, but somehow, Smoker didn't hate it as much.
Maybe deep down, he'd prefer it if all the scumbags went about it this way.
"A pirate's still a pirate. Sooner or later, you're all ending up in jail."
That's what he thought, anyway—but he didn't hold back his words.
He was a Marine. Pirates were the enemy, end of story.
"No way!"
Luffy suddenly jumped in, throwing his arms up and yelling:
"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates! There's no way I'm getting locked up!"
"Screaming about being Pirate King right in front of a Marine?"
Smoker took the cigar out of his mouth and sneered at him:
"Aren't you a bit full of yourself, kid?!"
Then, Smoker reached out and caught something Bai Ye tossed his way.
He looked down and realized—it was a Den Den Mushi.
"Don't go thinking our captain's just spouting nonsense."
Bai Ye stood up and looked right at Smoker:
"It's because of that ambition that our crew even exists."
Then he pointed to the Den Den Mushi in Smoker's hand, a mysterious grin on his face:
"This here's our latest intel."
"The enemy was kinda weak, sure—but it should give you guys a taste—"
"Of just what kind of power we've got."
Smoker immediately had a good guess what was on that Den Den Mushi.
Most likely footage of the Straw Hats taking down Arlong's crew.
He looked at the snail in his hand, then back up at the Straw Hat crew—especially Bai Ye.
After a moment, his interest was piqued.
He grinned,
Stuffed the snail into his coat, then shrugged the coat off and dropped it to the ground, revealing his chiseled upper body.
"I'm not interested in that kind of thing."
Smoker's voice was low but steady as he stared them down:
"I've got a better way to see how strong you are."
He cracked his neck, then suddenly got a bit cocky:
"Let's fight!"
[Soru!]
Smoker vanished on the spot—then instantly reappeared behind Luffy.
The sea stone-tipped jitte was already swinging toward his face.
Honestly, if this were Luffy before taking the Essence Cleansing Pill, he probably would've been caught off guard by Smoker's use of Rokushiki.
But now? His physical abilities were already on par with Gear Second from the original story.
So, just a split second before the jitte hit, Luffy vanished too—reappearing right behind Smoker.
That made Smoker's eyes narrow. He hadn't expected to meet someone in the East Blue who could move just as fast as Soru.
"Gum-Gum—Pistol!!!"
Luffy didn't waste a second. Once he was in battle mode, the guy was a beast.
"One Sword Style—Draw and Slash!"
"Mutton Shot!"
It wasn't just Luffy—Zoro and Sanji were right behind him, totally in sync.
Zoro went in for a slicing blow to the waist, Sanji targeted Smoker's knees, and Luffy aimed for his back.
For a moment, it looked like Smoker was completely surrounded.
But the next second—
"What the hell?!"
"You've gotta be kidding!"
"Is this guy even human?!"
All three of them froze, shocked—their attacks had gone straight through him.
"White Tempest!"
Smoker grinned around his cigar, and a thick cloud of smoke burst from his arms.
In an instant, the three of them were caught in it—then the smoke started spinning rapidly, flinging them out like rag dolls and slamming them into the ground.
"Luffy! Sanji! Zoro!"
"Luffy! Sanji! Zoro!"
Nami and Usopp screamed together, both of them in total disbelief that the three had been taken out so easily.
Even more disturbing was Smoker's power—it was unreal.
Their eyes were full of shock as they stared at him.
"Did I… punch right through him?"
Luffy stood up slowly, blinking in confusion.
"His ability's kinda like Buggy's…" Zoro said, drawing his three swords, expression tense.
He'd clearly felt it—his blade had sliced through nothing.
"A Devil Fruit user?" Sanji added as he got to his feet.
"Yeah. Logia-type. Smoke-Smoke Fruit," Bai Ye explained as he stepped forward, looking at Smoker—whose lower body had already turned into smoke.
"He can turn any part of his body into smoke. Even if you smash it apart, it just reforms instantly—it's called 'elementalization.'"
"And by the way—Logia users in elemental form can't be hurt by normal attacks at all."
Bai Ye's tone was serious, but he still looked pretty relaxed.
He'd expected something like this—after all, it was Smoker.
It wouldn't be right if they didn't have a fight when they met.
Still, Bai Ye wasn't worried.
He was confident he could handle this, not just because he had Qi, which worked like Haki—
But also because his unique mystic arts made him the perfect counter to someone like Smoker.
Besides… the Smoke-Smoke Fruit always kinda sucked in the original story anyway.
Meanwhile, Bai Ye needed to show Luffy and the others just how broken Logia-type Devil Fruit users really were.
That's where Roger's Haki training notes—stolen from Buggy—came in handy.
"Just like the intel said… you're some nobody with no background, yet you know way too much," Smoker said coldly after hearing Bai Ye's words.
"Then let's see if your strength matches that big mouth of yours."
[White Fist!]
A fist, powered by a smoke-arm, shot straight at Bai Ye at high speed.
Bai Ye calmly leaned aside to dodge it, golden light swirling around him as he punched back. His fist landed straight on Smoker's smoke-like arm.
BOOM!!
Unlike Luffy and the others, Bai Ye's punch actually hit Smoker's elemental body.
The smoke whipped backward like a recoiling tide. Smoker let out a grunt and stared at Bai Ye with wide eyes.
"Haki?!"
"....."