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Chapter 112: Smoker vs. Luffy
"He just said 'arrest.' Does that mean there's a pirate in our restaurant?"
"Nonsense! Marines arrest pirates, obviously!"
The crowd was silent for a moment before someone's face suddenly changed drastically.
"Pirate? A pirate! Run! There's a pirate here!!"
In the next instant, almost everyone threw down their utensils and fled the restaurant in a panic.
Moments later, only Smoker, Tashigi, a dumbfounded owner, and a confused straw-hatted boy remained in the room.
"Pirate? Where's the pirate?" Luffy looked around curiously.
Seeing the empty surroundings, save for two people dressed like Navy officers standing at the door, realization dawned on him.
"Oh! I'm the pirate!"
A few seconds later, his expression changed dramatically.
"Not good! It's the Navy!"
In the blink of an eye, before fleeing, Luffy reached out and grabbed the plate of fried rice the owner had just brought out. Without even using a spoon, he buried his face in it to chomp down, simultaneously crashing through the restaurant window at an exaggerated speed.
Crash!
The wooden window was smashed to pieces. A look of heartache appeared on the restaurant owner's bewildered face.
"My... window."
He felt that today was the unluckiest, darkest day since he opened for business in Alabasta.
In the morning, a customer nearly died eating here.
In the afternoon, pirates and Marines broke in, scaring away all the customers—most of whom hadn't paid yet.
Smoker glanced at him and waved his hand. "Tashigi, leave the remaining Berry on the ship for him. I'm going to chase that guy!"
After speaking, his lower body instantly turned into billowing white smoke. Emitting a roar like an engine, he shot forward.
His speed was extremely fast. Relying on his Devil Fruit ability, he hovered five or six meters in the air, perfectly avoiding the pedestrians on the street below.
It didn't take long for him to catch up to the Straw Hat kid, who was using his Gum-Gum ability to leap across rooftops.
"White Snake!"
Smoker thrust out a hand. His arm sprayed a jet of dense, snake-shaped smoke, grabbing at the bounding figure.
Luffy was mid-air, planning to land on a flat roof, when he suddenly sensed something. He hurriedly stretched his arm to grab a pillar below.
His body contracted sharply, changing direction just in time to dodge the white smoke attacking from behind, and he landed on the ground.
"Smoke?"
He looked up at Smoker in the sky, his eyes flickering.
"Oh, you're that smoke guy from Loguetown!"
"Recognize me? I went through a lot of trouble to find you."
Smoker bit down on his cigar and slowly descended from the air, landing in an open space ten meters in front of Luffy.
His gaze was grave as he looked Luffy up and down, replaying Luffy's dodging movement in his mind.
Observation Haki?
As expected, the captain of this pirate crew is no simple character.
He thought for a moment, then raised his Jitte with one hand, pointing it at Luffy.
"Hey, kid. Where's the woman on your ship who uses ice?"
To this day, he still remembered his crushing defeat in Loguetown.
It was the most miserable defeat of his life, losing to a woman in front of all his subordinates.
Although he wasn't happy about it, it wasn't something he couldn't accept.
He had even actively informed Marine Headquarters, requesting an increase in that woman's bounty.
However, to preserve the face of the Navy—and his face as a Marine Captain—his superiors deliberately concealed the fact of his crushing defeat and did not raise 'Frost Arrow's' bounty.
Only that Marine Admiral, with whom he had a good relationship, showed interest in the woman's abilities, saying he would meet her if the opportunity arose.
If that person made a move, this rookie pirate crew would surely never escape the Grand Line.
But Smoker also knew how busy a Marine Admiral was; they couldn't run around the sea chasing a pirate crew like he did.
Moreover, his own humiliation should be washed away by his own hands.
"Are you talking about Ganyu?"
Hearing Smoker ask about Ganyu, Luffy's mood, which had just relaxed, became depressed again.
He sighed, clutched his head, and said somewhat painfully:
"She... isn't here anymore."
"What?!"
Smoker's pupils constricted in shock, as if he had heard something incredible.
That woman who had easily defeated him... was dead?
Of course, whether a pirate died or not had nothing to do with him.
But if she was dead, he would never be able to wash away his shame.
Smoker shouted, his tone urgent:
"Bastard! Speak clearly! Who killed her? How did she die?!"
"Huh?" Luffy was confused, but soon, his face turned angry. "Bastard Smoke Guy! Ganyu won't die! She'll never die!"
This guy dared to curse Ganyu's death right in front of him.
He had originally planned to run, but now he felt he absolutely had to beat this guy up before leaving.
Rage rose in his heart, causing him to completely forget all the knowledge about Logia users that Ganyu had once taught him.
He pulled back both hands to charge up power and blasted out a "Gum-Gum Rocket!"
Bang!
Smoker blocked it steadily with his Jitte without moving back an inch. He lowered his head, bringing his face inches from Luffy's, and said word by word:
"You're the one who said she was gone, so is she okay or not?"
"Bastard! How could anything happen to her!"
Luffy didn't understand the misunderstanding. He just thought this guy was wishing ill on Ganyu, which made him furious again.
He threw his head back, stretched his neck rapidly, and then aimed a headbutt right at Smoker's face!
This headbutt went straight through, smashing Smoker's upper body into a cloud of white smoke.
Seeing this scene, the knowledge Ganyu had instilled in him suddenly flooded back into his brain.
"Right! Without Haki, you can't hit the real body of a Logia user."
He suddenly realized this, but it seemed too late.
"Since you know that, you still dare to get this close to me?"
Smoker's upper body reformed, his expression as cold as ever.
As he spoke, a massive cloud of white smoke erupted from behind him, spreading toward Luffy at a terrifying speed.
"Not good!"
Luffy sensed danger and tried to leave, only to find his feet bound by wisps of white smoke, making it impossible to take a step.
In that brief moment, the cloud of white smoke completely enveloped him, wrapping around his entire body like coil after coil of hemp rope.
At the same time, a metal tip glinting with cold light pressed against his throat.
A force bore down, pinning him heavily to the ground.
"Why... no strength...?"
Luffy's face went pale. He felt his entire body turn weak and powerless, unable to resist at all.
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