After Rob Lucci's warning, the next few days passed in relative calm.
However…
Over at Marineford, Sengoku had begun to feel a creeping sense of unease. He still hadn't received any updates from Smoker, despite sending him out days ago. He ordered the Marines under him to establish contact immediately.
The result?
The Den Den Mushi wouldn't connect.
"The line… didn't go through?"
"That likely means Smoker ran into trouble during the mission."
Sengoku's expression darkened.
As Fleet Admiral, he had seen countless incidents. He paid special attention to promising Marine talents—Smoker was one of them.
And now?
All three Marine Admirals were Logia users, a direct testament to the power of Logia fruits. Compared to Paramecia and Zoan types, Logias possessed elemental bodies, effectively making them immune to traditional physical attacks. Even Haki users struggled to injure them if their Armament Haki wasn't well-developed.
This was exactly why Logia fruit users, once trained, could rapidly become combat-ready forces.
Smoker's Smoke-Smoke Fruit wasn't as offensively overwhelming as Magma, Ice, or Light. But with proper guidance, he was guaranteed to become a backbone of the Marines someday.
Which made his sudden disappearance—right after carrying out Sengoku's order to capture a pirate who destroyed a Marine base—even more alarming.
When the Den Den Mushi rang without being answered, Sengoku could no longer ignore the possibility that Smoker had encountered an opponent far beyond his expectations.
"If Smoker went missing because of this mission, then the enemy must be significantly stronger than him."
Sengoku tapped the table lightly as he thought. In his estimation, there was at least a 90% chance that Smoker had been defeated by a vastly stronger foe. The remaining 10% was reserved for uncontrollable variables—powerful enemies appearing out of nowhere, or natural disasters, like a massive tsunami capsizing the ship.
Still, those were much less likely.
"Are there any Vice Admirals or Rear Admirals near the East Blue?"
If something had truly happened, he needed to act immediately. Perhaps Smoker was still waiting for rescue.
"Report, Fleet Admiral—no Vice Admirals or Rear Admirals nearby. The closest is Colonel Tashigi's unit—"
"That's enough."
Sending a mere Colonel was pointless. If Smoker had been defeated, sending Tashigi would only add another casualty.
Just as Sengoku was considering which Rear Admiral or Vice Admiral to send, a Marine suddenly spoke up:
"Fleet Admiral! Yesterday, I recall that Vice Admiral Garp set out for the East Blue!"
Garp had mentioned visiting his grandson. Sengoku's eyebrow twitched.
"That damn Garp…"
Just yesterday, Garp had barged into his office, eating his senbei and drinking his treasured tea like he owned the place. If they weren't old comrades, Sengoku would have blasted him out the window with a Buddha Shockwave.
Still, since Garp was already en route, and likely halfway through the Calm Belt by now, sending him was perfectly convenient.
"Call Garp. Tell him Smoker's missing, and that he needs to head to Shells Town to investigate."
"Yes, sir!"
The Marine hurried off.
…
A short while later, aboard the Dog-Head Warship.
"What? I'm going home to see my grandson, and Sengoku wants me to run an errand on the way?"
Garp scowled after hearing the order.
Was he the type to obediently follow instructions?
Absolutely not.
But if he ignored this, Sengoku would nag him for months when he returned. And worse—he might refuse to approve Garp's next vacation request.
"Fine, fine… what a pain. Since Sengoku insists, let's just head to Shells Town and see what happened to that cigar-obsessed brat."
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
The warship changed direction slightly, accelerating. But even at Marine speed, they were still in the Calm Belt after a full day of sailing. Reaching Shells Town would still take time.
Days passed.
…
Meanwhile, in Shells Town, Adrian and his group had been waiting.
And today, they finally spotted Luffy's arrival.
A small boat—tiny, really—but carrying two people.
One wore a straw hat and looked like a carefree simpleton from a wealthy household—Monkey D. Luffy.
The other was short, timid, and wore glasses—Koby.
"Late by one day?"
"Did something happen along the way?"
Adrian lowered his telescope. He had been waiting for days, calculating Luffy's arrival based on when Zoro had been tied up. Luffy should've arrived yesterday.
A minor detail—yet Adrian was someone who paid attention to details.
Then he glanced at Nami beside him and remembered something: at the start of the original plot, Nami was traveling with Luffy.
But now Nami was part of his own ruthless bandit crew.
Meaning… Luffy's delayed arrival was likely because Nami wasn't there to guide him.
"Straw Hat Luffy, and the runaway coward Koby."
"Lucci, go capture Luffy. Ignore the other one."
Koby held no value for Adrian at this stage. He was dirt poor, useless for robbery. Kidnapping him was pointless too—no family, no Garp here, no ransom prospects. He'd only increase food consumption.
Best to leave him. Let him grow. When he becomes valuable later—then Adrian could capture him.
"Yes, boss."
Lucci shot forward like a bullet.
…
On the small boat—
"Meat! Meeeeat!"
Luffy rowed desperately, starving after running out of food the previous night. If this continued, he might've eaten Koby out of hunger.
Koby suddenly pointed upward.
"L-Luffy… is someone flying toward us? Am I hallucinating from hunger?"
"Huh? Someone's flying!"
The incoming figure descended rapidly—Lucci.
He landed cleanly on the boat.
Luffy's eyes widened. "Are you a Devil Fruit user? Want to join my pirate crew? I'm Monkey D. Luffy!"
Crack!
Lucci snapped a seastone handcuff onto him with precision.
Luffy instantly collapsed, weak as a puddle of mud.
"Straw Hat Luffy, come with me. My boss wants to see you."
Koby panicked. "W-What did you do?! Let go of Luffy!"
Lucci flicked Koby's neck—Koby fainted instantly.
He picked up the oars and rowed.
…
Aboard the Going Merry—
Lucci dragged the weakened Luffy onto the deck.
"Boss, I brought Straw Hat Luffy."
Luffy lay limp, powerless from hunger and seastone.
"Straw Hat Luffy," Adrian greeted calmly. "This is our first meeting. Not a pleasant one, I imagine. But you've been kidnapped. Seastone restrains Devil Fruit users—escape is impossible, so stop struggling."
"C…Koby…"
Luffy muttered weakly.
He hadn't eaten in half a day, then suffered seastone restraints—two debuffs at once.
"I have no interest in that short kid. My target is you."
Hearing that, Luffy seemed relieved—at least Koby was safe.
"Lucci, lock him inside the Shark Ship's cabin with the others."
"Yes, boss."
Lucci carried Luffy and prepared to confine him with Hachi and the others.
"Oh, and Lucci—find the World Economy News contact for Morgans. Tell him to publish a headline: 'Marine Hero Garp's Grandson Is In My Hands.' With news that big, he definitely won't refuse."
"Yes, boss."
Lucci left to follow orders.
And then—
A string of system notifications rang out inside Adrian's mind.
Ding! Bandit operation complete!
Ding! Calculating bandit event grade…
Ding! Grade: SS+++
Ding! Reward: 100,000 Reputation Points!
Ding! Extra rewards: SS-Rank Random Weapon Ticket ×1, SS-Rank Random Ability Ticket ×1, SS-Rank Random Underling Ticket ×1!
Adrian's eyes gleamed. The rewards were incredible.
"SS-grade… not bad at all."
The value of kidnapping the protagonist was far higher than expected.
And contacting Morgans likely boosted the event grade even further.
…
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