Ain shot Karl an exasperated look.
"Of course… a man as outstanding as you—wherever you go, you shine like a firefly in the night. So dazzling. So impossible to ignore."
The man in sunglasses swallowed hard.
"Y-you're… Marine Sword Hero Karl?!"
As he spoke, his hand quietly reached behind his back, pulling out a smoke bomb.
"Brothers, retreat!"
He slammed it to the ground.
Boom—!
Thick white smoke erupted instantly, swallowing Karl and Ain whole.
The rest of the traffickers fled in all directions, scrambling for their lives.
"Hmph."
The raven on Karl's shoulder transformed into a long blade and dropped neatly into his hand.
With a single upward diagonal slash, Karl generated a swirling gust that wrapped the smoke—and the smoke bomb itself—then hurled it forward.
"Except for the sunglasses guy," Karl said coldly.
"Leave no one alive."
Ain drew her twin swords. Her figure vanished from the spot—
—and screams rang out one after another.
Ten minutes later, Grove 2 had become a sea of blood.
Limbs were scattered everywhere.
Every trafficker except the man in sunglasses lay decapitated—an outright hellscape.
"Karl… isn't this a bit much?" Ain asked quietly.
"If this gets out…"
Karl waved it off.
"Relax. I checked with Observation Haki—no civilians around."
Only then did Ain let out a breath of relief, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her blades.
"Talk," Karl said, turning to the trembling man.
"Where's your base?"
The sunglasses man shook uncontrollably.
"D-don't kill me! I'll take you there! I—I'm just an employee!"
Karl smiled gently and patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry. We're Marines. Marines don't slaughter the innocent."
The man glanced at the corpses littering the ground.
Yeah right.
"I—I'll take you there!"
Bururururur—
"Hello?"
"It's me, Smoker," came the voice.
"No luck with traffickers on my side, but I did catch a group of pirates. Where are you?"
"Grove 2," Karl replied casually.
"Oh—and bring a few pirates with you."
"…Got it."
Fifteen Minutes Earlier – Grove 4
Smoker strolled down the street, cigar in mouth.
Everything here seemed… normal.
The only odd thing was how wary people looked when they saw him.
"Did Karl lie to me?" Smoker muttered.
"Where are the traffickers supposed to be?"
After circling the area, he found nothing.
Then again—
With his intimidating face and delinquent outfit, even traffickers would probably avoid him.
This wasn't law-enforcement fishing anymore.
This was criminals meeting their natural predator.
"…Huh? A pirate ship?"
Smoker's eyes narrowed as he spotted a ship docked at the edge of the island.
"No idea whose flag that is… whatever. If I can't catch traffickers, pirates will do."
After checking that no one was watching, Smoker extinguished his cigar, turned into smoke, and silently floated toward the ship.
On shore, a rugged, bearded man barked orders at his underlings.
"Keep your heads down! This is Sabaody—Marines everywhere! Find a coating craftsman and don't cause trouble!"
He had a bounty of 89.5 million berries, but even so, Sabaody wasn't a place for arrogance.
After all, this archipelago sat right next to Marineford and Mary Geoise—
The fastest place in the world to summon an Admiral.
"B-Boss!" a minion shouted.
"There's a guy flying in the sky!"
"What?!"
Smoker dropped to the ground openly now.
"I'm Headquarters Captain Smoker," he said flatly.
"You're under arrest. Surrender peacefully."
The pirates froze—then burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Just you? A Marine Captain? Don't make me laugh!"
But their captain, Bart, wasn't laughing at all.
Captain or not—
That was clearly a Logia-type Devil Fruit user.
And in his world, Logia meant only two words:
Absolutely invincible.
"Retreat!" Bart roared.
"He's a Logia user—we can't beat him!"
"What?! Like an Admiral's fruit?!"
Smoker snorted.
"Too late."
His body dissolved as massive amounts of smoke erupted outward, engulfing everyone.
"Cough—! I can't see anything!"
"B-Boss… air… I can't—!"
Hidden within the smoke, Smoker grinned.
So this was the power of the Smoke Strangulation Field Karl had described.
Before, he'd have had to beat each one down with brute force.
Now?
Effortless.
"Don't breathe! The smoke's poisonous!"
"Hold your breath—everyone hold it!"
Smoker suddenly emerged from the smoke, shouting coldly:
"Useless, pirates."
In Bart's shocked gaze, Smoker formed a tiny white sphere—
—and shot it straight into his mouth.
Bart tried to gag it out… but felt nothing.
"Bastard Marine! Come out and fight me like a man!"
Smoker scoffed.
Honor? Against pirates?
"Detonate."
Bart's eyes bulged. His throat made choking sounds.
His face flushed red—then purple—then nearly black.
Two minutes later, the smoke dispersed.
Smoker stood alone.
Corpses covered the ground—every pirate dead.
Lips and faces bluish-purple, veins bulging grotesquely.
Smoker stared in disbelief—then burst out laughing.
"So… I'm this strong now?"
Before, this would've been unthinkable.
Not a drop of sweat.
No collateral damage.
"They really suffocated themselves to death…"
He shook his head, grinning.
"I really should thank Karl. Without him, I'd still be trying to beat people to death with smoke clubs."
After confirming all pirates were dead, Smoker called Karl.
Ten minutes later, Smoker arrived at Grove 2, carrying over a dozen pirate corpses wrapped in smoke.
He froze when he saw the carnage.
"…You guys are way harsher than me."
Karl brightened when he saw him.
"Perfect timing. I need a favor."
Smoker nodded. "Go on."
Karl pointed at the bodies.
"I've already notified Brigadier General Gregory. He'll be here soon."
"When he asks, you say the pirates and traffickers fought each other.
The pirates won—but you arrived afterward."
"Since the pirates were extremely dangerous, you had no choice but to eliminate them."
Smoker accepted this explanation without batting an eye.
"…So what about you two?"
Karl smiled and jerked a thumb at the trembling man.
"This guy will take us to the slave auction house for a little sightseeing."
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