Meanwhile, sparks of anger flew from Smoker's cigar as he stared intently in the direction the Straw Hat Crew had vanished, his Jitte gleaming with a cold metallic luster in the sunlight.
"Colonel Smoker!" Tashigi's shout came from below, her glasses covered in sand and dust.
"Another group of Baroque Works agents has appeared on the east side!"
Blood dripped continuously from her Shigure, and her white Marine uniform was already stained dark red.
Smoker spun around, only to see dozens of agents in matching uniforms pouring out from behind a sand dune.
Mr.1's steel body shimmered in the sunlight, and Marine soldiers fell like wheat wherever he passed.
Further away, Mr.2 danced ballet, kicking several Marines away with each turn of his foot.
"Damn it..." Smoker squeezed the words through his clenched teeth, white smoke erupting from every pore of his body.
He suddenly transformed into a white whirlwind, sweeping across the battlefield in an instant, violently knocking three agents flying.
"Is Crocodile declaring open war?" His voice boomed like distant thunder, exploding over the battlefield, "Ridiculous!"
Tashigi rolled to dodge a flying poison needle, then backhanded to sever her attacker's weapon: "Colonel! Reinforcements have appeared on the west side too!" Her voice held a hint of urgency, "It's Mr.3 and the others!"
Smoker's white eyes practically spat fire.
He looked in the direction the Straw Hat Crew had left, then at the retreating Marine soldiers, and finally spat a mouthful of bloody saliva.
"All hands, listen up!" His roar drowned out the battlefield's clamor, "Prioritize annihilating Baroque Works! Let that Sand Crocodile know the price of provoking the Marine!"
Following his command, the Marine formation immediately shifted.
Amidst the roar of mortars, Smoker transformed into smoke and charged directly at Mr.1.
The two figures clashed violently in the sandstorm, sparks of metal on metal like lightning in the desert.
"Hmph! Princess Vivi, come with us willingly, or else all these Marines will die here!"
.....
In the scorching desert of Alabasta, the Straw Hat Crew was hurrying along.
Suddenly, Luffy slammed to a halt, his rubber arms flinging far out due to inertia.
"Ace... Ace?!" Luffy's eyes nearly popped out, his mouth open wide enough to fit an entire watermelon.
He rubbed his eyes vigorously, confirming it wasn't a mirage, then immediately shot off like a cannonball: "Ace—!!!"
On a distant sand dune, Ace, wearing an orange cowboy hat, was similarly frozen in place.
He instinctively caught his brother, who had lunged at him, and the two rolled into a heap on the sandy ground.
"Luffy?" Ace patted his brother's back, his black hair covered in sand, "How are you in the depths of Alabasta's desert?"
Luffy climbed off Ace, his Straw Hat askew: "We were helping Princess Vivi..." He gesticulated wildly as he explained, occasionally choking on his own spit.
Usopp added details from the side, exaggerating the scale of the Marine's deployment.
Ace sat cross-legged on the sand, and after listening, he understood: "So that's it."
He pulled down his hat brim, the shadow covering half his face, "I'm here to hunt Teach."
"Teach?" Luffy tilted his head.
"Marshall D. Teach, a traitor from the Whitebeard Pirates." Ace's voice suddenly grew cold, and the surrounding temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.
His clenched fist ignited with a bluish-green flame, "He killed Thatch and stole the Devil Fruit..."
"What?!" Luffy's expression instantly froze.
The Straw Hat Crew members gasped, Zoro's hand was already on his sword hilt, and Sanji's cigarette fell to the ground.
"That scoundrel..." Luffy's voice was uncharacteristically low, the shadow of his Straw Hat obscuring his eyes, "He absolutely cannot be forgiven!"
Nami suddenly pulled out her phone: "Ace, do you have a picture of Teach?" She skillfully opened TikTok, "We have a lot of followers now; we can post it online to expose him!"
Ace looked bewildered: "Picture? TikTok?" He looked at Luffy in confusion, "What are you talking about?"
"It's a phone!" Nami shook the device in her hand, "It's super popular lately..."
Luffy suddenly threw an arm around Ace's shoulder, his rubber arm wrapping around Ace twice like a scarf.
He held the phone high, shouting excitedly: "Ace! Look at the camera!"
"Huh?" Ace hadn't reacted yet when Luffy forcibly twisted his head.
The phone screen reflected two faces; Luffy was grinning from ear to ear, while Ace looked bewildered.
Click!
The moment the flash lit up, Ace reflexively closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, Luffy was already triumphantly shoving the phone in front of him: "Look! This is a phone! It can take pictures!"
Ace stared at the selfie on the screen, surprised to find the image even clearer than a Den Den Mushi.
Luffy's finger swiped across the screen: "See, you can zoom in like this too..."
Ace's bewildered expression in the photo was magnified three times, making Luffy burst into laughter.
"This thing... can it even buy food?" Ace poked the screen skeptically.
"Of course!" Luffy had a look of lingering fear, "Last time our ship ran out of food, we almost starved to death! Luckily, I scrolled to this."
He opened a food blogger's page, and the screen was filled with mouth-watering grilled meat videos.
"I ordered fifty servings of grilled meat directly! It dropped from the sky immediately!"
Ace listened, dumbfounded, while his Den Den Mushi let out a "blurp," seemingly expressing its displeasure.
He thoughtfully weighed his old companion, who had been with him for many years: "If phones are really this convenient... wouldn't Den Den Mushi be out of a job?"
Sanji blew a smoke ring and stomped out his cigarette butt: "Not necessarily."
He looked into the distance, "In those impoverished places, a phone can sell for half a year's income for an ordinary family."
Zoro, with his arms crossed, added: "The most ridiculous thing is that island at the New World entrance; the unscrupulous merchants are selling them for fifty thousand Belli each." He snorted, "More expensive than my sword when I first started out."
Ace's eyes lit up, and he rubbed Luffy's head vigorously: "If I had a phone, I could contact you anytime!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Luffy suddenly turned to Nami, his eyes turning into stars, "Nami~ Can you buy one more for Ace?"
Bang!
Nami's fist landed mercilessly on Luffy's head, raising a large bump: "Do you think I sell phones?!" Her hair stood on end in anger, "And do you know how much a phone costs?!"
Luffy squatted on the ground, covering his head, drawing circles dejectedly.
Ace laughed heartily at the sight.
Just as everyone was discussing animatedly, a "coo-coo" sound suddenly came from the sky.
.....
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