Chapter 55 Ace meets Smoker, Luffy searches for his brotherSanji and Zoro, standing nearby, twitched their eyes violently, thinking, "Was that because you were afraid of an accidental discharge? That unfortunate guy was sent flying at almost the speed of a cannonball!"
Just then, Nami, with her signature money-grubbing smile, approached like a cat smelling fish.
Her eyes gleamed as she eagerly asked the pirates lying dead on the ground, "How was it? How was it? Were they searched? Any bounties?"
Usopp, clutching a stack of bounty posters he'd somehow acquired, flipped through them rapidly, finally shaking his head dejectedly, "All small fry, not a single penny."
Nami's smile vanished instantly upon hearing this, and she spat disdainfully at the ground, "Pah! They've infiltrated the Grand Line and are still penniless! What kind of pirates are they? A disgrace!"
Luffy walked over with a grin and said, "You can't say that. The Grand Line has its own native pirates; they're not all outsiders from all over the sea."
Nami sighed, her face full of disappointment. "Looks like relying on catching pirates for extra money won't work. We'll have to think of something else."
Luffy walked over and patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, once we've dealt with Alabasta, we'll recruit those Baroque Works guys. Then the money will flow into your pockets like water. Don't even think about these little bits of meat."
Upon hearing "a steady stream of funds," Nami instantly perked up, her eyes practically gleaming with gold coins. "Then what are we waiting for! Let's go! Vivi, where are we going next?"
Vivi, who was standing behind, staring blankly at the desert, was startled and hurriedly replied, "Huh? Oh! I'm here!"
"What are you thinking about? Why are you acting so clueless now that you're back in your own country?" Nami asked curiously, leaning closer.
Vivi looked at the bustling crowd around her and forced a smile. "Nothing, it's just that the city seems relatively peaceful, no signs of war... I feel a little relieved."
Zoro slung his sword over his shoulder and turned to Vivi, asking, "Hey, Vivi, didn't you swear you had a way to stop the rebellion? Give me a plan."
Luffy, clenching his fist beside her, chuckled mischievously, "If all else fails, how about I wipe out those hundreds of thousands of rebels for you? Trust me, I have the ability to clear the field."
As he spoke, he glanced seriously at the system attribute panel that only he could see.
"Absolutely not!!"
Vivi screamed in terror, her face instantly turning deathly pale.
The image of Luffy's terrifying, godlike power in Little Garden flashed through her mind. If he were to actually fight, the hundreds of thousands of rebels would likely be slaughtered.
To Vivi, both the King's army and the rebels were innocent civilians manipulated by Crocodile, that schemer.
Without a word, Nami raised her hand and delivered a sharp "thud" to Luffy's head: "Shut your jinx! Don't scare Vivi!"
Vivi breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing this, then looked at everyone with a complicated expression: "Actually... I'm already incredibly grateful that everyone escorted me here. The road ahead is too dangerous; let me face it alone."
Nami sighed helplessly, lightly flicking Vivi's forehead with her finger: "Are you an idiot? Even at this point, you're still saying such polite things?"
Vivi covered her forehead, her eyes slightly red: "But..."
"No buts. We're already here. Even if you try to send us away, these hot-blooded idiots definitely won't agree."
Nami pointed to Luffy and the others behind her. Even the usually timid Usopp, though his legs were still trembling slightly, looked at Vivi with unusual determination.
"If you don't let us help, I'll go and wipe out the rebel army's headquarters."
Luffy, rubbing his head, added gloatingly from the side.
Thump!
"I told you to shut up!" Nami punched him again with her backhand.
Looking at her companions, who were playfully bickering but never backing down, Vivi felt a surge of warmth in her heart, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Everyone..."
"Relax, relax, it's nothing, just taking down a Shichibukai."
Luffy grinned, revealing a set of bright white teeth: "Even though Marine Headquarters didn't send any support, as long as we get irrefutable evidence of this old crocodile's crimes, it'll be a huge achievement."
Back then, Smoker was sent to that godforsaken place, Loguetown, because he refused to claim credit and argued with his superiors.
But Luffy is now a legitimate Marine Commodore. If the government wants to cover it up, he'll make a big scene, forcing them to publicize his achievements.
"That's right, I've been wanting to see just how capable the Seven Warlords of the Sea really are for a while now." Zoro gripped his sword hilt, his eyes gleaming with a warlike light.
Nami, exasperated, retorted, "You just want to fight! That line is completely unnecessary!"
Then, Nami turned, her face instantly transforming into a sinister expression as she approached Vivi: "Besides, if this country really falls, who will I collect my 3 billion Berries protection fee from? You need to settle that score for me, understand?"
Vivi shrank back, intimidated by the terrifying aura: "...Yes..."
Hearing Vivi obediently agree, Nami's expression instantly changed, beaming: "That's more like it, hahaha!"
Zorro, standing nearby, thought about the enormous high-interest loan he'd incurred for replacing the back of his sword and couldn't help but curse inwardly: "This kind of money-grubbing woman deserves to go to the deepest hell!"
"Oh, thank you for the compliment, Zoro. I've kept track of all the interest you owe me in my little notebook."
"You vampire!!"
"Even as a ghost, I won't let your wallet go."
Zoro, veins bulging with rage, yelled, "Damn it! Give me back my 400,000 Berries!"
"Huh? The interest seems to have gone up again."
"Say another word and I bet I'll raise it even more!"
"Hey! Usopp, stop playing dead! Say something fair!"
At this moment, Sanji, the ultimate sycophant, immediately took sides, shouting righteously, "Everything Nami says is the truth!"
"What did you say, you perverted cook?!"
The lighthearted banter dissipated much of the oppressive atmosphere, and Vivi's tense nerves finally relaxed.
She took a deep breath and bowed solemnly to everyone: "Really... thank you all!"
The group exchanged glances and chuckled, understanding was unspoken.
After composing herself, Vivi's expression turned serious again: "According to intelligence, there's an oasis called Yuba in the northwest of this city. It's currently the rebels' stronghold. I want to go there first to try and stop the uprising."
"But getting to Yuba requires crossing a vast desert, and the environment there is extremely harsh. We must ensure we have sufficient supplies."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
Sanji stroked his stubble, a sudden thought striking him: "Doesn't Luffy have those strange eyes? Can't we just have him fly us there?"
Luffy helplessly spread his hands: "Don't even think about it. System... cough, due to some unforeseen circumstances, the power of those eyes is temporarily partially sealed. It can't carry so many people."
"I see..." The others felt a little disappointed, but didn't ask further. After all, Luffy had countless secrets.
"By the way, Luffy, didn't you say you were coming to find your brother? Won't coming with us interfere with your business?"
Vivi asked with some concern.
Luffy waved his hand dismissively: "It's fine. That guy's whereabouts are unpredictable. I don't know exactly where he is. We'll see."
The original plot had already been completely distorted by his own actions. Luffy had no idea whether Ace would even appear at that restaurant; he could only try his luck.
"Hey, since Crocodile is also a Shichibukai, our faces are probably already on the blacklist, right? Shouldn't we disguise ourselves?"
Usopp suggested timidly from the back.
"Disguise my ass! We're legitimate Marines now. He wouldn't dare attack us in broad daylight."
Luffy rolled his eyes, his tone extremely arrogant: "Besides, most of his high-ranking agents are our own people. The only ones he can command right now are those two hundred or so grunts in Rain Island who only know how to shout '666'."
He's not a wanted criminal. If he has to sneak around as a Marine, what's the point of being an officer?
"And Smoker, that chain smoker,' is already here. The 'White Hunter's' reputation has spread throughout this desert. We can't just sit around doing nothing. Let's go, let's go buy some supplies first, then we'll go find that sand crocodile and give him a piece of our mind!"
With a wave of Luffy's hand, the group marched off towards Lohara's most bustling market.
"Wow! This smells amazing! They even have whole roasted deer! Chopper, do you want to try some?"
Sanji, holding a skewer of sizzling, oily meat, recklessly teased Chopper.
Chopper turned green with fright, shaking his head frantically, his head bobbing like a rattle.
Nami, without a word, punched Sanji into the ground: "You idiot! Are you trying to scare Chopper to death?"
Chopper waved his hand to indicate he was alright, but his little nose kept twitching in the air, and his brows were furrowed.
Usopp leaned closer and asked, "What's wrong, Chopper? What do you smell?"
"There's a really strange smell in the air, it's so strong, it hurts my nose."
Chopper covered his nose, pointing with a disgusted expression to a luxuriously decorated shop ahead.
"Oh? That's a perfume shop!"
The moment Sanji heard the word "perfume," his one exposed eye instantly turned into a heart shape, staring intently at two beautiful women in revealing dresses who walked out of the shop.
The next second, he was already teleported in front of the girls, taking one of their hands and reciting a cheesy pickup line with deep affection: "Beautiful lady, do you want to know what I most want to do every day? It's to cook three meals a day for you..."
Thump!
A muffled sound, and the world went quiet.
Nami, veins bulging on her forehead, dragged the physically unconscious Sanji and awkwardly apologized to the two terrified girls, "I'm so sorry, this guy forgot to take his meds before leaving home, he's not quite right in the head."
The two girls, their faces pale with fright, hurriedly waved and fled the scene of trouble.
Nami casually slapped a densely written shopping list onto Sanji's face: "Stop talking nonsense! Go buy what you need!"
With that, she grabbed Vivi and darted into the nearby perfume shop.
Chopper stood at the doorway and sniffed twice more, immediately feeling a cloyingly sweet smell assault his senses. Tears welled up in his eyes: "No, no, this smell is too strong, I'm suffocating!"
Usopp pointed to a shady alleyway nearby: "Why don't you go hide over there? You reindeer are naturally sensitive to heat, you're probably suffering from heatstroke. I'll go get some extra-spicy chili oil to perk you up."
"Hey, Luffy? Where are you going again?"
Zoro, who was just looking for a place to sleep, turned around and saw Luffy preparing to slip away.
Luffy waved without turning around: "I'm going to wander around some more, see if I can find your cheap brother-in-law. You guys go ahead with your work."
"Cheap brother-in-law?" Zoro scratched his moss-like hair, looking completely bewildered, but he didn't bother to think about it. He simply found a corner to lean against and instantly fell asleep.
Anyway, even if the sky were to fall, he felt Luffy could handle it; he didn't know where this inexplicable confidence came from.
Meanwhile, a few blocks away, at a roadside fortune-telling stall:
"Excuse me, have you seen the man in the photo wearing the straw hat?"
A shirtless young man wearing a cowboy hat politely asked the fortune teller, holding a wanted poster.
"Monkey D. Luffy? No recollection… but the owner of that restaurant over there is a know-it-all, you could try your luck there."
"So? Thanks, then."
Ace smiled, put away the wanted poster, adjusted his hat brim, and walked towards the restaurant not far away. "My stomach's been growling anyway."
On another street, Smoker was angrily tossing several small-time pirates to the ground like trash: "These kinds of trash dare to show their faces in front of me? They've dirtied my hands."
Tashigi, following behind, adjusted her glasses, looking admiring: "Colonel Smoker is amazing! He subdued them in one move."
Smoker, two cigars dangling from his mouth, his face etched with displeasure through the swirling smoke, muttered, "It's all that bastard Luffy's fault! He said he was coming here to catch Ace, but all he's done these past few days is catch these small fry. So boring!"
Tashigi pulled out a small notebook and chuckled, "But Commodore Luffy's fame's huge now. He killed the Supernova Hawkins and saved a kingdom. I heard Headquarters is already discussing promoting him to Rear Admiral."
Smoker snorted coldly, offering no reply, and strode forward.
"Hey, what's with all that people up ahead?"
Reaching the entrance of a rather lively restaurant, Smoker noticed a large crowd of onlookers, pointing and whispering.
"Did you hear? A customer inside suddenly died while eating!"
"Suddenly died?! That's terrifying!"
"Yeah, he was chatting with the owner when he suddenly collapsed into his plate and didn't move."
"He must have accidentally eaten desert strawberries, right?"
"You mean those poisonous spiders that look like strawberries? I heard that eating those things will cause sudden death a few days later, and the corpses are contagious with a deadly poison. No wonder nobody dares to go near them!"
"Sigh, outsiders don't know the rules. Eating random things in this desert can get you killed."
Smoker frowned, pushed through the crowd, and flung open the tavern's spring-loaded wooden door.
When his gaze fell on the motionless figure with their face completely buried in fried rice, his pupils contracted sharply!
"The tattoo on his back…that's the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Fire Fist Ace?!"
Smoker's mind reeled. Back in Loguetown, when he made the bet with Luffy, he had thought Luffy was just trying to trick him into becoming a free henchman.
This damned prophecy actually came true!
Suddenly!
Ace, who had been lying like a corpse, abruptly raised his head, his face covered in rice grains.
The onlookers, who had been silently mourning, jumped back in fright: "He's...he's back from the dead!!"
Ace blinked sleepily, looking around blankly: "Ugh...this is really troublesome, I fell asleep while eating."
The crowd roared in unison: "Are you an idiot?! Who falls asleep while eating and chatting?!"
"And this guy actually picked up his spoon and started eating again!"
Ace, stuffing fried rice into his mouth, mumbled to the shop owner: "Uncle, what are these people arguing about?"
The shop owner's forehead was covered in black lines as he roared: "Everyone's worried about you, you bastard!!"
Ace looked at the group of people moving in perfect unison and actually found it quite amusing: "Is this your shop's atmosphere-building team?"
The shop owner: "...Never mind, at least you're not dead..."
Before the shop owner finished speaking, there was a loud "thud," and Ace's face slammed into the plate again, followed by a snoring sound.
The onlookers: "..."
Seeing that this guy was just a complete sleepyhead, everyone immediately lost interest and dispersed.
Only Smoker took a deep drag of his smoke, staring intently at Ace's retreating figure: "Looks like I was lucky enough to find it first. I won this bet."
"You've got some nerve! A pirate with a bounty of 550 million, daring to sit so brazenly eating in the middle of the city... Portgas D. Ace!"
Smoker pulled out his jitte from behind his back and greeted him coldly.
Ace, jolted awake again, groggily grabbed a woman's skirt and wiped his face: "What's going on? Did you even hire Marines to perform? The service is quite attentive."
The shop owner, furious, slammed down a plate: "(╬￣皿￣) I already said no! That's a real Marine captain!"
Only then did the surrounding people realize: "White-Whitebeard? One of the strongest men's crew members?!"
In an instant, the crowd that had been waiting to watch the spectacle retreated ten meters away as if they'd seen a ghost.
"What's the famous Fire Fist Ace up to, coming to this godforsaken desert country? I'm really curious." Smoker pointed at Ace with the tip of his jitte, but what puzzled him even more was how that bastard Luffy knew all this beforehand.
Ace calmly took a sip of tea to rinse his mouth, then turned around with a bright smile: "Ah, I'm just here to find someone, my good-for-nothing brother."
Smoker paused, "Brother?"
Ace nodded: "So? You want to arrest me?"
Smoker sneered, white smoke billowing from his body: "Nonsense, of course I'm going to handcuff you and take you away. I made a bet with someone to see who can bring you to justice first."
Ace chuckled: "That won't do. Although I'd love to oblige, I still have things to do."
Smoker's eyes narrowed: "That's not up to you!"
Before he finished speaking, Smoker's arm instantly elementalized, transforming into a giant white smoke fist: "White Gale!"
With a roar, the smoke fist shot out like a cannonball, whistling through the air, straight towards Ace's face.
"A Logia type? Sounds interesting."
Ace remained calm, a slight smile playing on his lips, his left hand instantly igniting into a raging fire: "Then I'll play along, Fire Fist!"
A massive fiery fist collided with a fist filled with white smoke within the cramped restaurant.
Just as these two terrifying Logia-type energies were about to explode, leveling the entire restaurant,
a light yet authoritative voice suddenly boomed in their ears: "Hey! Calm down a bit. Fighting is one thing, but don't cause trouble for the common people... Shinra Tensei!"
"What?!"
"Who is it?!"
Before Ace and Smoker could react, they felt an irresistible, terrifying repulsive force, like an invisible wall of air, slamming into them.