As you may have guessed already, I calculated the amount of chapters again wrong :)
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In any other situation, Smoker wouldn't have bothered to justify his name, but Nami's presence here was affecting even the rugged Marine captain. That was the real danger of this girl — she influenced the subconscious just as much as the conscious mind. No matter how much control someone had over their emotions and thoughts, controlling their subconscious — instincts, in other words — was nearly impossible. What normal guy would enjoy being humiliated in front of someone who could easily be called the most beautiful girl in the world?
"Guys, show some respect," Zoro said, sounding slightly annoyed. "He might be weak, but otherwise, he could pass as a model Marine captain," the swordsman both complimented and insulted Smoker in one sentence. "If all Marine captains were like him, Nami's home island would've been liberated without our help."
Johnny and Yosaku's faces twisted as if they had bitten into a lemon. It was one thing to respect an ordinary Marine captain, and quite another to respect a Logia user in the rank of Marine captain.
"'White Hunter' Smoker and 'Mad Smoker' Schmuck … so Cthulhu liked him?" Nami sighed heavily, asking Zoro.
"He even forbade killing him," the swordsman nodded, then ate another spoonful of stew.
"You're out of luck," Nami turned to Smoker, speaking in an utterly serious tone. "I'd advise you to run, but since you've already caught Cthulhu's attention, it's too late to escape."
"I don't care about your Cthulhu… right now, I'm only interested in one thing: where is my subordinate?"
"If you're interested in the whereabouts of your suddenly missing subordinate, now's the time to focus on our Cthulhu," Nami replied.
"Then where…" the captain began to ask, but he was cut off.
A swift wave of something almost intangible, yet cold, monstrously powerful, and dangerous, swept across the entire dock. When the wave passed, it was followed by the sound of hundreds of bodies, sabers, and rifles hitting the ground simultaneously. Smoker was no exception. Before he could finish his question, the captain collapsed flat at Nami's feet, nearly smashing her toes with his head.
"Is that… Royal Haki?" Johnny asked uncertainly, glancing at the dock where hundreds of Marines lay sprawled.
The guys knew about all types of Haki and had even experienced Royal Haki firsthand as an unforgettable demonstration. All the Straw Hat Pirates were aware of Royal Haki 's ability to incapacitate thousands of opponents at once. Luffy, when necessary — though it was rare — was generous with detailed explanations. However, knowing that Royal Haki ould instantly defeat an entire army was one thing, and seeing it with their own eyes was quite another. As far as they could remember, Luffy had never used his Royal Haki to knock out more than a few people at once, so even Zoro was witnessing an entire Marine squad being incapacitated in an instant for the first time. No shots fired, no blows struck, and yet the enemy was defeated.
Luffy often acted like a complete idiot, constantly engaging in some kind of mischief or causing trouble, even to his own crew. This tendency dulled the perception of his true strength, making it easy to forget just how formidable he was. It was like having a killer dog that behaves like the friendliest puppy in the world, only for it to later tear apart a neighbor's dog right before its owner's eyes. The owner only then remembers that the dog isn't a harmless puppy but a real fighting beast. With Luffy, it was similar, except if that dog had Luffy's personality and strength, it would have not just torn apart the neighbor's dog but everything alive in the vicinity, including its owner.
Soon, Luffy himself appeared at the dock. The cheerful guy, grinning from ear to ear, walked almost in a skip. Trailing behind him, puffing from exertion, were about thirty people carrying boxes and crates of various sizes. Two particularly large crates and one box wrapped in gift paper with an enormous red bow were being carried by twelve people, with four on each item. The whole procession soon reached the ship, where there was a delay for a very understandable reason:
"Either cover your boobs, or you'll be the one carrying the boxes," Luffy declared when all his porters, upon seeing Nami, turned into a herd of brainless idiots, only capable of drooling and making incoherent sounds. "And give me my hat!"
Nami puffed her cheeks in annoyance at Luffy, but after he took his hat back from her head, she obediently went to change in their cabin… or rather, just get dressed.
"Zombies are attacking!" Johnny commented on the men's reaction.
"That's right!" Yosaku laughed. "Glassy eyes, drooling, and mooing."
"Now we just need to teach them to stretch out their arms and make guttural 'brains' sounds," Johnny laughed along with his friend.
Meanwhile, Zoro, unlike the others, was far more interested in the power their captain had just demonstrated:
"Luffy, is it possible to learn Royal Haki?" Zoro asked after a moment.
It was quite predictable that someone aiming to become the world's strongest swordsman would first and foremost be interested in acquiring even greater personal strength.
"I've already told you all that Royal Haki is completely unteachable," Luffy replied, taking charge of his newly 'reanimated' porters. Under his direction, all the boxes and crates were soon distributed around the ship. "On the other hand, while I was told you have to be born with it, I seriously doubt it. For one, someone had to be the first to possess it, so it must be possible to acquire it somehow. Also, developing Royal Haki is even stranger and more complex than the other two types of Haki. For example, I was told that to develop it successfully, the user needs to aspire to become a King of something. The stronger the competition in becoming a King, the faster the Royal Haki develops."
By this point, everyone on the ship was listening, including Usopp and a couple of main porters who remained on the ship after the others left. After all, they were main porters only for Luffy and were actually some of Bartolomeo's most loyal followers, who knew about Haki, though they couldn't use it.
"Are you saying that anyone with Royal Haki who decides to become Pirate King will immediately start rapidly improving in it?" Zoro asked skeptically.
"Of course not!" Luffy protested. "Otherwise, I'd have decided to become the King of the Universe by now and could probably conquer the world with just a glance. It's about overcoming obstacles. In my case, every pirate is my competitor, and in yours, every swordsman. By defeating your competitors, your Haki grow".
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Thanks to everyone who is supporting with PS.
Please consider supporting with power stones and also consider supporting on patre*n -> moctopus
(the Loguetown arc is finished in there, and next one will start soon explaining part of Luffy's past...)