Early in the morning, Smoker had already stationed hundreds of Marines in buildings surrounding the central square, lying in ambush for any pirates who might come to pay their respects to Roger.
Although many believed that pirates with no blood ties to Roger—and some who had never even met him—had no reason to risk coming on the anniversary of his death, the truth was different.
Roger's death had ushered in the Great Pirate Era.
Especially for pirates from the East Blue, most looked up to and idolized Roger.
So, before challenging the Grand Line, many of them would come to Loguetown, to witness firsthand the place where the Pirate King once lived.
Smoker, using binoculars, kept a close eye on Lin Mo's location, trying to see who was standing next to him.
But because of the weather—and the fact that the person held an umbrella and wore a hood—no matter how hard Smoker looked, he couldn't make out the person's face.
At that moment—
Lying flat on the floor behind him, Aokiji spoke lazily, "It's Rayleigh, isn't it?"
Smoker was stunned and turned to look at Aokiji with a frown. "What did you just say?"
Aokiji scratched his head and sat up cross-legged, his expression blank. "The guy with him is probably the Dark King, Rayleigh."
"What?!" Smoker's eyes widened. "The Dark King Rayleigh? Are you serious?"
"Mhm." Aokiji nodded calmly.
Smoker's expression changed drastically. "This is bad. If we're dealing with the Dark King Rayleigh, even with you and me together, we might not be able to subdue him—and Lin Mo is standing right next to him… Dammit! That brat Lin Mo lied to me. He said he wouldn't become a pirate, and now he's hanging around with Rayleigh. Damn it!"
"Uh, don't get so worked up." Aokiji waved his hand, trying to calm him down. "Rayleigh said he's retired from piracy. Lin Mo also said he has no intention of becoming a pirate. They're just… drinking buddies. They won't cause any trouble."
Smoker glared at him. "And how do you know they're just drinking buddies? Did you meet them before today?"
"Sort of." Aokiji scratched his head again. "I saw them at Roger's Tavern. That's what they said, and I don't think there's much of a problem."
"No problem? There's a huge problem!" Smoker was furious. "Lin Mo can be drinking buddies with anyone—why does it have to be Rayleigh? You know perfectly well what kind of person Rayleigh is. And you're just taking their word for it? You're a Navy Admiral—how can you believe what a pirate says so easily?"
Aokiji sighed, "Ah, Smoker, you're overthinking this. I don't think they're lying. If they really were planning something here, I wouldn't just sit back and do nothing."
"Um, Commander Smoker…" a trembling Marine by the window observing the square spoke up. "What should we do now? Should we try to arrest those two?"
"Arrest them? With what?" Smoker snapped. "You think you guys can take down the Dark King Rayleigh?"
The Marine immediately shut up, too scared to say another word.
Smoker turned his gaze back to Lin Mo and Rayleigh, closely observing their every move.
"We're being watched," Rayleigh said casually.
Lin Mo replied without much interest, "Oh."
Rayleigh smiled. "What now? I think I'm getting a little nervous."
Lin Mo: "…"
"Hahaha." Rayleigh laughed. "Guess it's best to get it over with quickly. I'm heading to the execution platform. You coming?"
Lin Mo: "No."
Rayleigh: "Alright. Then wait here for me."
With that, Rayleigh handed the umbrella to Lin Mo, grabbed the two bottles of rum, and as the light reflected off his glasses, he dashed toward the execution platform at incredible speed.
In just a few seconds, he appeared on the platform.
Unbothered by the filth, Rayleigh sat directly on the execution platform, opened both bottles of rum—one he poured slowly onto the platform, the other he drank straight from the bottle.
He had so many things he wanted to say.
But in the end, not a single word came out.
Everything he wanted to express was poured into the wine.
When his bottle was empty, and the other had been completely poured out for Roger, Rayleigh set the two bottles aside, lowered his head silently, and a faint, trembling smile curled on his lips.
The rain fell, soaking his clothes.
A gust of wind blew off his hood, revealing shoulder-length, silver-white curls drenched and clinging to his face.
Lin Mo stood at the mouth of the alley, holding the umbrella, his expression blank as he looked at Rayleigh, soaked by the rain.
Though the weather was gloomy, and the distance between them was more than 200 meters, even with the glasses hiding his eyes, Lin Mo could tell from his expression—this man was deeply mourning.
He couldn't tell if Rayleigh was crying.
The rain on Rayleigh's face made it impossible to tell.
Smoker had been watching Rayleigh closely the entire time.
Seeing that Rayleigh just sat still on the platform, he squinted slightly.
The Marine beside him asked nervously, "Commander Smoker, shouldn't we do something about the guy on the execution platform?"
"Wait." Smoker bit his cigar. "Not yet."
Aokiji walked over to the window and looked toward the execution platform. "This is a huge hassle, and the odds of success are low, but… if you insist on capturing Rayleigh, I can give it a try."
"Let's wait and see." Smoker replied, eyes still scanning the square. "I do want to capture Rayleigh, but I'm aware of the power difference. Besides, that explosion earlier on Main Street probably has nothing to do with Rayleigh or Lin Mo. Let's wait for the real culprits to show themselves."
Just as he finished saying that—
From the massive crater left by the explosion on Main Street, a group of fully armored figures suddenly emerged from underground.
They wore strange armor, completely hiding their appearances.
Each held bizarre and unusually shaped weapons.
In Lin Mo's memory, he had never seen anyone dressed like them.
"Attack!"
Someone shouted.
The fully armed group immediately unleashed their weapons, launching a brutal assault on the surrounding buildings.
Smoker's brow furrowed as he instantly gave the order, "Arrest those lunatics!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Marines grabbed their weapons and rushed out to confront the unknown attackers.
Aokiji and Smoker saw the attackers shift their focus toward the square and, without hesitation, leapt out the window of the building they were in.
The moment they landed—
The entire group of armored attackers collapsed.
Smoker: "!"
Aokiji: "…"
Smoker was stunned. "What the hell just happened?"