Loguetown was in chaos.
The sudden earthquake caused panic throughout the town.
Residents ran out of their homes in terror. Some didn't even have time to put on shoes, while others were in the middle of bathing and rushed naked into the streets, still covered in soap bubbles.
Loguetown's unique status had given its residents strong nerves.
They weren't afraid of pirate attacks—they were used to those. As long as they ran faster than others, they wouldn't be the ones to die, at most losing some money.
But they couldn't control their fear of natural disasters.
Garp was ready to strike when he heard the commotion in the town, his face darkening again.
Trouble.
The entire town—residents, merchants, even the Marines—had become hostages of Golden Lion Shiki.
Shiki had been inactive for over a decade, and Garp was confident he wouldn't need to team up with Sengoku like before to defeat him.
But with countless hostages in Shiki's hands, Garp felt trapped.
"Vice Admiral Garp, I'll take the men to organize the evacuation."
Smoker emerged from the collapsed ruins in his smoke form. The panicking Marine soldiers immediately rallied around him, finding their backbone.
"Gyahahahaha…"
Shiki had never felt so triumphant before, high as if he'd taken drugs. He didn't care at all about Smoker's actions.
The island had already risen to a height of a thousand meters.
At this altitude, trying to evacuate the entire town? Dream on!
"Follow me!"
Smoker wiped the blood from his lips, gritted his teeth, and lit a cigar. He took a deep drag to distract himself from the pain, then clenched the cigar between his teeth and charged ahead, leading the Marines straight into the town.
"Lieutenant Commander Smoker, how do we evacuate the residents?"
Yakovich followed closely behind Smoker, his eyes filled with despair. He had heard Smoker's earlier warning.
Smoker exhaled two streams of smoke from his nostrils, irritated. "You organize the residents into groups. I'll figure out a way to take them to safety."
It was a desperate plan.
Other than using his Devil Fruit ability to carry people in batches, Smoker couldn't think of any better way to escape this disaster.
"Follow me!"
Yakovich clenched his teeth and immediately led a group of Marines at a faster pace toward the town.
The arrival of the Marines greatly eased the residents' panic.
"Save me! I'm a noble from the Goa Kingdom!"
A small, mustached man in pajamas pushed through the chaotic crowd and rushed up to Yakovich, shouting for help.
"Get lost!"
Yakovich shoved the noble aside in frustration, ordering the other Marines to quickly restore order in the town.
The mustached noble, treated so rudely, turned red with anger and swore, "I swear I'll make you the lowest slave!"
Yakovich gave him a cold look. "If you're still alive by then, we'll see."
The noble froze.
Wasn't this just an earthquake? Would people die?
With the Marines' intervention, the chaos in the town quickly subsided. After all, with Garp and Smoker stationed in Loguetown, there were basically no pirates left—or rather, no active pirates.
Many of the town's residents were former pirates themselves.
At that moment, Smoker appeared under the night sky, carrying a small wooden boat. Seeing that Yakovich had already begun restoring order, he flew down.
"Lieutenant Commander Smoker…"
Yakovich was busy maintaining order when he saw Smoker flying down with the boat and froze.
Smoker exhaled smoke irritably and waved his hand. "I did my best. Follow the usual rules for boarding the boat."
Shiki only wanted revenge on Garp and hadn't taken the ships docked near the shore or the harbor—except for Garp's personal warship, which he took out of spite.
Unfortunately, his stamina was lacking, and he couldn't keep carrying a warship to evacuate the town's residents.
The small wooden boat was the best option he could find in a hurry.
"Children first, then women, then the elderly, and men last. Move!"
Yakovich was familiar with the "usual rules" Smoker mentioned and immediately directed the Marines to act.
"Why should those brats go first? I'm a noble!" The mustached man jumped out again.
Before he could finish, a smoke-covered hand grabbed his throat. Smoker glared at him furiously. "Say one more word, and I'll kill you first."
Smoker had never been one to follow rules. He wouldn't tolerate a mere noble interfering with rescue efforts.
The noble's face turned pale.
The hand around his throat was like an iron vise, tightening slowly.
He had no doubt Smoker would actually harm him, a noble, and immediately shut up.
"Trash!"
Smoker cursed under his breath, released the noble, and used his Devil Fruit ability to transform his right arm into smoke, lifting the dozen or so children Yakovich had gathered onto the boat.
But he had underestimated the evil in human nature.
When no one could escape to safety, 99% of the residents had remained kind, waiting patiently for rescue.
The few who were naturally selfish didn't dare cause trouble.
But Smoker's actions made some people realize the terrifying truth—this wasn't an ordinary earthquake. The island was flying.
The malice hidden deep in their hearts surged forth.
"The island is flying! Staying here means death! Save me first!"
A burly man violently shoved aside unprepared Marines and rushed forward, jumping to grab the side of the ascending boat.
With the first one acting, the others, driven by survival instincts, lost control.
The scene descended into chaos, far worse than the panic caused by the earthquake.
"Don't panic!"
Yakovich roared hoarsely, trying to calm the chaos, but it was useless.
Men!
Women!
Even the elderly!
The Marine defensive line was instantly overwhelmed by the tide of people.
It's over.
Yakovich felt even more hopeless.
A loud explosion came from the direction of the Marine base, followed by a gust of wind that swept through the crowd, making the chaos even worse.
The residents, who had initially resigned themselves to not making it onto the boat, were plunged back into panic by the aftershocks of Garp and Shiki's battle.
Yakovich and the Marines were like a small boat in a storm, barely able to stand firm against the tide of people.
Countless residents, driven by fear, ran around like headless flies.
Smoker had already flown the boat toward the sea below. The residents could only run toward what they thought was safety.
"Gyahahahaha… Garp, come fight me!"
After a brief exchange, Shiki was delighted to discover that Garp, as Indigo had said, didn't dare fight at full strength. His excitement grew.
After his successful escape from Impel Down, he had sworn revenge on the world. But deep down, Garp and Sengoku, who had teamed up to defeat him, still topped his hate list.
Aside from his occasional stupidity, Shiki was good at exploiting advantages—otherwise, he wouldn't have nearly defeated Roger during the Edd War.
Now that he was sure Garp wouldn't fight seriously, he abandoned all defense, attacking fiercely with a reckless, injury-for-injury style.
Garp, constrained by the hostages, was quickly forced into a corner.
Seeing Garp sent flying again by Shiki, Yakovich's eyes filled with despair as he lowered his head in resignation.
Just wait for death. No more struggling.
Then a gentle voice spoke behind him.
"Need help?"