When the children finally quieted down, a hush fell over the scene, and everyone finally saw it.
The pirates who had been shouting earlier had their eyes wide open, making faint noises, and at the same time, all their heads slipped off their bodies and fell to the ground.
This horrifying scene immediately triggered a chorus of screams.
Everyone present was terrified by this sight, but Smoker looked at the man and then told the surrounding Marines to rescue the hostages.
At this point, the Marines who had already set up a perimeter outside reacted immediately, rescuing the hostages. They didn't appear to be injured, but after a check, they were surprised to find that no one was hurt in the previous flash of light; all the dead were pirates.
The fatal wounds on these pirates were all in the same place, a single diagonal cut that separated their heads from their bodies.
When the results came in, everyone present looked at the man in the Marine coat.
Who was he? Why did he possess such powerful swordsmanship? Where did he come from?
At this moment, Smoker also reacted. He gave a deep look at Ryan, the Lieutenant Commander who had only recently arrived in Loguetown.
With such formidable strength, what was his purpose? Why had he been hiding in the 153rd Branch all this time? Why had no one ever heard of him? Why was he displaying such power now, just before heading to Marine Headquarters?
He silently watched Ryan, a flurry of thoughts flashing through his mind.
By now, Ryan had re-sheathed his sword and was walking towards Smoker, with Anton following close behind.
The surrounding Marines, seeing this Marine officer approach Smoker, respectfully made way for him, watching him with awe.
"Captain Smoker, the hostages weren't hurt, were they?" Ryan had just dealt with the pirates and wasn't sure if the hostages had been injured earlier.
"The hostages are all unharmed, just a bit shaken, nothing serious."
"Is that so? Then I'm relieved. I won't keep you, Captain Smoker. Anton and I will continue our stroll. Also, I just noticed a lot of pirates in Loguetown! These pirates aren't being very well-behaved in Loguetown, are they? My hands are itching a bit, so I'll just eliminate them all. These people are a hidden danger if they remain in Loguetown."
Waving to Captain Smoker, Ryan prepared to go after those pirates. The pirates in Loguetown were relatively strong, and eliminating them would yield a lot of experience points.
"Wait a minute. A person of your strength, why have you remained unknown in the East Blue all this time, only to reveal your power just as you're about to head to Marine Headquarters?"
Smoker still voiced his doubts directly to Ryan.
"Well, in the past, I wasn't strong enough to wander around! After all, this sea has too many monsters. As for why I'm showing my strength now, perhaps it's the justice in my heart that compelled me to act! I still can't calmly watch the weak being bullied in front of me, haha!"
"Alright, enough talk. Anton, let's continue our walk! It's time for us to get some exercise."
With that, Ryan pulled the standing Anton and left directly. Anton gave Smoker an apologetic smile and then walked off with Ryan.
"Justice in his heart, huh?" Smoker mumbled to himself.
He hoped that those who stood up for the weak, driven by justice, would persevere. Maintaining such justice was incredibly difficult.
Smoker then thought of the 'Celestial Dragons,' the parasites within the Marine. He hoped that Ryan wouldn't be disappointed when he reached Marine Headquarters; the Marine wasn't absolute justice either, and it also had to compromise.
Since that was the case, he wouldn't inquire further. Anyway, Ryan was soon heading to Marine Headquarters, and even if there was some conspiracy, it wouldn't cause much trouble.
However, he still needed to send Ryan's information to Marine Headquarters. Smoker had the other Marines handle the scene, then turned into smoke and returned to his office, sending Ryan's strength assessment to Admiral Aokiji.
Ryan didn't know what kind of psychological activity his words had stirred in Smoker. He only knew that to achieve his ideals, he needed immense power. In a world where power reigned supreme, having great strength meant having a say.
Before possessing unparalleled power, some things required compromise. He understood this principle even before he came to this world. Why do people work? Without substantial capital, even when facing grievances at work, one must persevere. For survival, some things require compromise.
Ryan felt fortunate that in this world, he had a system that allowed him to gain strength by hunting pirates, giving him the ability to create rules in this world.
Before that, some things could be done in secret.
Over the next period, in various dark corners of Loguetown, pirates were forced into battle by two suddenly appearing Marines.
These two Marines were powerful; they eliminated the stronger ones among them and subdued the weaker ones. A little later, Loguetown Marines would arrive to capture them and throw them into prison.
Several hours passed, and the Marines in town were constantly deployed, capturing heap after heap of pirates. The remaining pirates were terrified, realizing that two highly skilled Marines had arrived in Loguetown. They relentlessly hunted the stronger pirates, while the weaker ones were all thrown into prison.
Sending the weaker pirates to prison was Anton's idea. Initially, Ryan and he constantly searched for hiding pirates and eliminated them directly, but later Ryan found it too time-consuming. Pirates who knew they were doomed fought desperately and kept running, and killing them didn't even grant experience points.
Later, Anton suggested to Ryan that they could use the Loguetown Marines' power to eliminate the strong pirates and imprison the weak ones. So Ryan immediately contacted Smoker via Den Den Mushi and received his permission.
A team of Naval Soldiers followed in their footsteps, and after getting Ryan's permission, they continuously dispatched soldiers to capture pirates for imprisonment.
Therefore, their efficiency greatly increased during this period. When the pirates heard that surrendering meant not dying, just going to prison, they also lost their determination to fight to the death.
This greatly saved Ryan's time, so during this period, Loguetown constantly saw Marines escorting pirates to prison.
The remaining pirates either fled Loguetown in terror or went into complete hiding. None dared to cause trouble anymore; even the town's gangs became well-behaved and dared not act.
This day, Loguetown became completely peaceful, free of conflict.