Chapter 24
"Ah! That face! No mistake—this is Kuro! I've seen his wanted poster!" One of the soldiers shouted the moment he saw Kuro's face. Hearing him, the other soldiers showed shocked expressions.
The surrounding crowd erupted into murmurs and discussions.
"Please wait a moment. I'll report this to my superior right away." The soldier who seemed to be the captain approached me, said that, then stepped aside and pulled out a small Den Den Mushi, speaking quietly into it.
I watched the Den Den Mushi in his hand with interest—this was my first time seeing a real one. It looked like a snail, about the size of a baseball. Its mouth opened and closed like it was talking, but with the surrounding noise, I couldn't hear the conversation clearly.
A moment later, the captain put away the Den Den Mushi and hurried back to me. He saluted sharply. "Sorry for the wait. I've reported the situation to my superior. Captain Smoker is on his way right now. Please wait a little longer."
I nodded and said nothing more. Sure enough—Smoker. I had zero interest in that cigar-chomping uncle right now. All I wanted was to get the money fast, stroll around town, then find a chance to quietly kidnap Tashigi and slip away.
Loguetown held no real appeal for me.
After a few more minutes of waiting amid the crowd's murmurs and stares, a man in a white jacket pushed through the people. White hair, two cigars in his mouth, a weapon resembling a police baton on his back.
Definitely Smoker—the Moku Moku no Mi (Smoke-Smoke Fruit) Logia user, Navy Captain. I looked at him with interest. He looked cool in the manga, but seeing him in person, there was an inexplicable sleazy vibe—no trace of dignity left. I was quite disappointed.
"Ah, Captain Smoker!" The moment Smoker appeared, the soldier captain rushed over, saluted, and reported the situation.
After listening, Smoker walked up to me. He glanced once at Kuro in my hand, then fixed his gaze on me.
Just as I was starting to get impatient, he finally spoke.
"So you're the one who caught the 16 million bounty criminal Kuro? Good work. Just hand him over to us now." Smoker said calmly, as if this was some trivial matter.
I tossed Kuro toward the soldiers. A few immediately picked him up and carried him away.
"Alright, person's yours. Where do I collect the money?" I smiled at Smoker—things were going smoother than expected.
"Sorry, but we can't give you the bounty." Smoker still spoke calmly.
"Oh? Why's that?" This answer caught me off guard.
"The Navy welcomes good citizens who act with justice—but you're not one of them. Wanted criminal with a 50 million Berry bounty—Lin Xiu!" As he spoke, Smoker's hands turned into smoke, slowly spreading toward me.
Damn—I forgot about this. I had a bounty too. Should've disguised myself.
"Eh? Aren't you mistaken? Wasn't it 30 million? How'd it jump to 50 million?" I haven't done anything major lately, right?
"In Cocoyasi Village, you rendered three fully armed warships combat ineffective and hijacked one of our expensive Navy vessels. You're the real dangerous one." As he spoke, Smoker's smoke formed an encirclement around me. The stench of cheap cigars filled my nose.
"So that's it—one warship is worth 20 million, huh?" I pulled out a Marlboro, lit it, and took a drag—finally covering that damn cigar smell.
"By the way, Smoker—you're a captain, right? Can't you smoke something classier?" I spread my mental power outward, materializing it into a barrier—pushing every wisp of Smoker's smoke away without letting a trace through.
"Oh? You're a Devil Fruit user too?" Seeing his ability blocked, Smoker took the weapon off his back.
From the original story, I knew that baton was inlaid with Seastone—it could nullify Devil Fruit powers. But it was useless against me.
"Seastone? Don't play with boring stuff like that. Let's have a proper fight." Mental power condensed and struck Smoker's wrist holding the baton. His hand immediately turned to smoke to dissipate the impact—but he couldn't hold the weapon anymore. Telekinesis snatched it, gave it a light wipe, and stored it in my spatial ring.
"I'll hold onto this for now. Come on—show me what a Logia can really do." As I spoke, my mental barrier had fully enclosed Smoker and his smoke in a 3-meter diameter sphere.
From outside, it looked like a three-meter-wide white hemisphere. I could feel constant impacts inside—Smoker clearly wasn't giving up. But the Smoke-Smoke Fruit's attack power was limited—my solidified mental power wasn't something he could break. He was trapped inside. This turned out to be a great way to deal with Logia users.
Seeing Smoker seemingly contained, the soldiers realized something was wrong and fled—probably to get reinforcements. I ignored them. Right now I was researching how to handle Logia fruits.
I began slowly shrinking the barrier around Smoker. After a moment, it contracted to just 1.5 meters in diameter.
Smoker reverted to human form—struggling to hold back the shrinking barrier.
At that moment, dense footsteps approached. I looked over—a large squad of Navy soldiers was rushing this way, led by a short-haired dark-blue woman with glasses. Yes—Tashigi had arrived.
Soon the large squad had cleared all onlookers and densely surrounded the entire street—encircling me.
"Captain Smoker! Are you alright?" The mental barrier was colorless and invisible—ordinary people couldn't see it. To Tashigi, Smoker just looked like he was in a strange pose, trembling constantly.
"Tashigi! Be careful! Ngh! That guy is dangerous!" Smoker struggled to speak.
Hearing Smoker, Tashigi assumed a defensive stance. Countless rifles all aimed at me simultaneously.
"Seriously, Smoker—I wasn't even bothering you. Just wanted to earn some side cash, but you had to come provoke me. Before provoking someone, you should first check if you have the strength!" As soon as I finished speaking,
My divine sense—covering the entire area—released countless precise impacts, striking every soldier's neck. All of them collapsed as if hit hard—piles of unconscious bodies on the ground. In an instant, only me, Tashigi, and Smoker remained standing.
Not bad—felt a bit like Conqueror's Haki. Very powerful. Looking at the fainted Navy soldiers around me, I suddenly felt a huge sense of accomplishment.
"Smoker! Provoking someone you can't afford to mess with comes at a price! And this time—the price is your life!" I raised my hand toward Smoker in a gripping motion.
With my gesture, the transparent hemispherical barrier around Smoker accelerated its contraction—squeezing him relentlessly. Soon he curled into a ball, squatting on the ground, screaming from the pressure and pain.
It wouldn't be long before Smoker was crushed out of shape.
"Captain Smoker! Ah! No!" Anyone could see Smoker's state was wrong. Tashigi realized I was the cause.
"Release Captain Smoker right now!" Drawing her sword, Tashigi charged at me with fierce momentum.
Before she reached me, I used telekinesis to bind her in place—completely immobilized.
"You want to provoke me too?" I stopped pressuring Smoker and looked at Tashigi.
"Ngh—what did you do! Let Captain Smoker go!" Even immobilized, Tashigi remained fierce.
"No can do. He provoked me—as payment, I was just about to kill him." Saying so, I reached toward Smoker again—triggering another scream from him.
"Captain Smoker! Let him go—I'll take his place!" Hearing Tashigi, I paused again. Smoker was now curled up on the ground in a fetal position.
"Oh? You'll take his place?" I looked at the glasses-wearing beauty with interest.
"Yes! Release Captain Smoker—I'll let you do whatever you want!" Tashigi showed a resolute expression.
"Fine—I accept." I snapped my fingers—releasing the barrier around Smoker. Exhausted from resisting the contraction, Smoker immediately collapsed, gasping heavily.
"Smoker—this girl saved you. Remember this debt. Live with the guilt." Using telekinesis, I lifted Tashigi and flew into the sky with her—disappearing from Smoker's view.
Leaving Smoker on the ground, unable to move, face covered in tears.
Carrying the immobilized Tashigi, we flew high above—Loguetown's entire scenery spread beneath us.
"Seriously… I still wanted to stroll around this meaningful little town." Bounty money gone—pockets empty. So awkward.
While thinking where to take Tashigi, I spotted a large ship approaching Loguetown's docks. Looking closely—black sails with a white skull pattern. A pirate ship. I had no memory of this flag—probably some low-tier crew.
Worried about money, perfect timing for a little black-on-black. Hope this pirate crew has some cash.
No hesitation—I turned direction and dove straight toward the pirate ship with Tashigi.
BOOM!
With a loud crash, I landed on their deck with Tashigi—or rather, smashed onto it.
My sudden descent from the sky stunned the burly men on board. Taking a deep breath, I shouted a classic line:
"Time~ to~ rob!"
To be continued…
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