The four of them broke free from Smoker's vaunted "white prison" almost simultaneously, landing lightly and steadily on the ground.
Smoker's expression grew more serious than ever before.
As an elite officer from Marine Headquarters, he knew exactly what this meant.
Being able to tear free of his smoke meant that these four had reached a level of strength that bordered on the unbelievable.
"So monsters like this really came out of the East Blue…"
Smoker tightened his grip on the jitte in his hand, his vigilance rising to its highest level.
Although the main fighters had escaped, the "weaker ones" behind them were still drowning in misery.
"Cough… cough… help…" Usopp rolled his eyes.
"Ah! Help me!" Nami struggled desperately, but the smoke only tightened further around her.
Seeing Ronan and the others standing there as if nothing had happened, Nami immediately panicked. With tears in her voice, she shouted,
"RONAN!! Stop posing over there and help me get rid of this disgusting stuff already!!"
Ronan turned around and looked at Nami, suspended midair by the smoke in a rather awkward posture.
He didn't act right away. Instead, he casually hoisted the black wooden staff onto his shoulder, a familiar and extremely gentlemanly smile spreading across his face.
"Saving you is fine."
Ronan straightened his face, raised one finger solemnly, and said,
"But… it'll cost one million Beli."
"That way, not only is my debt to you cleared, but you'll owe me instead. That's fair, right?"
"..."
The entire scene went silent for a full second.
Even Smoker across from them froze, clearly having never witnessed such an exchange before.
The next instant, Nami's face flushed bright red. Her fear vanished completely, replaced by an even more terrifying fury.
Her mouth sharpened into fanged edges—the aura that only appeared when she was truly enraged.
"You bastard, Ronan!!!"
Nami's roar drowned out even the thunder.
"Is now really the time to say something like that?!"
"Tch."
Ronan shrugged. Though he was joking verbally, his hands moved without delay.
Swish!
He casually picked up a pebble from the ground, coated his fingertip with a faint layer of Armament Haki, and flicked it.
"Whoosh—smack!
The pebble shot out like a bullet, striking the base of the smoke binding Nami with pinpoint accuracy.
The Haki instantly disrupted the elemental structure. Nami let out a cry as she fell from midair.
Sanji reacted instantly, sliding forward on one knee to catch her.
"Nami-swaaaan! Are you hurt?! That damn Ronan actually dared to extort you—I'll kick him to death right now!"
Ronan: "..."
Luffy pulled down the brim of his straw hat and stepped to the very front, facing Smoker and the hundreds of Marines as rain streamed down his face.
"Ronan, Zoro, Sanji—you guys take Nami and Usopp and go."
Luffy clenched his fist, a faint black sheen of Haki surfacing over his knuckles.
"This smoke guy… I'll send him flying."
...
Loguetown, Central Plaza.
Rain poured down in sheets, curtains of water hanging between heaven and earth.
Cold rain washed over the stone tiles, pooling into muddy streams. Hundreds of fully armed Marines surged in from all directions like a steel tide, forming an airtight wall around the plaza.
Shouts, marching boots, and thunder blended together into a deafening roar.
"Tch, there really are a lot of them."
Ronan wiped rain from his face. The black wooden staff traced a dark arc through the rain, flinging droplets into the air.
"This might get troublesome… Luffy needs time. Let's clear out these blockers first."
"Just what I wanted," Zoro said, biting Wado Ichimonji back into his mouth.
"Don't let these guys spoil the captain's fun," Sanji added, flicking water off his soaked shoes.
"Move!"
The three of them exploded forward at once, like tigers descending the mountain, charging straight into the Marine ranks!
"Whooo—BAM!!"
Ronan led the charge. The three-meter black wooden staff in his hands transformed into a black dragon in motion.
Though it wasn't his beloved eight-foot spear, the heavy, solid feel made it even easier to wield.
Facing these duty-bound ordinary soldiers, Ronan didn't use killing techniques.
"Xingyi — Parting the Clouds, Revealing the Sun!"
The staff swept out with deep, resonant force.
There was no crushing force meant to shatter organs—only a firm yet irresistible blend of pushing and redirecting power.
Wherever the staff touched, soldiers toppled like dominoes.
A vast yet controlled force sent them flying in groups, crashing into distant puddles. They groaned in pain, unable to rise, but their lives were spared.
"Ah! My leg!"
"This power… there's no stopping it!"
The Marines realized in terror that their proud formation was as fragile as paper before the black-haired man.
Wherever Ronan passed, it was like a tiger among sheep—no one could withstand even a single strike.
"They're not evil pirates, after all. No need to go for the kill."
Ronan's mind was calm and clear, his strikes perfectly measured.
On the other side, Zoro and Sanji followed the same principle.
Though Zoro's three swords gleamed with cold light, he consistently used the backs of the blades.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
With crisp metallic impacts, charging soldiers were struck on the neck or abdomen, rolling their eyes back as they collapsed unconscious.
Sanji, meanwhile, kept both hands in his pockets, weaving through the crowd using only his legs.
His kicks were sharp and precise, but each one avoided vital points, landing instead on joints or muscle nodes to instantly strip his opponents of combat capability.
"Damn it! These pirates… how can they be this strong?!"
In just a few minutes, more than half of the once-dense Marine encirclement lay on the ground.
The rain-soaked plaza was filled with groaning soldiers, while the three figures standing amidst them remained like unshaken gods of war.
...
On the other side of the battlefield, the atmosphere was completely different.
Smoker watched his subordinates fall one after another, his expression dark enough to drip water.
But he had no time to worry about them—because the straw-hatted kid in front of him was making him inexplicably irritated.
"You brat who doesn't know his place!"
Smoker roared. His lower body transformed into blasting white smoke, propelling him through the air at extreme speed.
"White Gale—!!"
Smoker's fists expanded into massive smoke-clad punches, like twin missiles launched simultaneously from both sides, howling as they smashed toward Luffy.
In his view, no matter how strong Luffy was, against a Logia's formless, multi-angle assault, the boy would be forced to flee in disarray.
Yet Luffy didn't move an inch.
He stood there, even closing his eyes slightly, listening to the sound of rain striking the ground.
Within his Observation Haki, Smoker's seemingly erratic smoke trajectories were as clear as searchlights cutting through the night.
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