The smell of gunpowder smoke mixed with the thick stench of blood, lingering in the air above the pier.
Smoker retracted his jitte, the smoke at its tip slowly dissipating.
The corpse of the Marine soldier at his feet was still twitching slightly, the bloody hole in the center of his forehead a shocking sight.
The surrounding Marine soldiers gripped their guns tightly, their knuckles white from the strain, their eyes filled with terror and confusion.
Everything that had just happened was beyond their comprehension.
Their former comrade-in-arms had been bitten, and in the blink of an eye, had turned into that kind of bloodthirsty monster.
"Colonel..."
Tashigi's voice trembled, her eyes red-rimmed, the tip of her Shigure drooping slightly.
"Cut the chatter."
Smoker bit down on his two cigars, his face so grim it could drip water.
He took a deep drag, and the smoke he exhaled instantly enveloped the corpse.
"If you space out at a time like this, the next one lying on the ground will be you."
Although his words were harsh, his tall figure stood in front of everyone.
"All hands, listen up! Maintain formation and retreat to the warship immediately!"
Smoker made a decisive decision.
The situation was not right.
Very, very wrong.
This wasn't just some kind of disease; this was a biological weapon that had been deliberately created.
And its transmission speed was ridiculously fast.
Furthermore, it was unknown for now whether the virus could be transmitted through the air.
"Roar—"
As if to confirm Smoker's hypothesis, a shrill roar came from deep within the maze of shipping containers.
Followed immediately by a second, a third...
The rising and falling roars merged into one, sounding as if the gates of hell had been violently thrown open.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The ground began to shake.
Countless chaotic, heavy footsteps surged from all directions, growing closer and denser.
The sound made one's scalp tingle.
"Run! Don't look back!"
Smoker roared, his cape billowing violently behind him.
The Marine soldiers snapped out of their trance, frantically turning and sprinting toward the pier.
"White Blow!"
A thick burst of white smoke erupted instantly, sweeping across like a giant python.
A dozen zombies leaping in mid-air were violently knocked away by the smoke, crashing into the horde behind them.
Smoker's figure coalesced within the smoke, his arms transforming into massive fists of smoke, firmly blocking the exit of the shipping containers.
"Colonel!"
"Get on the ship! That's an order!"
Smoker bit down on his cigar, veins bulging on his forehead.
These monsters possessed astonishing strength; every impact caused his smoke barrier to shake violently. Moreover, there were too many of them, densely packed and endless. At a glance, the entire pier was writhing.
The Marine soldiers scrambled onto the warship's gangplank.
"Raise the anchor! Raise it now!"
The gunners who had been waiting on deck frantically turned the winch, and the heavy iron anchor rose with a splash. The sails snapped open in the sea breeze.
"Cut the cables!" the adjutant shouted.
Several Marine soldiers swung their blades, and the thick cables snapped in response. Using the wind, the warship began to move slowly away from the pier.
"Colonel! Hurry up and get on!"
Tashigi stood by the ship's rail, anxiously reaching out her hand.
On the pier, Smoker watched the warship gradually moving away and suddenly retracted his smoke ability.
Without the obstruction, the pent-up horde of corpses burst forth instantly, surging toward the pier like a flood breaking through a dam.
Smoker's lower body transformed into jetting smoke, and he shot into the sky like a Rocket, tracing an arc in the air before landing heavily on the warship's deck.
"Full rudder! Get out of here!"
He roared the moment he landed.
In fact, there was no need for him to shout; the Marine soldier at the helm had already turned the rudder to the limit. The warship tilted violently, cutting a massive white wake across the sea surface as it charged toward the open sea at full speed.
Everyone collapsed onto the deck, gasping for breath, their hearts ready to jump out of their throats.
That scene just now was nothing short of a nightmare.
At the edge of the pier, the dark mass of the corpse horde surged all the way to the end of the pier. The zombies at the very front couldn't stop themselves, and some even had half their bodies dangling over the edge.
But strangely.
They stopped.
It was as if they had been blocked by an invisible wall.
Thousands of zombies crowded the shore, emitting deafening roars at the retreating warship.
The Marine soldiers sat slumped on the ground, their muskets still hot, but their fingers were too stiff to let go.
They looked back at the burning island.
Billowing black smoke shot straight into the sky, obscuring the midday sun and shrouding the entire sea area in gloom.
Although that nauseating roaring sound could no longer be heard, it seemed to still echo in everyone's ears.
"What on earth was that..."
A young Marine soldier hugged his knees, his body trembling uncontrollably.
No one could answer him.
"Colonel Smoker."
Tashigi walked over, holding Shigure, her voice hoarse and her glasses fogged with moisture.
"The casualty count is in... We lost twelve brothers at the pier, and three more... mutated on the ship and have already been quarantined."
Smoker spat out the cigarette butt in his mouth and pulled two more from his pocket to light up.
The flame flickered, and smoke rose.
"Record it: they died in battle."
Smoker's voice was low and firm.
"Yes."
Tashigi bit her lip, and tears finally fell.
The warship sailed at full speed across the undulating sea, the roar of the engines unable to mask the deathly silence on the deck.
Iron Fang Island had become a distant black dot, with only the rising thick smoke still testifying to the tragedy that had occurred there.
Outside the quarantine room in the hold, several armed Marine soldiers had palms slick with sweat, their gun barrels pointed fixedly at the heavy iron door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Violent impacts came from inside the iron door, accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of fingernails scraping against metal—it was the clawing of some kind of Beast.
Hrrgh, hrrgh~
Indistinct roars seeped through the cracks in the door, making one's scalp tingle.
That was their comrade-in-arms, who ten minutes ago had been joking with them, and now had turned into this kind of monster.
Smoker grabbed the den den mushi on the table.
The danger level of this virus far exceeded his imagination; Iron Fang Island was a transportation hub of the North Blue. If measures weren't taken immediately, once any fish slipped through the net and escaped with the virus...
Blu-blu-blu... Blu-blu-blu...
The time waiting for the connection was suffocatingly long.
First half of the Grand Line, Marineford.
The afternoon sun spilled through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows into the Fleet Admiral's office, yet could not dispel the suffocating low pressure inside the room.
Mountains of files on the desk were teetering, and a goat with a bell hanging from its neck was slowly chewing on a wanted poster.
"Where has that bastard Garp run off to again?"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku grabbed a handful of senbei and stuffed them into his mouth, crunching loudly, as if he were chewing on the bones of some old comrade-in-arms.
"He said he went to the East Blue to visit his grandson; he's probably lingering in that Windmill Village again."
On the sofa, an old woman with a full head of silver hair was unhurriedly flipping through the newspaper in her hands.
Marineford's Great Staff Officer, Vice Admiral Tsuru.
She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and spoke in a flat tone.
"Let him go; as long as he doesn't stir up trouble in the New World, it'll be fine. The activity from the Four Emperors has been a bit quieter lately, but on the other hand, the Shichibukai..."
Sengoku stopped chewing, his brow furrowed, and a hint of gloom showed in his eyes behind his round-rimmed glasses.
"Doflamingo?"
Tsuru set down the newspaper and tapped her fingers lightly on the armrest.
"The intelligence coming from the North Blue is chaotic. The underground trading network controlled by the Donquixote Family has been consolidating a large amount of funds recently and has even meddled in some arms deals that originally belonged to other factions. That 'Heavenly Yaksha' has an increasingly large appetite."
"Hmph, the Seven Warlords of the Sea system..."
Sengoku snorted coldly and slammed the file in his hand heavily onto the table.
"They say it's to keep the Four Emperors in check, but in reality, they're just a pack of wolves wearing a veneer of legality. As long as I'm alive, they won't be able to run rampant."
Just then, the den den mushi on the desk suddenly rang.
Blu-blu-blu... Blu-blu-blu...