Oh! Tomioka! Why are you here too!"
Luffy spotted Tomioka emerging from a side street at a glance, waving his arms frantically at him, as if the person who had just been chased by Smoker wasn't him.
Tomioka looked at Luffy and simply nodded slightly in response. His gaze then fell upon the shirtless man in the cowboy hat.
Ace also noticed Tomioka. He watched the two greet each other, a hearty smile on his face, and raised a hand in greeting: "Yo, is this someone you know, Luffy?"
Luffy immediately put his hands on his hips, puffed out his chest, and showed an expression of immense pride.
"That's right! I've formed a Pirate crew now! He's my nakama! He's very strong!"
"Oh~"
Ace let out a playful laugh, observing Tomioka with interest. But it was only for a moment before he reined in his joking expression and bowed very formally to Tomioka.
"My little brother, thank you for taking care of him usually." His tone was sincere and solemn.
Tomioka was stunned.
Little brother?
This composed man in front of him, he was Luffy's… older brother?
How could they be so different… Faced with the other party's sudden and solemn thanks, Tomioka's meager social experience only brought up the response of politeness. He was a bit flustered and instinctively bent down as well, extending his hand at the same time.
"Um… It's me who…"
He responded vaguely, not quite sure what should follow "It's me who."
Ace watched him bow in return, first startled, then couldn't help but laugh out loud, his smile even more genuine than before.
He straightened his body and stepped forward to briefly shake Tomioka's hand.
"Your nakama is very interesting, Luffy," he said to Luffy with a smile.
However, this temporary peace created by the brothers' reunion did not last long.
"Are you two pretending I don't exist!!! Still playing pirates here!!!"
The wall of fire slowly weakened and dissipated due to Ace's distraction, revealing Smoker, whose face looked like he had eaten something foul.
He roared, his right arm instantly elementalizing into a giant white smoke fist, kicking up dust from the ground and spewing it violently towards Luffy and Ace!
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"
Facing the incoming smoke fist, Tomioka drew his Blade, activated Water Breathing, and compressed the air in his lungs to the extreme.
The trajectory of his blade swing was like the surging tide, swift and fierce, unleashing a slash like a violent, explosive wave.
The sharp slash cut into the smoke fist, directly disrupting and scattering the condensed smoke, causing it to lose its original form and impact.
Smoker's attack immediately stalled. He glared at Tomioka, his teeth clenched: "It's you again…"
The Marine subordinates behind him let out gasps of surprise.
"Who is that guy?"
"He actually… split Colonel Smoker's smoke?!"
"You didn't see it! It was like that in Loguetown too! Colonel Smoker rushed into the Grand Line just to chase him!"
Ace looked at Tomioka's back as he sheathed his blade, a flicker of genuine surprise in his eyes, which then turned into even deeper interest and admiration.
He clapped his hands and laughed: "Your nakama is indeed very strong."
However, he stepped forward, gently blocking Tomioka with his hand, a calm smile on his face.
"Thanks, little brother, but at this moment."
He turned to look at Smoker, his eyes sharpening, a smirk on his lips, "Let me, your big brother, put on a show."
Ace waved to Luffy: "Luffy, you take your nakama and go first, I'll catch up later."
"Alright!"
Luffy had absolute trust in Ace's strength. He responded without hesitation, his rubber arm suddenly extending to grab Tomioka, who had just sheathed his blade and hadn't fully grasped the situation.
"Tomioka! Let's go, let's go! He's really strong, trust him!"
Before he finished speaking, Luffy was already running backward.
Tomioka only felt a huge pulling force from his shoulder. His entire body instantly lifted off the ground, like a rag doll being dragged by a child, uncontrollably flying along with Luffy.
The wind whistled in his ears, and he could see the buildings on both sides rapidly receding.
Tomioka was stiffly dragged by Luffy, moving at high speed through the street. He could even feel his tied-up black hair wildly dancing in the wind.
This is… Luffy after a full meal… Tomioka looked at the rapidly passing ground with a blank expression, his heart unable to calm down for a long time.
So much energy… Behind them, Ace's clear and powerful voice came from afar again:
"Stop, Smoker. You are smoke, I am fire. You can't beat me."
"Fire Wall!!"
An even hotter wall of flames shot up into the sky, completely blocking the pursuers' view of them.
But Luffy showed no signs of slowing down at all, dragging a grown person without affecting his ability to weave through the crowds on the street… He ran like this until—
"What was that?!"
Bang!
Accompanied by a dull thud and a familiar voice, Luffy's face solidly crashed into a hard wall.
Tomioka, who was being dragged behind him, also stumbled due to the sudden stop, but fortunately, his stable stance prevented him from falling.
Luffy rubbed his bumped nose, looked up, and immediately grinned again: "Ah! Zoro! Sanji! Nami! It's your scent after all!"
Zoro was seen rubbing his head and lying on the ground. Luffy had just crashed into the wall Zoro was leaning against, directly sending Zoro face down into the dust.
Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Vivi were all nearby as well.
"Hahahahahahahahaha!! Mosshead!! Why are you lying on the ground!!"
Nami looked at the suddenly appearing Luffy, and the slightly disheveled Tomioka behind him, and breathed a sigh of relief: "Luffy! You actually didn't cause trouble? It's a miracle!"
"And you two actually met up."
Luffy immediately puffed out his cheeks, like a wronged child: "How could I cause trouble! I just went to eat!"
He completely ignored the fact that he had just been chased all over the street by Smoker, and that Tomioka had helped him block the attack.
Tomioka silently tidied his haori and hair, which had been messed up by the wind, looking at his noisy nakama in front of him.
"Just now, I met Luffy's older brother."
Sanji, who was still laughing, dropped his cigarette to the ground and said with some surprise: "You actually met him here? What kind of person is Luffy's older brother?"
Tomioka recalled the scene of meeting Ace just now, and then thought of Luffy in his daily life, "Completely different from Luffy…"