Whoosh!
Using Shave from the Six Styles with practiced ease, Mangu closed the distance between himself and Smoker in the blink of an eye.
In an instant, he appeared directly in front of the Marine colonel.
The massive mace in his hands, hardened with Armament Haki, swept forward like a dark afterimage.
Even before the weapon actually touched Smoker, the sheer force of the swing created violent air currents that made Smoker's cheeks ripple.
The whistling sound of the weapon cutting through the air surged wildly.
The mace smashed through Smoker's body—
Only to scatter a large cloud of white smoke.
After all, Smoker was one of the most promising young officers in the Marines. By transforming his body into smoke at the last moment, he narrowly avoided the direct hit.
"White Smoke!"
The scattered smoke did not drift away.
Instead, it rapidly twisted into a spiraling column that wrapped tightly around Mangu's limbs.
The smoke coiled around his arms and legs like chains, attempting to restrain him.
"Ha!"
Feeling the pulling force around his body, Mangu's expression remained calm.
The muscles across his body instantly bulged.
A metallic sheen covered his skin.
With a simple flex of his arms, the terrifying strength within his body exploded outward.
The smoke binding him was shattered instantly.
"What kind of monstrous strength is this?!"
Smoker, still in smoke form, felt the overwhelming force from Mangu's body.
Shock filled his heart.
He immediately tried to pull back the smoke and retreat.
"Muscle Hellstorm!"
Smoker's reaction was quick, but he had clearly underestimated Mangu.
As the smoke began to withdraw, Mangu suddenly swung his mace in a wild frenzy.
The weapon roared through the air like a raging storm.
The violent gusts generated by the weapon disrupted Smoker's smoke body.
The smoke scattered chaotically.
Even his Logia ability couldn't stabilize his form enough to evade the attack.
Boom!
In the next moment, the mace slammed into Smoker's body.
"AAAH!"
Smoker was forced out of his elemental state instantly.
Blood sprayed from his mouth as he was sent flying.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
With the Muscle Fruit ability activated, Mangu's physical strength had increased tremendously.
This time, Smoker flew even farther than before.
He crashed violently into a nearby building.
But the momentum didn't stop there.
His body smashed through the structure, then continued through several more buildings in succession.
Almost one hundred meters later—
Smoker bounced across the ground like a ragdoll before finally rolling to a stop.
His body was covered in blood.
He lay motionless on the dusty street.
A closer look revealed that his eyes were closed.
His breathing was weak.
Mangu's attack had knocked him unconscious.
Thump. Thump.
Mangu crossed the distance of hundreds of meters with a few leaps.
Calmly walking up to the unconscious Marine, he rested the mace on his shoulder and grabbed Smoker by the head with his free hand.
Better leave a Logia user for big brother to handle.
With that thought in mind, he dragged Smoker back toward the harbor.
"Huh? It's already over?"
"These Marines from Loguetown look pretty weak."
"They were defeated so easily."
"Maybe it's not that they're weak."
"Maybe our pirate crew is just too strong."
By the time Mangu returned to the harbor carrying Smoker, Kaito Arisawa, Robin, and Neferpitou had already arrived.
Looking at the corpses scattered around the port, Lafayette, Law, and the others quickly relaxed when they saw that their own crew had suffered almost no losses.
"Big brother," Mangu said as he approached Kaito.
"This Marine should be a Logia user."
"What should we do with him?"
"Logia?"
"Let me see."
"Seriously? There's a Marine with a Logia ability here?"
"That's rare!"
Mangu's words immediately drew everyone's attention.
Robin, Neferpitou, Lafayette, and the others gathered around curiously.
Although the War Pirates had many Devil Fruit users in their ranks, none of them had ever encountered a Logia user in battle before.
However—
The moment they saw Smoker's miserable condition, several of them couldn't help showing a trace of sympathy.
He looked terrible.
In East Blue, the weakest of the four seas, a Logia ability user should have been nearly invincible.
But unfortunately for him—
He had run into someone who could use Haki.
And that person had beaten him like a stray dog.
After thinking for a moment, Kaito finally spoke.
"Put Seastone handcuffs on him first."
"And treat his injuries."
"Otherwise he might die before we even leave Loguetown."
Although Smoker's strength and potential weren't particularly outstanding among Logia users—
He was still a Logia user.
That alone made him valuable.
Especially since Kaito possessed Conqueror's Haki.
It might be possible to subdue him.
"Understood."
Meanwhile—
Somewhere in West Blue.
Kuzan was lying on a beach chair, sleeping lazily under the sun.
Suddenly, the ringing of a Den Den Mushi woke him up.
He sat up and answered the call.
As he listened, his relaxed expression quickly turned serious.
"Turn the ship around."
"We're heading back toward the Red Line."
"Yes, sir!"
After giving the order, Kuzan walked toward the bow of the ship with a grim expression.
Cold air spread from his feet.
Within seconds, the deck around him froze into solid ice.
"So he moved from West Blue to East Blue…"
"And he even captured Smoker."
"That's troublesome."
The Marines' intelligence network was extremely efficient.
Especially in a busy port city like Loguetown.
Less than an hour after Kaito and the War Pirates finished resupplying and left the town, the news had already reached Marine Headquarters.
Soon afterward, the information was transmitted to Kuzan.
If Loguetown had simply been attacked by pirates, Kuzan might not have cared much.
Pirate raids happened all the time.
But this situation was different.
Not only because the attackers were the War Pirates—the very crew he had been hunting—
But also because Smoker was his friend.
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