Chapter 20: Heading Towards the Grand Line
Behind the tavern, inside a dim warehouse, the air was thick with the sulfurous-nitric smell of gunpowder. Various weapons hung all over the walls.
"Tsk tsk tsk, just a pile of munitions?" Reiner sighed in disappointment. After rummaging through boxes and cabinets for a while, he only found less than seventy million Beri.
This is supposed to be Loguetown’s biggest underground trading post, how come it only has this stuff? And so little money.
Still, even a mosquito’s leg is meat. Besides the cash, he also packed up a considerable amount of arms and weapons, along with a few bottles of good wine...
After setting the tavern ablaze, Reiner visited the other black market controlled by Bartolomeo and sold off all the arms at a low price.
Before leaving, he saw someone selling Log Poses and conveniently bought ten of them.
Interestingly, this black market genuinely resembled a marketplace, with scattered stalls lining a street, frequented by fierce-looking individuals or cloaked figures.
"Just like something out of a novel," Reiner couldn’t help but smile. "Including the weapons I sold, I probably made around one hundred twenty million Beri."
The good news was, he got the Seastone.
The better news was, he didn’t spend a dime and even turned a profit.
Reiner left the black market with his money, preparing to head back to the ship, planning to check if Sanji’s competition had finished on the way.
Suddenly, the clear sky began to darken. Dark clouds, as if summoned by someone, rapidly converged over Loguetown.
Reiner subconsciously quickened his pace. Just as he was passing a certain square...
Hearing the shouts from the surrounding crowd, Reiner couldn’t help but stop and look sideways.
There, in the center of the vast square, atop the towering execution platform, stood a red-nosed man in clown makeup. Shackled beneath him, Luffy was grinning broadly.
Holy crap! The world-famous Scene?
Wait, why is the King of Luck here? We didn’t even mess with him.
"Gehahahaha! I heard the little wench who stole my sea chart joined your crew! Looks like she doesn’t plan on saving you!" Clown Buggy grinned menacingly, raising his knife.
"Then you can repay me with your head!"
"Damn it, he’s a bit far," Reiner cursed under his breath while rushing forward, simultaneously drawing his pistol and aiming at Buggy on the platform.
This was the special gun Reiner had prepared earlier, loaded with Seastone bullets, just in case they were intercepted by Smoker on the way.
Just as Buggy raised his knife, Reiner’s bullet struck him squarely in the shoulder, sending out a spray of blood.
"Damn it! What is this!?" Buggy cursed through gritted teeth, collapsing weakly onto the execution platform. He rolled over once and tumbled off the side.
Luffy, seeing Buggy fall, looked slightly baffled. Following the sound of the gunshot, he spotted Reiner below, his smile growing even wider.
"Shishishi! Knew you wouldn’t die!"
"What the hell were you doing!?" Reiner climbed onto the platform and broke Luffy’s cuffs. "We gotta run, Luffy! Back to the ship!"
Standing on the execution platform, Reiner could already see Smoker in the distance, heading towards the square on his bizarrely shaped motorcycle.
He didn’t want to engage Smoker; although the Seastone bullets greatly reduced the threat, beating Smoker offered no benefits, and wasting multi-million Beri bullets here was out of the question.
"Yosh! Let’s go, Reiner!"
"Yeah, let’s pick up Sanji on the way."
Reiner and Luffy jumped down from the platform and ran south, the direction where their ship was docked.
A light drizzle began to fall from the sky. The two ran onward, while Smoker relentlessly pursued them on his custom bike.
Reiner spotted Sanji jogging ahead, carrying a large blue-and-white striped fish – the Elephant Tuna he had won in the competition.
Sanji heard the call and turned, seeing Reiner and Luffy sprinting towards him. "Oh, it’s you guys! What’s the rush?"
"Run, Sanji! Navy’s behind us!" The pair didn’t slow down at all, dashing right past him.
Sanji, caught off guard for a moment, stood frozen. Looking closer, he finally spotted Smoker on his motorcycle.
"Damn it! Couldn’t you pretend you didn’t know me!? Dragging me into this mess!" Sanji yelled, taking off at full speed.
Luffy and Sanji ran, one carrying the fish’s head, the other the tail, as the light drizzle intensified into a torrential downpour.
Large raindrops hammered their faces, visibility worsening within the curtain of rain.
"No good! His bike is much faster than us!"
"If this keeps up, he’ll catch us soon!"
"Don’t waste time, keep running," Reiner stopped them. "When he catches up, I’ll feed him something big."
As time passed, the trio drew closer to the port, but Smoker behind them reached it first.
A hoarse roar echoed. Reiner and the others couldn’t help but turn and look back.
A rolling cloud of thick white smoke surged towards them, with Smoker’s upper body emerging from the front!
"Straw Hat Luffy! Your little pirate game ends here!" Smoker glared, winding up a punch aimed at Luffy.
"What is this thing!?" Luffy exclaimed in surprise, dodging the punch sideways and retaliating with a whip kick towards Smoker. However, his foot passed right through the smoke as if stepping on air.
"Didn’t hit? No, it should have hit!" Luffy and Sanji were clearly shocked.
"Gum-Gum... Gatling!" Luffy refused to accept it, unleashing a barrage of punches. Yet, every fist passed straight through Smoker’s body.
"It’s no use, Luffy! He’s a Logia-type ability user! Normal attacks can’t touch his real body!" Reiner quickly shouted, simultaneously drawing his pistol.
"You seem to know a thing or two," Smoker couldn’t help but glance sideways at Reiner.
"Then isn’t he invincible?"
"How do we fight him if we can’t touch his real body?" Luffy and Sanji were clearly stunned.
"Since you understand, you should give up hope. With your strength, you cannot possibly defeat me," Smoker stated coolly, his deep voice sounding like a final verdict.
Reiner remained unfazed, aiming his gun directly at Smoker. "Six million Beri a shot... using it on you is a real damn waste."
"It’s useless! Stop struggling!" Smoker roared, completely ignoring Reiner’s aimed gun, leaving himself wide open as he threw a heavy punch towards Reiner.
The instant Smoker’s fist flew out, Reiner also pulled the trigger. The bullet reached Smoker first.
Something completely unexpected happened to Smoker. The bullet didn’t pass through his body like Luffy’s fists.
A spray of blood erupted before Smoker’s shocked eyes. Skimming low across the ground, Smoker’s form staggered, and then he crashed heavily onto the pavement.
"Haki!? No..." That was Smoker’s first thought – the bullet was coated in Haki. But the next moment, a feeling of powerlessness washed over his entire body, and his elemental legs reverted to their original form.
"How is this possible!?" Smoker lay helplessly on the ground, face contorted in disbelief, watching them gradually run further away.
Seastone production was extremely scarce. Even the World Government needed to collect it from all over the world through various means.
They even resorted to cooperating with pirates, paying exorbitant prices to trade with Kaido-occupied Wano Country for Seastone.
Besides the World Government, even in the Grand Line, only a very small number of pirate crews possessed any.
"How could a pirate from the East Blue possibly get their hands on something !?" Smoker thought incredulously.
"Nice shot, Reiner!" Luffy grinned, flashing his teeth.
Sanji, however, was more observant, looking quizzically at Reiner. "How did you do that? Didn’t you say Logia users can’t be touched physically?"
"Don’t talk about it, my heart is bleeding," Reiner said, clutching his chest in mock agony over the cost.
He then explained the effects of Seastone to the two, mentioning his visit to the underground trading place earlier that day.
By the time they reached the port, the others had already arrived.
The rain gradually stopped, and the previously gloomy sky inexplicably cleared up again, turning sunny.
"What bizarre weather," Sanji remarked, looking up at the sky.
Reiner, however, seemed unfazed. He lit a cigarette and walked onto the ship. "Let’s go, Sanji."
"Shishishi! Next stop, the Grand Line! Let’s go!!"
Meanwhile, on a street in Loguetown, Smoker lay sprawled on the ground, waiting for his subordinates to come rescue him. He currently lacked even the strength to dig the bullet out.
Suddenly, a low chuckle sounded from behind him.
"Looking quite pathetic, Smoker."
"How are you here?" Smoker turned his head back in surprise.
"Happened to be in the neighborhood on business. Thought I’d stop by and see the young ones off."
"See them off?" Smoker looked slightly confused, apparently not worried that the figure before him might attack.
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