Chapter 82: Sabaody Archipelago – Smoker and Tashigi (Part 3)
"Looks like you want to fight… aren't you afraid to die?"
Smoker replied in a deep voice, "A Marine's duty is to hunt pirates. That… is enough."
"..." Eric was silent for a moment. "Well, having people like you who are so stubborn it's almost cute… is kind of admirable. But, if you didn't say you were Marines, how were we supposed to know?"
Smoker: "..."
Tashigi could only sigh and hold her forehead.
Smoker insisted, "Of course I have to proclaim the justice of the Marines! The Marines must defeat pirates. Even if I have to sacrifice myself, I'll carry out my beliefs."
Eric burst out laughing. "Hahaha, of course! Justice will prevail? That's obvious—because only the winners get to decide what justice is!"
'Donquixote Doflamingo, I'm stealing your line!'
Esdeath suddenly lit up. "Eric , you really are my perfect match! Survival of the fittest is the iron law of this world."
Everyone else waved their hands, shaking their heads. "No no, you two are clearly not talking about the same thing."
"Looks like we can't reach a consensus," Smoker said, pulling out his jitte. "Let's settle it with our fists!"
Tashigi opened her arms as well, extending several black rod-like objects from her limbs.
"I heard you defeated Gecko Moria. Just don't know if it's true or not." Smoker's legs turned into white smoke, propelling him forward as he charged at Esdeath.
Perona, who had some knowledge of Devil Fruits, was startled. "Another Logia user?"
"Esdeath, don't kill him!" Eric shouted from behind.
Esdeath replied, "Got it." He could only hope she didn't cripple Smoker.
Smoker was angered by their casual tone. "Pirates who don't kill? Don't make me laugh!" Fueled by rage, he slammed his jitte toward Esdeath with great force.
But his attack didn't land. It was intercepted mid-air by Esdeath's rapier. "Not bad power… but not enough." She gave him a passing grade before landing a side kick that sent Smoker flying.
"Smoker-kun!" Tashigi rushed forward to catch him. "Are you okay?"
"She actually hit me? Even though I'm smoke?" Smoker was stunned. He clutched his stomach with his left hand, clearly in pain and disbelief.
Tashigi speculated, "Could she have seastone embedded in her boots?" She didn't realize that pirates who hadn't yet entered the New World could already be using Armament Haki.
Eric cleared things up. "Logia users aren't invincible. You think your elemental body can't be hurt, so you don't bother defending. That'll get you killed early. Surely you've heard of Armament Haki? It's a power that counters Devil Fruit users."
"Armament Haki?!" Tashigi forgot they were enemies and blurted out, "But I thought only pirates in the New World could use that! How have you already learned it?!"
"Huh? Pirates in the New World are human, and so are we. Why couldn't we learn it?" Eric laughed. "Isn't your teacher, Zephyr, still teaching recruits at Marine HQ? He's even called 'Black Arm' because of his powerful Haki."
"Wait a second," Tashigi said suspiciously, "I never said Zephyr was our teacher. Who told you that?" She was beginning to suspect they had spies inside the Marines.
"...I originally wanted to become a Marine admiral. I gathered tons of reports about past admirals and came across 'non-lethal' former admiral Zephyr. Honestly, I don't know how many useless people are at Marine HQ… or maybe the World Government just couldn't tolerate a 'righteous' admiral, so they let pirates kill his family right under their noses."
"..." Smoker and Tashigi wanted to argue—but it was true. And there were a lot of suspicious details about how pirates had managed to sneak into HQ and get revenge so precisely.
"He was stripped of his title but kept the admiral rank and reassigned as an instructor. He trained many excellent Marines—like the current admirals Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru. Judging by your skill, you're probably top recruits too. If Zephyr was your teacher, I wouldn't be surprised."
"Enough talk. Are we fighting or not?" Smoker had taken the time to rest a little and wanted to resume the fight.
Eric muttered under his breath, "...I don't really want to fight you. What if we're forcibly paired into a CP couple?"
Smoker shouted, "What did you say? Speak up!"
Eric 's forehead popped a vein. "Esdeath, beat him up for me—but don't cripple or kill him!"
"Understood!" Esdeath replied, charging at Smoker like a low-flying bullet.
"I'll hold her off! You go for their captain!" Smoker volunteered to take on the powerful enemy who had defeated a Warlord, trusting Tashigi to use her Cage-Cage Fruit to capture the enemy leader.
"Leave it to Tashigi. Cage Lattice!" Tashigi placed the cigarette between her lips, extended her arms, and summoned long black bars from both hands. "Anything that passes through my body gets locked up." She surrounded Eric with the black lattice, slowly closing it in.
Clang! Eric was accurately bound and suspended in the air.
"?" Tashigi couldn't believe it. She'd caught the enemy captain that easily?
Hanging mid-air, Eric said, "So this is what they call bondage play? I didn't expect someone as sexy as Miss Tashigi to be into this kind of thing. People really can't be judged by appearances."
Tashigi shouted angrily, "Shut up! You've been captured by Tashigi! Eric , I now officially declare—you're under arrest!"
Esdeath, meanwhile, was blushing with joy, holding her chest and lowering her head. "Eric and I really are a match made in heaven… I never imagined he liked this kind of play. You should've told me sooner…"
Smoker, annoyed, barked, "Are we going to fight or not?!"
"Huh?" Snapped out of her thoughts, Esdeath turned toward him, her eyes flashing. "You're so annoying. Shut up."
Bang bang bang! A few strikes later, Smoker lay unconscious on the ground, head swollen with lumps, one eye black and blue, blood dripping from nose and lips—a truly pitiful sight.
"Smoker-kun!" Tashigi cried, alarmed at his battered state. She hoisted Eric up with one hand and threatened, "Let him go! Your captain is in my hands!"
"Ara, just beat him up a little more," Kurumi said, slightly annoyed.
Dangling from Tashigi's grip, Eric stammered, "Ku–Kurumi-chan?"
Kurumi turned her head, clearly upset. "Hmph. You got yourself caught on purpose. You think we didn't notice? You deserve some punishment."
The rest of the group all nodded in agreement.
Chiron even offered a suggestion. "Captain, maybe you should stop doing things like this. You could cause big trouble one day."
Tashigi, seeing their casual attitude despite her holding their captain hostage, grew a bit anxious. "Didn't you hear me? Tashigi said—let go of Smoker!"
Esdeath replied calmly, "I'm not holding him. He's just unconscious from my beating."
Tashigi: "..."
(END CHAPTER)
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