Atop a tall tower beside the plaza, Smoker and a group of Marines were perched, watching the scene unfold like spectators at a tiger fight.
"Straw Hat Luffy, Buggy the Clown, Iron Mace Alvida—all of them are in this plaza. The only one missing is that sorcerer, Sherlock," a Marine reported to Smoker, detailing the current situation.
Smoker, chomping on two cigars, nodded. "Once Straw Hat's head rolls, you lot go grab Buggy and Alvida. As for the sorcerer…"
He exhaled a cloud of smoke, his gaze drifting to the crowd below.
"I'll handle him myself!"
Meanwhile, the four members of the Straw Hat Pirates, noticing their captain still hadn't returned, made their way to the execution platform to find Luffy.
As they reached the plaza's edge, Nami glanced at the sky, her delicate brows furrowing. She turned to the others and said, "The air pressure's unnaturally low. A storm's coming, and fast. We'd better get back to the ship."
"Isn't this the execution platform?" Zoro scratched his chin, then added, "Where's Luffy? Don't tell me that idiot got lost again."
The other three froze, sweatdropping. Directionally challenged? Coming from Zoro, the word felt oddly out of place, like a subtle twist in the narrative.
"Hey! Look at the execution platform!" Usopp shouted, startled.
They turned to see Luffy pinned to the platform, a red-nosed clown standing behind him, gleefully raising a guillotine blade. A massive crowd—pirates and onlookers alike—had gathered around. It looked like their dimwitted captain was about to be publicly executed, live for all to see.
"That moron!" Sanji and Zoro said in unison.
Sanji flicked away his half-burned cigarette, while Zoro tightened the grip on his three swords at his waist. Without hesitation, the two bolted toward the platform.
On the execution platform, Buggy the Clown brandished his razor-sharp guillotine blade, shouting to the crowd below, "The criminal, Monkey D. Luffy, has committed the grave sin of offending the great Buggy with his reckless insolence! For that, I sentence him to a spectacular death!"
The pirates below fired their guns in celebration. At that moment, the slow-witted Luffy finally realized he was the one about to be executed, his eyes widening in shock.
Unnoticed, dark clouds had gathered overhead, blanketing the sky.
"Any last words?" Buggy taunted, raising the blade high. "It's not every day you get such a big audience!"
Without missing a beat, Luffy shouted to the crowd below, "I'm the man who's gonna become the Pirate King!!!"
Even shackled to the execution platform, Luffy's voice roared with unshakable conviction, his words echoing like a thunderclap across the plaza, leaving everyone stunned into silence.
Sherlock's expression froze in astonishment. He murmured, "I never expected him to say something like that in his final moments—here, of all places, where the Pirate King was born and met his end."
"Sherlock, I'm gonna become the Pirate King. What do you think of that dream?" The voice of his sister from their childhood echoed in Sherlock's mind once more.
"Utterly foolish," Sherlock replied, as he always had. He adjusted his glasses, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. Then, with a wave of his hand, a dozen long-barreled muskets materialized from the air around him, their muzzles aimed at the red-nosed clown on the platform.
"But this sacred execution platform isn't a stage for clowns like you to make a mockery of!" Sherlock's eyes narrowed.
"Hold that blade!" Two shouts rang out from the distance. Luffy looked over, his face lighting up. "Zoro! Sanji!"
The two were charging to his rescue, but Buggy's crew wasn't just for show.
Buggy snapped out of his shock at Luffy's earth-shattering declaration, then cackled wildly. "Yahaha! You two can watch from there—your captain's done for!" With that, he swung the guillotine blade down.
Above Loguetown, the sky was choked with dark clouds, as black as night.
"Zoro!"
"Usopp!"
"Sanji!"
"Nami!"
Luffy called out each of his crewmates' names, then flashed his signature carefree grin.
"Sorry, guys! Looks like I'm gonna die~"
"Don't say stupid things!" Zoro and Sanji shouted, their eyes blazing as they stared at the platform.
The onlookers, unaware of the full context, couldn't bear to watch, already picturing Straw Hat's head hitting the ground.
"He's smiling?" Smoker's heart churned like a stormy sea, sweat beading on his forehead. As someone who had witnessed Roger's execution 22 years ago, he vividly remembered the King of the Pirates facing his end with a smile.
The resemblance to Straw Hat was uncanny.
"Infinite Gunworks!" A hundred muskets fired in unison, their bullets tearing through the air toward Buggy. But the guillotine's blade was already less than two centimeters from Luffy's neck.
"Tch, too late?" Sherlock's brow furrowed, a pang of frustration in his chest. All he could do now was hope for a miracle.
And then, a miracle happened.
BOOM! A deafening roar split the air.
The darkened sky blazed white as a bolt of lightning, sharp as the deadliest sword, sliced through the heavens and struck the execution platform with overwhelming force. The legendary platform, a symbol of the dawn of a new era, erupted in flames and collapsed in a heap, leaving the crowd dumbfounded.
Then, the heavens opened, and torrential rain poured down.
"Hahaha, still alive!" From the rubble, a familiar figure picked up a straw hat from the ground and placed it back on his head.
"Got lucky!" Luffy grinned wide.
The crowd stood in stunned silence.
"Hey, mosshead, do you believe in gods?" Sanji asked, glancing at the unscathed Luffy.
Zoro sheathed his swords. "Quit yapping. Let's get out of this town before the Marines—"
Before he could finish, a Marine's voice boomed from the distance: "Surround the plaza! Don't let a single pirate escape!"
Zoro's crow-jinxing skills leveled up +1. The trio's faces paled, and they bolted through the crowd, making a break for it.
Sherlock, clad in a black cloak, stood in the pouring rain, surrounded by a hundred floating muskets. His gaze lingered on Luffy's fleeing figure, his expression complex.
He had never believed in fate or luck—until today. What had just happened felt like the heavens themselves wanted that straw-hatted kid to live.
Thwip! A large net shot toward Sherlock at high speed—a Marine-issued capture round.
With a flicker of thought, Sherlock waved his hand without even looking. "Mirror Reflect!" The net flew back at its original speed, entangling the Marines who fired it.
The plaza was now completely surrounded by Marines.
"Sorcerer!" a familiar voice called out. Sherlock's expression shifted as he turned to see a tall, white-haired man with two cigars clamped in his mouth. It was Loguetown's guardian, the White Hunter, Smoker.
Smoker's face was grim. "Hard to believe that in just one year, you went from a successful merchant to a villain with a 70-million-Berry bounty. You're quite the genius, aren't you, Sarsalian Sherlock?"
Sherlock smiled faintly. He wasn't surprised the Marines knew his true identity—Anna had likely tipped them off to distance the Goldglint Trading Company from the sorcerer.
He threw back his hood, revealing a strikingly handsome face, letting the rain soak his dark hair. With a wave of his hand, the hundred muskets swiveled, their barrels now aimed at the surrounding Marines.
"So, you think you're going to take me down here?" Sherlock said with a slight smile.
A man's reputation precedes him like a shadow. The sorcerer's feat of single-handedly destroying a Marine base struck fear into the hearts of the rank-and-file. Several timid Marines swallowed hard, instinctively stepping back.
Smoker's brow furrowed. "You lot, go after Buggy and his crew. I'll deal with the sorcerer alone!"
"Infinite Gunworks!" The hundred muskets turned in unison, firing a barrage at Smoker. The bullets tore through him, reducing his body to wisps of smoke—only for it to reform instantly.
"As expected, Logia types are immune to normal attacks," Sherlock muttered, dispersing the muskets around him. Inwardly, he marveled at how ridiculously overpowered Logia abilities were.
"If only I had some Seastone," he thought. "There's got to be another way to counter Logia users besides Seastone—something out there on the Grand Line."