Loguetown fell into chaos.
In less than a moment, news spread like wildfire:
Captain Smoker—the highest-ranking commander of the Marine branch—had been critically injured by a mysterious powerhouse.
The entire town erupted into discussion.
"You don't understand—on the west side streets near the battlefield, the roads were smashed to pieces. Some sections are basically collapsing!"
"And not just the streets. The nearby buildings were hit by the shockwaves too—walls cracked, foundations shaken… some places look like they could collapse any second!"
"My god… how terrifying was that fight if even the aftershock could do this?"
"I've got a bad feeling. Loguetown's 'sky' is about to change."
Many residents became genuinely anxious.
Loguetown had stayed peaceful for so long largely because the Marines protected it.
And among all Marines—
Smoker was the real deterrent.
Now he was on the edge of death.
Without that protection… wouldn't pirates go wild?
And sure enough—
As the news spread, the pirates who used to keep their heads down in Loguetown began to show themselves again, acting far louder than usual.
Who did pirates fear most in Loguetown?
Not the Marines as an institution.
They feared Smoker.
The "mad dog."
A Logia user.
The one they couldn't touch.
But now?
Smoker was down.
That scent of opportunity made pirates restless.
Without Smoker sitting in the center of town like a loaded cannon, why would they worry about getting caught?
To them, no one else in Loguetown was capable of capturing them.
Still…
Even among pirates, excitement didn't last long.
Because a second fear immediately replaced the first.
"unbelievable… Smoker actually got crippled. Who the hell could do that to a Logia user?"
"No idea. But whoever it is—dangerous."
"Smoker being down gives us breathing room, sure… but don't get cocky. That monster might still be in Loguetown."
"Smoker might arrest you. But if you run into the one who crushed Smoker… you'll die."
Pirates understood the difference.
Smoker = prison.
That monster = death.
So even though pirates became slightly bolder than before, they still didn't dare cross the line.
Because one truth was now carved into everyone's mind:
Loguetown contains a monster strong enough to critically injure Smoker.
And if Smoker couldn't handle him, pirates had zero chance.
Then another argument began spreading among pirate circles:
"How do you even injure a Logia? Sea-prism stone?"
"Possible… but sea-prism stone weapons are rare. I think it's worse than that."
"I think it was pure, overwhelming power—absolute domination."
"And if that's true, how terrifying does someone have to be to do that to Smoker?"
Most pirates in Loguetown knew Smoker's strength firsthand.
They feared him because they had no method to deal with him.
Guns, cannons, blades—useless.
Sea-prism stone was the only answer, and most of them had never even seen it.
So when the rumor first appeared—that Smoker was nearly killed—
Many pirates instantly rejected it.
Impossible. Fake.
But as time passed, the evidence piled up.
Smoker wasn't just injured.
He was crushed.
And the Marine elite force had also been wiped out—either unconscious or incapacitated.
That realization made the entire pirate population go cold.
A feat like that could only be done by something abnormal.
A monster.
Some pirates who visited the damaged area gave their own testimony:
"I went near the battlefield."
"You can't imagine it."
"The street looks like it went through a small war. The ground is cracked everywhere—like it might collapse under your feet."
"Buildings are shattered. Some are already rubble."
"And that's just the edge from shockwaves."
"So what do you think the center looked like?"
As those descriptions spread, a darker theory followed—one that made the entire town's blood run colder.
"I think Smoker didn't just lose."
"I think he got… crushed."
"Maybe even… one-shot."
Even the speaker sounded horrified by their own words.
"One-shot… Smoker? A Logia user?"
"I can't even picture it."
"But the traces on-site… make it look possible."
"And if Smoker really was one-shot…"
"Then what's hiding in Loguetown right now?"
People lost their composure.
Residents were shaken.
Pirates were terrified.
Because "one-shotting Smoker" wasn't just an impressive rumor—
It was a complete collapse of what they believed about power.
To most people, a Logia user symbolized invincibility.
Now they were being told:
Invincibility can be erased in an instant.
And that instant might happen to them next.
A final phrase began circulating, repeated in whispers, then louder, until it became the town's shared nightmare:
"Loguetown has a nightmare-level monster."
"A being who could one-shot Captain Smoker…"
"And that kind of monster is hiding inside this town."
So pirates who once thought they could enjoy Loguetown freely became even more careful than before—walking on eggshells, warning their crews not to cause trouble.
Because now, everyone understood—
Loguetown didn't just have Marines anymore.
It had something worse.
A monster.
A monster that felt like a nightmare.
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