Chapter 214: Smog’s Report
“Colonel Smoker, is this okay?”
Holding her beloved sword Shigure, Sergeant Tashigi sat uneasily in the temporarily added sidecar of the three-wheeled motorcycle, looking back at Port City Rapeseed Flower which was now almost out of sight behind them. To pursue the Straw Hat Pirates, Smoker had left the main force behind, taking only Tashigi with him.
“Just the two of us······”
“Two people are enough. More would be meaningless. I can handle the Straw Hat Pirates alone. The real problem now is Prince Elus. This big shot is staying in Alabasta and not leaving. Without knowing his plans, catching the Straw Hats would be pointless.”
Smoker wore goggles, had a cigar in his mouth, and rode his beloved amphibious three-wheeled motorcycle “Biro” powered by the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, speeding across the desolate desert at top speed.
“Then, us······ chasing them, does it mean anything?”
“We have to try. Find a way to negotiate with Prince Elus. No matter how small the possibility, we can’t just give up.”
Tashigi hesitated to speak.
Their current trouble was not small!
If they couldn’t catch the Straw Hat Pirates to make up for it, the issue of the colonel leaving his post without permission would be hard to resolve.
“Don’t think about irrelevant things. My affairs are not for you to worry about. Instead of wasting time on those messy thoughts, close your eyes and get some rest.”
As if sensing his subordinate’s unnecessary thoughts, Smoker scolded coldly.
Tashigi shrank her neck, not daring to argue with the colonel. She closed her eyes lightly, hugged her beloved sword tightly, but her mind didn’t really enter a resting state. She was still pondering how to make up for it if capturing the Straw Hat Pirates failed.
Leaving his post without permission was a serious offense. Without someone above to speak up, it would naturally be punished strictly. Otherwise, if commanders of Navy branches everywhere followed suit, it would be chaos.
But if someone at Navy Headquarters was willing to help conceal it, issuing a transfer order could easily settle the matter. Unfortunately, the colonel didn’t have great connections at headquarters. He only had a few friends, and none of them were big shots yet.
The only one to hope for was General Kuzan.
Tashigi sighed quietly in her heart. If only the colonel would proactively contact General Kuzan. Back at headquarters, General Kuzan had greatly admired the colonel.
The three-wheeled motorcycle Biro let out a powerful roar, charging forward like an iron horse.
By coincidence, Smoker hadn’t scouted the Straw Hat Pirates’ whereabouts, but he learned that Prince Elus had been stationed in the kingdom capital Alabarna for a long time. He guessed that the Straw Hat boy’s destination was most likely Alabarna, so he chose the shortest route from Rapeseed Flower to Alabarna.
Thus,
After a short time,
“Colonel, situation.”
Tashigi, with her eyes lightly closed, saw flames shooting into the sky ahead through her eyelids. Orange-yellow streams of fire scattered unnaturally in the air. The desert was already hot, but a clear heat wave still surged from ahead.
“I see it! I didn’t expect monsters other than Prince Elus’s subordinates to land in Alabasta······” Smoker pushed up his goggles, gazing at the flames torn apart by streams of sword qi, his eyes full of gravity.
Fire Fist—Portgas D. Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. The intelligence that this monster had come to Paradise to chase Blackbeard had spread through the Navy long ago. Even Smoker, far away in Loguetown, had heard of it.
Before today, Smoker had only treated it as gossip. He didn’t think he’d be lucky enough to run into Fire Fist wandering somewhere. Unexpectedly······ he encountered him so easily.
“Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket lately?”
Smoker shook his head, shaking off the unreliable thought. “Tashigi, be careful. Let’s go take a look.”
Though he didn’t know what exactly was happening ahead, it didn’t stop him from getting closer to investigate. If he could take down Fire Fist······ forget it. Self-awareness told him that although both were Logia ability users, he was no match for this Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates right now. But that didn’t stop him from getting close to gather some intelligence.
If he found something, it could shut up some people at headquarters. Though he had just scolded Tashigi not to worry unnecessarily, he was actually pondering in his heart how to wrap up the trouble left from Loguetown.
Biro roared and charged forward.
It stopped at the top of the sand dune and dared not go further. That deadly sword qi passed just half a meter in front of the three-wheeled motorcycle, directly slicing the sand dune in half.
If it had gone any faster, his beloved motorcycle would have been decapitated, and maybe even he would suffer······ That sword earlier contained the power of Armament Haki. A Logia ability user wouldn’t get off easy if they didn’t dodge it.
Ahead of the sand dune,
Isca swung the long sword in her hand, unleashing countless terrifying sword qi that rained down. But the sword qi that made Smoker halt didn’t harm Fire Fist at all. Ace turned his body into flames and, relying on Observation Haki, always evaded the sword qi attacks one step ahead.
However, his flame attacks were similarly blocked by Isca’s sword swings.
Unable to strike down the opponent in one blow, the two fell into a stalemate. Strictly speaking, Ace had the advantage. The hot, dry desert climate provided him considerable home-field convenience. At least as a Flare-Flare Fruit ability user, he didn’t mind the heat at all.
In contrast,
Non-ability user Isca was affected by the environment.
She might not care much about such effects normally, but in a battle with a strong enemy like this, it was different. It was like the last straw that broke the camel’s back—not enough to cause immediate failure, but the longer it dragged on, the worse it was for her.
Fortunately,
She wasn’t alone.
Fran was not far behind her. She didn’t need to worry about defeat, or rather, even without Fran, she wasn’t afraid. Having chased Fire Fist for so long before, she knew what kind of person Ace was. The end result would most likely be zero deaths.
So, before that, she just needed to hold Ace back as much as possible.
······
“Tch!”
Smoker clicked his tongue in extreme displeasure.
Former Navy Major Isca······ Once quite famous in Paradise too. Smoker had heard of the nickname Nail Hand, especially the incident after recruiting Fire Fist at Sabaody Archipelago and being rejected. Though gagged by orders, it had spread widely within the Navy.
Vice Admiral Dolo’s misdeeds, Major Isca’s tragedy—it had caused quite a stir even at Navy Headquarters······ Of course, that wasn’t his focus now.
What he cared about was why Isca, who was a major like everyone else before, had suddenly become so strong? If he remembered right, she was quite a bit younger than him?
One after another, these young kids were growing wildly out of line. In their teens or twenties, they were all ridiculously strong. The Black Prince was like that, Fire Fist too, and now Isca had joined their ranks······
“Makes me seem useless.”
Smoker lit two cigars, puffing clouds of smoke, his unhappy mood obvious at a glance.
“Colonel, what······ are we going to do?”
Tashigi gazed at the crisscrossing sword qi and flames, instinctively gripping her hilt tightly, and asked timidly for orders in a small voice.
“Contact headquarters, report the situation here······ then, just watch the show.” Smoker said coldly, secretly resolving in his heart that Haki training······ was time to put it on the agenda.
“Is that enough?”
“It’s enough. What we can do······ is just observe.”
As for chasing the Straw Hat boy······ that could be postponed. The battlefield ahead was too vast. Isca and Ace’s battle had spread to distant places. Detouring was difficult, and it was easy to lose direction in this desert.
Besides,
He didn’t think stumbling upon this scene here was mere coincidence.
Perhaps······ the Straw Hat boy and his crew were related to the battle happening here?
Regardless of Smoker’s rich inner thoughts, Tashigi, having received the order, dialed the number to contact Navy Headquarters, faithfully relayed the situation in Alabasta Kingdom, and then······ the intelligence quickly reached Sengoku.
In just two or three minutes,
The person on the other end of the Den Den Mushi quietly changed.
“Sergeant Tashigi, this is Sengoku.”
A voice full of majesty came from the Den Den Mushi.
Tashigi was stunned for a few seconds before reacting. Without thinking, she hurriedly stood up from the motorcycle sidecar. Though separated by millions of miles, she still bowed her head sharply. “Fleet Admiral, sir, this is Sergeant Tashigi from the East Blue Loguetown branch. What are your orders? Please instruct!”
“Sergeant Tashigi, no need to be nervous. Colonel Smoker should be with you, right? If possible, could you let Colonel Smoker talk to me?”
“Y-yes, I’ll tell the colonel right away.”
Tashigi, so nervous her words were stumbling, held her breath and shoved the Den Den Mushi’s microphone into Smoker’s hand, saying rapidly: “Colonel, it’s the Fleet Admiral.”
“······”
Smoker glared at his subordinate who was completely flustered, saying irritably: “So what if it’s the Fleet Admiral? Look at your stupid face. Why are you standing there like a telegraph pole? Sit down! Afraid those two monsters won’t notice you?”
“Oh oh!”
Tashigi obediently sat back down.
Smoker picked up the microphone. “Fleet Admiral, sir, this is Colonel Smoker from the East Blue Loguetown branch.” With that, he flicked his cigar.
“Smoker, I can overlook you leaving Loguetown without permission, but in return, you have to help me with something.” Sengoku, in the Fleet Admiral’s office at Navy Headquarters, got straight to the point without any nonsense.
“What is it? Not capturing Fire Fist, I hope? Sorry, Fleet Admiral, I don’t have that ability.”
“Cut the crap. Do your best to keep an eye on Fire Fist.”
“······ Really going to······ make a move on Fire Fist?” Smoker’s expression instantly turned serious. Fleet Admiral Sengoku didn’t sound like he was joking. Was he really preparing to go after Fire Fist? This wasn’t something to brush off lightly.
“You just need to tail him. Follow Fire Fist and report his position at all times.”
Hearing the emphasized order, Smoker immediately frowned. No denial basically meant admission. Was Navy Headquarters really going after Fire Fist? But······ why? He didn’t believe headquarters was unaware of what capturing Fire Fist meant. Did they have a big operation planned?
He recalled how Navy Headquarters had recently summoned elite officers from branches everywhere to headquarters for training personally led by Instructor Zephyr. He had even grumbled about not being summoned himself.
It seemed Navy Headquarters was really preparing for a big move this time.
“I can only say I’ll do my best. No guarantee I can actually keep up. These damn young people aren’t something a middle-aged uncle like me can handle.”
“······ Smoker, are you complaining?”
“No, jealousy!”
Sengoku, sitting in his chair, chuckled in amusement.
Not bad!
It seemed placing Smoker in Loguetown to temper his temperament was right. The proud White Hunter from before wouldn’t have mocked himself like this.
“I don’t care if you’re complaining or jealous. Do what you’re supposed to. You’ll get the appropriate reward when the time comes.”
“I said I’ll do my best.”
“Good.”
The call ended, and the Den Den Mushi listlessly drooped its head. The desert’s high temperature was uncomfortable for the creature used to humid environments, but Smoker had no time to care for it and could only let it tough it out for now.
“Track Fire Fist······ Damn it! Knew contacting headquarters wouldn’t bring anything good.”
Smoker exhaled smoke, venting his pent-up frustration.
At the same time,
Navy Headquarters, Fleet Admiral’s office.
“Hey, Gumile?”
“It’s the Fleet Admiral! What orders do you have?”
“Emergency mission. Fire Fist—Portgas D. Ace has appeared in Alabasta Kingdom. Your base is the closest. Take your team there, do your best to entangle Fire Fist and keep him from escaping. I’ve already sent Kuzan. Hold out until Kuzan arrives.”
“Fire Fist? You’re really giving me a tough one. That monster······ Alright! I understand.”
“I’m counting on you, Gumile.”
“It’s my duty. Geez······ Couldn’t this Fire Fist go to some other sea area? Alabasta isn’t easy to deal with right now. We Navy aren’t as free to act there as before. And if I remember right, Prince Elus is still there too. Fleet Admiral, this mission might not go smoothly.”
“I know, but······· this is the best opportunity right now. There’s really no chance to make a move in the New World. The Whitebeard Pirates are airtight from top to bottom······”
As commander of the Navy G2 branch, Gumile’s status was second only to the generals at headquarters, on par with those so-called general candidates. Unlike the squirrel, he was a comrade from the same era as Sengoku, Garp, and others, with good personal ties. He was aware of the Navy’s recent actions against the Whitebeard Pirates.
Otherwise, Sengoku wouldn’t casually reveal these things.
“Whitebeard, huh! That old man······ Hope the operation goes smoothly!”
Gumile said no more. The Holy Land had already made up its mind. Saying anything now was useless; he could only do his best.
