The sea surrounding West Ali Island was faintly visible on the horizon.
Aboard a Marine vessel cutting through the open ocean, Captain Smoker slammed the receiver of his Den Den Mushi down.
He turned to his bespectacled subordinate. "Tashigi, I'm heading out now. You're in command of the ship until it docks."
Tashigi blinked, surprised. "Captain Smoker? The ship will be at the port in ten minutes. Is it really that urgent?"
Smoker stared out the window, his teeth clamping down hard on his two lit cigars. "Daddy Masterson. He was my classmate at the Academy. He was destined for a high-ranking position at Headquarters—a man who should have been part of the elite. He left the Marines because of his daughter, but he's still a respectable man. And he's a father."
Smoker grabbed his Seastone-tipped jitte from the wall rack and strapped it to his back. "Keep the ship on course!"
He pushed open the hatch and strode out onto the deck, Tashigi following closely behind.
Without breaking stride, Smoker's legs transformed into thick, billowing clouds of white smoke. Using the smoke as propulsion, he launched himself off the deck, shooting toward the brightly lit island like a rocket.
Tashigi, caught in the backdraft, coughed violently, waving the smoke away from her face.
High above the water, leaving a trail of white exhaust against the night sky, Smoker muttered to himself. "Daddy... don't you dare die. If you die, your little girl is all alone."
West Ali Island. The Red Light District.
"Get down! Get down!"
"Where is she shooting from?!"
"Find cover, damn it!"
The street was in utter chaos. The remaining Krieg pirates were scrambling for their lives.
Carol stood her ground, her face devoid of emotion. She was a prodigy, trained by one of the best snipers in the East Blue. Every time a pirate broke cover, she fired. A shot to the chest, a shot to the head. The pirates dropped to the cobblestones, using the bodies of their fallen comrades as shields.
By the time Carol's guns finally clicked empty, more than a dozen pirates lay dead or dying on the street.
The gunfire stopped. For a long moment, the only sound was the ragged breathing of the terrified survivors.
Then, from the pile of rubble near the brothel, a massive figure groaned and stood up.
Don Krieg.
Darian's tenfold punch had severely disfigured him. His nose was shattered, his cheekbones caved in, and his face was a mask of blood. With his bloodshot eyes and mangled features, the Don looked like a living corpse.
He swayed on his feet, looking around at his decimated crew.
"You bastards!" Krieg roared, spitting blood. "What are you doing hiding?! Shoot that masked freak! Kill the brat!"
"Captain!" a pirate yelled from behind a barrel. "The kid's a demon! She doesn't miss! We've lost too many—"
Pow!
A single, final gunshot rang out.
A lead bullet struck Don Krieg directly in the center of his forehead.
However, the bullet didn't penetrate his skull. It broke the skin, lodged itself in the thick bone of his brow, and stopped.
"Captain!" the pirates screamed.
Carol lowered her smoking derringer. That was her absolute last bullet.
Her father had taught her a strict rule: "As a gunner, the last bullet is either used to kill the enemy with your final breath, or saved for yourself to avoid capture."
Seeing the monster who had tortured her father standing back up, Carol had forgotten the second half of that rule. She had used her suicide bullet on Krieg.
If Darian hadn't been there, she would have doomed herself.
Krieg staggered back, stunned by the impact. His skull was absurdly thick; Darian's punch had broken his face, but the bullet barely dented his head.
Blood streamed down his forehead, blurring his vision. Enraged beyond reason, Krieg roared like a wild beast. He blasted aside two of his own men who were in his way and charged blindly toward Darian.
Darian watched him come, his expression indifferent beneath his mask. He shifted his stance, preparing to shatter the rest of Krieg's bones.
WHOOSH!
Darian heard a sound behind him. Instinctively, he ducked.
A massive cloud of white smoke rushed over his head, crashing directly into Krieg and the remaining pirates.
BOOM!
The smoke exploded outward, instantly filling the entire street with a dense, blinding fog.
From within the whiteout came the sounds of startled yells, brief struggles, and then... silence.
The smoke swirled and condensed, forming a figure in the center of the street.
Short silver hair, two cigars clamped in his jaw, a large coat with "JUSTICE" emblazoned on the back, and a Seastone jitte.
Captain Smoker.
Darian relaxed his stance. He could have finished Krieg and his crew easily, but dealing with fifty scattered pirates would have taken time. Smoker, with the power of the Plume-Plume Fruit, had ended it in seconds. He simply conjured a net of solid smoke, binding the entire group simultaneously.
In the East Blue, where Haki and Seastone were practically myths, a Logia user was an invincible god.
With Smoker's arrival, the local Marines—who had been hiding in the alleyways waiting for backup—finally poured into the street. They quickly began shackling the subdued pirates.
Seeing the situation resolved, Darian walked back to Nami, Carol, and Daddy. The local bartender had also returned, bringing a terrified-looking old doctor with him.
As Darian approached, the fierce, cold-blooded sniper that Carol had been just moments ago vanished. She reverted to a sobbing child, crouching beside her father.
"Daddy... Daddy..." she cried, holding his blood-stained hand.
"Are you alright?" Nami asked Darian, her eyes scanning him for injuries.
"I'm fine," Darian said, looking down at the bounty hunter. "How's Daddy?"
Nami bit her lip, looking grim. The old doctor was frantically examining the wounds.
"He's lost too much blood," the doctor stammered, his hands shaking. "My clinic doesn't have the equipment for this! He needs a massive transfusion, immediately!"
Daddy's complexion was ghostly pale. The fact that he was still breathing at all was a testament to his sheer willpower to see his daughter safe. But willpower couldn't replace blood volume.
Smoker walked over, his expression dark. He looked down at his old classmate.
"How is he?" Smoker asked gruffly.
No one answered immediately. Carol was crying too hard.
"He's bleeding out," Darian finally said, meeting Smoker's gaze. "He needs a transfusion right now. Do your Marine medics have emergency supplies?"
Smoker didn't hesitate. He turned and barked orders at his men. Within moments, a squad of Marine medics rushed over with stretchers and field kits. They carefully loaded Daddy onto a stretcher and began running toward the docks, where Smoker's fully equipped ship was arriving.
Carol ran after them, clutching her father's hand.
As the Marines escorted the Krieg pirates away, the madam of the brothel suddenly ran out into the street.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" she screeched, waving a ledger at the Marines. "That big ape and his crew didn't pay their tab! Who's covering the bill?!"
Smoker, who was already stressed about his dying friend, looked at the madam with utter bewilderment.
Darian and Nami exchanged an amused glance.
"Alright, let's get out of here," Darian whispered to Nami. "Before the Marines start asking too many questions."
They turned to slip away into the alleys.
"Hey. You."
Smoker's gruff voice stopped them in their tracks.
Darian turned around slowly. "Yes, Captain?"
Smoker walked over, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized Darian's white mask. Over the past two days, Darian and Nami had collected bounties on three pirate crews under the alias "Hakumen" (White Mask) to avoid drawing attention to Darian's real face.
"You're Hakumen, right? The bounty hunter who's been cleaning up the local trash," Smoker said.
"That's right," Darian replied, keeping his voice calm.
"You've got skills," Smoker noted, gesturing to the cratered cobblestones where Darian had punched the giant. "Want to join the Marines?"
Darian almost laughed. "No thanks. My wife and I are just traveling. We only took up hunting because we ran out of travel funds."
"I see," Smoker grunted, taking a drag from his cigars. "Well, you saved a good man tonight. If you ever change your mind, come find me in Loguetown."
Smoker turned and walked away to oversee the prisoners.
If Smoker knew that the man behind the mask was the "White Emperor"—the pirate with a 66 million Berry bounty who was currently making headlines across the world—he would have tried to arrest him on the spot.
Darian exhaled quietly. "Come on, Nami. Let's go."
.....
.....
.....
Support me and read advance chapters on patreon.com/ImmortalDaoWriter