Chapter 45

[2 Days After, October 19th, 1504]

"Land, ho!" A marine cried from the crow's nest, with the binocular in front of his eyes.

Gion, who stood at the front of the ship with her arms crossed, sent out an order, "All marines, prepare to engage at any moment!"

"""Yes, ma'am!"""

The marines busily moved back and forth, loading the cannons and taking out the firearms. Their eyes held sliver of nervousness, knowing that the recently rising Red Hair pirates, though are considered to be the weakest among the seven rookies, are not to be underestimated.

"HEY! Be careful with that cannon! Are you trying to kill us all?!!" Doll was found to be overseeing the preparation, supporting Gion by the side.

"...Damn it."

Cancer and I, on the other hand, sat at the back, lazying around. Cancer, cursing in boredom, took out a cigarette from his pocket. Then, as he placed its tip in his mouth,

"Ever heard of second-hand smoke?" I slapped his cheek, such that he spat out the cigarette with his eyes popped out in shock.

"G-GAHHH!!!" He, holding his swollen cheek, looked at me angrily, "Let me smoke for once, fucking non-smoking smoker!!!"

"Cancer wishing to spread cancer to others..." I frowned back at him, "Try smoking again and see what happens, blondie."

Smoker and Cancer. Though the names seemed to pair well together, Cancer and I surely weren't.

"Oi, are you picking a fight with me?!" Cancer, seething in anger, bumped his head against mine, "If you think I'm the same as Maynard, then you're terribly mistaken—"

Bam! At the next moment, Cancer was found to be kissing the deck, with a huge lump on his head. Behind his fallen form stood Gion, whose right fist was outstretched. She then lowered her right arm and barked at the two of us, "The ship already landed!!! What are you two doing here, lazying around when everyone else moved out already?!!"

Cancer, immediately standing up with the lump on his head still intact, flashed his teeth, "I'm terribly sorry for my error, mademoiselle Gion—"

"It's Commodore Gion, 'Ensign' Cancer!!"

"Y-yes, Commodore Gion!" Cancer's body straightened up, frightened by Gion's sense of seriousness.

Spectating Cancer's antics, I sweatdropped.

__________

"Hey captain, do you remember that so-called 'Red Hair' two days ago?"

In a bar where the bartender was sweating profusely from fear, numerous men were seen to have gathered around. Drinking and eating to their desire, they laughed boisterously and talked among themselves. At the front, one huge man sat with his legs crossed. While holding a beer mug, the man snorted upon hearing a question from one of his underlings, "Don't even bring out the name of that worthless man!"

Gulping the entire glass down, the man slammed it on the table, "Red Hair Shanks, one of the seven rookies, holding the bounty of 200,000,000 Beli on his head! I was exhilarated upon coming to sight such a pirate here!"

Grabbing an empty bottle nearby, the man swung it wildly, "This is what I did to that man with a straw hat! I literally slammed the bottle down at his head, and drenched him from the top to the bottom with the alcohol! And do you know what he did?"

One subordinate of the man cackled, "You know that all of us were present during that day!"

Grinning in amusement, the man then laughed, "HAHAHAHA!!! He did absolutely nothing!! He sat still, not fighting back like a man with balls, and simply said, 'Oh, at least my hat didn't get wet.' HAHAHAHA, to think I was excited to fight a coward like him... how ridiculous!!!"

"""HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!""" Everyone burst out in a laughter upon the man's statement. One among them then asked, "Hey, captain, does this mean that you are one of the seven rookies now? I mean, that technically counts as a win, right?"

The man raised his head up arrogantly, "Heh, you're right indeed! I, Tsuika the '300kg,' am more than fit enough to compete with those world-class pirates!"

"So Shanks left already, huh. Well, I'd do the same, if a pig like this continuously oinks around." Then, a casual voice suddenly intruded.

"...Huh? Who said that?" Perking up with a frown on his face, Tsuika growled. Everyone looked around, afraid of becoming the victim of their captain's wrath, and eventually found,

"Mm. Wow. This is pretty good." The white-haired man with a justice coat around his shoulders, Smoker, munching away the entire serving of food in the middle of the table. Then, turning around, Smoker said, "Hey, can I order another serving of this? These guys are paying, of course."

"""OF COURSE NOT!!!""" All pirates barked at Smoker, to which he ignored.

"...A marine?" Tsuika, muttered, "What the hell is a marine doing here?"

Finishing an entire dish, Smoker then grabbed a bottle of beer that hasn't been opened yet, before gulping down the entire thing in one go.

"Eh..." Then, Smoker frowned, "...This tastes like water. You call this crap a beer?"

"Rahahaha, agreed!" From the other side of the bar, another masculine voice was heard, "Food is great, but drink is worse than my urine! In conclusion, this bar is ass!"

Smoker's eyes widened, "...Huh? You tasted your own urine before?"

"RAHAHAHAHA!!! Now that's funny, isn't it?!"

"...Oi." Tsuika, angered by Smoker's complete negligence of his presence, snarled in a low tone, "Who do you think you are?"

All pirates of Tsuika's crew stood up from their seats. Taking out their guns, they aimed them at Smoker's head, ready to shoot at any time.

"Haa, finally, a proper food." Smoker, sighing in content, then turned back, "Is the food not ready yet?"

"This bastard..." One of the pirates gritted his teeth, "He's completely ignoring us!!"

"How foolish. Don't you know who I am?" Tsuika, leaning down on the sitting Smoker, said, "I'm Tsuika—"

Thud. Tsuika stopped his words as one of his crew members fell to the ground all of a sudden, with his eyes whitened out.

"...What?"

Thud Thud Thud. One by one, his crew members fell, and in no time, the entirety of his crew was on the ground, blackened out.

"Do you know why Red Hair didn't fight you?" Smoker, not even bothering to look at the huge man towering over him, remarked, "It's because you're worthless."

At that moment, Tsuika's eyes widened. For some reason,

"Kek... ke... kurgh..."

he found himself unable to breathe. Holding his neck and choking,

Thud. The huge man passed out without a chance to resist.

"T-the... food is out." And at the same time, the bartender quickly placed down the freshly made meal on the table before quickly leaving.

"Oh."

Disregarding the fallen pirates around him, Smoker resumed eating. And as he did so, one man walked over from the other side of the room, and sat in front of Smoker.

"Rahaha, that was a nice show there!"

"And who may you be?" Looking up at the grinning man, Smoker, with his mouth puffed up due to the food, asked.

Said man, leaning his cheek on the hand supported by the elbow on the table, grinned, "I go by the name Aramaki. Am currently a botanist, musician, and bounty hunter!"

'...Aramaki?' Chewing down the food, I gazed at the man carefully. Dark, messy hair with green hue. Thick lips, sharp nose, and a height taller than me. There was no doubt.

'So this is the future Green Bull, Ryokugyu.'

This surely was an unexpected encounter.

"I saw you folks running busy on the outside." Aramaki, pointing his thumb at the door, then said knowingly, "You're looking for Red Hair, aren't you?"

I shrugged, "And he isn't here. End of the story."

"Indeed, he isn't here. However, that doesn't mean the chance is gone for you." Aramaki, tapping his forehead, then stated, "I know where the Red Hair pirates are heading to."

As I focused on finishing up the last bit of food, Aramaki said, "And I am willing to give you the information... if you are to accept this one request of mine."

"Which is?" I asked out of curiosity. Aramaki, grinning in excitement, then bumped his fists together,

"Defeat me, rahaha! Simple, isn't it?!"

Yawning, I stood up from the seat and looked at the bartender, who stood still without even making a breathing sound. Then, pointing down, I said, "I'll pay with this guy's bounty. Soon, when the marines come in, tell them that you caught these pirates."

Subsequently, I proceeded to head out, while ignoring Aramaki.

"...Hey!" Aramaki looked at me in stupefaction, and as I exited the bar, quickly followed out.

"Don't you want to fight as well?! Don't you feel that burning desire to test your strength? Isn't that right, 'White Hunter?!'"

Stopping on my track, I turned around, "...White Hunter?"

"Indeed, 'White Hunter' Smoker!" Aramaki shouted excitedly, "Previously called White Menace among the pirates as a sign of mockery, due to targeting only the small fish. Then, one day, bam! You single-handedly defeated the infamous Nightmare, Gecko Moria, much to their horror! Rahahaha, I'm your fan, you know!"

"...Ho." All of a sudden, Aramaki seemed likeable.

"Smoker!" Then, a feminine voice boomed out from the back. Without turning around, I immediately knew that the voice belonged to none other than Doll, "Who's that guy with you?"

Turning around, I grinned at Doll, "He's—"

SWOOSH! I tilted my head to dodge a fist that suddenly came in punching.

"FIGHT ME, SMOKER!!!!!"

"—Aramaki, my fan."

"...What?"

SWOOSH! Bending my torso sideway, I dodged another punch that came from the back. Doll, sweatdropping at the comedic scene that involved Aramaki and me, asked, "Then why is he attacking you?"

"He—"

SWOOSH!

"SMOKERRRR!!!!!"

"—Calm down a little, buddy." Turning around, I slammed a punch of my own to the taller man's abdomen.

BOOM! Aramaki, choking from the impact, was sent flying all the way to the tree that lied at far distance away.

"What's going on?!" Hearing the commotion, all marines quickly gathered. Gion, stopping in front of me, asked in anticipation, "Did you find Red Hair?"

Pointing at the bar, I replied with a chuckle, "Nope! I did find '300kg,' however."

"...What's that even," Gion deadpanned at me.

At the same time, as the dust cleared,

"Rahahaha! You've exceeded my expectation, Smoker!" / "GET OFF OF ME, YOU STINKY MAN!!!"

Aramaki was found sitting on top of Cancer, whose hand was desperately holding onto a cigarette.

Standing back up, much to Cancer's relief, Aramaki then charged in at me once again,

"But I'm not done yet!"

Gion and Doll looked at me questioningly.

BOOM! Throwing my fist back, which smashed onto Aramaki's face at the perfect timing, I explained at the two with an underlying amusement, "Apparently, this man knows where Red Hair is heading to. And he wants me to fight him in return for giving that piece of info."

Gion and Doll looked at each other for a moment, before turning their heads back at me and saying at the same time,

""Do it.""

I replied with a chuckle, "And I'm doing just that right now, aren't I?"

BOOM! Dodging Aramaki's incoming kick, I then grabbed his outstretched leg and slammed his body down, creating spiderweb-like cracks on the ground.

The marine soldiers, who were spectating at the back, had their jaws agape in shock.