Smoker's remark telling the Five Elders to go to hell was something that nobody expected.
Not the commoners, not the Marines, not even the pirates.
No one would have thought that there would be someone in the Marines who would disrespect the Five Elders to this extent.
Smoker's remark instantly gained a lot of praise worldwide.
It turns out that the Marines still have some respectable individuals among them.
Previously, when they heard that Smoker was a scavenger who gained recognition in the Marines by taking credit for Luffy's achievements, they thought he was just a lucky guy. Furthermore, his performance in Alabasta was quite mediocre.
This made people have a rather unfavorable impression of him, and almost everyone who heard about him treated Smoker as a joke.
But Smoker became the main character in this joke. His firm stance in the video, refusing to take credit for defeating Crocodile and even insulting the Five Elders, instantly established a righteous and tough image in the hearts of those who witnessed it.
It turns out that the Marines still have some respectable individuals among them. They are not all like Akainu, who is cold-blooded and brutal, or like Aokiji, who abuses his authority.
Smoker is quite different. He knows how to show gratitude, doesn't seek empty fame, isn't afraid of powerful forces, and sticks to his principles. Aside from being a bit weaker, his character is even stronger than those Marine Admirals, isn't it?
If strength is not taken into consideration, many people would want this man to become the Fleet Admiral of the Marines. However, such decisions are not made by ordinary people like them.
Thinking about this, they couldn't help but curse the corruption in the upper ranks of the Marines. How could they send such an outstanding Marine to the East Blue instead of keeping him at the Marineford for further development? Both the Three Admirals and Smoker possess natural abilities, so with proper training, Smoker could also become a candidate for Admiral.
The crowd sighed in frustration. Finally, a Marine emerged who could garner their respect, but this is how things turned out. And those in power within the Marines demonstrated their usual behavior, leaving them feeling helpless and regretful.
Even the pirates couldn't help but admire Smoker's words. This guy is the man.
Marineford.
Sengoku and other Marines were dumbfounded by what they witnessed. Then Sengoku raised his hand to rub his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.
He didn't expect that after all these years, Smoker's personality remained the same. He dared to insult even the Five Elders. If he's not sent away, who will be?
Sengoku had actually considered bringing Smoker to the headquarters, but with this turn of events, he wondered if the Five Elders would explode in anger.
After thinking it over, Sengoku decided to support Smoker in this matter. There was no other reason, he simply felt that Smoker's personality was more compatible with him. Although he was headstrong, honestly speaking, apart from strength, he was indeed stronger than the three Admirals currently under him.
Akainu wouldn't dare to have a falling out with the Five Elders, but Smoker dared. If someone with such qualities could become the Fleet Admiral, Sengoku wasn't worried about the Marines becoming puppets of the Five Elders.
However, he knew deep down that this was impossible.
Having such a Marine in the East Blue would be such a waste. The headquarters needed talents like him, and only with such individuals could the Marine's sense of justice be upheld and carried forward.
Sengoku wasn't the only one who admired Smoker; he also developed a sense of cherishing talents. The other Marines at the Marineford, after witnessing Smoker's performance, couldn't help but feel admiration as well.
Smoker managed to say what they had always wanted to say but didn't dare to.
They had long been dissatisfied with the World Government and those old men.
Now that the Marines were being humiliated, it was mostly because of Akainu, that lunatic, and the Five Elders, those old farts, plotting behind the scenes. This situation wouldn't have happened if they hadn't been calculating everything.
In order to maintain the face of the World Government, they ended up losing their own dignity, along with the justice of the Marines being humiliated.
They felt ashamed too.
When they heard that the government forcefully attributed the credit for defeating Crocodile to Smoker and it was exposed worldwide, they felt their faces burning with shame.
Let those old farts go to hell!
They couldn't even handle a simple matter and now they couldn't hold their heads up as Marines.
The Marines felt relieved and satisfied after Smoker's furious rebuke. It was like finally relieving a week-long constipation.
After venting their frustrations, they couldn't help but worry about Smoker's future. He publicly told the Five Elders go to hell in front of the whole world. Would the Five Elders not be angry about it?
Possibly... No, they would definitely be quite angry.
Mariejois, Pangea Castle.
The atmosphere here became stagnant. How many years had it been since they were insulted like this?
This sudden "Go to hell" left them dumbfounded.
Even when Luke made his appearance in Mariejois, they didn't feel as humiliated.
Because Luke was their enemy, a formidable and mysterious one whom they had no means to deal with.
But who was Smoker? Just a mere Marine, their subordinate, a dog under their command. How dare he tell them to go to hell?
Was he trying to bite the hand that feeds him, to rebel against them?
The faces of the Five Elders instantly darkened, and they were filled with rage.
After a while, one of the Five Elders spoke.
"These guys won't know their place unless we teach them a lesson. he actually think he is someone important, he just a mere Branch Captain."
"I want to ask Sengoku, as the Fleet Admiral, how did he train his subordinates? Such a rebellious and disrespectful Marine has emerged, and he's even a Captain. Strip him of his rank immediately!"
"Why does this world have so many fools who can't understand the situation? It's truly vexing. Since he wants to go to hell, let him have it. The face of the World Government cannot be insulted by just anyone..."
"Agreed!"
...
Meanwhile, on a warship heading towards the Grand Line.
The Marines around Smoker were all dumbfounded.
Just moments ago, when Captain Smoker privately cursed the Five Elders, it was already shocking enough. But they never expected something even more explosive to appear in the footage.
This scared them.
If the Five Elders saw this, Captain Smoker would undoubtedly meet a gruesome end.
Smoker felt satisfied when he saw himself angrily cursing the Five Elders in the footage. However, after the satisfaction faded, he realized that there would definitely be trouble ahead. But at this point, he couldn't do anything about it. The words were already spoken, so what else could he do?
Moreover, he didn't believe that what he did was wrong. Even if this was a future footage, even if such a thing really happened, he would still say the same words.
...
With his remark telling them to go to hell, Smoker won admiration worldwide, and his hat as the "Scavenger King" was replaced with that of a true man.
He became a rare and exceptional Marine in the hearts of the people.
Meanwhile, the footage continued. After Smoker, it shifted to another location.
In what seemed like a tunnel, Spandam was dragging a handcuffed Nico Robin, and they were heading towards a certain place. It appeared that someone was chasing them from behind.
Spandam muttered angrily as he walked, "Hurry up! Damn it! Why did the pirates come here?"
Although Spandam didn't mention the specific location, those who saw the footage guessed that it was Enies Lobby, and the pirates referred to the Straw Hat Pirates.
Spandam took out a Den Den Mushi and said, "Hello! All of CP9! Answer me quickly! What are you doing? How did pirates manage to follow me here? Answer me now!"
However, no matter how he spoke, there was no response from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.
At that moment, Nico Robin suddenly spoke anxiously, "Wait a minute, the one in your hand..."
Upon hearing Nico Robin's words, Spandam instinctively looked at the Den Den Mushi in his hand, and to his astonishment, it was a golden Den Den Mushi.
This Den Den Mushi had appeared before. It was the golden Den Den Mushi that belonged to the Marine Admirals, capable of initiating the Buster Call.
Seeing the golden Den Den Mushi, Spandam's eyes widened, and he was so frightened that snot even came out. "No way... Golden... Golden!"
Witnessing this scene, everyone was dumbfounded by his actions.
They had considered countless possibilities. It could have been that someone occupied Enies Lobby, or that they encountered an unprecedented powerful enemy, or even speculated if the Revolutionary Army was helping behind the scenes, causing Enies Lobby to unleash the Buster Call.
However, they never expected that the Buster Call would be initiated in such a brainless manner.
He picked up the wrong... Den Den Mushi...