Ch-57 Smoker, the man who carried the burden.

On the other side, after two days of sailing, Li Fan and his team finally arrived at Loguetown.

Upon their return, Smoker was already waiting on the shore.

"Hey, Smoker, it's only been a few days, but your face looks quite grim."

Li Fan jumped down from the deck, patting Smoker on the shoulder as if they were old friends.

"Maybe it's because you couldn't capture the scene. You feel a bit lonely or something."

"Tsk, I'm not feeling uncomfortable just because I missed filming your scene." Smoker glanced at Li Fan. "I heard that your companion Medusa petrified the Hawk-eye guy."

"After learning that you were coming to Loguetown, higher-ups asked me to check out the situation at your end."

"Higher-ups?" Li Fan turned to look at Gion and Tashigi, "Did Tashigi report to you?"

"Well, Mihawk is the Shichibukai's king. His defeat is a big deal. It's normal for Tashigi to report to me." Smoker nodded.

Though Tashigi did share the information with Smoker privately, it was Sengoku who had learned about it first and instructed Smoker to check on Mihawk.

Of course, Smoker didn't mention this.

"Alright, then I'll leave that Mihawk guy to you." Li Fan shrugged, eyeing the statue of Mihawk carried down by his actor.

Seeing the statue, Smoker's brows furrowed.

"Li Fan, is that guy really still alive?"

"Also, can't you wake him up early?"

"Medusa said he's alive, so he must be." Li Fan replied.

As for waking him up early, it was better left undone.

"He randomly slashed at me twice, consider it his punishment."

"In other words, he's just a Shichibukai king, not a regular Navy. I'm not breaking the law here."

"Uh!" Li Fan's words left Smoker speechless. "Technically, it's not illegal."

"But you're probably the first to casually talk about punishing Mihawk."

"I'm truly honored." Li Fan turned with a smile, waved to the actor carrying the statue, and signaled him to hand Mihawk's statue to Smoker.

"Mihawk is in your hands now."

"If something happens to him, don't come after me."

With those words, Li Fan turned around, addressing the people behind him.

"It's been a lengthy voyage, and I appreciate everyone's hard work."

"Let's head back to the hotel where we stayed and take a break."

"After lunch, I'll need everyone to go into town to promote the costumes from [Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba ]."

Everyone nodded and began making their way towards the hotel.

"Well, Li Fan, can I skip the promotional activities?" Tashigi approached with a hint of hesitation. "I'd like to go to the naval base first."

"Going to the naval base is fine, but you must participate in the promotion." Li Fan placed his hands on Tashigi's shoulders and spoke seriously.

"You're the lead actor this time. There's no reason for the lead actor to skip promotional activities."

"You can head directly to the naval base first, wait for approximately the same time, and then come back."

"That's... alright." Tashigi nodded, bid farewell to Smoker, and walked towards the naval base.

"By the way, Smoker, there are still some pirates on my ship. Please arrange for the navy to take them into custody."

"Also, Don Krieg's bounty is 17 million, so please have it prepared in advance."

"I'll come and collect it when I'm free. Right now, I need to prepare the screening venue."

"Wait, Li Fan, you should tell me first, when will Mihawk wake up?" Smoker shouted as he looked at Li Fan's retreating figure.

"If everything goes as planned, he should wake up today." Li Fan waved his hand behind him and gradually ran off.

"This guy!" Smoker sighed, glancing at the statue of Mihawk beside him. "The world's greatest swordsman, Hawk-eye Mihawk, I never thought you would have this day."

After shaking his head and instructing the navy behind him to apprehend the pirates on Li Fan's ship, Smoker picked up the statue and walked toward the naval base.

He seemed to walk particularly steadily, burdened by the weight of the person on his shoulders.

He had decided not to watch Li Fan's movie until Mihawk recovered, even though he was eager to see the film he didn't participate in.

"Really, I wonder if I can go take a look after work." Unconsciously, Smoker found himself quite interested in Li Fan's movies.

And that, indeed, is the charm of Li Fan's movies.

....