Smoker fixed his gaze on Lin Mo and said, "This kid isn't an ordinary person. This morning at the execution platform, he caught a special bullet fired by a pirate with Armament Haki."
"Oh? Armament Haki?" Aokiji turned to look at Lin Mo and noticed the wooden sword hanging at his waist. He asked, "Kid, are you a swordsman?"
Lin Mo replied flatly, "Sort of."
Aokiji glanced at the stern-faced Smoker and waved his hand. "He's just a wandering swordsman. He hasn't done anything wrong. Relax. Don't look so intense. Let him go."
Smoker: "..."
Aokiji pointed toward the direction of the port. "When I arrived, I happened to run into some pirates bombing the port. I told them I wasn't there to catch them, but they insisted on fighting me. I had no choice but to freeze them. Your people seem to be heading to the port now. They probably don't know that those I freeze become brittle—easy to shatter and die. If you don't hurry, quite a few might die. Of course, they're all pirates, so if you don't care about that, then never mind."
Aokiji possesses the powers of the Ice-Ice Fruit.
He can freeze anything he touches and transform any part of his body into ice. The pale blue ice he creates can form various weapons to attack his targets.
Aokiji is so powerful that he can freeze large areas without even touching them—he can even freeze parts of the sea. That's why he often rides his bicycle across the ocean by freezing the water beneath him.
Those frozen by him don't die immediately. They're placed in a state of suspended animation, and their bodies become extremely brittle. A small shock can cause them to shatter and die. However, if thawed in time, they can survive.
Smoker furrowed his brows, displeased. "Damn it. Then help me keep an eye on this kid until I get back. Don't let him escape. I still have questions for him."
"Yeah, yeah, got it. Go already," Aokiji replied lazily.
Smoker gave Lin Mo a final look, then turned and sped off toward the port on his smoke-powered amphibious trike.
Once he left...
Aokiji suddenly yawned. "So sleepy. Time for a nap."
He looked at Lin Mo. "Kid, Smoker said he has questions for you. Can you head to the Marine base and wait for him there?"
Lin Mo: "?"
"You didn't say no, so I'll take that as a yes. Ahhh, I'm beat. I'm off." Aokiji hopped back onto his beloved bicycle and rode off into the distance.
Lin Mo stood in place, watching Aokiji's retreating figure with amusement.
As expected of a Marine admiral who lives by "Lazy Justice."
He really is as lazy as they say.
Chuckling to himself, Lin Mo didn't linger.
He still had bounty hunters to catch.
Even though a few minutes had been wasted here, it didn't slow him down much.
Right before the time he had agreed to meet Rayleigh...
The two of them showed up almost simultaneously, each dragging a bunch of unconscious bounty targets tied up with rope.
"Oh? Not bad. You caught more than I expected," Rayleigh said with a smile, glancing at the ten people Lin Mo had brought.
Lin Mo also looked over at the ones Rayleigh had captured.
He had eleven!
One of them was even the guy Lin Mo had initially targeted but was snatched away by Rayleigh.
"Though it's just one more, you still lost," Rayleigh smiled. "A bet's a bet. Don't try to weasel out of it, kid."
"Got it," Lin Mo replied, annoyed. "A loss is a loss. No big deal."
"Hahaha, I like your attitude," Rayleigh said, tossing the end of the rope binding his captives over to Lin Mo.
Lin Mo caught it casually.
Rayleigh continued, "Even though I've retired, my bounty is still up with the Marines. So I can't go claim the reward myself. It wouldn't be appropriate. You go instead, and we'll split the money fifty-fifty."
Lin Mo: "..."
Honestly, he didn't want to go either.
But...
In order to claim the reward for these bounty hunters, he had to get Smoker's signature.
Without going to the Marine base, he wouldn't get the money.
No money meant no alcohol.
And no alcohol gave him a massive headache...
So, in the end, he still had to go to the Marine base.
"Fine." Lin Mo sighed.
Rayleigh laughed heartily. "I'll wait for you at the tavern then, hahaha."
With that, Rayleigh turned and casually headed off toward the bar.
Lin Mo, meanwhile, dragged all twenty-one of the bound and unconscious criminals toward the Marine base.
As he passed through the town square, he attracted a lot of attention.
"Look! What's that kid doing? He's so strong! He can drag that many people?"
"Wait a minute—isn't that guy from West Street with a 30,000 beli bounty?"
"There are a few bounty targets from East Street too! Oh my god, did that kid capture all of them?"
"Looks like it… wait… why does he look so familiar?"
"Ah! I remember now! That's the kid who caught a bullet with his bare hands this morning!"
"I remember too! Oh my god! Who is he? Caught a bullet with his bare hands, jumped from that high place without a scratch, and now he's dragging all those bounty criminals—he's amazing…"
Lin Mo ignored all the chatter and walked straight ahead.
Until he arrived at Smoker's Marine office.
The Marines stationed there were stunned when they saw a kid dragging twenty-one unconscious people all by himself.
"Hey kid, who are these people?" one Marine couldn't help asking.
Lin Mo replied calmly, "Bounty targets."
"Huh?" The Marine was shocked. "You mean all of them are bounty targets?"
Lin Mo: "Yeah."
"Good lord—did you catch them all by yourself?"
Lin Mo: "No."
"Ahem. Then let us help you move these guys into Smoker's office."
Lin Mo gave a quiet nod.
Several Marines enthusiastically came over to help carry the captives into Smoker's office.
The office wasn't particularly big to begin with, and now it was nearly overflowing with the unconscious criminals.
Lin Mo didn't have to wait long.
Soon, Smoker's voice rang out from the hallway.
Smoker: "Did anyone come looking for me while I was gone?"
Marine: "No, sir!"
Smoker: "That Aokiji… forget it. You guys go thaw out the frozen pirates first."
Marine: "Yes, sir!"
Then—
Smoker opened the door to his office.
The moment he saw the mountain of unconscious bodies piled inside...
He froze at the doorway, his mouth twitching slightly. "Someone explain to me—what the hell is going on here?!"