Meanwhile, at the Alubarna Clock Tower, Smoker stood on the rooftop, smoke rising from his two cigars.
"Hey! You!" a voice shouted. "What are you doing up here?!"
In front of him, a girl in a yellow dress stomped her foot and waved her umbrella in anger.
"You were supposed to be down there!" she yelled, pointing below. "So I could jump and land on you, then crush you under me! That was my big entrance!"
She clenched her fists, clearly furious.
"I climbed all the way up just so I could jump and fall on top of you, but you ruined it by already being here!"
She glared at him. "How did you even get up here? I locked the door behind me!"
Smoker calmly listened while taking a slow puff from his cigars.
"I flew."
"You flew?!" she shrieked. "That's not fair! You can't fly, that breaks the rules!"
She shook her umbrella wildly.
"I was supposed to fall on you, get really heavy, and splat! Job done!"
Smoker rolled his eyes.
"Then make a better plan next time."
Before she could scream again, the door behind her creaked open.
A man in a suit stepped out, his hands in his pockets and sunglasses on his face, walking forward without hurry.
"Relax, Miss Valentine," he said calmly. "That plan wasn't very good anyway, so let's finish this the normal way."
Her anger vanished instantly, replaced by a bright smile.
"Mr. 5! Your timing is perfect!"
She pointed her umbrella at Smoker with excitement.
"Now you're done, Marine. My partner is here."
Smoker raised an eyebrow slightly.
"So it's two against one?"
Mr. 5 smirked.
"It's more than that. We aren't two random people—we're elite agents of Baroque Works."
Miss Valentine spun proudly.
"I'm Miss Valentine, the weight-controlling woman, also known as 'The Courier.'"
Mr. 5 cracked his knuckles.
"And I'm Mr. 5, a living bomb, also called 'Gem of the Border.'"
Smoker looked at them with clear exhaustion. He truly didn't want to deal with their organization, but they kept getting in his way.
"Baroque Works are bounty hunters," he said flatly. "You should be chasing pirates, not a Marine."
He acted uninterested, hoping they would take the hint and leave so he could continue traveling in peace.
"Sorry," Mr. 5 said with a shrug. "We got orders from above, and our mission is to get rid of you."
"Yeah," Miss Valentine added while spinning her umbrella again. "You're our target."
Smoker sighed. "Figures."
Before he could say anything else, Miss Valentine suddenly jumped into the air.
"Kilo Kilo—Ten Thousand Kilograms!"
She shot upward, then came crashing down like a meteor.
BOOM!
The rooftop cracked as dust exploded everywhere. The floor split beneath her feet when she landed.
"Ha!" she shouted proudly. "That got him for sure!"
But when the dust cleared, there was nothing there. No body—only drifting smoke.
A calm voice spoke behind her.
"You missed."
She spun around in shock.
Smoker stood several steps away, completely unharmed.
"What—how—?!" she shouted.
"You went through me. I'm made of smoke," Smoker said calmly.
"That's cheating!" she screamed. "You can't ignore my attack like that!"
Mr. 5 stepped forward, his expression serious.
"Step back. I'll handle this."
He casually pulled something sticky from his nose and flicked it toward Smoker.
"Exploding booger bomb."
KABOOM!
Fire burst outward, rooftop tiles shattered, and flames spread across the roof.
But when the fire faded, Smoker calmly stepped out as his body reformed from smoke.
"No way!" Mr. 5 shouted, eyes wide.
Smoker tilted his head slightly.
"That was your attack? You throw your snot at people?"
"Don't mock me!" Mr. 5 growled.
He fired two more glowing bombs. Explosions rang out as fire erupted again, but Smoker passed through it all like mist.
Miss Valentine jumped once more, shouting in frustration.
"I'll hug the life out of you! Kilo Kilo Hug Attack!"
She leapt forward with her arms wide open, but passed through Smoker and slammed painfully into the roof.
"OW!" she yelled. "That hurt me more than it hurt you!"
Smoker looked down at her calmly.
"I'm a Smoke Logia user. You can't hit smoke."
"This sucks!" she groaned.
Mr. 5 fired three more bombs in quick succession, making the roof shake violently as smoke and fire filled the air.
Still, Smoker wasn't hurt.
He calmly pulled himself back together from the surrounding smoke.
"Is our fight done yet?"
Miss Valentine wiped ash from her face and shouted,
"Shut up! You're not even fighting back!"
"You want me to fight back?" Smoker asked, confused.
"Yes!" they both shouted.
Smoker narrowed his eyes, dropped his cigars to the ground, and spoke coldly.
"Alright."
Smoke exploded outward from his body, spreading across the rooftop like a white wave.
Miss Valentine stumbled as pressure pushed against her.
"Ugh—the smoke is too thick!"
Mr. 5 waved his arms blindly as smoke surrounded them both.
"I can't see anything!"
The air grew heavy, the heat rose, and breathing became difficult as smoke filled their lungs.
Miss Valentine coughed violently.
"What is this? My chest hurts!"
Mr. 5 staggered, clutching himself.
"I feel dizzy… I can't breathe…"
Smoker's voice echoed through the smoke.
"During a house fire, people think fire kills you, but it's the smoke. Smoke is the silent killer."
Their eyes widened in fear.
Miss Valentine dropped to her knees, holding her head.
"My head is spinning—what's happening?!"
"Smoke is full of carbon dioxide," Smoker explained patiently.
"You're breathing, but nothing useful is going inside."
Mr. 5 collapsed to his hands, coughing harder.
"My chest hurts… I can't think straight…"
"That's normal," Smoker continued calmly. "Your brain is being starved of air."
Miss Valentine clawed at her throat in panic.
"It's getting dark… I can't feel my arms!"
Mr. 5 gasped desperately.
"Please… don't kill me. I didn't want to fight—I was just following orders…"
Miss Valentine wheezed, her eyes glazing over.
"I don't wanna die. I only wanted money to open a café and make lemon chocolate…"
Mr. 5 coughed painfully.
"I wanted to help people… I wanted to be a firefighter…"
Approaching their deaths, the duo remembered their dreams, which gave them a burst of strength.
They began crawling blindly through the smoke, crying as they moved.
"I don't want to die up here," Miss Valentine sobbed.
"I don't want to disappear without saving anyone," Mr. 5 whispered.
Then a gust of wind blew across the balcony. The smoke cleared, and light returned.
The two agents collapsed on the rooftop, gasping, coughing, and trembling.
Smoker stood over them with his arms crossed.
"You two aren't bounty hunter material," he said. "You don't belong in Baroque Works."
They looked up at him with red, watery eyes.
Mr. 5 asked softly, "Why didn't you finish us?"
"You spoke about your dreams," Smoker said. "I want to hear them again."
Miss Valentine blinked weakly.
"I wanted to be a chef. I wanted to make lemon chocolate all day. That was my dream."
Mr. 5 wiped his face.
"I was never afraid of fire or explosions. I wanted to save people from them. That's my dream."
Smoker lit two fresh cigars.
"Then stop wasting your lives."
He blew smoke into the air.
"You have two choices. One, I can send you to Impel Down right now for attacking a Marine."
They stared at him, shaking.
"Two," Smoker continued, "you can join my ship and work for me."
Mr. 5 looked up sharply.
"Work for you?"
"Yes. You can stop pirates from burning down towns," Smoker said. "And Miss Valentine, you'll be my ship's chef."
"Which option do you choose?"
Mr. 5 sat up immediately.
"I'll join! I'll join you!"
Miss Valentine hugged Smoker's leg tightly.
"I'll cook anything you want! Sweet, spicy, weird—anything!"
Smoker shook her off his leg and walked toward the stairs.
"Good. Clean yourselves up and meet me after."
He looked back once.
"I've got an important job for you."