An hour and a half later, Lise walked out of Lancelot's room.
As soon as she stepped outside, she saw her son, Johnson, just... standing there.
Lise froze, and then the tears started pouring in her eyes.
She finally realized her son had been right here, in the Marine base, the whole time.
If she had actually ratted Lancelot out to Smoker... she wouldn't be seeing her son.
She'd be seeing his corpse.
That thought made her shiver.
But to her surprise, Johnson looked stoked.
"Mom! Guess what? I'm a Marine now!"
Lise: "…"
Her brain just blue-screened.
She knew this had to be Lancelot's doing.
From now on, Johnson was the leash Lancelot would use to control her.
She wanted to say no...
...But could she?
In Loguetown, especially with Smoker around, being a Marine was a huge status bump for a normal family.
At the very least, no more local thugs would dare mess with them.
And most importantly? It was a real future for her son.
Especially with Lancelot backing him.
His dad was a Vice Admiral!
Even if Johnson didn't become a Captain, getting an officer job was pretty much guaranteed.
She couldn't help but look back at Lancelot's room.
Suddenly, she wondered—wait, was she too... shy... just now?
Did she, like, not do a good job... serving him?
In her heart, Johnson's future was more important than anything.
A blush crept onto her cheeks.
She started thinking about Lancelot's... ahem... sheer strength.
It was... way better than that useless dead guy she was married to.
Her legs still felt a little wobbly just thinking about it.
The more she thought, the more it seemed... maybe... being with him wouldn't be so bad.
Johnson's future would be set.
And she... well, she'd be happy.
.....
Half an hour later, the whole group was on the warship.
Smoker glanced at Lancelot, who was actually leading a squad of thirty men.
A little smirk crossed Smoker's face.
'This time,' he thought, 'I'm getting this guy kicked out of the East Blue. And I'll do it so well, not even his dad can complain.'
Tashigi stood next to Smoker, staring daggers at Lancelot.
Her "Justice!" sense was tingling, and she hated having a guy like him in the Marines.
The other Marines—even the guys in Lancelot's own squad—all gave him dirty looks.
Lancelot just ignored them.
After all, they'd all seen the original Lancelot basically pee his pants in his first fight.
Being looked down on was totally normal.
So instead, he just stared out at the giant, open sea.
As he looked at the horizon, a new feeling started to grow in his chest: ambition.
He got a second chance at life.
He was gonna own it.
Smoker's warship was, no question, the biggest and baddest ship in the East Blue.
Anyone with eyes would see it coming and sail the other way.
Time passed, and half a day went by.
The sun was starting to get low.
In about an hour, it would be dark.
Tashigi lifted her binoculars, looking at an island in the distance.
"Captain Smoker! We'll hit the island in ten minutes."
Smoker took a long drag from his cigar, then blew out a cloud of smoke.
He waved his hand. "Full speed ahead! Everyone, get ready to fight!"
The Marines all yelled, "Yes, Captain Smoker!"
As the ship got closer, they could see the details.
Parts of the island were on fire, glowing against the sunset.
For a second, it almost looked pretty.
But everyone's face got dark.
They knew that "beauty" was just... slaughter.
As they got even closer, they could hear it.
The screams of villagers.
The crying of kids.
The curses of old people.
The wails of people who had lost their families.
Lancelot never thought he was a "good guy," but even he clenched his fists at this.
"Those bastards..." Smoker roared.
His whole lower body dissolved into smoke as he shot into the air, flying straight for the island.
"Tashigi, you're in command!" he yelled. "I'm going ahead to save who I can!"
Tashigi snapped to attention. "Understood, Captain Smoker!"
Her face was twisted with anger, her hand already on her sword.
Lancelot, however, had one clear thought: 'Man, I gotta learn Moon Walk ASAP.'
Without it, he was stuck on the boat.
He really, really wanted to charge in with Smoker.
His fingers tightened around his own sword.
He was ready to kill someone.
....
Soon, the warship hit the harbor.
Tashigi's sword, Shigure, was out in a flash. "Get into the village! Save the civilians! If any pirates fight back, kill them on the spot!"
In that moment, she wasn't the clumsy, cute nerd.
She was all business.
"KILL!"
A bunch of marines poured off the ship...
And stopped.
A single figure was blocking their path, with a crew of pirates behind him.
The leader wore a coat with a red snake pattern on it.
He had a green shirt and a weird headband.
His weapon was just as weird—a cane with a giant metal ball on the end.
He looked skinny, but he gave off a super dangerous vibe.
"That guy..."
Tashigi's eyes went wide.
She knew him right away.
It was Gin, "the man demon."
The first mate of the Krieg Pirates. Bounty: 12 million berries.
In the East Blue, that bounty made him one of the baddest dudes around.
"Damn it!"
Tashigi's heart was pounding, but she reacted fast.
She threw up her hand. "Musketeers! Ready... FIRE!"
"BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"
The fifty riflemen she commanded all aimed at Gin and his crew and pulled their triggers.
"Ah... Ugh..."
One by one, Gin's buddies started dropping.
Gin's face got dark.
If this kept up, his whole crew was toast.
He bent his knees and... BOOM!
He exploded forward like a cannonball, zigzagging so fast he dodged every single bullet.
'Holy crap.'
'He really was one of the top fighters in the East Blue, In less than a second, he was right in Tashigi's face.'
"No...!"
Tashigi's face went pale.
Gin was just too fast.
Her brain said "DODGE!" but her body said "LOL, NOPE."
All she could do was watch as Gin's giant metal-ball-cane swung right at her stomach.
Swish—
Just as she was about to get wrecked, a flash of cold steel sliced through the air.
It hit Gin's cane at a perfect angle.
"CLANG!"
The sound of metal on metal rang out.
Gin was sent skidding back eight meters before he finally stopped.
He steadied himself and glared at the person who'd blocked him.
His eyes narrowed.
His gut was screaming that this new guy was dangerous.
"You...?"
Tashigi snapped out of it, gasping as she looked at the person who'd just saved her.