Chapter 30 – The Price of Justice, and the Cursed Blade
It was just a perfectly normal sentence.
So why did Tashigi hear something completely different?
"You can see the situation clearly, right?"
"The lives of every Marine in Loguetown are in my hands."
As he spoke, Aike swept his gaze across the rank-and-file soldiers.
A pinpoint burst of Conqueror's Haki slammed into every single one of them.
In seconds, the entire encirclement collapsed unconscious.
Except for Smoker.
Aike had been extra "gentle" with him—just enough pressure to pin the colonel flat on the ground, but not enough to let him pass out.
"Colonel?! Everyone?!"
Tashigi felt the cold reality sink in.
She was the fish; they were the knife.
"Marine Headquarters will never let you get away with this!"
She spat through gritted teeth.
"Headquarters?"
Aike actually laughed.
"I wouldn't have done it if I was scared of them."
"I'm honestly hoping a couple of Admirals come knocking. I could use a few more natural-type fruits."
He said it so casually, like the Admirals were just delivery boys.
He had zero patience for male recruits anyway.
"Here's your choice."
"Become mine. Trade yourself for all of their lives."
Tashigi froze.
Her eyes darted to Nami, Carina, and the rest of the girls.
She might be dense, but she wasn't stupid.
The second she understood what "become mine" meant, she nearly cursed out loud.
But then she looked at Smoker, crushed against the stone, and at her comrades lying unconscious.
She wavered.
Smoker heard the terms too.
His eyes nearly split from rage.
He would rather die than let a subordinate sacrifice herself for him.
But under Aike's Conqueror's Haki, he couldn't even speak, let alone stand.
"Well?"
"Sign this contract and they all live."
A parchment scroll floated in front of Tashigi.
"…I accept."
After a long, painful silence, she bit her lip and wrote her name.
She traded her freedom for the lives of the entire base.
Snap!
Aike snapped his fingers cheerfully.
"Deal sealed!"
"From this moment on, you're part of the crew.
Forget you were ever a Marine."
First objective in Loguetown: complete.
Only one thing left—the Barrier-Barrier Fruit.
Aike turned to the girls.
"Head back to the ship."
"I'll grab one last thing and we'll sail straight for the Grand Line."
Nami, Carina, and the others instantly grew curious.
"You'll see when I get back."
With that, he stepped over the unconscious Marines and walked away.
The girls followed.
Only Tashigi lingered.
She walked up to Smoker, eyes red.
"Colonel… goodbye."
"Please don't hate me for making this choice."
She forced down the lump in her throat and ran after the crew.
Leaving Smoker alone on the ground, eyes burning with humiliation.
He had never hated his own weakness more.
A few minutes later, Aike stopped in front of a familiar weapon shop.
Tashigi's face turned weird.
Wasn't this the shop where she had left Shigure for maintenance?
Oh right!
My sword!
She suddenly remembered and bolted inside like a startled rabbit.
"This is a blade shop," Aike explained to the others.
"There's a cursed sword from the Kitetsu line inside."
He looked at Kuina.
"It'll do perfectly as your temporary weapon."
"Kitetsu cursed blade?"
Kuina blinked in surprise.
This rundown little store had a Kitetsu?!
She immediately followed Tashigi in.
As Aike said—she really did need a proper famous blade right now.
And "cursed"? That was just what weak swordsmen called blades they couldn't master.
"You two head back to the ship when you're done."
With that, Aike vanished in a burst of Shunpo.
When he reappeared, he was in a rundown, deserted corner of Loguetown.
Thanks to combining Observation Haki with Kidō sensing, he found the place on his first try.
"This should be it."
He pushed open a creaky door.
Inside was pure chaos—broken furniture, bloodstains, weapons scattered everywhere.
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