"Armament Haki…!"
"This kid… he actually mastered Armament Haki!"
"That means…"
"Captain Smoker's advantage is gone. The moment a Logia user runs into someone who can use Armament Haki, every single advantage—vanishes without a trace."
The marine lieutenant's voice trembled, fear leaking into every syllable.
He couldn't believe it.
Honestly, even in his dreams, he never would've imagined—
That in Loguetown, in the East Blue—
They would encounter an anomaly.
A monster.
A monster with terrifying strength, and the very thing Logia users feared most—
Armament Haki.
"This… this means Captain Smoker's odds just dropped straight down."
All of them stared at Smoker, nerves stretched tight.
A terrible premonition climbed their spines.
A murderous intent filled the ruined hall.
Smoker's forehead glistened with sweat. His hands, gripping the Seastone jitte, trembled slightly—almost unconsciously.
It was obvious now.
His calm expression was a lie.
Inside?
He was panicking.
"Damn it… he has Armament Haki. My Logia advantage is gone in an instant."
"Without that advantage… my chances against this freak are too small."
Smoker felt crushing pressure.
Even though he knew Ryukawa was "just a teenager"—
That teenager radiated a suffocating oppression he had never felt before.
For the first time in his life…
Smoker felt that kind of overwhelming intimidation from a boy.
"I can't win…"
"No—!"
"I can't let that mindset take root!"
Smoker violently shook his head, throwing away the thoughts.
If fear dominated him before the battle even began, he would lose for sure.
That was fatal.
Negative emotions could poison every decision in combat.
"Even if he has Conqueror's potential… even if he can use Armament… maybe even Observation…"
"So what?!"
"If I go all out… maybe I can still hold him back. Maybe I can force him to retreat!"
Smoker started desperately convincing himself.
Because he had no choice now.
Every marine in Loguetown followed him.
If he backed down here, the impact would be catastrophic.
He couldn't retreat.
He wouldn't.
"Come!"
"Let me see for myself—"
"Just how strong you really are!"
Smoker bared his teeth, raised his Seastone jitte—
And attacked first.
The battle erupted instantly.
"White Blow!"
His Devil Fruit power surged.
Smoker's left fist detached from his arm, wrapped in thick white smoke, and blasted forward with terrifying speed and force—aimed straight at Ryukawa in the center of the corpse pile.
But in Ryukawa's eyes…
It was painfully slow.
"Too slow."
Ryukawa shook his head.
Compared to Lucci?
Smoker was inferior—by far.
The difference in level was obvious.
Smoker at this stage was still a fighter who relied heavily on his Devil Fruit.
His "growth path" centered almost entirely around his ability.
Against someone like that—
Ryukawa felt no pressure at all.
With a simple sidestep—
He avoided the punch.
Then he lifted his hand.
A black coating instantly formed over Ryukawa's left fist.
Armament Haki.
And then—
He brought that fist down on Smoker's smoke-wrapped punch.
BOOM!
A heavy explosion of impact.
Smoker's fist was smashed down into the broken floor, forcing it to sink half a meter deeper. The already-damaged ground caved like rotten wood.
Cracks exploded outward in every direction like a spiderweb.
"Guh—!"
Smoker's face twisted. Sweat poured off him.
Being struck by Armament Haki—
Was a completely different kind of pain.
In front of Armament—
Logia pride meant nothing.
Smoker rapidly retracted his smoke fist.
And then everyone saw it.
His hand was trembling.
The bones looked cracked.
Blood seeped out.
A miserable sight.
Smoker's left arm shook uncontrollably as pain shot through his body.
"T-Too strong…"
He clenched the cigar between his teeth, staring at Ryukawa with a heavy, grim expression.
This was power that made him feel helpless.
At the edge of the hall, the marine lieutenant and soldiers turned pale.
Even Smoker couldn't handle it.
What hope did they have?
In all of Loguetown, Smoker was the strongest marine—without question.
If even Smoker couldn't stand up to this boy—
Then Loguetown had no one else.
No one.
"Captain Smoker… you have to stop him…"
"If that monster leaves this place, Loguetown is finished…"
The lieutenant could only pray.
Back at the center—
Ryukawa raised his wooden sword, smiling lightly.
"A Logia… that's it?"
He hadn't even used swordsmanship yet.
He'd thrown a single punch—
And Smoker was already struggling.
Disappointing.
Too weak.
"Smoker… is this really all you've got?"
Ryukawa's smile sharpened.
"If you don't use your full strength, you'll die."
"I'm not joking."
He lifted his sword.
The blade was still wood—yet coated in black Armament Haki, making it look like indestructible steel.
The sword's cold, razor aura aimed directly at Smoker.
Smoker took a half-step back instinctively, face dark.
That sword point felt like death itself had already arrived.
"I have to go all in…"
"If I don't… I'm dead."
Smoker's lips curled into a bitter expression.
But even if he went all in—
Could he really defeat this monster?
No.
He couldn't.
This monster was too strong.
The despair was suffocating.
"Then… I'll gamble everything!"
"Win or lose—right here!"
Smoker roared.
"White Gale!"
His Devil Fruit power surged to the limit.
His body dissolved into thick white smoke, spreading violently through the ruined hall.
The smoke swallowed everything.
Visibility vanished.
It flooded the room like a storm cloud.
The smoke drifted toward Ryukawa.
Air thinned.
Oxygen began to disappear.
He was trying to suffocate him.
"A clever ability."
Ryukawa narrowed his eyes, standing calmly in the heart of the smoke.
He immediately understood Smoker's plan.
"Trying to trap me and choke me out?"
"Not a bad idea."
"But…"
"Your control is far too crude."
He raised his sword.
The black Armament coating gleamed like dark steel.
He lifted it—
And swung.
Clean. Direct. No wasted motion.
A single slash.
A crimson aura surged along the blade.
Sword energy gathered like a wave about to burst its dam.
The pressure exploded outward and crushed the entire hall.
At the edge—
The marine lieutenant and soldiers froze, trembling.
It felt like a beast had opened its jaws in front of them.
A monstrous sword intent pressed down like an ocean.
And then—
The sword energy found its outlet.
Like a sea restrained too long—
It erupted from the blade tip.
SHIIING!
A terrifying slash tore forward into the white smoke.
The air screamed.
The ground shattered even further under the residual force.
Cracks spread, chunks of floor exploding into debris.
The slash entered the smoke—
And—
BOOOOM!!
A thunderclap detonated.
Like the sky itself had been torn open.
A violent shockwave ripped through the hall.
The smoke was shredded instantly—torn apart and blasted outward through collapsed walls.
The remaining smoke was thrown out of the building like rags in a storm.
And as the smoke cleared…
Smoker's figure appeared.
But his condition—
Was awful.
Ryukawa's slash hadn't been aimed directly at Smoker—
Yet the blast pressure alone was lethal.
A hurricane of cutting wind tore across Smoker's body like countless blades.
PFF! PFF! PFF!
His coat ripped.
Skin split open.
Blood sprayed.
His gray jacket turned red in an instant.
Smoker's body was launched backward like a kite with its string cut.
BOOM!
He slammed into a wall.
The already-damaged wall collapsed completely, burying him under a flood of rubble.
The ruined hall fell silent again.
Dead silent.
A silence so heavy it made the skin crawl.
The ground was split with deep cracks and punctures.
A long, jagged fissure stretched across the floor all the way to the rubble pile that had swallowed Smoker.
The entire building looked like it might collapse at any second.
Everything was broken.
Everything.
A ruined end-of-days landscape.
Near the corner—
The lieutenant and ten marines were sprawled on the ground, shaking.
Their eyes were wide, fixed on the rubble where Smoker had disappeared.
Their throats were dry.
Their lips trembled.
"One exchange…"
"Captain Smoker… was instantly one-shotted."
The gap was too great.
Not even close.
They weren't even in the same world.
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