Chapter 3 Loy's Wave Fist
Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
When Loy's warship docked at the port, it naturally attracted a considerable number of gazes. After all, the gigantic Sea Beast corpse placed on the back of the warship was still very eye-catching.
"I'll go find Byrnes to report on the mission."
"Hans, you take the brothers of the second squad and escort this fellow to prison—after headquarters verifies his identity, then send him to Impel Down along with the criminals arrested during this period."
"Fal, you take the brothers of the first squad to town to sell the Sea Beast meat, and while you're at it, arrange a celebration banquet at the usual spot."
Loy spoke smoothly, clearly not the first time he had made such arrangements.
"Yes, Captain!" *2
Upon hearing 'celebration banquet,' the Escort Unit Marines' eyes instantly lit up.
Only then did Loy personally disembark from the warship, planning to find his superior to report on his work.
But,
"Hey!"
He had just arrived at Marine Headquarters' Oris Plaza when he heard a familiar voice beside his ear. This voice made him inwardly exclaim, "Oh no!" and he hastily turned to flee. But before he could even take a step, he saw a cloud of white smoke instantly surrounding him.
"The matter I mentioned before, what have you decided?"
Along with this question, a figure slowly condensed from within the smoke.
After hearing the other party's words, Loy also answered without hesitation: "Not at all—Smoker, I have no intention of leaving the Escort Unit!"
That's right.
That iconic white hair, the bulging muscles, the cigar perpetually in his mouth, and the unique weapon 'Jitte' on his back, all confirmed the identity of the other party.
Marine Headquarters Lieutenant Commander, Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Devil Fruit user, 'White Hunter' Smoker.
"Loy Aros!"
At this moment, after Smoker heard his words, he roared angrily, puffing on his cigar: "You fellow... don't mess with me!"
"Who's messing with you?"
Loy glared at the other party grumpily. He naturally knew the other party's intentions. In fact, Smoker and he were comrades who joined the Marines at the same time. And it was imaginable—with a Logia-type ability user in front of him, Loy naturally wouldn't let go of his abilities. Therefore, after joining the Marines, during the period of training and performing standard missions, Loy and Smoker got along quite well, considered true friends.
However, after the rookie training ended, their choices were distinctly different. Smoker, relying on his Logia-type Devil Fruit ability and outstanding strength, naturally became an elite that the Marines focused on cultivating, even entering the elite training camp of former Marine Admiral 'Black Arm' Zephyr. Loy, on the other hand, decisively chose to join the Escort Unit. So much so that to this day, although they joined at the same time, their ranks were already two levels apart.
Smoker's intention was precisely this. He was already a Lieutenant Commander at headquarters, and according to headquarters' rules—a Marine officer at Marine Headquarters, once promoted to Captain, faced two choices. Either join the fleet of a Vice Admiral, or even an Admiral, or go to a Marine branch to manage one of the Four Blues. The former was the choice of most Captain-ranked officers; following high-ranking officers to perform missions could lead to faster promotions. But as a famous hard-headed individual within the entire Marine Headquarters, Smoker didn't want to serve under some Vice Admiral. So he had already made his choice—he would go to his hometown, 'Loguetown,' to serve as the Marine branch manager. This was also why he had come to find Loy at this moment.
"I've said it before, I need a sufficiently outstanding subordinate."
He looked at Loy with a somber expression.
"And I've said it too, I'm not going—I remember I already recommended Tashigi to you, she's a decent Marine..."
Loy said with a serious expression.
Leave the Escort Unit?
Then who would replenish the Devil Fruits he lacked?
But it was precisely the moment he spoke.
"Boom!"
A tremendous rushing wind sound entered Loy's ears.
And then,
"Whoosh!"
Loy's figure instantly vanished from his original spot, and at this moment, Smoker's 'Jitte' had already slammed heavily onto the ground.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
The pristine white ground of Oris Plaza instantly cracked under Smoker's immense strength, revealing a gigantic fissure. Meanwhile, the Marines who were originally passing by nearby were startled, jumping in surprise: "What's going on!?"
"An enemy attack?"
Some Marines even subconsciously pulled the triggers of the rifles on their backs. But then, they saw a sight that astonished them.
At this moment, after Smoker had added to the difficulty of Marineford's ground restoration project with one blow, his figure showed not the slightest pause.
"White Fist!"
he roared lowly, and then countless smoke fists instantly burst forth from his body, continuously swinging towards Loy!
"Hey, hey, hey! Smoker—what are you doing? Are you crazy!?"
But amidst the countless swinging fists, Loy's figure continuously weaved and dodged. And the countless fists Smoker swung out, actually couldn't touch a single strand of him.
[Rabbit-Rabbit Devil Fruit - Snow Rabbit Form LV1 - Equipped - Gains partial characteristics of a Snow Rabbit, body strengthened in all aspects, additional enhancement to hearing and speed.]
[Mouse-Mouse Devil Fruit - Ash Mouse Form LV1 - Equipped - Gains partial characteristics of an Ash Mouse, body strengthened in all aspects, additional enhancement to agility.]
But Smoker completely ignored him.
"White Rush!"
While continuously striking Loy with fists formed of smoke, his lower body surged into a mass of smoke, bringing his upper body abruptly before Loy. The Jitte in his hand was raised high, and once again slammed down towards Loy!
"Are you serious!?"
Loy, seeing this, also exclaimed in surprise, then raised his hand. The abilities within the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia were switched again.
[Ox-Ox Devil Fruit - Giant Bull Form LV1.] [Strong-Strong Devil Fruit LV1.]
That strength, enough to send a Sea Beast flying with a single punch, once again appeared within Loy's body, and Loy directly extended his hand to block Smoker's Jitte!
"Boom!"
The immense power instantly shattered the ground beneath Loy's feet again. But even under such immense power, Loy's figure remained unmoving and unshaken.
He merely looked at Smoker, and said in a deep voice, "If you keep this up, I won't be polite anymore!"
"Come on!"
At this moment, Smoker roared lowly, and then his arm once again turned into white smoke, rushing towards Loy.
Seeing this, Loy also gritted his teeth: "You scoundrel!"
He then no longer held back, one hand still gripping Smoker's 'Jitte,' while his other hand turned into a palm. At this moment, the abilities within the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia were switched again.
[Human-Human Devil Fruit - Great Buddha Form LV1 - Comprehensively enhances physical attributes, and can emit powerful shockwaves from the hands.]
And so, from his palm, golden shockwaves surged forth.
"Boom!"
And then, a deep trench suddenly appeared on the ground, and the smoke that Smoker had transformed into was instantly scattered and blasted away by Loy's palm. Only when he landed far away, did he reform into Smoker's figure.
At this moment, the Marines near the area where the two of them were fighting were almost uniformly blown away! Some bewildered Marines even subconsciously raised their weapons, thinking some attack had occurred. Only after seeing that the two people in the middle of the battlefield were both wearing Marine uniforms, did they all reveal expressions of shock.
"So strong... they're like monsters. Who are these two guys!?"
"I recognize the one with white hair, he's 'White Hunter' Smoker!"
"The Logia-type Devil Fruit user, that madman at headquarters known for disobeying orders?"
"Who's the other person, who can actually fight him!?"
"Is he an officer from the elite unit!?"
The Marines discussed it animatedly. The strong always attract attention, no matter where they are. And there was no doubt—even at Marine Headquarters, for most Marines, this level of battle was still uncommon.
But at this moment, Smoker didn't care about the animated discussions around him. He merely puffed on his cigar, his expression still grim: "Your physical strength and your 'Wave Fist'... they've indeed gotten stronger again!"
That's right.
Smoker was considered one of the people who understood Loy best in the entire Marine Headquarters—at least he believed so himself. So he had long known how astonishing Loy's talents were in speed, strength, and reactions. In fact, if he hadn't personally seen Loy swimming in the sea, he would even suspect Loy was an ability user. Besides that, he had also seen this type of 'Wave Fist' that Loy had just used before. According to Loy, this was a 'fist art that uses the invisible waves of air to generate shockwaves when a fist is thrown'—Smoker had secretly tried to learn it many times, but he utterly failed to understand how Loy did it.
But that wasn't important.
There were quite a few eccentric people in this vast sea; he even heard that there was a guy in the Revolutionary Army who could throw a stone and pierce through a rock. To Smoker, what was truly important was... he couldn't understand Loy's choice. Most Marines believed that fellows who actively applied to join the Escort Unit were mostly cowards unwilling to face danger directly. But Smoker knew Loy wasn't that kind of person.
"Do you still remember the little girl from Cocoyasi Village?"
He puffed on his cigar, and said in a low voice.
"Back then, to get back the money for her adoptive mother's illness, you and I chased across an entire sea area, personally carving a bloody path through a town full of pirates, and caught that gang of pirates!"
"I've personally witnessed your justice, Loy. Tell me what you're really thinking!?"
"You have this kind of strength, why aren't you willing to go to the front lines to make a name for yourself, but instead choose to hide in the Escort Unit as a small Lieutenant?"
he asked in a low roar.
But facing Smoker's questions, Loy was very calm: "Justice?"
He pulled out a flask from his pocket and started gulping down its contents. It looked very impressive. However, judging by the black, bubbly liquid spilling from the flask, he was clearly drinking cola.
Then he grinned: "What you saw wasn't my justice, Smoker—that was just basic conscience. What's more, I'm not very ambitious; I feel pretty good in the Escort Unit!"
Hearing this, Smoker's anger flared even higher.
"You fellow..."
White smoke surged around his arm, clearly preparing to make a move again. Since words wouldn't work, he'd use his fists to communicate; that was the kind of man he was!
But just at this moment...
"Smoker."
A sudden voice made Smoker's movements pause.
"Oh!"
"Who's that beautiful lady?"
"It's 'Black Cage' Hina, the Lieutenant Commander!"
Excitement also spread through the Marine crowd, and many Marines had hearts filled with starry-eyed admiration. At this moment, a slender, pink-haired beauty, also wearing a Marine uniform, walked out from the crowd.
"Just returned from a mission and already found you causing trouble again, Hina is very helpless."
A thin cigar hung from her mouth, and she looked helplessly at Smoker.
"Your last punishment hasn't even been cleared yet, has it!?"
As Smoker's good friend, having long cleaned up after the trouble-making Smoker, she naturally had many complaints. Although Smoker's imposing aura had weakened by a third at this moment, he still stubbornly said: "Hmph! This time it's not my fault, it's this scoundrel—"
He decisively absolved himself of responsibility for the problem, turning his head to try and get Hina to jointly scold a certain uncooperative fellow. But when he turned his head, he found that—
In front of him, at the spot where Loy had originally stood, there wasn't even half a person's shadow left!
"That scoundrel ran away again!"
Smoker, realizing Loy had run off, also flared up in anger, his veins bulging, and clenched his fists tightly. But before he could chase after him, a circle of pitch-black iron bars surrounded him. And from behind him, Hina's voice already carried a hint of danger: "Trying to run? You'd better explain clearly—what kind of crazy stunt are you pulling this time? Otherwise, Hina will get angry!"
And so, Smoker's expression finally became flustered.
(end of chapter)