Chapter 8 White Hunter Smoker
Logue Town.
It is the hometown of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger and the place where he died.
The great era of pirates started here.
Roger's throne is still in the square of Logue Town, which is the famous execution platform.
Bane took seven days to get to Logue Town by merchant ship, and he has finally arrived at the port.
"So how fast are the Straw Hat Pirates? " Bane thought to himself as he felt tired from the week's journey.
In less than half a year, the Straw Hat Pirates had many adventures and traveled from the East blue Sea to the Sabaody Archipelago, halfway through the Grand Line.
If a merchant ship was this slow, it would take a year just to cover half the distance.
Standing at the harbor and feeling the pleasant sea breeze, Bane looked back at the dock. Logue Town is a well-known, busy island town in the East blue Sea. The dock has ships of all sizes from different parts of the world.
Surprisingly, Bane even spotted a pirate ship!
From what he knew, Captain Smoker, known as the White Hunter, was the commander of the Logue Town Naval Base at this time.
In the original story, Smoker confidently told his crew that he had never let a pirate escape during his time in Logue Town.
This means any pirate who made it from the East blue Sea to the Grand Line should have avoided Logue Town and not been there.
So, it is clear that the owner of this pirate ship will face problems soon.
To be honest, the security in the East blue Sea is really good. Bane had been sailing for a week and did not run into any pirates.
After looking closely at the pirate flag and confirming it was a crew he did not recognize, Bane ignored it and walked out of the port toward the town. He planned to go to the naval base to collect his reward first, then visit Roger's Execution platform, experience Logue Town's culture, rest for two days, and take a new merchant ship to Shimotsuki village.
Not that it can be called lucky, but as soon as Bane stepped onto the town's commercial street, he heard an urgent whistle. When the whistle blew, the vendors nearby froze, then quickly packed their things and ran away, shouting, "It's the navy's emergency whistle! Run, they are probably chasing pirates again! "
In less than three minutes, everyone on the commercial street had fled. They left behind various stalls and small shops that were still messy, and Bane, who was standing in the street, looked confused.
"Ah? So skilled? " Bane gazed at the empty streets around him, unsure of what to say for a moment.
In the next moment, he heard gunfire crackling from the end of the street. A group of pirates came rushing out, followed by a large number of navy soldiers.
The lead pirate was tall and strong, bald, and had one eye. He held a pistol in his left hand and a machete in his right hand, looking very fierce.
"Damn it, didn't they say the White Hunter went back to the Marine Headquarters to report? Why is he suddenly here? " the pirate boss cursed while shouting at his men to run away.
At that moment, a huge cloud of white smoke appeared behind them. This thick white smoke moved quickly and soon surrounded the last few pirates. It was silent, and the smoke didn't stop; it sped up and chased the pirates ahead.
The pirate boss didn't care about his subordinates and only wanted to flee. After running more than a hundred meters, he spotted Bane standing in the middle of the road, looking dazed.
"Get out of the way! " The pirate boss shouted and raised his hand to strike at Bane.
However, before he could bring down his knife, his vision went dark. He felt as if he was suddenly surrounded by endless darkness!
"What's happening? " the pirate boss exclaimed. Before he could process it, a large hand appeared from the darkness and grabbed his neck firmly. A strong force lifted him off the ground. Then the pirate boss felt himself becoming weightless.
The next moment, with a loud crash, Bane threw him to the ground. The solid stone tiles broke upon impact. Blood flowed from the back of the pirate boss's head. After twitching a few times, he lay still.
Meanwhile, the thick white smoke enveloped all the remaining pirates.
The swirling white smoke and the dark elements clashed on the street for a moment. Soon, Smoker slowly emerged from the white smoke, and the darkness around Bane faded away. He looked at Smoker with a big smile on his face.
"You do not have space-related abilities," Smoker stated, looking at Bane after a moment.
As a Captain of the Marine Headquarters, he was very worried about the situation at sea. He quickly recognized Bane as the killer of Thatch, who was the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' Fourth Division.
This is viewed from the perspective of the Whitebeard Pirates. For Smoker, Bane is completely removing threats for the people, and he has done a great job at it.
"I never said I have any abilities related to space," Bane replied with a smile.
Smoker did not feel hostile towards Bane, but he remained cautious. He asked, "Come to think of it, no one knows your name yet. Can you introduce yourself? "
"Bane. " Bane responded directly, without holding back. After a brief pause, he smiled and added, "As for my job, I'm a pirate hunter. I just turned 20 this year. Do you have any other questions? "
Smoker was surprised by how open Bane was. He shared everything all at once. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "What are you planning to do in Logue Town? "
"I'm here to collect the bounty. I already told you I'm a pirate hunter. To avoid revenge from the Whitebeard Pirates, I traveled a long way without collecting Thatch's bounty. Now that I'm in the East blue Sea, it's safer. So I'm here to collect the bounty from the navy. It's three hundred and sixty million berries, and don't deduct anything," Bane said with a smile.
Smoker looked at the half-dead pirate at Bane's feet and replied, "It should be 362.2 million berries now."
Bane understood what this meant and did not refuse. He nodded and said, "You pay the money, and you decide. "
While they were talking, a large navy group arrived. Without Smoker's orders, the navy soldiers began to easily "pack up" the pirates.
Seeing this, Smoker said, "This isn't the place to talk. Would you mind coming with me to the naval base? Our navy is very interested in you."
Bane had already planned to go to the naval base. If Smoker wanted to give him money, it would have to be there. Bane also trusted Smoker's character. He had never had any issues with the navy, so he didn't mind. After agreeing to Smoker, they headed to the naval base in logue Town together.
As soon as they entered the naval base, a nervous girl wearing glasses approached them.
Bane recognized her immediately; she was Tashigi.
"Captain Smoker, are you okay? " Tashigi stepped forward and asked with concern.
But Smoker waved his hand coldly and replied, "What could have gone wrong, they were just some weak pirates."
Then, before Tashigi could say anything, Smoker commanded, "Go tell headquarters what's happening. Inform them that the man who killed Thatch has arrived at our Logue Town Naval Base to take the reward. His name is Bane, and he is a pirate hunter. "
"Oh," Tashigi said at first without thinking, then she reacted and stared at Bane in surprise.
But Smoker didn't tolerate her nonsei. Noticing that she looked a bit dazed, he shouted angrily, "Why are you dazed? Go! "