On a beautiful, sunny day, a Marine warship was slowly sailing across the boundless ocean.
Smoker had been in a thoroughly foul mood lately. Although Marine Headquarters had recently given him a promotion and a raise to cover up the Straw Hat crew's heroic deeds in Alabasta, he couldn't find it in himself to be happy about it.
(No wonder Hina was suddenly so proactive about hunting down the remnants of Baroque Works. Turns out she was just trying to avoid her!!!)
Staring at a certain unscrupulous loli puffing out clouds of smoke on the deck, the White Hunter gnashed his teeth in sheer irritation.
Previously, after Smoker and Vice Admiral Hisoka had intentionally gone easy and let the Straw Hat crew escape, Rear Admiral Alan had inexplicably decided to actively pursue them. She had even forcibly ordered Smoker's ship to carry her and accompany her on the chase.
And then, Captain Smoker's tragedy began. Ever since this gothic loli with mismatched black and white hair boarded his warship, the White Hunter hadn't had a single taste of tobacco. The several large crates of premium cigars from the Goldglint Trading Company that he had specifically purchased from the East Blue had entirely been "borrowed" by her.
Yes, nominally it was indeed "borrowing," it was just that the word "return" simply did not exist in Alan's dictionary.
A life without nicotine was absolute hell for a chain-smoker like him. If Rear Admiral Alan weren't the illustrious [Natural Enemy], and if he himself wasn't a Logia user, Smoker probably would have flipped out long ago.
"The probability of me snatching my cigars back from this brat is practically zero. Looks like I'll just have to head to the nearest island to buy some more," Smoker sighed with a look of utter helplessness. He then glanced toward a certain blue-haired female Marine who was earnestly applying oil to her blade.
"Tashigi."
"Ah? Yes, is there something you need, Captain Smoker?" The slightly airheaded, glasses-wearing girl hurriedly set down the items in her hands, stood up, and respectfully gave her superior a proper Marine salute.
"Which island is closest to here? To be precise, a place that sells cigars."
Tashigi paused for a moment. Then, looking at her superior's somewhat haggard face, and turning her head to glance at the loli Rear Admiral who was happily puffing away on a cigar, her face instantly filled with sympathy.
"The closest island?" The blue-haired female Marine pulled out a stack of nautical charts. After carefully searching through them for a moment, she replied, "Ah, found it. It's a small island called Jaya. That island is heavily populated, so they're bound to sell cigars."
"Is that so? I understand," Smoker nodded, feeling deeply gratified. He continued, "Go tell the navigator, we're heading to Jaya immediately."
"But, Captain Smoker..." Tashigi pushed up her glasses, looking troubled. "Although there are people on this island, it is a lawless zone outside the jurisdiction of the World Government. It's swarming with pirates and outlaws. If we sail right in so openly, I'm afraid..."
"Afraid of what? We're Marines!" Smoker, whose head was entirely filled with thoughts of cigars, suddenly grew agitated. "So what if there are pirates? Perfect timing, I'm in desperate need to vent some of my frustration!"
As he said this, the White Hunter actually let out a few low, somewhat unhinged chuckles, giving off a strong vibe of: If you don't let me smoke my cigars, I'll kill even a god just to prove a point.
(Come to think of it, you can't really blame Captain Smoker. Rear Admiral Alan's personality is truly awful...) Tashigi subconsciously touched her chest, her fair, pretty face flushing pink.
Meanwhile, the most shameless and speechless loli Rear Admiral in Marine history was comfortably lying back on a wide lounge chair, enjoying the rare tranquility of the Grand Line.
Not far from the lounge chair stood Smoker's Marine subordinates. Looking at the terrified and helpless gazes they directed at Alan, it was clear that their interactions over these past few days had made this group of Marines profoundly aware of just how terrifying this gothic loli really was.
"Ah, I'm so bored. I can't believe that kid Koby didn't come with me. Honestly, didn't he say before that Straw Hat Luffy was once his savior?"
Rear Admiral Alan lazily stretched her waist and leaned heavily against the back of her lounge chair. Truth be told, just going by her soft, cute voice and adorable appearance, Alan could absolutely melt the hearts of a horde of lolicons. It was just a pity that the cigar burning between her fingers was far too much of an eyesore.
"Hehe, the Goldglint Trading Company's premium cigars are just amazing. I really wish I could smoke these top-tier cigars every day from now on." Taking a puff with relish, the gothic loli with mismatched black and white hair let out a light chuckle, silently musing in her heart:
After all, other than cigars, I can't taste anything else anymore...
Rear Admiral Alan's initially cute, smiling face instantly fell. She couldn't help but ask herself: Was it truly right or wrong for her to have eaten a Devil Fruit back then just to survive?
However, just as she was secretly feeling sorrowful, Rear Admiral Alan's heart suddenly tightened. Her powerful Observation Haki warned her: a formidable lifeform was passing by diagonally above the warship!
(Who is it?!)
Alan hurriedly jumped up from the lounge chair and gazed toward the distant sky, the right eye not covered by her eyepatch flashing with excitement.
High up in the blue sky dotted with white clouds, she saw a dark silhouette flying past at incredible speed, seemingly in a rush. However, the way he moved through the air was extremely bizarre, almost as if he was being pulled along by something high above.
Even from such a great distance, Alan, with her astonishing eyesight, still managed to clearly make out the attire of that dark silhouette:
A pink feather coat, incredibly eye-catching and flamboyant.
"Wow!!!! What did I just see???" The gothic loli let out an exclamation of surprise, scaring the nearby Marine soldiers into shivering collectively. They assumed this unscrupulous Rear Admiral was about to mess with someone again.
(I remember Tsuru once telling me that the reason this guy can fly is because he attaches strings to the clouds. Eh? If I were to snap his strings, and the ocean just happens to be right below...)
(Would he become the first Seven Warlord of the Sea in history to "drown to death"?)
(He's not a Logia. I can't beat him in a fight, but I can fly much faster than he can...)
Thinking of this, Alan grew exceedingly thrilled and casually tossed away her half-smoked cigar. She then pulled out a lighter and set her own body ablaze.
—Fusion: Flame Martial Body!
Whoosh— Sparks flew everywhere, as her twin tails, now composed entirely of blazing fire, swayed wildly in the heatwave.
Under the astonished gazes of the Marines, Rear Admiral Alan was instantly engulfed in flames, transforming into a fairy of fire made purely of roaring blaze. Without hesitation, she shot up into the sky, leaving a glowing trail of flames behind her as she flew toward the horizon like a meteor, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye...
On the deck of the Going Merry, Luffy and the others were sprawled out in every direction, looking exactly as if they had just barely escaped from some terrifying, life-threatening ordeal.
"Phew~~~ We're saved." The idiot captain stuck out his tongue and said weakly, "Good thing our ship has oars, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable."
"The Grand Line is truly amazing." Sanji lit a cigarette.
Nami nodded in agreement, still harboring lingering fears. "Not only do giant galleons fall from the sky, but there are also such colossal monsters. It's truly terrifying."
"Yeah, actually, what I wanted to say is that I once took down a monster like that bare-handed!" Having caught his breath, Usopp habitually forced out a boast to Chopper, and a certain naive reindeer fell for it once again, his furry little face full of utter admiration.
"..." Robin was utterly speechless at this sight.
"But in the end, that monkey-man didn't even say who that 'old man' was," Zoro stood up from the deck, looking around. "We also got separated while running away just now."
"That isn't a problem." Sherlock pointed at the Eternal Pose in Nami's hand. "We can go check out that island. Maybe we'll find what we're looking for. Plus, as long as we don't stay too long, the Log's record for the sky island won't be overwritten."
Luffy was overjoyed to hear this. He pressed down on his straw hat and declared excitedly:
"Alright! Let's set sail, everyone! Destination: the food-filled island of Jaya."
However, just as everyone was about to depart for Jaya, a sudden anomaly occurred!
Hiss!——————— With a piercing screech, a pale green flying slash whistled right over everyone's heads.
The Straw Hat Pirates were all startled by the extremely sudden attack, and they collectively looked toward the direction the slash had come from.
An incredibly poorly crafted small wooden boat was rapidly approaching from the side of the Going Merry. God only knows what kind of propulsion it was using to sail so fast.
And standing proudly on that dilapidated little boat was a blue-haired young man in completely tattered clothes.
"Hey, you pirates on that ship, listen up! Your ship has been commandeered by me!"
The blue-haired young man waved the sharp blade in his hand and yelled sternly at Luffy and the crew. "Otherwise, my next slash won't intentionally miss!"
(Strange? Why didn't I sense his presence when he was approaching earlier? And this pale green flying slash... why do I feel like it's so familiar??)
Looking at the blue-haired young man gripping his treasured sword, Sherlock frowned slightly. Suddenly, a figure surfaced in his mind, slowly overlapping with the blue-haired young man right in front of him.
"Are you... Rovik?" the Sorcerer asked, somewhat uncertainly.
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