Upon hearing those words, Smoker didn't hesitate for a moment. He immediately shot back, "Even if I can't stop you, I have to try! Because I'm a Marine!"
Seeing his opponent still stubbornly courting death, Will couldn't help but frown. He shouted, "Utterly foolish! You're just a Marine colonel. How many berries do you earn a month? Why risk your life like this?!"
At those words, Smoker's heart inexplicably found a sliver of truth in them. But he quickly snapped out of it, shaking his head to clear the stray thoughts. In a grave, resolute tone, he declared, "This isn't about berries or rank. This is my duty as a Marine!"
White Launcher!
No longer daring to hesitate, Smoker's lower body transformed into smoke as he charged fiercely toward Will. Whoosh whoosh whoosh! As he closed the distance, his fists, propelled by the smoke, began pummeling Will at high speed.
Yet Will remained utterly calm, swaying his body with swift precision to effortlessly dodge every attack. He didn't even bother taking his hands out of his pockets. As he sidestepped with the ease of a stroll, he remarked, "Smoker, there's no fighting spirit in you right now. Only your sense of duty is forcing you to swing those fists! Weak, aimless punches like those will never touch me!"
Smoker, still throwing punches with all his might, felt a pang of frustration at those words. He roared, "Shut up…!"
Tashigi, watching anxiously from the sidelines, turned to the stunned Marine soldiers and shouted, "All hands, open fire on 'Madman' Will! Cover Colonel Smoker!"
"Yes, ma'am!" The soldiers snapped out of their daze, instinctively raising their rifles to aim without time for second thoughts.
"Hm?" Will's patience began to wear thin as he noticed the grunts daring to provoke him further. No longer dodging, he swiftly pulled his left hand from his pocket and threw a lightning-fast punch forward.
Boom!
This punch was far faster than before, cutting through Smoker's flurry of smoke and afterimages to land squarely on his cheek. "This force…!" Smoker barely had time to register the shock before he was sent flying backward, crashing to the ground. He rolled, smashing through several upturned cobblestones before coming to a stop.
"Colonel Smoker!" Tashigi cried out in alarm. Forcing down her fear, she gritted her teeth, drew her sword, and charged at Will.
"Don't go…!" Smoker, struggling to his feet with blood trickling from his mouth, caught sight of her in the lingering dust. He shouted in panic, transforming into smoke again to intercept the reckless move.
But Will's patience had run dry. His gaze turned icy. As he saw the woman charging recklessly and the soldiers preparing to fire, his eyes narrowed, and a flash of red glinted in their depths.
Buzz!
In an instant, an overwhelming aura erupted from Will's body, spreading outward with terrifying speed. Within the blink of an eye, it enveloped the entire island of Loguetown. Yet, with precise control, Will confined the pressure to the plaza alone.
In that moment, every window in the surrounding buildings shattered. Cracks spiderwebbed across walls and the ground. Everyone present froze, utterly immobilized, as if caught in the grip of a monstrous storm threatening to tear them apart.
Smoker, who had just taken flight, crashed back to the ground, dropping to one knee. His eyes widened in disbelief. "Conqueror's Haki?! Impossible!"
He never imagined the man before him possessed the rare kingly quality found in perhaps one in a million. Feeling the crushing pressure bearing down on him, Smoker clenched his fists, struggling to rise through sheer grit. He refused to look weak, even as his stamina drained rapidly.
The Marine soldiers, meanwhile, had no such resilience. The moment the Haki hit, they collapsed, eyes rolling back, some foaming at the mouth and twitching on the ground.
Tashigi, who had been charging with her sword drawn, bore the brunt of Will's focus. She felt as if an invisible hand had seized her, squeezing tighter and tighter. Despite her slightly above-average strength, she lasted barely two seconds before her Ascending, her sword clattering to the ground.
Meanwhile, in a quiet building somewhere in Loguetown, Dragon was reviewing intelligence reports on Luffy's recent movements, sent by Revolutionary Army operatives. Suddenly, he felt the terrifying aura sweep across the island. His eyes widened, and in a flash, he appeared at the window, staring gravely toward the plaza. "Conqueror's Haki unleashed! Who is it?!"
Even for someone as seasoned as Dragon, the shock was palpable. Feeling events spiraling beyond his control, a bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead. After a moment's thought, he waved his hand, summoning a swirling green tempest around him. In the next instant, Dragon vanished into the wind.
Back at the plaza, only two figures remained standing.
Will withdrew his Haki, turning to face Smoker, who stared at him with clenched fists and a look of stunned disbelief. Will wasn't surprised. Smoker, after all, had trained at Marine Headquarters and eaten a Logia Devil Fruit. It was only natural he could withstand this level of Haki. If he couldn't, Will would've admitted to misjudging him.
Meeting Will's expressionless gaze, Smoker spoke gravely, "Madman Will, your strength is far beyond what I imagined… I never expected that, beyond Armament Haki, you'd possess the exceedingly rare Conqueror's Haki…"
By now, any thought of continuing the fight had vanished. If the gap between them had been small, he might've fought with everything he had. But realizing the chasm separating them, pressing on would only make him look like a fool.
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