"Tch, those useless cowards are too slow to catch a cold. We're leaving them behind. Let's go!"
Allen cursed indignantly, turning around and heading toward the ship's cabin.
The Nyaban Brothers stepped up and followed him.
...
Meanwhile, inside the simply yet elegantly decorated restaurant, about twenty tables were sparsely occupied by guests.
A blond man in a black suit with curly eyebrows carried a tray, walking down the aisle with an elegant gait.
Suddenly, a commotion seemed to come from outside the entrance. Sanji turned his head with a look of disgust.
"So noisy. Looks like another difficult customer. I don't welcome bastards who interrupt a beautiful lady's meal."
He then walked straight into the dining hall, approaching a table where a man and a woman were seated.
Setting down the tray of desserts, he first introduced the dishes to the guests.
Then, completely ignoring the burly man beside her, Sanji elegantly bowed to the delicate-looking woman.
Sanji bowed like a true gentleman, smiling faintly as he said,
"This is a complimentary dessert in honor of your loveliness. Please take your time to savor it, and I hope you can feel the deep affection hidden within."
"Ah, this... thank you. Thank you very much."
Tashigi was a little embarrassed by his words. Holding her glasses steady with one hand, she bowed repeatedly and nodded in thanks.
The man beside her, however, seemed completely unbothered. His eyes held no expression, and smoke billowed from the two cigars clamped in the corner of his mouth.
Seeing that Sanji had no intention of leaving, Smoker finally spoke in a flat tone,
"We don't need a waiter here anymore. Go back to your work."
"Hah? Waiter? Are you misunderstanding something, you stinking smoker?"
Hearing the title, Sanji's face instantly darkened. He turned to glare at Smoker, pinching the cigarette from his own mouth with two fingers, and scoffed,
"The smell of smoke is so strong, people might think I'm starting a fire to cook out here. Don't you know smoking is prohibited in the restaurant?"
"..."
Staring at the cigarette pinched in Sanji's hand, Smoker subconsciously clenched his fist, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Wait a minute, Captain Smoker!"
Thinking Smoker was about to attack, Tashigi jumped up in a panic, only for her head to slam right into Sanji's chin.
*Thud!*
"Ouch!"
Her glasses clattered to the floor. Flustered, Tashigi repeatedly bowed and apologized to her chair,
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I'm really sorry!"
"It's... it's fine... Your glasses are over here."
Sanji rubbed his aching chin and helped Tashigi pick up her glasses.
Just then.
"Those guys are pirates, right..."
"To think they'd openly wear pirate coats. What's wrong with this restaurant? How could they let people like that in?"
"Hey... keep your voice down. What if they hear you?"
Three figures walked through the entrance, instantly sparking whispers among the surrounding diners.
Hearing the commotion, the three people at Smoker's table instinctively turned to look.
Leading the group was a lean, muscular man with messy black hair scattered across his forehead. He swaggered in, wearing a conspicuous pirate captain's coat.
Behind him followed two men, one fat and one thin.
"The Nyaban Brothers!"
Tashigi was startled. Having put her glasses back on, she instantly recognized the duo's identities and hurriedly turned around.
"Captain Smoker! They're a duo with a seven million Berry bounty, members of the Black Cat Pirates!"
"Seven million Berries..."
Smoker narrowed his eyes slightly, his deep gaze visible through the swirling smoke.
He had come out today to hunt pirates and happened to stop by the Baratie for a meal on the voyage back. He hadn't expected another batch to deliver themselves right to his doorstep.
"Wait a minute...! We should have men stationed at the entrance. How did they get in?! Why didn't anyone report this?!" Tashigi cried out, her face paling in panic.
Suddenly realizing something, she whipped her head back toward the three intruders while swiftly grabbing the longsword leaning against the table. With a sharp *clack*, she drew a section of the gleaming blade, entering a combat stance in a split second.
At that moment, a low voice suddenly came from behind her.
"Don't be reckless, Tashigi."
Smoker stared coldly at Allen.
Although Tashigi's swordsmanship was good, taking on the seven-million-Berry Nyaban Brothers would be a bit much for her. As for the man leading them...
Smoker instinctively judged that Allen was highly capable. He stood up and smoothly grabbed the long jitte leaning beside him.
Opposite them.
Allen was also looking at Smoker.
He had noticed their table the moment he walked in. After all, those Marine uniforms were incredibly conspicuous among the elegantly dressed guests.
However, their identities did surprise him a little.
Thinking about it carefully, this stretch of the sea wasn't far from the entrance to the Grand Line, sharing the same waters as Loguetown.
Ever since Smoker arrived in the East Blue, he had been cracking down on pirates attempting to enter the Grand Line in the vicinity. Running into him here wasn't all that strange.
*But this is just too damn coincidental.*
Allen felt speechless inwardly, while also finding the situation rather troublesome.
*I can't fight a Logia user right now.*
*I don't have Haki, I don't have Seastone, and seawater...*
Allen looked left and right, noticing a massive fish tank filled with water near the kitchen entrance on the right.
*That should be seawater inside. A sea restaurant using freshwater fish would be absolutely ridiculous.*
Seeing this, his confidence suddenly surged.
Allen narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at Smoker, and spoke in a disdainful tone,
"Smoker. To think the White Hunter, famous for his mad pursuit of pirates, would come to a place like this for leisure."
"Since when did a mere pirate start worrying about Marine business?"
A sharp glint flashed in Smoker's eyes, his tone growing even colder.
"Where are my subordinates outside? What did you do to them?"
"Oh, you mean those impolite youngsters?"
Facing Smoker's interrogation, a mocking smirk curled on Allen's lips.
"I put them to sleep. Though... whether they'll ever wake up again in this lifetime is hard to say."
"What did you say...!"
*Bang!!*
Hearing this, Smoker gritted his teeth and instantly erupted. He slammed his large hand down, collapsing the table, and snatched up his jitte as he fiercely lunged forward.
*Schwing—!*
Porcelain bowls and plates shattered across the floor with a crash. Tashigi's eyes darkened as she drew her longsword and quickly followed.
Arriving in front of Allen, Smoker raised his jitte high and violently smashed it down.
Facing this sudden, explosive strike, Allen's reaction was not slow in the slightest. He slid his feet, slightly shifting his body to the side to dodge.
*Bang!!*
The jitte slammed down heavily, shattering the restaurant's smooth floor tiles and sending countless tiny fragments flying.
While dodging, a cold glint fully revealed itself in Allen's eyes. Tucking his left arm near his waist, he threw a swift, fierce punch straight at his opponent's chest!
*Poof—!*
His arm passed right through Smoker's chest, yet there was no sensation of impact whatsoever.
The area where Smoker was hit simply dispersed, turning into white smoke that flowed with the wind of the punch.
*So this is what it feels like to hit a Logia user.*
Allen curiously glanced at his retracted fist.
At the same time, utilizing an Aikido cutting force technique, he stomped his foot down onto the jitte embedded in the floor.
Smoker pulled hard, only to bizarrely discover that he couldn't lift his weapon at all.
*How is this possible?!*
Smoker's eyes widened in shock.
Given Allen's build, even if a few more people stood on it, he should have been able to flip them off.
But at this very moment.
Smoker felt as if the jitte in his hand had become a lever. And the object he was trying to pry up was actually a colossal mammoth!
"Captain Smoker!!"
Right then.
A cold white light flashed by. Allen's pupils shifted, glancing over from the corner of his eye.
Tashigi had already charged to his side, gripping her sword with both hands as she slashed in an upward diagonal arc.
Facing the incoming blade, Allen remained completely motionless. In the next second, a figure instantly flashed in front of him.
*Clang!!*
Sparks flew fiercely. Sham crossed his Ten-Blade Cat Claws and pressed down, accurately parrying the rising longsword.
A dark shadow flew overhead.
Buchi leaped high into the air, shouting loudly as he stomped down from above,
"Cat Stomp!!"
*Boom!!*
Tashigi hastily retreated. Buchi crashed down heavily, his foot shattering over a dozen floor tiles and kicking up a surging cloud of dust and smoke.
...
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