Chapter Sixty-Five: The Smoke Man Quits Smoking
Follow you? Sure, from now on, I’ll have your back!
Chuyi nodded excitedly, looking at Tiger, then suddenly grinned and said, “Tiger, the vice-captain of my ‘Heaven-Slayer’ Pirate Crew is Hancock. Don’t say I didn’t tell you!”
“The vice-captain isn’t mine? You’re actually letting that little girl be your vice-captain?”
“That’s right!”
Seeing Tiger’s exasperated look, Chuyi flashed a sly smile. Unexpectedly, Tiger, upon seeing Chuyi’s mischievous expression, fell silent for a moment before saying, “Fine, the vice-captain is Hancock, that little girl. But the captain’s combat leader—that’s me, Fisher Tiger!”
“Mm, the captain of the first division is yours.”
“No! I mean the chief combat leader!”
“Well, that depends on whether you have what it takes!”
“If Fisher Tiger doesn’t have the strength, who does?”
“Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll meet a comrade stronger than you!”
“Impossible!”
“Possible…”
“Impossible!”
Engaged in light-hearted banter, neither Chuyi nor Tiger knew how long they had been sparring with words; suddenly, they exchanged a smile and fell silent.
Their friendship was forged through repeated madness. Tiger would always remember that it was the boy named Chuyi who taught him what dignity was, what freedom meant.
And Chuyi could never forget how, upon first arriving in this world, he saw Tiger’s fierce face, fearing this giant would gobble him up.
After soaring through the clouds for a while, knowing he and his companions needed to prepare before heading to Fishman Island, Tiger guided Chuyi to land on an island near the Sabaody Archipelago, intending to rest there for the night and set out for his homeland, the beautiful Fishman Island, where mermaids lived.
Likewise, Chuyi had important matters to attend to: his awakening material quest. Smoker’s awakening material quest remained incomplete, and Chuyi didn’t want to miss the chance to obtain a Logia-type Devil Fruit material, so he had to seize the time, lest the quest fail.
As for how he’d make Smoker quit smoking… Chuyi already had a plan!
So, after landing on the small island near Sabaody, as Tiger called out to Chuyi and went off to purchase supplies, Chuyi smiled and approached Smoker and Lucci, saying, “Lucci, you’ve been with me for some time now; I suppose you’ve accepted your fate and aren’t planning on escaping, right?”
“But Smoker, you…”
“What’s with that defiant look? You want to run? I can give you a chance!”
“Give me a chance?”
Hearing Chuyi’s words, Smoker snorted coldly. “How are you planning to give me a chance?”
“It’s simple: if you defeat me, you’ll have earned the right to escape!”
With that, Chuyi directly lifted the ‘Gravity Domain’ that had been suppressing Smoker.
The hundredfold gravity vanished, and with his freedom restored, Smoker felt a sudden lightness. Yet, recalling Chuyi’s earlier words, Smoker felt nothing but despair.
Defeat Chuyi?
How could that be possible? Even if Chuyi couldn’t finish Smoker in one blow, he could easily subdue him within three moves, especially since Chuyi could counter the Smoke Fruit’s abilities. Even without the ‘Gravity Domain’ pressing down, Smoker didn’t think he could escape Chuyi’s grasp.
But opportunity…
Must always be seized!
So, the moment the ‘Gravity Domain’ disappeared, Smoker gripped the ten-hand attached to his waist.
He didn’t expect that just as he was about to launch a surprise attack, the smile on Chuyi’s face instantly vanished.
“Too slow!”
“Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Having previously used shadow clones as a cheat to quickly approach the threshold of sword mastery, Chuyi could naturally accelerate his training with them, mastering the first application of Observation Haki: sensing the intent behind others’ attacks.
Though Chuyi’s Observation Haki could at most bully rookies like Smoker at this point, it was enough!
Maintaining the ‘Gravity Domain’ to suppress Lucci’s physique, Chuyi devoted the rest of his stamina to creating shadow clones, intending to use them for both swordsmanship and Observation Haki training, while simultaneously sparring with Smoker.
As a new-generation Navy elite, Smoker could hardly fail to grasp Chuyi’s intentions. Thus, a disdainful smile appeared on Smoker’s face; he clearly believed Chuyi’s clever calculations would surely fail.
Yet, just as Smoker secretly scoffed, Chuyi used shadow clones to torment him…
Suddenly!
A cold breath swept from one of Chuyi’s clones, instantly enveloping Smoker!
As Smoker felt that icy chill—
Whoosh!
The chilling aura caused Smoker’s body to slow, and, accompanied by the blade of the Shura’s sword imbued with sword intent, the sword’s intent arrived before the blade itself!
In that instant, Smoker felt a strong gust rush at his chest.
When Smoker used the Smoke Fruit’s ‘elementalization’ to avoid injury, Chuyi’s indifferent voice echoed clearly in his ears.
“If even one of my clones can threaten you, Smoker, as a Smoke Fruit user, do you really still have the face to smoke?”
Damn it!
He actually underestimated me!
Clearly, Chuyi’s words successfully enraged Smoker, pushing him to fight at two hundred percent, furiously battling Chuyi’s shadow clones.
A single ordinary shadow clone of Chuyi could use Observation Haki, swordsmanship at the swordsman level, and various Devil Fruit abilities.
Yet the gap in physical strength obviously limited each clone’s power.
Especially since Smoker was a Navy elite with limitless potential, so soon enough, Chuyi’s clones fell one after another to Smoker’s onslaught.
But this outcome…
Did not satisfy Smoker!
“Why? Why? Just a mere clone, and each one gives me so much trouble!”
“Now, Shura doesn’t even need to act himself; with a few clones, he can defeat me. Someone like me…”
“Such failure! Such… failure!”
Frustrated, Smoker fought more bravely at first.
But alas…
Chuyi had too many clones!
When Smoker had finally defeated nearly a hundred of Chuyi’s shadow clones, sweat soaked the only shorts he wore, and the once vigorous Smoker was now half-kneeling on the ground, with barely enough strength to stand.
At the same time, Chuyi, seeing this, casually smiled and dismissed all his clones, even lifting the ‘Gravity Domain’ that had been suppressing himself and Smoker. He quietly sat aside, digesting the experience gained from the battle between the clones and Smoker.
After moving his body a little and feeling that, under Chuyi’s ‘Gravity Domain’ pressure, his strength seemed to have subtly improved, Lucci’s gaze landed on Smoker, and he asked in a low voice, “Smoker, should we try to escape now?”
“Escape?”
As soon as Lucci finished, Smoker glared at him angrily and retorted, “Would you be willing to escape like this?”
Yes…
Would you be willing?
Lucci’s eyes slowly shifted from Smoker to Chuyi’s figure, standing like a chasm before him.
Taking a deep breath, Lucci shook his head forcefully, clearly indicating he had given up on escaping.
What surprised Lucci was that Smoker, after regaining some strength, didn’t attempt to challenge Chuyi again. Instead, almost the moment he recovered, he pulled cigar after cigar from the pocket of his shorts and threw them into the vast sea!
“Lucci, I need you to bear witness for me!”
“As long as I, Smoker, cannot defeat Shura, I… I will quit smoking!”