71 Chapter 70

"Arara... now this is unexpected." Kuzan, looking around the room, exclaimed dryly. Then, locking his eyes on Smoker, he waved his hand, "And if it isn't our youngest Vice Admiral. Long time no see, Smoker."

Smoker waved back in a friendly manner, "It's been years, Kuzan-san. You seem quite busy these days."

Kuzan chuckled, "Back to you, 'White Hunter.'"

"...Kuzan."

Sakazuki, however, expressed his dislike for the newcomer. He, turning to Borsalino, snarled at the latter, "Since when was he invited here? Did you lie to me, Borsalino?"

Kuzan, who didn't seem to have expected Sakazuki's presence either, grimaced. Borsalino, looking back and forth between the two of them, forced a smile while sweating profusely,

"I thought that it was about time that you two resolve that still-ongoing feud of yours. Regardless of the different points of view, we are comrades, aren't we?"

Neither Sakazuki nor Kuzan responded to Borsalino.

"…Aren't we?"

Borsalino, judging by his facial expression, seemed genuinely shocked—by the fact that the relationship between his two colleagues was much worse than what he anticipated.

"...Now now," Then, Blaise motioned his hand at a cushion that lied next to Borsalino, "Kuzan-san, why don't you take a seat first?"

Simultaneously, Sakazuki looked at Smoker and his friends through the corner of his eyes, before,

Tak!

closing the paper door back and separating the two rooms once more.

"""Hu...""" Immediately after, Gion, Cancer, and Doll let out a sigh of relief. Smoker looked at them with pity as they wiped the sweat from their forehead. Though the conversation of the four men could still be heard subtly, they were finally relieved from the extreme stress of talking to veterans.

"...Well," Cancer mumbled while subconsciously taking out a cigarette from his pocket, "I—"

"Cancer," Gion looked at Cancer with a frown, "Get that cigarette away. Now."

Cancer's body stiffened as he looked at the cigarette in his hand. Then, while complying with Gion, he asked timidly, "...Are you into men who don't smoke?"

"I don't like someone who smokes in a private restaurant. It's rude."

Smoker nodded in agreement to Gion's words, "A common sense."

Then, the other door, which leads to the outside, opened, and a waitress entered with prepared meals.

"Ah," Smoker remarked as he saw a bowl of noodles in front of him, "Soba it is."

"Soba it is," Gion too said as she too gazed at Smoker's dish.

"...Right. We're here to eat." Doll sighed before Perona, who was gulping down a cup of water, "I'm sorry that you had to go through that, Perona."

"Hmph! You better get me a big doll as a reward!"

"Unfortunately, they don't sell a doll here—"

"Pff..."

Doll froze in the middle of her sentence as Smoker slipped with his cheeks puffed up and a strand of noodle peeking out of his mouth.

"Big doll... what... the fuck..." Smoker, barely managing to gulp down the food, then exploded into laughter, "BWAHAHAHA!!!!!"

"H-HEY!!!" Doll, realizing what Smoker was laughing at, shouted with her face reddened.

Cancer shook his head in disappointment, "Unfortunately, she isn't big enough to be considered a big doll—"

Gion's eyes widened as she hurriedly held her hands out, "W-wait, Doll!!"

BAM!

"—GAHH!!"

At the next moment, Doll struck her fist on Cancer's face, causing him to crash into the paper door that separated their room from the room where four veterans sat.

"...Huh." Smoker found his eyes widened as Cancer, whose cheek was swollen, was found slouched right on top of Sakazuki's head.

"Arara..." Kuzan looked at Smoker with a deadpan, to which Smoker rubbed the back of his head apologetically.

Sakazuki's hand, which held onto a teacup, was trembling; this man was barely holding himself back, from what Smoker, Gion, and Doll could tell.

...

With a huge wall of ice blocking two rooms, Smoker was the first to finish his meal and wait for his teammates to finish theirs. Cancer, who's been shivering with a pale face for quite some time by now, seemed to be having a hard time holding onto chopsticks properly.

"...I just realized; you haven't been in Marineford for a long period of time, right?" Then Gion, unable to bear the silence any longer, spoke up to Smoker, "You've always been busy sailing and catching those big shots, after all."

Smoker raised his eyebrow, "Why? Did I miss something?"

Doll, without saying anything, aggressively pointed her finger at the ice wall.

Gion warily gazed at the ice wall, before leaning closer to Smoker and whispering,

"Around six months ago, Admiral Sakazuki and Vice Admiral Kuzan encountered one another in Mystoria, an island located in the New World. They were in the process of driving away the pirates affiliated with the Beast pirates. There, the exact situation that you previously depicted occurred—where civilians were held as hostages."

Smoker found himself surprised. He supposed that he was far too immersed in the matter of slavery, such that he missed an event that big.

"Admiral Sakazuki primarily focused on annihilating those pirates. On the other hand, Vice Admiral Kuzan protected civilians from Admiral Sakazuki's attacks. The operation was a success, but the two of them argued over the faults of each other's methods. And over time, this has grown into an entirely different scale, for the majority of Vice Admirals expressed their unpleasantness to Kuzan's act of going against hierarchy."

"...I see. That's new." Smoker didn't exhibit any change of emotion, "Thanks for the information, Gion."

Smoker doubted that this would've happened in the canon. He suspected that the rise of this internal conflict was caused by Smoker's influence over Kuzan, who came to restore his 'Burning Justice' after the Ohara incident years ago.

But if this was the case, then,

'The battle at the Punk Hazard,' Smoker thought seriously, 'We might experience that incident at a much bigger scale.'

Previously, when Sakazuki and Kuzan first glanced at each other, and even now, Smoker felt and could feel—the hostility that they possessed toward one another. His Observation Haki wasn't lying; they clearly 'hated' each other.

"So," Then, Doll changed the subject while looking back and forth between Smoker and Cancer, "What do you two plan to do now?"

Upon hearing Gion's words, Smoker noted that today's date was December 12th, 1505. The year was almost over, and he's been resting in Marineford for some time by now.

"Maynard has been transferred to Vice Admiral Jonathan's division after Admiral Sakazuki's return back here. Bastille is injured and won't be moving for a while. Hina, Akehende, and Shu told us that they will finally be graduating from Zephyr-sensei's training a month after." Doll informed, "I decided to go to the newly established base at the New World, G-14. Gion-san on the other hand, will probably be staying here for a while. So yeah, just wondering."

Smoker affirmed, "Flevance."

"""Flevance?"""

"It's a country located in the North Blue." Smoker stated sternly, "The doctors of Flevance recently announced the discovery of a strange disease, where a patient experiences blotching of skin, whitening of hair, and chronic pain until death. The statistics state that this disease is only found in Flevance, suggesting that the environment of Flevance may play a role in its manifestation, but judging by the flow of the current situation, the World Government seemed to think that this disease is 'contagious.'"

Cancer narrowed his eyes, "...So the World Government is already on the case. What's the purpose of your visit there then?"

"The contradiction arises from the fact that the head of the Flevance doctor union, Dr. Trafalgar, reasoned that this disease cannot be contagious." Smoker said, "And I find it likely that as the disease progresses, the World Government will come to place this country under quarantine. The civilians will essentially be neglected to their deaths."

Gion shook her head adamantly, "...If the disease is contagious, then that is the best option that the World Government has."

"But what if it isn't contagious in the first place?" Smoker reasoned, "The civilians will be left to die, especially when we consider that Flevance is a land incapable of producing edibles."

"...True," Gion, upon thinking, nodded in agreement.

"Ugh, whatever, good luck with that disease shit. Listening alone makes me tired." Cancer then remarked, "I too decided already, to hunt down that Diez Barrels before he causes further harm. He's exited the New World through the Calm Belt, and if he managed to sail through, he should be at the North Blue—"

Cancer stopped and blinked his eyes, "Guess my path overlaps with Smoker then."

Smoker, however, didn't seem to be listening. Instead, he was dazing off at the tatami floor below, contemplating a different matter.

'Flevance, Diez Barrels, along with other anomalies...'

Then, raising his head up and looking at Gion, he asked,

"Gion, you'll be staying here for a while, right?"

Gion nodded, "Yes. What about it?"

"I have a favour to ask."

"Which is?"

Smoker, while looking at Perona next to Doll, said, "You see, there is a kid named Koala on my ship..."

__________

Bang!

"Quite impressive, don't you think?" Said Robin as she laid down a pistol and looked at me, "Sharpshooting with a pistol of all types. And speaking of weapons, a firearm isn't my sole suit."

At the next moment, two arms simultaneously bloomed from Robin's shoulders.

"Watch, Smoker."

Two arms gripped onto the swords that lied on the side and swung them in an exquisite manner. While they freely slashed the empty air, Robin's original arms held onto two pistols.

Bang Bang!

Robin placed the weapons down and retracted her bloomed arms. Then, she looked at Smoker with a stoic face, "What do you think?"

"Impressive." Smoker, to his amusement, saw that Robin's eyes held an excited gleam, "An 11-year-old girl, being stronger than an average marine who's received training... your efforts paid off, Robin."

Robin, upon hearing Smoker's compliment, turned away from Smoker, "...Good,"

Smoker saw a slight blush on her cheeks and chuckled, before,

"Now I can assassinate. Bloodbath. Graveyards. Fufufu..."

sweatdropping upon hearing the dark statement.

"Well, a young girl acting innocent before backstabbing her victim..." Smoker said dryly, "Sounds like a plan."

"You've grown a tad smarter, Smoker."

Ignoring Robin's comment, Smoker stood up. He then motioned Robin to follow, "It's already night. Time to leave."

They were currently in the basement of the training facility that Zephyr used for the training of his pupils. Though Robin's rank didn't permit her to enter this training facility, Smoker was a Vice Admiral now, the officer who had the authority to utilize all built-in systems of the Marineford.

Smoker gently opened the exit for the two of them to leave. However, Smoker then stopped, as he saw Zephyr leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

Smoker raised an eyebrow, "Zephyr-san? I thought you went to sleep."

"Heh, wild speculation there, Smoker," Zephyr replied casually, before shifting his eyes at Robin behind Smoker, "Disregarding that, I came to see that girl's performance by chance. What's her name?"

"Orobi."

"Why, Orobi," Zephyr leaned down and looked at Robin with excitement, "Do you want to be my disciple?"

'...?'

"...Sorry?" Robin said in confusion, before gazing at Smoker questioningly. Smoker, who too seemed caught off by Zephyr's sudden offer, shrugged.

"That devil fruit ability of yours, along with your dexterity and multitasking capability... I see a great potential there." Zephyr exclaimed with certitude, "Though it may be hard to grow you as much as that white-haired brat over there, Orobi, it is too wasteful for you to spend your time out in the sea."

'...Hm.' Smoker actually liked the idea, 'Canon is not absolute, and I may come to encounter a strong foe, such that I won't be able to cover for Robin. Building experience under me is better than the training that an average marine soldier receives. But when it comes to Zephyr's training...'

Smoker grinned, for it was obvious as to which choice was more beneficial for Robin.

"Orobi," Therefore, Smoker suggested to the hesitant girl, "Take it. Zephyr-san is known as the second-best instructor within the organization."

Zephyr's eyes twitched, "...Second-best?"

"I mean, yeah?" Smoker blinked as if saying an obvious thing, "Garp-sensei is first, isn't it?"

"If it's about beating up a child to a mashed potato, then oh yes he is!" Zephyr, growing a tick mark on his forehead, shouted at Smoker, "A year ago, I asked him to demonstrate his style of training. And do you know what he did? He punched every single one of my disciples with Armament Haki Hardening!! They were bedridden for a week!!"

"A week?" Smoker squinted his eyes in disbelief, "Holy smokes, Zephyr-san. Your disciples are freaking weak as hell. How can they be bedridden for a week just from that?"

"Fuck off!" Zephyr growled, before yanking Robin to his side, "Now that I think about it, you are no different than that crazy bastard! I can't let a promising marine like Orobi be ruined by your side!"

Robin sweatdropped, "Uh..."

Smoker, though still confused by how Zephyr's disciples were bedridden for a week, nonetheless asked Robin, "So, what do you think?"

Robin, humming in thought, then stated, "...I admit, this is an opportunity that I never expected to receive. After all, Instructor Zephyr's reputation... I too heard about it very well."

Robin pursed her lips. Then, clenching her small fists with resolve, she looked at Zephyr and nodded, "Please take me as your disciple, instructor Zephyr."

Zephyr grinned, "Welcome, trainee Orobi."

In the darkness, Zephyr's grin seemed frightening. He held his huge hand out and rubbed Robin on the head. In Smoker's eyes, Zephyr seemed like,

"...A child molester?"

"WHO DO YOU THINK I AM, WHITE BASTARD?!!"