74 Chapter 73: Freedom

<Listen. Considering the Conqueror's Haki that White Hunter possesses, it is necessary to separate him from the rest of us.>

That's what Hook said to his crew members before launching the attack,

"Cough...!" Hook's eyes turned white from the pain. From his mouth, smoke exited. His whole body trembled, and his chest, now visible with his attire having been shredded by Smoker's attack, was bloody to look at.

But then, Hook gritted his teeth while raising up his cutlass once more. On his sword, the Emission of Armament Haki unstably flickered, but didn't show any sign of yielding. Smoker, not letting his guard down, propelled himself toward Hook at an incredible speed.

Swoo... Hook saw that Smoker, while flying toward him, was engulfed by the swirling mass of white smoke. And when it dispersed, Hook saw in total 12 identical Smokers, all about to attack him at the same time.

Hook, in response, slashed his cutlass and sent forth a wide arc of sword wave,

"Fairy Dust!!!"

SWOOSH! The sword wave slashed through all 12 of them at once. 11 then dispersed, however, the final one—the original Smoker—didn't seem injured, for he purposely separated his waist and let the sword wave fly through the empty gap.

Smoker now stood right in front of Hook once more. Hook quickly retracted his cutlass and slashed through Smoker again, but Smoker predicted this move also, morphed the area of impact into smoke, and dispersed it such that the cutlass cut through the empty air.

SWOOSH!

And then, the time seemed to slow down in Hook's eyes as Smoker's right fist, coated in Armament Haki and engulfed by the blazing black smoke, approached his face.

'Black Blow.'

BOOOOM!

The air exploded, and Hook coughed out a substantial amount of blood as he was blasted back without control. His body wasn't able to handle this stress no more, and he let out a scream in pain, "AHHHHH—"

"White Snake."

At the next moment, Smoker, having travelled a far distance in an instant, was next to Hook, who was bound by the snake of white smoke that coiled around him.

"—Kek... kurgh..."

Uncaring of the fact that the pirate choked, Smoker seemed shocked. His eyes, gazing at Hook's back, saw...

...the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon, also known as the mark of slavery that Celestial Dragons engrave on their slaves.

"Cough cough... huff... huff..." Hook, though consumed by the pain, formed a bloody smile, "Huff... huff... surprised...?"

"...Hah," Smoker, with his head lowered, chuckled darkly, "Admiral Anastasia, Dalmatian, and Masterson... their deaths were the World Government's doings?"

__________

Thud. Thud.

In the middle of the battlefield, pirates felt fear as their crewmates fell down with a thud, by the cause unknown. One by one, they silently fell, and when looking closely at their corpses, pirates saw a bullet that penetrated each one of their heads.

"Calm." Rosinante aimed his pistol at one pirate who was about to stab his sword into the chest of one marine soldier. Then, he shot the bullet at the pirate.

There was no sound upon firing. There was no sound upon the bullet driving into the temple of the pirate. There was no sound as the pirate screamed in horror. Then, said pirate lost his strength and fell on the deck,

Thud.

The pirates, witnessing such a scenery, shuddered. They, recognizing Rosinante as the utmost threat, began to charge toward the Warrant Officer at once. However, they were then forced to stop as one pink-haired Ensign, Hina, stepped in.

"Where do you think you're going? Hina hasn't played enough yet." Hina cracked her knuckles as she slowly walked to the crowd of pirates, before dashing at the next moment.

One pirate then opened his mouth, trying to scream "FIRE!!!" to his crewmates. However, he then found a bullet on the side of his head, and no noise was produced from his throat.

Thud. Just when said pirate fell, Hina was standing right in front of the front-most pirate. The pirate was about to raise up an axe that he was holding, but before he could do so, Hina's arm unnaturally bent and phased through his torso.

"E-eh?" The pirate expressed confusion as Hina's arm was now behind him. Now, there was a metal construct that tied him up, making him unable to move his arms.

Hina then tilted her head to dodge a bullet that was shot in her way. Subsequently, she kicked the nearby pirate, and her right leg too bent and phased through the pirate, leaving that pirate with a tight metal cuff-like construct.

"Ha... ha... getting hit by a girl, ha..." Then, one among the tied-up pirates smiled in pleasure with a blush on his cheeks.

"Fuck off!" Hina, expressing disgust, kicked the pirate away from her, and this pirate, rolling across the bloody deck, came to a stop in front of one man's feet. The pirate looked up and saw the man with sunglasses—Senor Pink—staring at him in disapproval.

"You're a disgrace to men," Said Senor Pink before smashing his foot onto the pirate's face, "True man doesn't moan when hit by a woman!"

The marines busily supported their officers, clashing against the other pirates and sniping enemies down—primarily to prevent them from shooting another cannonball at point-blank range.

And at the leftmost pirate ship, there stood two men: Aramaki and Smee, preventing each other from interrupting the battle between their underlings.

BOOM! The air trembled as the two men met fist to fist. With no one having a notably stronger strength, they struggled at equal strength.

"Huh?" Smee then frowned as roots emerged from Aramaki's arm and began crawling onto his. Immediately thrashing them away, Smee bickered, "A freaking devil fruit user... yet again."

"Rahahaha, and?" Aramaki, grinning while rolling his shoulder, then punched for the second time. Smee, sidestepping to dodge Aramaki's fist,

BOOM!

managed to slam his Haki-imbued fist onto Aramaki's exposed face. However, said punch didn't manage to push Aramaki by a single step even. Aramaki, simply turning his head sideways and spitting blood out, reformed his grin before slamming his fist onto Smee's exposed abdomen.

Smee, though leaking blood from the corner of his mouth, didn't exhibit any sign of pain. Instead, he smashed another fist onto Aramaki's arm before the latter could stretch out the roots around his arm. Aramaki, immediately after, raised up his other hand with its palm facing Smee,

"Morning Wood!"

BOOOM!

A shocking sight occurred, where Aramaki's wood which was fired at a point-blank range, was destroyed into pieces by Smee's punch. Aramaki, for once, expressed a surprise.

"A horrible application of devil fruit." Smee snorted while crossing his arms and blocking Aramaki's kick.

BOOM!

"...A horrible application?" Aramaki, raising an eyebrow, then raised up two hands at once,

"Dual Morning Wood!!!"

Smee, rotating his body such that two trunks of wood passed through his front and back, then took in a deep breath, before,

BOOOOM!

smashing two woods into pieces.

Smee gazed at Aramaki coldly, "Only an idiot would fall for an attack as stupid as that. A wooden trunk fired from your palm... you're far too weak for this sea, marine."

Aramaki then narrowed his eyes, "Are you sure about that?"

Smee, ignoring Aramaki's statement, stepped forth—or tried to, but was unable to do so. Confused, he lowered his eyes, and saw,

tree roots, vines, and plants—the pirate ship that they stood on top of was now entirely covered by vegetation.

"How..." Smee's eyes widened in disbelief, and Aramaki grinned,

"Those pieces of wood, of course."

Smee, imbuing his entire body with Armament Haki, ripped and destroyed the vegetation around his feet. However, they relentlessly coiled around him over and over again, and eventually, overwhelmed him from head to toe.

"Rahahaha... it seems that an idiot was you." Aramaki remarked, "A complacent fool who deduced his strength to stand above that of his foe right from the start."

Smee, utilizing his physical strength to its maximum capability, thrashed. However, the combined strengths of these plants and trees were beyond belief; he was completely trapped without any hope.

Then, Aramaki's hands morphed into multitudes of the tree roots that previously failed to penetrate through Smee's skin. Smee, seeing this, stated with a glare, "...And so what? A weakling, who isn't even capable of manifesting Haki, is incapable of injuring me—"

"And since when was I unable to do so?"

At the next moment, Smee's eyes widened as the tips of those roots turned black, indicating the Armament Haki: Hardening. Aramaki, walking toward the entrapped Smee, growled with a grin on his face, "Haven't you learned not to underestimate your enemy throughout years of piracy?"

Smee gritted his teeth, "...No matter. Your Haki still pales in comparison to mine—"

PUK PUK!

Smee's eyes became bloodshot as Aramaki's roots stabbed through his Haki-imbued skin without much resistance. Then, they began to bulk up, absorbing the fluid and energy out of Smee.

Smee visibly shrank and his skin became wrinkled. Losing strength in his body, the Hardening of Armament Haki faded away.

And just after,

BOOM!

the critically injured Hook came in flying, and smashed into the shrunken and bound form of Smee. Subsequently, Smoker landed next to Aramaki without a single wound on his body.

__________

"C-Captain Hook!!!" Smee, unable to believe the state of his captain, shouted in horror, "W-what in the hell is going on?!!"

His scream, entering the ears of everyone on site, caused the ongoing battle to halt. The Martini pirates, who too saw the brutal wounds on Hook's body, expressed fear and disbelief.

"Huff... huff..." Hook, not being in a condition to respond to their cries, simply breathed as the blood continued to leak out of his body.

'Celestial Dragons. World Government. Mark of slavery. Martini Hook.'

And walking toward this man was Smoker, who grimaced. He, now standing right in front of the fallen Hook, leaned down and asked the man in certitude, "You were working for the World Government from the start."

Everyone belonging to Martini pirates stiffened upon hearing Smoker's words.

"...As in, before he became a Warlord?" Aramaki, unable to believe what he just heard, whispered to his superior. Hina, Rosinante, Senor Pink, and other marines also—they wondered if they heard it wrong.

Hook, looking up at Smoker with exhausted eyes, formed a hollow smirk.

"...It's too late to hide it, I suppose." Hook could tell. Based on his state, he didn't have much time left. Raising his gaze higher and staring at the sky that returned back to a clear and sunny one, Hook reminisced,

"At the age of five, I was enslaved."

Thud. Thud. Thud. One by one, the Martini pirates sat down on their spot and dropped their weapons. This battle... the victor has already been decided.

"Tormented and tortured, I desired freedom. I desired to sail in the sea and go on an adventure without any restriction. Then, on one day while I was brought down along with my master, I seized the chance and managed to escape. But little did I realize... that my freedom was intended, and that I was still within their grasp." Hook's trembling hand slowly reached his head, "Slavery or death. I was forced to choose between two choices—whether to continue living as their dogs or to die. I chose the former option, and here I am today."

Hook coughed with a vivid fatigue, before chuckling, "A boring story, is it not?"

Meeting his eyes with Smoker once more, Hook spoke up,

"Then, White Hunter. I suppose that I'll give you one last reward for managing to avenge your fellow marines." Hook grinned for the first time, "The one who killed Admiral Anastasia. It isn't me, but the leader of Cipher Pol Aigis Zero, codename 'Pierro.'

And his other known title is—"

BOOM.

Smoker stiffened up as Hook, before he could finish his sentence, had his head blown up from the inside.

"A bomb was implanted in his head." Hina slowly whispered, "...Which means that they've been listening from the very start—"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

And that was just a start. Everyone in Martini pirates, their heads began to blow up one by one. The blood was sprayed all over, and some weak-willed marines, unable to bear the sight, began to vomit.

"Fuckards...!!!!!" Rosinante, exhibiting a rage, quickly leaned down and inspected one headless corpse. He then discovered the 'Hoof of the Soaring Dragon' on the corpse's back, and clenched his fists so tight that they began to bleed.

BOOM.

On four ships, every single pirate was found dead. Yet, the marines didn't exhibit joy, but horror instead.

'...This was a trap,' Smoker then realized. After all, they killed a 'Warlord' out of nowhere, and unlike the case of Doflamingo, there weren't any witnesses.

'The World Government decided that I am a threat to them. And the reason they thought as such is...'

Smoker clicked his tongue,

'...Flevance.'

Suppressing his emotion, Smoker managed to speak up,

"Clean up the ship. We're getting out of here, as quickly as possible."

Smoker placed his hand on his forehead, feeling a headache. Swaying slightly, Smoker slowly walked into the inner part of the ship, leaving the still-shocked marines by themselves.

'...Freedom, huh.'

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