Chapter 158: Smoker: Let Me Drain the Navy's Budget!
"Captain Arlong!"
Kuroobi, the ray-fishman, dove into the water as soon as he saw Captain Arlong defeated.
His signature move was the Thousand Tile True Punch, capable of shattering a thousand tiles underwater—an instant-kill against any human.
Following the current, he prepared to unleash his finishing move—
But he suddenly noticed a weakness in his body. He no longer moved effortlessly in the water as a fishman should.
He felt as helpless as a drowning human.
"What's going on?!"
Panic-stricken, Kuroobi clambered back onto the ship.
Looking at his hands—still the body of a fishman—he was shocked to realize even their natural aquatic advantage had been stripped away.
"Fools! You don't understand the mystery and power of the Game Merchant at all!"
Nami stared coldly at the panicked fishmen.
Two more modified star shots from her magic staff launched—
Electric eels wrapped in lightning chained the enemies together like a string of thunder, reducing them to glowing white particles.
She knew this wouldn't kill them.
It was just collecting interest.
The suffering of the Cocoyashi villagers—
The death of Bell-mère—
Everything would be settled in full, once they left the game world.
"We're united fishmen! We'll never be defeated!"
"Captain Arlong will soon gain great power from this trial tower! Just wait!"
The kissing fishman and salt-grilled fishman glared furiously at Nami,
But didn't dare attack again.
They were afraid of being killed again—
And losing another hefty sum in revival costs.
Luffy asked curiously, "Nami, do you have a grudge with them?"
"They enslaved my village, killed my mother, and imprisoned me to draw maps for them."
Nami spoke with unusual calm.
Perhaps because she now had the strength to defeat Arlong.
She could have lied or dodged the question, but for some reason…
She chose to speak honestly.
"I guess… I don't need to hide behind lies anymore."
The glowing electric eel slithered back, wrapping around her arm and affectionately nuzzling her.
Magic Alchemy Creation.
As long as she kept leveling up,
No one in the pirate world could bully her again.
And then, she could pursue her dreams without fear.
"I see. Then I'll send them flying!"
Luffy said seriously for once, looking at her like he was making a solemn promise.
Nami blinked.
She'd begged for help from the navy countless times—
Only to be met with fear, mockery, or pity.
But this dumb straw-hat idiot was different.
He truly treated her as a comrade.
Just like when he helped Zoro complete his contract mission—
He looked at helping friends like it was the most natural thing in the world.
That kind of trust and loyalty…
Felt wonderful.
"Idiot, didn't you see I already beat them?" Nami laughed.
She walked over, gently removed Luffy's straw hat,
Then slammed her fist onto his head.
"Really?! Then I'll get the first-floor prize for sure!"
Luffy, ignoring the lump forming on his head, shouted with excitement.
After they left—
The fishmen looked at each other awkwardly, waiting for Arlong to revive.
Arlong rose, face dark as thunder.
He scanned the area and found Nami gone, with no way to vent his anger.
"If I had my real body, that attack wouldn't have hurt me at all!"
"That's right, Captain Arlong!"
The fishmen immediately echoed in flattery.
Arlong's eyes burned with hatred.
He remembered Nami's parting insult vividly.
He had never suffered such humiliation since coming to East Blue.
Though his words sounded brave,
He craved the power of the Reincarnation Game.
"The Arlong Pirates will work together! We'll seize the first-floor prize!"
"We're with you, Captain!"
These fishmen were part of the original Sun Pirates from the Grand Line.
They had followed Arlong out of conviction.
"Good! Over the years, we've saved up quite a bit. That'll cover the revival costs!"
"Brothers! Crush these lowly humans! We fishmen are the superior race!"
"YEAH!!"
"Captain Smoker, are we going in too?"
Tashigi looked uncomfortable.
They had intended to escort Lord Buggy away,
But the world noble had slipped off with his crew and charged into the trial tower.
If anything happened to him…
Rogue Town's entire navy division would be punished.
"Yes. Protecting a world noble is our duty."
Smoker exhaled a puff of faint purple smoke,
Eyes glowing with excitement.
He glanced subtly at Tashigi's treasured sword.
The feeling of growing stronger was addictive—
And this trial tower was full of scum he could use for target practice. It was heaven.
Their warship split through the current, heading into the tower's first floor.
"My Devil Fruit power… is suppressed?"
Smoker frowned as the smoke he instinctively released vanished.
His usual combat reflex was gone.
"Is my strength too weak… or is this like Seastone?"
If it was just him being too weak, that was fine.
But if it was something like Seastone, then even admirals would lose power.
Then, a prompt appeared in his mind.
[You may spend reward points to restore real-world abilities to aid in the tower trials.]
"Tashigi?"
"Yes, Captain. I got the same message."
She saw the same interface—
Her trained body had been converted into stats.
Her swordsmanship and navy martial arts were locked behind reward point costs.
[Swordsmanship Lv.4]
[Navy Combat Arts Lv.3]
40 free attribute points
This was her sealed power.
Unlocking it would restore her usual strength.
Curious, she asked, "Captain Smoker, what powers were sealed for you?"
Smoker glanced at his screen and said,
"I'm using navy funds to unlock everything."
[Navy Combat Arts Lv.4]
[Smoke-Smoke Fruit Lv.6]
50 free attribute points
Tashigi panicked.
"Captain! Using Rogue Town's entire military budget like this… you'll be court-martialed!"
"Really?"
Smoker looked at the massive island on the first floor.
He could already see Buggy the Clown had landed.
"If we don't unlock our powers and something happens to a world noble,
The consequences will be even worse for the navy."
Moments later—
The power of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit returned.
Wreathed in faintly purple poisonous smoke,
Smoker blasted forward like a rocket, landing on the edge of the island.
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