Behind the tavern, the dark warehouse reeked of gunpowder, sulfur, and nitrate. Weapons of all shapes and sizes hung along the walls.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… just a pile of firearms?" Laina sighed in disappointment. After rummaging through crates, he found barely seventy million Berries.
This was supposed to be the biggest black market hub in Loguetown, and yet this was all they had? So little money, too.
Still, mosquito legs were meat. Besides the money, he packed away plenty of weapons and even a few bottles of fine liquor.
Once he torched the tavern behind him, Laina moved on to another black market under Bartolomeo's control, where he dumped the weapons at low prices.
Before leaving, he noticed someone selling Log Poses, so he bought ten of them in one go.
What amused him was that this "black market" was literally set up like an open-air street market. Stalls lined both sides of the road, vendors haggling in whispers, cloaked figures or vicious-looking thugs drifting between them.
"Looks just like something out of a novel." Laina couldn't help but grin. "Counting the weapons sold, that's about 120 million in total."
The good news was, he'd secured seastone.
The better news? He hadn't spent money—he'd made a profit instead.
With riches in tow, Laina left the black market and headed back toward the ship, planning to check whether Sanji's cooking competition had ended.
Suddenly, the clear blue sky darkened. Thunderclouds gathered unnaturally fast over Loguetown, as though summoned by some unseen hand.
Laina quickened his pace. As he crossed a plaza, shouts rang out around him.
"Look at that man!"
"He's laughing!?"
Laina stopped mid-stride and glanced to the side.
In the center of the vast square, on top of the towering execution platform, a clown-faced, red-nosed man stood sneering—while at his feet, Luffy was chained, grinning as wide as ever.
Damn! A world-famous scene?
Wait a second… why was the so-called Luck King here? He hadn't provoked him!
"Hyahahaha! I hear the little brat who stole my treasure map joined your crew. Seems she didn't bother to come rescue you after all!" Buggy the Clown cackled, raising his blade high.
"Then you'll pay for it—with your head!"
"Damn, a little far…" Laina cursed under his breath as he bolted forward, pulling out a pistol and aiming straight for Buggy on the platform.
This was one of the custom seastone-loaded guns he'd bought—specifically in case Smoker intercepted them on the way. Its chamber was full.
Bang!
Just as Buggy lifted his sword, Laina's bullet struck his shoulder, spraying blood.
"Wha—what is this!?" Buggy howled, collapsing weakly to the platform, rolling once before toppling down.
Luffy blinked in confusion at Buggy's sudden fall. Following the gunshot, he spotted Laina below, and his grin widened even more.
"Shishishi! Knew you weren't dead!"
"The hell are you talking about!?" Laina grumbled as he scrambled up onto the execution stand. He smashed Luffy's cuffs apart. "We gotta run, Luffy—back to the ship!"
From the platform, Laina could already see Smoker in the distance, roaring in on his bizarre motorbike.
He had no interest in clashing with Smoker. Sure, with seastone bullets, Smoker wasn't as threatening anymore—but wasting shots worth six million apiece? Not happening.
"Yosh! Let's go, Laina!" Luffy cheered.
"Yeah—let's grab Sanji on the way."
The two leapt down from the scaffold, sprinting south toward the harbor, where their ship was moored.
Raindrops began to fall, a drizzle quickly swelling into a downpour. Behind them, Smoker gunned his motorbike relentlessly.
"Oi! Sanji!"
Laina spotted Sanji jogging ahead, clutching a massive blue-and-white striped fish—the prize from his cooking contest, the Elephant Tuna.
Sanji glanced back at their frantic sprint. "You guys? What's the rush?"
"Run, Sanji! The Marines are after us!" they shouted, tearing past him.
Sanji stood frozen a moment—then noticed Smoker barreling in behind them.
"Damn it! Couldn't you idiots pretend not to know me!? Don't drag me down with you!" he roared, taking off at full speed.
With Luffy holding the fish's head and Sanji the tail, the trio dashed through sheets of rain as thunder rumbled overhead.
"This won't work! That bike's way faster than us!"
"At this rate, he'll catch up soon!"
"Wanna fight?"
"Don't waste the time—keep running." Laina stopped them. "When he closes in, I'll give him something big to chew on."
The harbor drew nearer, but Smoker outpaced them, arriving first.
"White Blow!"
With a guttural shout, Smoker's upper body surged from the smoke, rushing forward, hurtling at them.
"Straw Hat Luffy, your pirate game ends here!" His glare was sharp, his fist cocked back to strike.
"What the hell is this guy!?" Luffy gasped, dodging just in time, countering with a kick—only for his foot to pass straight through Smoker's smoke-formed body.
"Huh!?"
"No way—it hit, but it didn't!" Luffy and Sanji both froze in shock.
"Gomu Gomu no… Gatling!" Luffy unleashed a barrage of fists, but each blow tore through Smoker without effect.
"Useless, Luffy! He's a Logia-type Devil Fruit user—ordinary attacks can't touch his real body!" Laina shouted, already drawing his gun.
"Well, well, you've got some knowledge," Smoker said, sparing him a glance.
"So he's invincible!?"
"If you can't touch him, how do you fight!?" Luffy and Sanji's faces paled.
"Since you know, give it up already. With your strength, you can't defeat me." Smoker's low voice carried the weight of inevitability.
Laina wasn't fazed. He leveled the gun. "Six million a shot… feels like robbery using one on you."
"Pointless. Stop struggling!" Smoker sneered, leaving his guard wide open as he lunged with a heavy punch.
Bang!
The instant his fist shot forward, Laina pulled the trigger. The bullet struck first.
"Guh!"
To Smoker's shock, the round didn't pass through like Luffy's blows. Blood spattered as his body staggered, then crashed heavily to the ground.
"Haki!? No…" His first thought was Armament Haki—but the moment weakness spread through his body, breaking his smoke form, realization struck.
Seastone!
"No way!" Smoker gasped, powerless, sprawled across the street.
Seastone was rare beyond belief—even the World Government scraped every corner of the globe, trading at enormous costs with Wano under Kaido's thumb just to get some.
Beyond the Government, only a handful of pirate crews in the Grand Line had access to any.
"How could an East Blue pirate possibly get his hands on this!?" Smoker muttered in disbelief.
"Nice shot, Laina!" Luffy cheered, flashing a wide grin.
Sanji, more observant, glanced at Laina curiously. "How'd you do it? Didn't you say Logias couldn't be touched normally?"
"Don't remind me—my heart's bleeding." Laina groaned.
Then, as they ran, he explained Seastone's power and the underground deal he'd struck earlier that day.
By the time they reached the harbor, the rest of the crew was already waiting.
The rain slowed, the skies clearing once more to bright blue as though nothing had happened.
"What bizarre weather," Sanji muttered.
Laina shrugged, lighting a cigarette as he stepped aboard. "Come on, Sanji."
"Shishishi! Next stop—the Grand Line! Set sail!!" Luffy whooped.
Back in the streets of Loguetown, Smoker still lay helpless, waiting for subordinates to find him, unable even to dig the bullet out himself.
Suddenly, a low chuckle rose behind him.
"How pitiful you look, Smoker."
"You—why are you here?" Smoker turned, startled.
"Just happened to be nearby on business. Thought I'd stop by to… send the youngsters off."
"Send them off?" Smoker frowned, yet showed no fear of the figure looming over him.
"Yes. Send them off.