Loguetown.
The Town of Beginnings and Endings.
Every ship headed for the Grand Line eventually stopped here to restock, trade, and prepare for what came next. Its location alone made it a hub of activity, but its true fame came from something else — this was the birthplace and execution site of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King.
The result was a bustling, noisy port city.
Ships lined the docks, merchants shouted their prices on every street corner, and the smell of salt, spice, and freshly caught fish drifted through the air. Loguetown thrived on this endless flow of trade — and the endless stream of pirates who wanted to make their mark on history.
Of course, that also made it a dangerous place.
To keep the chaos under control, the Marines had stationed a powerful man here — Captain Smoker, the "White Hunter."
For a sea like the East Blue, where even Haki was practically unheard of and Devil Fruits were little more than myths, a Logia user was practically a living disaster. Smoker's Smoke-Smoke Fruit powers made him a one-man blockade, and pirates who underestimated him often found themselves dragged to the base before they could even set foot on their ships again.
Thanks to him, the number of East Blue pirates who managed to escape into the Grand Line was far lower than in any other sea.
…
Leo guided the Going Merry into the port with practiced ease, letting the ship drift to a stop.
Smoker might have been a terrifying name for other East Blue pirates, but to Leo, he was no real threat.
He had Haki.
If it came down to it, Smoker wouldn't even get the chance to use his powers.
In fact, Leo was planning to do something bolder than simply pass through.
He planned to take one of Smoker's own subordinates — the glasses-wearing Marine girl, Tashigi — and bring her aboard.
Once the Merry was secured, Leo jumped down onto the dock with his crew following eagerly behind.
The girls had been buzzing with excitement the entire way here, making lists of what they wanted to buy, and now their eyes sparkled at the sight of the lively streets ahead.
Nami's list was by far the longest — new dresses, jewelry, cosmetics, and maybe a few strange little gadgets she'd spotted in merchant catalogs.
Kaya planned to raid the local bookstores for new medical texts — she had already finished everything she'd brought from Syrup Village.
Makino wanted fresh ingredients and rare spirits for her next batch of wine, while Nojiko and Carmen were responsible for stocking up on food supplies and daily necessities for the long voyage ahead.
Leo chuckled at their enthusiasm.
"Fine, fine. Buy whatever you like," he said, pulling out a pouch of cash and handing each of them a generous bonus on top of their original budget.
"Twenty thousand extra for each of you. Don't hold back."
Their eyes lit up.
"Captain, you're the best!" Nami said, hugging him quickly before dashing off toward the nearest clothing shop.
The others laughed and followed suit, heading in different directions after agreeing on a meeting point later that afternoon.
Once the crew was gone, Leo didn't immediately go hunting for Tashigi.
He wanted to see the town first.
With a tap on his den-den mushi, he left a log pose marker behind so he could return to the ship whenever he wanted, then set off down the busy streets.
"No wonder they call it the Town of Beginnings and Endings," he muttered, looking around at the crowds. "This place is alive."
Merchants called out their wares from colorful stalls, children darted between carts laughing, and even the smell of the sea seemed fresher here.
Say what you wanted about Smoker — the man kept this place in order.
Pirates might have been bold enough to stop here, but none dared make a scene. Too many of them had already learned what happened when you tried.
Leo strolled lazily, stopping now and then to examine some strange trinket or unusual item at a street vendor's stall, enjoying the atmosphere.
But just as he left one stall and turned down a narrow street, he brushed past a Marine soldier coming the other way.
The man only glanced at him at first — then froze mid-step.
He turned his head sharply, staring at Leo's back as if doubting his own eyes.
"…No way. That's him. That's really him!"
Heart hammering, the soldier spun on his heel and broke into a run, heading straight back toward the base.
If he was right — and he was sure he was — this was critical.
The captain of the Leo Pirates had just strolled right into Loguetown.
And he wasn't alone.
…
At the Marine base, smoke hung heavy in the air inside a certain office.
Captain Smoker sat behind a desk stacked with paperwork that looked ready to collapse at any moment. Despite the haze, his sharp eyes scanned each document quickly, pen scratching across the page.
"Report!" came a hurried shout from the doorway.
"Come in," Smoker replied without looking up.
A soldier stepped inside, barely noticing the suffocating fog in the room — every soldier under Smoker's command was used to it by now.
"Captain, sir! I spotted Leo — the captain of the Leo Pirates — in town not long ago. He's here, right now."
Smoker's head finally lifted, one brow arching slightly.
"So soon, huh?"
When the bounty posters had first arrived from Marine HQ, Leo's crew had only just left Cocoyashi Village.
It hadn't taken them long at all to reach Loguetown.
Not that Smoker was surprised.
He'd been expecting them.
His gaze slid to the corner of the desk, where two fresh bounty posters lay:
[Leo – Captain of the Leo Pirates – suspected Cloud-Cloud Fruit user – Bounty: 30,000,000 Berries]
[Nami – Navigator of the Leo Pirates – suspected Rumble-Rumble Fruit user – Bounty: 50,000,000 Berries]
Smoker exhaled a slow breath, frowning slightly.
"This could get tricky," he muttered.
The Cloud-Cloud Fruit was one thing, but the Rumble-Rumble Fruit? That was on a completely different level of danger.
If he fought them head-on, it wouldn't be an easy battle.
"When does Vice Admiral Garp arrive?" he asked.
"In about four hours, sir."
Smoker grunted.
He knew why Garp was coming — not for Leo, but for another pirate entirely.
After chasing Luffy across the East Blue and coming up empty-handed, Garp had decided to stake out Loguetown instead.
Luffy was his grandson, after all. There was no way the boy would settle down in the East Blue forever. Eventually, he would have to come here, to this very town, to set sail for the Grand Line.
When he did, Garp would be waiting — fist ready to deliver a "love tap" directly to the top of Luffy's head.
"Do we wait for the Vice Admiral?" the soldier asked cautiously.
"Four hours is too long," Smoker said, rising from his chair and pulling on his long white coat. The word Justice emblazoned across the back seemed to flare as he moved.
"Any sign of the others?"
The soldier shook his head.
"Then we take Leo first," Smoker ordered, grabbing his seastone-tipped jitte and slinging it over his shoulder.
"And where's Tashigi?"
"She's on patrol right now, sir."
Smoker nodded once, smoke already curling around his shoulders as he strode past the soldier and out of the office.
"Good. She can back us up if things get messy."
Outside, the alarm bell began to ring.
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T/N :
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