Chapter 29 – The Square Becomes a Comedy Show
"A natural-type user!"
Carina's eyes lit up. She elbowed Nami excitedly.
"Let me take him! Storm vs smoke, this is literally a hard counter!"
She had to play with this one.
Nami hesitated—she really wanted to test her new Haki punches—but in the end she graciously stepped aside.
Rank hath its privileges; she was the legal wife after all.
The two didn't even bother whispering.
They were openly divvying up the colonel like he was dinner.
Smoker's temples throbbed harder.
Even Nojiko and Kaya face-palmed at the shamelessness.
Izumi and Hikari didn't move an inch.
At their level, only Admirals or Yonko were worth drawing a blade for.
"White Snake!"
Smoker finally snapped.
He didn't care who got in the way—he attacked everyone at once.
His smoke arms morphed into serpents and shot in every direction, trying to bind the entire crew.
"Colonel Smoker, I've got your back!"
Tashigi charged in, sword raised.
Only to be stopped dead by a familiar blade.
"A swordsman?"
Kuina calmly blocked the strike, staring Tashigi down.
"Same face, same path. Let's see which of us is better."
She finally understood what Aike had meant by "surprise."
And she also understood—Aike was never going to let this girl walk away.
So Kuina's competitive fire ignited.
Even if they looked identical, she would prove she was the superior one.
"W-What do we do?!"
"Should we support the colonel and Sergeant Major?!"
The Marines were panicking.
They wanted to open fire, but their beloved Tashigi was right in the middle.
Not shooting felt like abandoning their superiors.
Both fights were already hilariously one-sided.
Smoker's side: the moment he tangled with Carina, he got bodied.
White Blow, White Snake, White Vines—every move got blown right back at him by hurricane-force winds.
"You're a Devil Fruit user too!"
Smoker's face darkened.
Wind-related power… a top-tier ability.
Possibly Admiral-level natural disaster Logia!
"No matter what, I can't let you leave this island."
He abandoned elementalization.
His feet blurred with Soru.
"Marine Rokushiki?"
Carina grinned, deactivating her fruit as well.
She met Smoker's charge head-on.
A pitch-black fist came flying.
"Before I ate my fruit, I specialized in hand-to-hand."
The second the Armament-coated punch landed, Smoker felt his entire body explode with pain.
"Haki?!"
That was his last coherent thought before he rocketed across the square like a missile.
"Colonel!!!"
"Colonel Smoker!!!"
Tashigi and every Marine screamed.
On the other side, Tashigi wasn't faring any better.
Kuina had been toying with her from the start.
When Tashigi got distracted by Smoker flying, Kuina's eyes flashed with disappointment.
"A duel between swordsmen, and you look away?"
"Shimotsuki-style · Shining Night!"
One flick.
Tashigi's sword went spinning through the air.
The girl herself was sent staggering back a dozen steps.
She at least stayed on her feet—Smoker was still trying to remember how legs worked.
"Alright!"
"That's enough comedy for today!"
Aike clapped once, loud and cheerful.
He strolled over to the dazed Tashigi like he was taking a walk in the park.
"I knew it!"
"As expected of Boss, zero subtlety."
"Looks like we're getting another sister."
Nami, Carina, and Nojiko chimed in one after another.
Kaya's shoulders slumped. Competition +1.
Izumi and Hikari exchanged a glance.
"We need to step up our game."
"Agreed."
Aike ignored the peanut gallery—he had long since become immune.
He stopped in front of Tashigi and smiled the friendliest, most dangerous smile in the East Blue.
"Tashigi, right?
You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to your precious colonel… would you?"
"???"
Tashigi.exe has stopped working.
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