At this moment, a discussion among the customers at the restaurant broke out.
"Those guys are pirates, right..."
"They're openly wearing pirate jackets. What's going on with this restaurant? How can such people be allowed in?"
"Hey... Keep it down. What if they hear us?"
Three figures entered from the doorway, immediately drawing the attention and whispers of the surrounding diners.
Hearing the noise, the three at the table instinctively turned their heads to look.
Leading them was a well-built man with messy black hair falling over his forehead, striding in proudly in a conspicuous pirate coat.
Behind him were two men, one fat, one thin.
"The Nyaban Brothers!"
Tashigi was startled.
While adjusting her glasses, she immediately recognized the two and quickly turned to say, "Captain Smoker! They are the duo with a bounty of 7 million belly from the Black Cat Pirates!"
"7 million Belly..."
Smoker's eyes narrowed slightly. Through the curling smoke, his deep gaze was visible.
He had come out today to capture pirates, and on the way back, coincidentally passed by Baratie for a meal, never expecting another group to appear right at his doorstep.
"Wait! There should have been our people at the door. How did they get in? Why didn't anyone report this?!"
Tashigi panicked, her face turning pale.
As if realizing something, she suddenly turned sharply toward the three entering and quickly grabbed a long sword leaning against the table and instantly assumed a combat stance.
At this moment, a low, deep voice came from behind: "Don't act rashly, Tashigi."
Smoker's eyes turned cold while looking at Alan.
Although Tashigi's swordsmanship was decent, it would be difficult for her to handle the Nyaban Brothers with a bounty of 7 million belly, and as for the leading man…
Smoker instinctively judged that Alan's strength was formidable. He stood up and picked up the Nanashaku Jitte, which was leaning nearby.
In front of him, Alan also looked at Smoker.
He had noticed their table as soon as he entered because those uniforms stood out among the elegantly dressed guests.
But the identity of the person did surprise him a little.
Thinking carefully, this sea area wasn't far from the entrance to the Grand Line, in the same sea as Loguetown.
Smoker had been targeting pirates attempting to enter the Grand Line ever since he came to the East Blue, so encountering him here wasn't strange.
But it was ridiculously coincidental.
Alan was speechless inside and couldn't help but feel the situation was tricky.
He couldn't fight Logia Devil Fruit users right now.
He can't use Armament Haki and doesn't have Sea Prism Stone, as for seawater…
Alan glanced around and noticed a huge fish tank filled with water at the kitchen entrance on the right.
It should be seawater; using freshwater in a sea restaurant would be absurd.
Seeing this, his confidence suddenly surged.
Alan narrowed his eyes at Smoker while speaking contemptuously: "Smoker the White Hunter, famous for crazily pursuing pirates, you actually come to such places to relax."
"Since when do petty pirates start worrying about marine affairs?"
A glint flashed in Smoker's eyes, his tone even colder: "Where are my subordinates outside? What have you done to them?"
"You mean those impolite young people?"
Facing Smoker's interrogation, Alan smirked playfully: "I let them take a nap... But... Whether they wake up in this lifetime, I don't know."
"What did you say!"
Bang!!
Hearing this, Smoker gritted his teeth as he instantly erupted in anger. He slammed the table down with one hand and snatched up his Nanashaku Jitte before leaping forward violently.
Sheng!
Porcelain bowls and plates were shattered all over the floor. Tashigi's eyes darkened; she drew her sword and quickly followed.
In front of Alan, Smoker raised the Nanashaku Jitte and slammed it down violently.
Facing this sudden attack, Alan reacted without delay; he slid his foot and slightly sidestepped to avoid it.
Boom!!
The heavy Nanashaku Jitte struck the restaurant's polished tile floor, cracking it and sending countless shards flying.
While dodging, a cold gleam flashed in Alan's eyes. With his left arm at his waist, he launched a punch directly at Smoker's chest.
Pfu!
His arm passed through Smoker's chest without any sense of impact.
The struck area of Smoker's body instantly dispersed into white mist, flowing with the wind from his punch.
"So this is what hitting a Logia Fruit user feels like."
Alan mused while looking at his retracted fist.
At the same time, using an Aikido technique, he stepped on the Nanashaku Jitte, which smashed into the ground.
Smoker tried to lift it with force but found, strangely, that he couldn't move the weapon.
"How is this possible?!"
Smoker's eyes widened in shock.
With Alan's physique, even if several others joined in, he should be able to toss them all aside.
But at this moment… It was as if Smoker saw the Nanashaku Jitte in his hands as a lever, and what he was trying to lift was a massive mammoth!
"Captain Smoker!!"
At this time, a cold white light flashed, and Alan's pupils drifted sideways.
Tashigi had rushed to his side, gripping her sword and slashing in an arc, from bottom to top.
Facing the slash, Alan remained still. The next second, a figure instantly appeared in front of him.
Clang!!
Sparks flew as Sham's ten-blade cat claws clashed precisely with the raised sword.
Then a shadow flew overhead.
Buchi leapt high while shouting as he stomped down from the air: "Cat-a-Pult Cat-astrophe!!"
Boom!!
Tashigi hurriedly retreated, and Buchi's heavy fall shattered a dozen floor tiles, sending dust and debris swirling.
...
After driving Tashigi back, Sham and Buchi did not pursue, or rather, they were unable to.
Two streams of white mist spread from the ground, coiling up their legs like pythons.
In the blink of an eye, they climbed up their bodies and bound the two tightly.
"What is this thing!"
"Damn it!"
Sham and Buchi panicked and stabbed at the mist snakes with their ten-blade cat claws, but the blades passed through without causing any effect on the white mist.
Smoker grabbed Nanashaku Jitte that was pinned beneath him with one hand, while the other turned into white mist, tightly controlling the two.
It clearly could pass through any attack like a fluid, yet it could still restrain Sham and Buchi; this Devil Fruit's mechanism was truly strange.