Chapter 150: The Trial Tower Officially Opens!

In Smoker's mind, information about the reward appeared.

Poison Attack Mastery.

It originated from a group of street-fighting overlords who wielded sharp weapons and were willing to try anything that would help them win a fight.

Winning by any means necessary — the complete opposite of traditional fighting techniques.

Poison Needle, Poison Thorn — anything that appeared within sight could be used as a weapon.

"What a rotten bunch, just like pirates!"

Smoker felt the contents in his mind and sneered inwardly.

This fighting philosophy was the complete opposite of his own.

However…

He raised his palm, and a wisp of Purple smoke rose up. With just a light grip on a pirate bound by chains, a sizzling sound of corrosion rang out.

A fierce poison.

It had actually seeped directly into the body?

As Poison Attack Mastery Lv. kept rising, eventually the poison would fuse into the blood, bones, and muscles throughout the body, and every attack would carry a powerful poisoning effect.

"If that's the case…"

Smoker, cigar clamped between his lips, felt a stir in his heart and tried to spread the faint toxin outward.

In an instant,

the white smoke swirling around him gradually changed color, carrying a trace amount of toxin.

"It can actually fuse into a Devil Fruit?"

Smoker's eyes went wide; he nearly choked on his cigar and broke into a fit of coughing.

All along,

although the Smoke-Smoke Fruit was a Logia, compared to the Logia of the Admirals at headquarters, its attack range and damage were pitifully weak.

There was certainly a gap in Devil Fruit development, but it was also related to the type of fruit itself.

Ice-Ice Fruit, Magma-Magma Fruit, Glint-Glint Fruit…

all possessed terrifying abilities capable of triggering natural disasters, yet the Smoke-Smoke Fruit's base damage was pitifully low.

But if combined with poison, it could make up for the Smoke-Smoke Fruit's shortcoming of being too weak in damage.

The mere thought of a sky-filling toxic fog, like a domain of death, with all the pirates dying of poison…

Smoker quietly tucked the thought away and murmured, "No ability is good or bad in itself. As long as it can capture pirates and protect the safety of civilians, even poison is fine."

【Contract Task (2/5)】

Task content: Turn in 5,000,000 Beli

Task reward: Poison Attack Mastery (50 proficiency points, 50 skill experience points)

He returned to the Navy Warship, tossed Captain Black Crow to his subordinates, then said, "Get me five million Beli. I'll make it up when we get back to Loguetown."

Coming out to investigate the East Blue game event, he naturally couldn't have brought a large amount of money.

There was some standing funds aboard the warship.

The subordinate Navy sailors raised no objection either. Although procedurally it didn't follow protocol, their Colonel here not playing by the rules wasn't a first.

After the five million Beli was brought out,

【Task complete, reward has been issued】

The Purple smoke swirling around Smoker visibly grew denser.

New task: Turn in a Famous Blade.

"Cough, cough…"

Smoker couldn't help but glance at the Famous Blade at Tashigi's waist, but in the end held back the impulse to ask for it.

Forget it. Once the investigation is over, he'll head to a blade shop in Loguetown and try his luck.

……

Seagulls flew about everywhere.

Not just seagulls, but also some panting albatrosses, as if they had flown from very far away.

They were special birds raised by Morgans, the emperor of the Underground World and president of the World Economic News Paper, likewise capable of flying across mountains and seas to obtain first-hand news from all over the world.

The news of the mysterious Projection Fruit user in the East Blue had already been transmitted back to headquarters.

Such big news — Morgans absolutely couldn't let it slip. He immediately set up Den Den Mushi from every angle, preparing to conduct a worldwide live broadcast.

"Even Hawkeye is here?"

"That is… Smoker, the Navy's rising star."

Through the Den Den Mushi, Morgans scanned the crowd, searching for a piece of news big enough to shake the world.

He was sitting atop a super-giant albatross, rushing toward the East Blue at top speed.

Just then,

the very bottom layer of the giant black tower suddenly lit up with a faint glow.

The black tower body, whose interior had been impossible to probe with any instrument, gradually turned transparent, exposing everything inside the bottom layer to everyone's view.

Pollution Monsters.

Countless Pollution Monsters originating from Soul Hook Hall packed the bottom layer of the tower.

The entire bottom layer was enormously vast, comparable to some giant islands — broken walls and ruins, land from the netherworld of Hell, saturated with a dense aura of wandering spirits and death.

Paper money raining down like a storm, black shadows weeping softly, rows of eerie ancient buildings with upturned eaves…

The sheer visual impact alone sent shivers down the spines of countless pirates.

"Is this Hell?"

"Demons! The Trial Tower imprisons demons — this is a Hell Tower!"

The pirates, who had been vicious and ruthless in the past, could not help but tremble.

In the Pirate World, there were likewise tales of ghosts and the afterlife passed down — for instance, Gecko Moria's island had been built around legends of death.

Only, most people treated ghosts as a joking matter, and no one had ever taken them seriously.

Who hasn't done something they oughtn't?

Especially pirates who burned, killed, and plundered — when they first began killing they still felt fear, but as their killing skills grew more practiced and the number of their victims grew larger, and they never suffered any retribution, no one would believe in such vague, elusive things as demons.

Until now,

the Qiqiang Jita laid bare before everyone's eyes the very core of humanity's fear of death.

"Don't be afraid — demons are just some ugly-looking monsters. Kill them and that's that!"

Fish-man Arlong was a little frightened at first, but quickly pulled himself together and said viciously.

"A Contract Fruit that grants power, a giant tower that imprisons demons, an event that blankets the entire East Blue — just who are you…"

Smoker smoked his cigar impatiently, desperate to know who was pulling the strings behind all this.

No matter if it was him,

or everyone present, or the people behind the Image Den Den Mushi — Marine Headquarters, the Emperors of the Underground World, the great-power Pirates, the kings of various nations — every gaze was gathered on this Trial Tower region of the East Blue.

They all harbored the same thought as Smoker, each with their own calculations.

Most were there for the spectacle: the pirates hoped the man behind the curtain was a troublemaker stirring up chaos, the Navy stood ready for battle, and the kings of the East Blue trembled, afraid that the upheaval in the weakest of seas would disturb their kingdoms.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Pirate World's first-ever event — the Near Sea King Contest!"

At the very center of every focus,

atop the Qiqiang Jita, Fang Yi, following local custom, appeared in midair wearing an exquisite Noble-style formal suit befitting the Pirate World.

"He's appeared!"

Whether pirate or Navy, all held their breath, their eyes fixed tightly on the mysterious man atop the giant tower.

In just a few short days, he had drawn together every pirate and every Navy man of the entire East Blue, creating the present tense situation.

The instigator of it all was the mysterious man before their eyes.

What exactly did he want to do?

(End of chapter)