Chapter 158: Smoker: I'll be the one to drain the Navy's military budget!

"Captain Arlong!"

Kuroobi is a cartilage fish-man; seeing Captain Arlong defeated, he immediately leaped into the water.

His signature move is the Senmaigawara Seiken, capable of shattering a thousand roof tiles underwater; for an ordinary human, fighting him in the water means certain death.

Following the current, he intended to unleash his finishing move.

Yet, he sensed a powerlessness in his body; he possessed none of the fish-man ability to move unimpeded in the water, feeling as weak as a human who cannot swim.

"What is going on?"

Kuroobi climbed back onto the ship in a panic, looking at his own hands; he was still in his fish-man shell, but had even his advantage in swimming been stripped away?

"Idiots, you have no idea how mysterious and powerful the Game Merchant is!"

Nami watched the panicked fish-men coldly, firing two consecutive Gairyō Hoshidan; the small electric snakes acted like lightning chains, stringing them together and turning them all into white light.

Doing this could not kill them.

Nami was also very clear that doing this was merely collecting some interest.

The pain suffered by the villagers of Kokoyashi, the death of Bellemere—everything would be settled once they were outside the game.

"We are united fish-men; it is absolutely impossible for us to be defeated!"

"Captain Arlong will soon be able to obtain powerful abilities within the Shilian Ta, just you wait!"

The Kissing fish-man and the Salt-grilled fish-man glared at Nami, but they dared not assume a counter-attacking stance.

They were afraid of being killed by Nami again; if that happened, the Beli used for resurrection would be another massive expenditure.

Luffy asked curiously, "Nami, do you have a grudge against them?"

"The village I lived in was enslaved by them; they killed my mother and imprisoned me to draw sea charts for them."

When Nami said these words, her gaze was unexpectedly calm.

Perhaps it was the confidence brought by already being able to defeat Arlong.

She could have chosen not to answer, or even lied to brush Luffy off, but she spoke the truth on an impulse.

"I no longer need to arm myself with lies..."

The small electric snakes flew back, winding around Nami's arm and rubbing against her affectionately.

Magic Alchemy.

As long as she continued to level up and grow stronger, no one in the Pirate World would be able to bully her, and then she could pursue her dreams without any worries.

"So that's how it is, then I'll beat them flying!"

Luffy showed a rare serious expression, looking at Nami as if making a promise.

Nami was startled.

She had also sought help from the Navy countless times, but they would either be terrified upon hearing the name Arlong, or respond with mockery and pity.

But the straw-hat idiot before her did not; she truly regarded her as a companion.

Just like when she completed the Contract Task for Zoro, the radiance in his eyes showed that helping a companion resolve trouble was a matter of course.

This feeling of trust and reliance made her feel very comfortable.

"Idiot, didn't you see I already defeated them myself? If you really want me to be your navigator, then take the first-floor reward!"

Nami laughed, took two quick steps, thoughtfully helped Luffy take off his straw hat, and then smashed a fist down onto his head.

"Really?"

Luffy ignored the bump swelling on his head and said excitedly, "The reward from the Trial Tower, I'm going to take it!"

After they left,

the fish-men looked at each other, waiting for the fish-man Arlong to revive.

Arlong's expression was terrifyingly gloomy; after looking around and finding that Nami had already left, his pent-up anger had nowhere to be vented.

"If it were my original body, that level of ability could never have caused me any harm!"

"That's right, Captain Arlong!"

The fish-men said flatteringly.

Cold light flashed in Arlong's eyes; he had heard Nami's insults clearly before he died.

Since arriving in the East Blue, this was the first time he had suffered such a great humiliation; although he said that, he began to covet the abilities bestowed by the Samsara Game.

"Our Arlong Pirates will work together, and we will definitely be able to seize the first-floor reward!"

"Captain Arlong, we fully support you!"

These fish-men were the group that had followed Arlong without hesitation after the Sun Pirates in the Grand Line disbanded.

They were Arlong's staunch supporters.

"Very good, we have also accumulated a sum of money over these years; the resurrection costs can be covered!"

"Brothers, defeat these lowly humans; we fish-men are the strongest race in this world!"

"Oh!"

"Colonel Smoker, are we going in too?"

Tashigi's expression was not very good.

She had originally intended to protect Buggy Saint and leave, abandoning the investigation into the East Blue Trial Tower and the event.

But she had not expected Buggy Saint to sneak away and charge into the first floor of the Trial Tower with his crew.

If any problems arose, the Navy in Loguetown would be severely punished.

"Go in; protecting World Nobles is the duty of our Navy."

Smoker took a puff of his cigar, exhaling purple-tinted smoke, his eyes showing a hint of excitement.

He glanced unobtrusively at Tashigi's Famous Blade.

This feeling of growing strength was too comfortable, and besides, there were countless heinous Pirates in the Trial Tower to use for practice; it was simply a Holy Land.

The warship rapidly cut through the currents, charging toward the first floor of the Trial Tower.

"Fruit ability, has it been restrained?"

The smoke radiating around Smoker's body suddenly vanished.

Those clouds of smoke were all methods he had intentionally released to react and attack at any moment, having already become instinctual.

"Is it because my strength is too weak, or some other reason—Seastone?"

Smoker's brows were tightly furrowed.

If it were the former, it would be easy to explain, but if it were a method similar to Seastone, even the three Navy Admirals of the Logia type would see their strength sharply decline if they came here.

A prompt appeared in his mind.

【Can consume Reward Points to exchange for real-world abilities to assist in hunting activities within the Trial Tower.】

"Tashigi?"

"Yes, Colonel Smoker, a prompt sound has also appeared in my mind."

A light screen panel appeared in Tashigi's field of vision, containing her sealed abilities; she said, "My physique, which is stronger than an ordinary person's after training, has been converted into four-dimensional attributes."

"There are also Sword Skill abilities, as well as Navy Body Arts, all of which require corresponding Reward Points to obtain."

【Haize shijie Sword Skill Lv. 4】, 【Navy Body Arts Lv. 3】, 40 free attribute points.

These were her sealed abilities.

If she unlocked them all, she would be able to recover her usual combat strength.

She asked with some curiosity: "Colonel Smoker, what are the abilities you have sealed?"

Smoker glanced at his own sealed abilities and said: "Consume the funds in the Navy warehouse to unlock the sealed abilities."

【Navy Body Arts Lv. 4】, 【Smoke-Smoke Fruit Lv. 6】, 50 free attribute points.

Tashigi was somewhat flustered and hurriedly said: "Colonel Smoker, wasting the Navy funds of Loguetown so recklessly will very likely lead to being held accountable by Marine Headquarters!"

"Is that so?"

Smoker glanced at the massive island on the first floor, where he could vaguely see the Pirate Buggy had already landed, and said: "We are all here to protect the World Noble; if I do not unleash my abilities and it results in the Celestial Dragon getting hurt, that would cause an even greater impact on the Navy."

A moment later,

The ability of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit reappeared.

With his whole body wreathed in pale Purple toxic smoke, Smoker rushed out with a Smoke Launcher propulsion and landed on the edge of the island.

(End of chapter)