Chapter 36: Your Acting Is Really Terrible

"Get out of here!"

"Evil Navy!"

The little girl strained to make a fierce expression, but with her rosy cheeks, she only looked exceptionally well-behaved and cute.

Yet Smoker could not laugh at all in this moment; ignoring the little girl, he turned his gaze toward the rear.

More and more commoners were gathering here, vaguely surrounding the Navy.

These people wore anger on their faces, holding makeshift weapons scavenged from the spot—farming tools, brooms, benches, or wooden sticks.

Even facing the Navy, not a shred of fear could be seen on their faces, only resentment that had long been suppressed.

"Leave this place, Navy!"

"You only run when facing pirates; now that the matter is over, you have come?"

"This kind of justice... this kind of justice..."

In front of the crowd.

A young man with a severed arm gripped the broken stump on his shoulder, refusing to let go even as blood stained the bandage red; pain twisted his expression into a grimace, his voice sounding like a wounded beast:

"We do not need it!"

"The branch base you promised, the port you promised... none of it has been realized; everything was for money!"

"Now that the pirate attack has just passed, are you so impatient?"

Amidst the hoarse, desperate shouts.

Smoker's face was as dark as water.

He naturally saw through these people's true purpose: they were merely protecting those pirates hidden within the Lord's mansion.

Yet no matter how he thought about it, he could not understand why these commoners would stand on the pirates' side.

Ignoring the agitated commoners, Smoker turned to look at Jasha and Gao Wen, his brows knitted tightly together:

"You played this hand quite well."

Having said that.

Smoker raised his hand, ordering the surrounding Marines to lower their weapons.

He could not bring himself to strike these commoners who had just endured suffering; especially when part of that suffering came from the Navy itself.

Jasha glanced around.

From the eyes of these commoners, she felt a power that warmed the heart.

At this moment, the aura from Smoker just now that had made her legs weak was no longer so unbearable.

She took a deep breath and said calmly:

"We did nothing; they came here of their own volition."

"Mr. Navy, if you have no search warrant, please return."

"Hmph!"

Smoker snorted coldly, his gaze falling on the knight beside Jasha.

In the East Blue, the only person whose presence made him feel danger was Gao Wen, whom he had fought tonight.

If he had only been surprised before, now he was certain that the servant standing before him was Gao Wen in disguise.

Was he really going to let a pirate escape before his eyes?

Or...

Smoker clenched his jitte, his face shifting between dark and light.

"Colonel Smoker!"

Suddenly.

Tashigi hurriedly squeezed in from outside the crowd, walked quickly to Smoker's side, and spoke:

"The incident at Raven Port yesterday has been basically clarified."

"Three warships in total arrived here; after Colonel Rats saw through Knight Gao Wen's identity, he sailed away directly."

"The other was impersonated by Captain Krieger's men; that is their specialty, but they have been completely wiped out."

"As for the last group..."

Having said this, Tashigi looked strangely at Jasha in the distance and continued:

"That is, the Navy that rescued the commoners in the port; they should have been impersonated by men under Knight Gao Wen."

"Pirates?"

Smoker was slightly stunned.

"That is correct."

Tashigi nodded:

"If there was no fourth party involved, that should be the case."

"We are the fourth party."

Smoker sighed.

He now understood why these commoners risked their lives to stand before him.

It was simply because the commoners of this era were far simpler than imagined; if you treat them well, they treat you well; if you stand up for them, they are willing to stand before the Navy for you.

At this moment, in the eyes of these commoners at Raven Port.

Those pirates who ran amidst the cannon fire and personally snatched them back from the hands of death were far more worthy of respect than the Navy.

For a moment.

Smoker's heart was filled with a hundred emotions; though somewhat unwilling, he finally waved his hand:

"Let's go get the search warrant!"

"Yes!"

Tashigi rendered a military salute, her gaze falling on Smoker, and she was momentarily dazed.

Perhaps it was an illusion.

He felt that Smoker seemed weighed down by something at this moment, so that his back did not look as towering as usual.

The civilians around parted to form a passage, allowing Smoker to lead the marines away.

Only after the navy completely vanished, and the warships remaining in the port let out a whistle, did everyone finally exhale a long breath.

Many people's clothes were soaked with sweat.

"That scared me to death; I thought we'd fight the navy right here."

"With the weapons we have on hand, we can scare people, but if we really fight the navy, it'll just be a queue for execution."

"But didn't that navy officer get scared off by us too?"

"Hehe~"

The crowd gradually grew noisy.

Yet no one regretted coming here today to protect their savior.

The youth with the severed arm only now came to his senses, looking at his bloodied shoulder and grimacing in pain.

Then he gave Jasha a faint smile:

"My lord, this time it was thanks to you that we... we were able to survive."

"I..."

Jasha's gaze dimmed:

"After all, so many people still died. If I had discovered it sooner, if we had been stronger..."

"You have already done very well."

The youth with the severed arm offered a word of comfort, then, as if recalling something, said teasingly:

"Also, on your behalf, we want to pass a message to our saviors."

"What?"

The youth with the severed arm grinned:

"Your acting is really terrible. How could the navy risk their own safety and stake their lives to save us?"

"Next time, you can wear your own clothes, or even bring your own flags."

As he spoke, everyone's gazes converged on Jasha, clearly this was a decision they had already discussed.

Gao Wen looked at the smiles on everyone's faces, and something inexplicably added itself to his heart.

In the distance.

Smoker stood on the deck, raised his eyes to look at the distant Lord's Mansion, and murmured:

"Knight Gao Wen, what kind of person are you exactly?"

No one answered Smoker's words.

Tashigi stood quietly beside Smoker, holding the Sea Prism Stone jitte she had just fished out of the sea.

Wooo—!

After the long whistle, Smoker came to his senses, looked out at the distant sea, and the confusion in his eyes gradually cleared:

"Among pirates, there might be one or two outliers, but the pirates themselves are the root cause that makes this world chaotic."

"Tashigi."

"Yes!"

"Do you know? Regarding the report on the rat, I had already submitted it to Headquarters several times before, but each time it went unanswered, and even the most recent one received a warning from some Rear Admiral."

Tashigi's breath hitched, and she quietly tightened her grip on the famous blade Shigure in her hand.

Smoker continued:

"If I could be a bit stronger, hold a slightly higher position, I could change the status quo of the East Blue Navy or even the Grand Line."

"We are too weak, not just in strength, but also in power..."

(End of this chapter)