Chapter 91: Battle Smoker Again!

Zoro's expression stiffened.

He wanted to refute, but then remembered the incident on Beast Island where he had taken the wrong map.

He could only swallow his pride like a tooth crushed in his mouth.

Gao Wen glanced at him:

"You and Sanji will stay behind on Para Island."

Immediately, he turned to Xiang Keluo and Nami:

"You two will act with me. Nami, chart the course."

"Yes, Captain."

Both replied at once.

Quickly.

The pirates in the port finished their count.

Gao Wen, taking Nami and Xiang Keluo, boarded the fastest sailing ship, bringing only a dozen or so pirates, and set sail from the port along the route charted by Nami.

Behind the ship, Para Island gradually vanished from the horizon.

In the distant sea, the wind howled, the clouds overhead were heavy as lead, and flashes of Lei Guang occasionally streaked across the sky.

Nami held a sea chart in one hand and a pen in the other, beginning to calculate repeatedly, but her brows furrowed tighter and tighter; after a few minutes, she could not help but speak:

"Captain, judging by the current situation, Raven Port and a vast stretch of sea nearby are all caught in the storm."

"Sailing at this time, with this ship's structure, I fear it cannot hold out much longer."

"We..."

Gao Wen slowly drew Guanshi Zhengzong, its blade reflecting the Lei Guang.

On the distant sea surface.

A wave over ten meters high crashed down head-on, yet in the next instant, it was torn apart by a streaking silver-white blade light.

Pfft!

Sea water fell like raindrops onto the deck.

Gao Wen's expression was indifferent as he said:

"You just plan the shortest route; with me here, this ship will not sink!"

Gao Wen gripped the blade in his hand, his tone radiating absolute confidence.

Only now did he realize that, at some unknown point, he had gained the qualification to challenge this vast ocean head-on.

Let the waves rage; one slash will shatter them!

Xiang Keluo subtly adjusted his glasses, gazing at the long blade in Gao Wen's hand, and fell into thought for a moment.

Not long ago.

A single storm had left both himself and Gao Wen utterly wretched, yet now this man could simply ignore it; how much had his combat power grown?

Is his rate of strengthening faster than mine?

My judgment was indeed correct; he has been secretly grinding behind our backs, even grinding harder than me.

That relaxed and cheerful demeanor was merely to lull us into complacency!

Damn it!

In an instant.

Gao Wen's level of treachery in Xiang Keluo's heart climbed another step.

Nami looked at Xiang Keluo suspiciously, then shifted her gaze to Gao Wen; the corners of her mouth curled slightly:

"In that case, I will take charge of navigation!"

"Even if they set sail far earlier than us, there is only one way to enter the Grand Line from the East Blue: crossing the Red Line."

"And to cross the Red Line, Reverse Mountain is the only option; we simply need to arrive there faster than they do."

The ship tossed and turned, rising and falling with the waves.

Nami sat on the deck, gradually sketching a perfect route on the sea chart.

"That's it!"

"Helmsman, hard to port! Course thirty degrees!"

"Aye!"

Following Nami's command, the ship changed course and charged into the heart of the storm; countless giant waves surged forward, only to be torn apart by streaks of silver-white airborne slashes.

Gao Wen stood at the bow, carving out a new channel for everyone.

At the same time.

A warship departed from Loguetown and plunged straight into the storm.

On the warship's deck, white smoke rose; Smoker, with two cigars in his mouth, looked toward the distant sea with a Solemn Face.

Tashigi, standing beside him, carefully recounted the latest intelligence.

"It has been confirmed."

"The pirate crew that escaped from Loguetown earlier are subordinates of Warlord Hanafaza: Labut and Rachet. Both have bounties exceeding fifty million, and both are Zoan-type Devil Fruit users."

"They attacked Raven Port yesterday afternoon for unknown reasons; currently, they have set sail and returned to the Grand Line."

"Colonel Smoker, since this concerns a Warlord, even with Master Zephyr's orders, if we actually capture them, it will be difficult to explain to the World Government."

"Explain?"

Smoker exhaled a puff of smoke:

"They are the ones who owe this world an explanation!"

"The matter at Raven Port has only just concluded; even the port's reconstruction is not yet complete."

"Say, Tashigi, you wouldn't have forgotten, would you?"

"The look in those commoners' eyes!"

"I might have let it slide last time, but now I will never let these pirates go!"

As he spoke, Smoker directly took the jitte from his back and said:

"I will absolutely keep these bastards in the East Blue!"

"Yes!"

The massive warship, fearless of wind and waves, sailed even faster than ordinary pirate ships despite the storm.

But as time passed.

The storm sweeping across the East Blue not only failed to subside, but instead showed a trend of growing ever more intense.

The turbulent sea displayed a deep black.

The surging seawater seemed capable of swallowing everything it touched.

Amidst the endless storm, Smoker had long forgotten time; he only knew that the marines on deck changed in batch after batch.

Finally.

The distant sea calmed down; the sky after the storm was cloudless for ten thousand li, terrifyingly clear.

Only on the distant sea surface, the skull flag with a round-shield base on that pirate ship was excessively glaring, even to the point of being impossible to ignore.

Smoker took the telescope and saw the figure standing on the deck at a glance.

"Knight Gao Wen!"

In an instant, Smoker changed his plan to pursue Ratchet and Rabute, placing his target directly on Gao Wen:

"This guy... is far more dangerous than Hanafza's subordinates!"

"Close in!"

Gao Wen naturally noticed that warship in the distance, but at this moment he was entirely focused on pursuing Rabute and Ratchet, with no mind to get entangled with the Navy too much.

He directly ordered the ship to increase its speed, shaking off the distant warship.

But just in the next instant.

On the distant warship, crimson flames rose up; a cannonball grazed the pirate ship beneath Gao Wen's feet and fell into the sea...

Boom!

A column of water shot skyward.

Reflecting Gao Wen's iron-green face.

"You don't know when you're being given face!"

As the voice landed, Gao Wen raised his hand and waved out streams of sword energy, slicing the incoming cannonballs apart in mid-air.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

A string of explosions rose up a burst of flames in mid-air; black smoke obscured everyone's vision.

Smoker, gazing at the pirate ship from a distance, saw a figure burst out from the flames, holding a long blade, charging rapidly toward the warship beneath his feet.

"Gao Wen!"

Smoker roared, and the cape on his shoulders moved without wind.

Recalling the crushing defeat he had suffered at Gao Wen's hands before, and the attitude of those commoners in Raven Port, he felt only a wave of frustration.

Fortunately, all of this would be washed away today!

"For this day, for keeping you in the East Blue, I have obtained from Teacher Zephyr power sufficient to defeat you!"

Along with Smoker's words, thick white smoke rose up around him, almost completely enveloping the entire warship.

The white smoke twisted and deformed, condensing into the shapes of fists.

And what truly caught Gao Wen's attention was the black Armament Haki on the fists formed by the white smoke!

(End of this chapter)