Chapter 52: Darkness Obscures the Sun, the Demise of the Smoker (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

"Roar! Long live Captain Luo Di!"

The crew members were boiling with excitement, their throats nearly hoarse from shouting; they had witnessed Luo Di's strength, and in their eyes, even an invincible Marine Vice Admiral could do nothing against their captain, leaving them with no doubts about his wild dreams.

Xiao En immediately felt a sense of solemnity, thinking that since Captain Luo Di had such grand goals, he himself had to continue to work twice as hard.

Ten times, too little.

Twenty times, not enough.

One hundred times!

Soon, the ship passed through the clouds and mist on both sides, following the ocean current to leap to the peak of Dian Dao Shan.

"Ya-hahahaha, hold on tight, don't get left behind!" Luo Di shouted.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the ship crossed the peak, hovered in the air for a second, and then rushed toward the ocean current below.

The heavy rain continued, and the crew gripped the railings tightly; the sensation of weightlessness made them very uncomfortable, but it still could not extinguish the burning heat in their eyes.

Luo Di said: "Gai Ou, you must control the direction well; we haven't reached the Grand Line yet, and if we get sucked into a whirlpool, even if the ship isn't smashed, we might be swept away to the Si Hai!"

"Leave it to me!" Gai Ou gripped the ship's wheel tightly, gripped the ship's wheel tightly, focused his mind, tried his best to avoid the large-range whirlpools, and headed toward the sea area below the mountain.

Boom!

Before long, the Shen Yun Long Ting Hao slammed into the sea surface, kicking up towering waves; at this moment, the crew could no longer hold on and lay scattered across the deck.

They steadied themselves and looked up at the sky, a ray of sunlight shining on their weathered faces.

The heavy rain stopped, the fog dispersed, and the clouds cleared; under the sunlight, the crew felt warm, and the surroundings were calm and peaceful with shimmering waves, as if it were a different world compared to before.

"Wow, so this is the Grand Line!" Ka Li Na at the bow of the ship looked around like a curious baby, as if Granny Liu had entered the Grand View Garden.

Ahead was a place that looked like a canyon; Ka Li Na took a Log Pose out of her pocket; although she had never been to the Grand Line, she had checked a lot of information and knew that the magnetic field in the Grand Line was chaotic, and the compasses used for sailing in the East Blue were ineffective here, so one could only use a Log Pose or Eternal Pose to indicate the direction.

She had already learned that the Log Pose was used to record the magnetism between islands, helping sailors determine the direction of the next island. The recording time was determined by the strength of the island's magnetic field, ranging from a few days to several months, or even a year; after the pose finished recording the magnetic field, it would point to the next island according to the magnetic force direction.

And an Eternal Pose pointed permanently to a specific island, requiring no time to record, and the direction would not change due to the magnetic field, pointing permanently to the target island.

"Luo Di, this is the Shuang Zi Jia you mentioned, right? There are seven different sea routes below, which one should we take?" Ka Li Na asked.

"Ah, it doesn't matter, just pick one at random," Luo Di answered casually.

Although he had watched One Piece, he couldn't remember which route Wang Lufei and the others took, and there was no need for him to chase after their tails; if they met in the future and a conflict broke out, he wouldn't show mercy either.

So what if they have a background?

As long as he has enough strength, he is the background of the world.

Suddenly, red dots flickered in Luo Di's eyes.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

In the sky, a group of cannonballs shot rapidly toward the Shen Yun Long Ting Hao.

"Let me handle it!"

Gai Ou stepped forward, pointed his halberd at the sea surface beneath his feet, and with a surge of air currents, he gave a fierce flick; a giant wave curled into a tornado and charged toward the group of cannonballs, sending them all into the sea upon contact, emitting popping explosions and kicking up sprays of water.

As the spray fell, several warships appeared from behind a giant reef in the distance, sailing rapidly toward them.

Standing at the bow of the lead warship was a man with two cigars in his mouth, short silver-white hair, the sides shaved short with a slicked-back hairstyle, wearing a thick white jacket with the characters "Justice" printed on the back.

Standing next to him was a woman wearing red-rimmed glasses and carrying a sword at her waist.

Luo Di laughed: "Smoker, Da Siqi, did you fail to catch the Straw Hat Pirates and come here specifically to block me? How interesting."

"Hmph, just a rookie pirate; Tina and Hiresan were too cautious; they should have kept chasing you and joined me in cutting you down here," Smoker said coldly: "Pirates have no right to live!"

Da Siqi drew her sword and pointed it directly at Luo Di: "Blood Calamity Luo Di, as long as we are here, don't even think about passing through the Shuang Zi Jia to the Grand Line and harming more civilians!"

"Ya-hahahaha, don't make me laugh," Luo Di sneered: "You abandoned the townspeople of Luo Ge Zhen for the sake of your so-called self-esteem, causing them to be attacked by pirates—is that what you call justice?"

"You!" Da Siqi was speechless.

Smoker narrowed his eyes; Luo Di was right. A while ago, the Straw Hat Pirates escaped from Luo Ge Zhen, and feeling his self-esteem insulted, he came to the Grand Line.

Yesterday, Tina had called him to inform him that Luo Di's group had caused a scene in Luo Ge Zhen and headed to Dian Dao Shan, so he chose to return and wait here first.

Smoker was extremely annoyed after hearing Luo Di's words; he drew the jitte from his back and pointed it at Luo Di: "Fire the cannons first, bring the ship alongside; this is the grave of the Blood Calamity Pirates!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Several warships began to fire; the fleet Smoker brought this time had over five hundred men, comparable to the crew on Luo Di's ship; although Tina had warned him that Luo Di was strong, he had never admitted defeat, and Luo Di's words had already made him very angry.

"Return fire!"

The two ships bombarded each other with cannons, rapidly closing in; when the distance was only a dozen meters, Smoker's legs turned into smoke and shot into the sky, pointing his hand at Luo Di in the air: "White Snake!"

His hand turned into smoke, condensed into a snake head, and rushed toward Luo Di at high speed, intending to devour him.

Just as the White Snake was about to reach Luo Di, Luo Di took a large step forward and blasted a golden thunderbolt at the White Snake.

The thunder and smoke intertwined and vanished into nothingness together.

"Just as Tina said, your abilities are special and diverse," Smoker said coldly: "But this is as far as you go."

Thick smoke spewed from his body, intending to envelop the entire Shen Yun Long Ting Hao.

Watching the incoming white smoke, Luo Di spread his arms, and strands of darkness drifted out and dispersed from behind him, completely devouring the white smoke Smoker had spewed.

"What kind of ability is this?" Smoker's expression became grave.

Darkness obscured the sun, and not a trace of light could be seen.

The Marines on the warships felt their blood surging and becoming scorching hot, with trickles of fresh blood seeping out of their skin.

"Since you chose to fight me, then bet your lives on it!"

After Luo Di finished speaking, his eyes suddenly brightened, and a scarlet light radiated from his pupils, particularly blinding in the darkness, completely enveloping Smoker's warships.

The Marines fell to the ground one after another, foaming at the mouth; Da Siqi's katana dropped, and she knelt on the ground, her body limp; she wanted to reach out to grab her sword, but couldn't muster any strength.

Seeing this, Smoker immediately wanted to spew smoke to fly to the other side, but visibility in the darkness was poor.

Scarlet eyes appeared behind him, and Luo Di's pitch-black fist, covered in Scarlet Ripple, slammed into Smoker's back, blasting him directly from the air onto the deck; Smoker knelt on one knee with narrowed eyes, the "Justice" on his back had already been turned to ash by heat breath, and a hole deep enough to see bone appeared on his back, the blood evaporating before it could even flow out.

Tina had already warned him in advance that Luo Di had Conqueror's Haki, but given Smoker's personality, it was impossible for him to hide; he had to cut down every pirate he targeted, and Luo Di was no exception, just as the Straw Hat Pirates were the same.

"Ah!" Smoker roared loudly, his eyes full of unwillingness; his pride would not allow him to die here.

Swish! A scarlet blood shadow flashed by, and Luo Di passed through Smoker to appear behind him.

Drip, drip.

Blood was slowly dripping from his pitch-black hand; Smoker's body went rigid, his eyeballs were about to pop out, his pupils were covered in bloodshot veins, and several claw marks appeared on his neck as blood gushed out; under Luo Di's Haki, his smoke ability had completely lost its effectiveness.

The passing of life was like the wind; Smoker's lips moved, wanting to say something, but he could not make a sound.

Marine Colonel Smoker, dead.

"No!" Da Siqi screamed heart-rendingly, but she could only kneel before Luo Di, unable to muster even a shred of strength.

"You bastard pirate, I, I will kill you," Da Siqi said through gritted teeth, her eyes full of hatred.

After speaking, her whole body was pulled up by a force, suspended in mid-air, dangling before Luo Di like a fish about to drown.

"In hell, watch closely as I overturn the world," Luo Di said indifferently.

Da Siqi's pupils suddenly widened; Luo Di had already flashed behind her, opened his mouth to reveal sharp fangs, and bit down toward her fair neck.

Da Siqi convulsed, her vitality draining away rapidly like an hourglass; the scenery before her eyes gradually blurred, and she could no longer feel the warmth of the sun; her life had reached its end; the entrance from Dian Dao Shan back to the East Blue was very close, but at this moment, it felt as unreachable as her dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman.