Smoker's eyes remained fixed on Lucas Moore as he spoke. "This kid isn't ordinary. This morning at the execution platform, he used Armament Haki to block a special bullet fired by a pirate."
"Oh? Armament Haki?" Aokiji glanced at Lucas, noticing the wooden sword hanging at his waist. "Kid, are you a swordsman?"
Lucas replied coolly, "Something like that."
Aokiji looked at the tense Smoker and waved his hand lazily. "He's just a wandering swordsman. He hasn't done anything wrong. No need to look so bloodthirsty just let him go."
Smoker frowned, visibly displeased, but said nothing.
Aokiji casually pointed toward the harbor. "When I arrived, I ran into some pirates bombing the place. I told them I wasn't here to arrest anyone, but they insisted on fighting me. So I had no choice but to freeze them. Looks like your men are already on their way over. They probably don't know that frozen people are extremely fragile just a small impact could shatter them. If you don't hurry, a lot of them might die. Though, if you don't care about a bunch of pirates dying, then I guess it doesn't matter."
Aokiji, after all, was the wielder of the Ice-Ice Fruit.
He could freeze anything he touched and transform any part of his body into ice.
The pale blue ice he generated could take on any shape he desired, even forming weapons to attack his enemies.
His powers were so advanced that he didn't even need to make physical contact to freeze things including entire portions of the ocean.
In fact, he was known for riding his bicycle across the sea by freezing the water beneath him.
Those frozen by his powers didn't die immediately. They would enter a state of suspended animation, their bodies turning brittle like ice. With careful and timely thawing, survival was still possible.
Smoker's brow tightened. His tone was laced with frustration. "Damn it. Fine. Watch this kid for me while I'm gone. Don't let him run off. I still have questions for him."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Aokiji replied lazily. "Go on."
Smoker shot one last glance at Lucas before turning around and speeding off on his motorbike, heading straight for the harbor.
Once he was gone...
Aokiji yawned suddenly. "So sleepy... time for a nap."
He looked back at Lucas. "Kid, Smoker said he has questions for you. Can you go wait for him at the Marine base yourself?"
Lucas frowned. "?"
"No response? I'll take that as a yes. Ugh, I'm exhausted. I'm out." Aokiji hopped onto his beloved bicycle and pedaled off into the distance.
Lucas stood still, smiling faintly as he watched the admiral leave.
Now that was a man who embodied the idea of "Lazy Justice."
Truly, as lazy as humanly possible.
Chuckling quietly, Lucas didn't linger.
He still had bounties to collect.
Even though he'd wasted a few minutes here, it wouldn't slow him down much.
Eventually, as the agreed-upon time for the challenge with Rayleigh approached, both of them arrived at the meeting spot almost simultaneously each dragging behind them a group of bounty targets tied up with thick ropes.
"Well, well. Not bad," Rayleigh said with a grin, glancing at the ten captives Lucas had brought in. "You caught more than I expected."
Lucas looked over Rayleigh's haul.
Eleven.
One of them was even someone Lucas had originally targeted, only for Rayleigh to intercept.
"Only one short," Rayleigh said with a teasing smile. "Still, a loss is a loss. No backing out, alright?"
"Got it," Lucas replied flatly. "A loss is a loss. I'm not making excuses."
"Hahaha! I like your attitude," Rayleigh said with amusement. He tossed over one end of the rope holding his captives.
Lucas caught it without much thought.
Rayleigh added, "Even though I'm retired, my bounty's still active. As far as the Marines are concerned, I'm still a pirate. So it wouldn't be smart for me to go claim the reward. You go instead. We'll split the bounty fifty-fifty."
Lucas stared at him silently.
Honestly, he didn't want to go either.
But
In order to receive the bounty money, Smoker had to sign off on the captures.
Without going to the Marine base...
There would be no payment.
And without payment, there'd be no money for alcohol.
And that would be a headache.
So...
He had no choice but to go.
"Fine," Lucas muttered.
Rayleigh laughed heartily. "Then I'll wait for you at the tavern. Don't be long!"
With that, he turned and strolled away, completely at ease.
Lucas, meanwhile, dragged twenty-one unconscious bounty targets behind him as he headed for the Marine base.
When he passed through the central plaza, he caught the attention of quite a few passersby.
"Hey, what's that kid doing? He's so strong he's dragging all those people by himself!"
"Wait a second... isn't that guy from West Street? The one with the thirty-thousand-belly bounty?"
"And those other guys are from East Street! No way... is he dragging a whole group of bounty targets?!"
"It really looks like it... Wait why does that kid look so familiar?"
"Oh! I remember now! This morning it was him! The one who caught the bullet with his bare hand!"
"I remember too! My god... who is this kid? He caught a bullet with his bare hand, jumped from that height without a scratch, and now he's caught all these bounty targets? That's insane!"
Lucas ignored the murmurs around him and kept walking steadily forward.
When he arrived at Smoker's Marine base, the soldiers stationed at the gate were stunned to see a child dragging twenty-one unconscious bodies behind him.
"Hey kid, who are all these people you're dragging in?" one of them asked.
Lucas's expression was calm. "Bounty targets."
"Wait what?" The Marine stared in disbelief. "You're saying all of these people... are bounty targets?"
Lucas nodded. "Yeah."
"You caught all of them yourself?!"
Lucas answered, "Not all of them."
"Ahem... Well, we'll help you carry them to Commander Smoker's office."
Lucas gave a simple nod.
A group of Marines quickly gathered around and began helping him move the unconscious captives inside.
Smoker's office wasn't particularly large.
With twenty-one unconscious bodies suddenly crammed in, it felt like the room was filled to the ceiling.
Lucas didn't have to wait long.
Soon, Smoker's voice echoed from the hallway.
Smoker: "Did anyone come looking for me while I was gone?"
Marine: "No, sir!"
Smoker: "That damn Aokiji... whatever. Go defrost those frozen pirates first."
Marine: "Yes, sir!"
Then
Smoker opened the door to his office.
The moment he saw the mountain of unconscious bodies inside, he froze in place.
His eye twitched as he stood in the doorway, stunned.
"Can someone explain to me... what the hell is going on in my office?!"
---------------------------------------
Want more chapters?
Help us reach 50 Power Stones and an extra chapter will be released as a thank you for your support.
If you're enjoying the story and want to see more, consider leaving a review or comment. Your feedback means a lot and helps the story grow.
Thank you for reading and supporting!