58: Section 58

The cold touch of his old partner allowed Smoker to briefly break free from the aura suppression. Once he regained a bit of clarity, Smoker roared in a fury:

"...Who the hell is playing tricks? Get out here!"

The roar, full of rage, finally broke the increasingly eerie aura of the surroundings. One by one, the Navy officers and soldiers raised their weapons amidst the continuous shouts.

Even the cooks in the restaurant were arming themselves... uh, with all kinds of kitchen utensils.

In that moment.

Everyone's eyes gathered right here.

The stage was set!

Finally.

As a figure stepped onto the ship's bow,

A lazy voice with a hint of nonchalance rang out:

"Smoker the White Hunter, heh, weren't you just looking for me?"

"Now... I'm here!"

"What... can you even do?"

This was undoubtedly blatant mockery, but... no one focused on that; even the target of the mockery didn't care.

As the surrounding smoke gradually dissipated, everyone's eyes turned toward the bone ship before them!

The bizarre atmosphere and eerie aura of the ship were insignificant.

What made their breath hitch and nearly made them doubt their very existence were the semi-transparent figures floating behind Su Ming on the deck!

"G-ghosts?"

"They... they look too much like them! They look exactly like the legends!"

"Waaaah! The sea really is terrifying! Mom, I don't want to be a pirate anymore!"

Sanji sighed. The noise behind him made him feel a deep sense of irritation, and the large ship before him was shaking his worldview.

He really wanted to unleash a barrage of sharp-tongued insults at this rabble.

But...

The Marines on the four warships didn't seem much better.

One by one, the Marines looked as if they had seen a ghost, staring dumbfounded with their jaws hitting the deck, barely able to hold onto their weapons.

He gave a bitter laugh.

The problem was... right now, everyone really HAD seen a ghost!

Taking a deep drag from his cigar, Smoker's expression turned solemn:

"The rebellious son?"

*Exhale!*

"Omar Su! It really is you!"

Chapter 65: Smoker the White Hunter's Natural Enemy

"The rebellious son? Well, that is indeed me."

Su Ming stood with his back to the sun, his handsome and noble face glowing in the shadows.

The corners of his lips curled into a wanton arc as Su Ming teased:

"What do you think? I've even sailed the midnight rose to find you. As a Navy Captain, don't you have something to say?"

Despite his words,

Su Ming was internally complaining like crazy.

What 'rebellious son'?

It was too damn chuunibyou. Out of necessity, and worried that his ghost ship would be given some other messy title, Su Ming simply decided to personally declare the name of the midnight rose.

"There's nothing more to say, Omar!"

Smoker's eyes turned cold, and his lower body suddenly dissipated into thick white smoke.

The smoke jetted out, propelling him as he spun and flew into the air.

"A dangerous fellow like you belongs in prison!"

The modao bristle-tusk was held horizontally in mid-air.

*Clang!*

The jitte smashed down from above, but it was easily parried by Su Ming.

The vast Psychic Power brought by 20 points of Inspiration allowed him to perceive Smoker's attack path in advance; it couldn't be easier.

But...

14 points of Physique was a bit lacking.

Make no mistake, in a pure contest of strength, Su Ming would be crushed to dust.

Having anticipated this, the moment the sound of metal clashing exploded, Su Ming immediately activated his bloodline module, transforming into the hideous form of the Dark Erosion Spider Demon.

With his Physique suddenly surging to 17 points, both his speed and strength caught Smoker off guard.

He easily pushed him back and followed up with an upward slash.

The two-meter-long blade of the modao bristle-tusk swept across Smoker's body, but the feedback felt as if he had cut through empty air!

"Tch, Logia-type fruits are such a pain."

Glancing down at his unharmed chest, Smoker snorted:

"Zoan... no, you're hiding it deep, Omar. You never said you were a Mythical Zoan-type fruit user!"

"Just now, you were using this unseen Mythical Zoan fruit to play ghost, weren't you?"

*Thud!*

The Modao was planted into the ground.

Su Ming said nonchalantly:

"Who knows... but, let me remind you, small fry should have the self-awareness of small fry, don't you agree?"

The next instant.

Ah!—

A shrill scream echoed through the surroundings.

Smoker's expression changed drastically.

He looked toward the sound.

Only to see Tashigi, who had been holding her long sword and trying to join the battle, slumped on a speedboat with a pale face like a ragdoll.

"Tashigi!"

A soft giggle rang out.

To the horror of the onlookers, an eerie ghost actually separated from Tashigi's body and vanished in an instant.

At the same time.

In the Banshee Legion behind Su Ming, a gloomy and mournful figure of a young girl abruptly appeared!

Maintaining his circling posture in mid-air, Smoker's face turned ashen.

Damn it.

This unseen Mythical Zoan fruit was far more troublesome than previously expected!

Before Smoker could think of a viable countermeasure, in the next instant, something happened that made his hair stand on end!

The ghosts floating behind Su Ming all vanished at once!

"I said small fry should have the self-awareness of small fry... sigh, nobody listens!"

Oh no!

A series of screams rang out in succession.

On the four warships, the soldiers who were trying to raise their guns or turn the cannons under their superiors' orders fell like harvested wheat, letting out screams without warning before collapsing on the spot.

Following that,

A ghost would emerge from the body of a fallen soldier and then vanish into thin air, but at the same time, another soldier would inevitably suffer!

And this,

Was precisely the most common attack method of ghosts—Possession!

Through possession, they drained the target's vitality.

Then, using the ghost body's trait of Gathering and dispersing at will, they would instantly appear behind the next target and simultaneously possess them.

Efficient and stealthy!

And very difficult to interrupt midway.

The attack frequency of the Banshees was too fast!

This resulted in Navy soldiers constantly falling victim. This predicament of being beaten one-sidedly without the power to resist greatly crushed the Navy's morale.

"Damn you, you bastard!"

Smoker was furious, swinging his fist to strike from a distance!

An oversized iron fist shaped from black smoke.

A long trail propelled by white smoke.

Su Ming, however, leisurely raised his hand with a light wave. Gathering!

The air vibrated violently. After a boom, Smoker's signature move, 'White Out,' vanished into thin air in an instant!

Su Ming chuckled, explaining in a tone like he was teaching a child:

"So-called smoke, to put it plainly, is nothing more than solid dust particles in the air."

"Imagine, if you stripped away all those solid dust particles... what would be left?"

"Nothing! Understand? Your power needs smoke as a carrier. Without the smoke, you're no threat at all."

Smoker was exasperated. What kind of nonsense was this?

He didn't care about any of that.

With a shake of both arms, they dissipated into two white pythons composed of smoke!

Technique: White Snake!

The speed was fierce, and the trajectory was erratic.

Against any other pirate, this kind of move would be a finishing blow!

The protagonist's crew in the original story had suffered plenty from it.

But...

Su Ming didn't give a damn!

In the face of Level 8 Gathering, everything was as fragile as clay chickens and pottery dogs!

Consequently, Smoker felt utterly miserable. That guy on the bone ship's bow lightly raised his hand again, and his attack inexplicably collapsed into nothingness.

*Crash!*

This was simply cheating!

Has the era already gone crazy to this extent?

Based on what?

I'm asking you, based on what?!

Smoker was currently questioning his life!