One Piece: Marine to Warlord to Conqueror

"Is this guy... insane?" Smoker watched Dante's ship pull away, a grim expression on his face. Driving a pirate ship so brazenly into his territory, then expecting him to just host them? 'What did he think this place was, a resort? I am a Marine Captain, damn it.'

"Haha..." Tashigi chuckled nervously beside him. "Well, Captain Dante is on vacation, sir. It's only natural he'd be a bit... relaxed."

"Vacation? On a pirate ship?" Smoker shot his subordinate a sideways glance, flicking the ash from his cigar. "That man's been nothing but trouble lately."

The Alabasta Incident. The Drum Kingdom Incident.

If Dante hadn't filed those intelligence reports, Smoker would still have no idea the scoundrel had run off to the Grand Line. And for a 'vacation'? The thought brought a strange twist to Smoker's face. He remembered Headquarters asking him about the so-called 'Overlord of the East Blue.'

'Some law-abiding branch captain,' Smoker thought with a sneer. 'What a joke.'

"Forget it," he grumbled, taking the cigar from his mouth. "At least he's gone." He looked at Tashigi, his expression flat. "What's the status on that God Valley Incident I had you look into?"

Tashigi's demeanor immediately turned serious. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I've been looking into it secretly, just as you asked, Captain. But there's not much progress. All the information matches what we already have: the Rocks Pirates in their bid to wreck havoc across the seas, and Vice Admiral Garp saved the Celestial Dragons, earning his title as the Hero of the Marines."

"Hero of the Marines..." Smoker flicked his cigar again, his brow still furrowed. 'The Rocks Pirates... Celestial Dragons... God Valley.'

What really happened there? Why had Garp shut him down so forcefully when he'd asked? And how did that bastard Dante know about it in the first place?

"The fact that everything looks normal is exactly what's not normal," Smoker said, a cold smirk touching his lips as he took a deep drag from his cigar. "I told you to ask around discreetly. Did you find anything else?"

"Well..." Tashigi flushed, looking embarrassed. "Kuina said she didn't know anything, but... then she took me straight to Captain Dante."

"You asked him directly?"

"It was fine, sir! Captain Dante wasn't upset, and..." Seeing Smoker's frown deepen, she quickly fumbled in her pocket. "And he gave me this pouch. He said it has everything you wanted to know. It's for your eyes only."

She carefully handed over a small, specially made silk pouch.

Smoker took it, a bewildered look on his face. 'He'd really just tell me, so easily?'

After a moment's thought, he pulled the drawstring. Inside was a single, small note. He unfolded it.

His face, which had been set in contemplative lines, instantly reddened in fury. He looked up at the vast sea, his knuckles white around the crumpled paper. "That bastard..." he gritted out.

Tashigi blinked, leaning over curiously to see the note her captain was about to crush into a ball.

It held a single sentence.

[I don't know either.]

"..." A helpless smile touched Tashigi's lips, and she stuck her tongue out slightly. "Captain Dante really is..."

"A complete scoundrel," Smoker cut in, finishing her thought. He flicked his cigar again, his face a thundercloud. "I swear, one of these days, I'm going to beat the hell out of him."

'Fine,' he thought, a spark of stubborn curiosity flaring within him. 'This just makes me want to find out for myself. I'll dig into it slowly.'

He glanced at the pouch still in his hand, then turned back to Tashigi. "Don't tell anyone else about this."

"Yes, Captain Smoker!" Tashigi's expression grew serious again. She understood. If the Hero of the Marines, Vice Admiral Garp, was this wary of the topic, it had to be dangerous.

Just as the words left her mouth...

*Puru puru puru... puru puru puru...*

The Den Den Mushi in his coat pocket rang. Smoker pulled it out and answered gruffly. "Hello? What is it?"

A moment later, he hung up, a vein throbbing on his forehead, as he muttered, "Shichibukai..."

"What's wrong, Captain?" Tashigi asked. "Is it from Headquarters?"

"Nothing," Smoker grunted, offering no explanation. He pocketed the Den Den Mushi and stared out at the sea. "Later, submit a military budget request to HQ."

"Another one, sir? But we just got our last budget approved." Tashigi looked at him, baffled. "Will they really sign off on another one so soon?"

"It's fine," Smoker said, flicking his ash. "Tell them the Mock Pirates re-entered the East Blue and attacked Loguetown. Tell them the town suffered heavy losses and needs funds for reconstruction."

He ignored Tashigi's bewildered expression, his gaze fixed on the horizon where Dante had disappeared.

"What are you really up to, Dante?" he murmured to himself.

--**--**

"Nope, nothing at all. Just a little accident, nothing to worry about. You can always believe in my justice."

*Beep.*

Dante hung up on Kuzan and put the Den Den Mushi away, sinking back leisurely to enjoy his personal secretary's pampering. 'Just Kuzan asking about the Mock Pirates,' he thought. 'No big deal.'

'Besides, since we'd gone through all the trouble, we also took Wapol. His ability is nothing to scoff at. He can synthesize almost all sorts of things.'

Especially alloy. Later on, the guy would use that power to create a special alloy, get rich overnight, and even found a whole new kingdom in the South Blue. Since they'd run into him, it felt like a waste to just leave him. Might as well package him up and bring him along. It could be a boost for their tech development.

'The only shame is that I can't extract Devil Fruits directly,' he mused. 'I could always try the old method, kill the user near a pile of fruit and hope it regenerates, but that's not exactly foolproof.'

'So, for now, he'll just have to sit in a cell and produce alloy for us. The Mock Pirates captured him, after all. What does that have to do with the Marines' 16th Branch?'

"We're here! We're finally home!" Nami's excited shout came from the helm. "Everyone, get ready! We're home!"

At her words, the crew looked up. As the familiar outline of their island appeared on the horizon, relaxed smiles spread across their faces.

They were finally back.

From inside a large wooden box on the deck, a happy, curious voice piped up. "Papa, Papa, are we there? At our new home? I want to see!"

"Mm, we're here," Kuma said, a faint smile on his face as he looked up at the approaching island. "A new home."

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