Chapter 98: Battle Against Marines Part 7
"Anyway, I am not a marine. I am not qualified to say anything about Justice. I am a pirate. If one day, I have to save my friends from the hands of marines, I wouldn't hesitate to do so."
"In the process, many people will die those will be marines who represent justice. Of course, marines should be willing to die for justice, isn't that right?"
"A marine shouldn't hesitate to even sacrifice their own comrades to implement justice. If I remember correctly, there is a person who has this kind of ideology, right?"
When he asked, Smoker couldn't help but nod his head. He is also a hardcore marine. He also believes that all pirates must die. But, he would never sacrifice marines to kill all pirates.
That's not his Justice. In the Navy, there are three factions represented by three admirals. Among them, Aokiji or Kuzan has the most support from marines because of his kind nature.
Marines like Garp, Sengoku, and Tsuru are more on the side of Aokiji than Akainu and Kizaru. But, it didn't mean there are no one supporting Akainu. In fact, there are a lot of people who like his Absolute Justice.
Smoker is a part of the Aokiji group but his ideology is to kill all pirates which are disliked by Sengoku. This is why Smoker was just a Captain even though his strength was close enough to becoming Rear Admiral of the Headquarters.
Thinking about this, Smoker couldn't help but clench his fist. He can't accept both factions but right now, they are at the top so he can't do anything about it either.
Liam also understood his mood and said.
"Well, all the things that I have said here will reach Sengoku's ears. So, you might as well tell him this. A person like Akainu might make Marines stronger but will never become the guardian of the ordinary people."
"A person like Aokiji might not make marines stronger but the Justice implemented by him will resonate in the hearts of ordinary people. Unfortunately, even if you and Garp support Aokiji, the next Fleet Admiral will be Akainu."
"Because only an obedient dog like Akainu can satisfy World Government."
Hearing his words, Smoker clenched his fist hard.
Bang!
Suddenly, a loud sound came from behind. The ground beneath Luffy and Yamakaji was crushed into a crater.
[Gomu-Gomu no- Bazooka]
"This kind of petty trick won't work."
[Iron Body]
Bang!
Yamakaji used his Iron Body to block Luffy's bazooka and the battle continued. It was slowly getting intense. Because Luffy's injuries were getting serious.
Of course, Yamakaji also had a lot of injuries. But both of them didn't have the intention to stop.
Looking at this, Chopper couldn't help but come forward.
"Liam, shouldn't you go and help Luffy?"
Hearing his words, Liam smiled and rubbed Chopper's head.
"Don't worry, the most powerful thing about Luffy isn't his Battle Talent or Strength. It is his endurance."
Chopper stared at Liam with big eyes and asked.
"Really?"
"Indeed! In terms of endurance, the only people who could possibly match Luffy can be counted in two hands."
"Amazing!" Chopper looked at Luffy who was covered in scars and blood with adoring eyes.
"Hey, even if Luffy can endure this battle, shouldn't we help him?" Nami couldn't bear to see Luffy injured. Unlike Chopper who was innocent, she was more concerned about Luffy's injuries.
Liam shook his head and said.
"In the future, we need to face terrible enemies. Some of them can even annihilate us in a single strike. Even with my trump card, I am not sure if I can stay alive."
"For such a situation, we must be prepared. Luffy must have a breakthrough here. Alas! If only Yamakaji could last much longer."
Hearing his words, Smoker's lips twitched as he asked.
"Are you also planning on using him to master your Armament Haki?"
Thinking about Liam and Luffy's Armament Haki, he couldn't help but feel envious. Although both of them haven't reached the level of Hardening, they still could release Armament Haki now.
And, it was all thanks to the battle with Yamakaji. He couldn't help but feel speechless when he remembered Yamakaji's confidence before coming here.
If they knew the situation would be like this, they would've sent another vice-admiral for sure.
Hearing his words, Liam nodded his head.
"You should know that I haven't reached Hardening. I truly want to reach that state unfortunately Yamakaji can't win against Luffy anymore."
"Hey, what do you mean? Vice-Admiral hasn't lost against your captain yet." Hina snorted with dissatisfaction.
"Not yet but soon."
Liam's eyes turned to Luffy.
Although it seemed like the battle was in the favor of Yamakaji, the Armament Haki in Luffy was slowly forming into a thin layer of coating above his skin.
"Haa! This battle will still last a few more hours. Let's go to sleep." Liam said as he lay down on the ground.
"Hey, we are marines. How can we sleep with pirates?" At this moment, even Smoker felt speechless. He couldn't help but stand up and walk toward the ship.
Suddenly, he turned around and ask.
"When will you return us Transponder Snails?"
"After the battle ends. After all, we don't want to be chased by several Vice Admirals or even Admiral right now." Liam answered as he slowly closed his eyes. His body was fine but his hand was covered in bandages.
And, that previous battle truly made him sleepy. Even though there was a battle going on, he didn't think too much and fell asleep.
Seeing the Vice-Captain sleeping so openly when Marines are still present here, everyone from the crew was speechless. But, suddenly, Nami took this as an opportunity and went next to Liam and slept while putting her arms above him.
"Damn this bastard!" Sanji chewed his jealousy and burst into flames of jealousy.
There were several firewoods burning in front of them. It was already night time but thanks to the fire from the firewood, they could still see the battle.
As for Luffy and Yamakaji, they were relying on their Observation Haki while sharpening it to fight in the dark.
When Smoker walked away, those commodores quickly followed him and asked.
"Smoker, are we really not doing anything?"
Although they were higher in rank, they didn't dare to underestimate Smoker's strength. If you can't use Armament Haki, there was no one who could win against Smoker unless it is Ace.
"We can't win." Smoker didn't say much and directly answered.
Hearing his words, those commodores stared at each other and helplessly sighed. It was true that they couldn't win. And even if they try to attack them during sleep, Smoker won't help them.
Even Hina might not help them.
Normally, they shouldn't let Pirates go like this especially Smoker who wouldn't hesitate to kill pirates. But, they found Straw Hats to be quite different.
After eating that meal, they also didn't want to attack them during the night. But even so, as a marine when they had a chance, they deiced to ask. Now that Smoker won't agree, they had no reason to attack them.
While they reached the warship, one of them asked one of the sailors.
"How is T-bone's condition?"
"Sure, he is recovering well." The sailor quite gave him a salute and answered.
Right now, both Zoro and T-bone were down due to that battle.
On the ground,
Everyone was slowly going to sleep while Luffy and Yamakaji were still fighting. But there was one who didn't go to sleep.
Chopper couldn't help but look at Usopp while lying on the ground.
"Aren't you going to sleep, Usopp?"
Usopp shook his head and said.
"No! I will watch over this battle."
Chopper stared at Usopp for a moment but he quickly fell asleep. He was too tired to keep watching. Unlike them, Usopp wasn't that tired.
And, he felt it would be too irresponsible to not keep a watch while they were literally a few meters away from their lifetime enemy.
Even though Usopp knew that they wouldn't attack. He didn't want to let down his guard.
But more than that, he wanted to keep watching Luffy's battle. He didn't know why but he had awakened his Observation Haki a long time. It's just that he didn't know how to use it perfectly.
Right now, it was night time and the fire will go down quite soon. He thought this would be a good chance to use his Observation Haki and train it further.
'According to Liam, my father is absolutely great at snipping and most of it is due to his strong Observation Haki. Luffy said that our crew must surpass Shanks' crew.'
'If Luffy is going to surpass Shanks, then I can't back down. I must surpass my dad as well.'
Instead of relying on his eyes, he closed them and released his Observation Haki. At first, he didn't exactly sense them but as time went by, he started clearly making their figure in his mind.
Soon, he started seeing their movements. Each time they attack or move, he captured that in his Observation Haki.
Unknown to all, Usopp's Observation Haki slowly getting better even better than Sanji's.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone