章 21: 021 Marines Meeting, Smoker
Hina stepped back, mouth slightly agape, and asked in surprise, "Where did you get this?"
The price of Devil Fruit on the black market can reach up to 100 million beli, but it's rare to find one for sale.
Hina couldn't imagine how much risk Lynch took to get her this Devil Fruit.
Lynch just looked at her with a smile.
"Okay, Hina will eat it!"
Feeling determined under Lynch's gaze, Hina lowered her head and took a bite.
She secretly made up her mind to use the abilities she gained to help Lynch in the future.
Then...
"Ugh~" Hina bent over and showed a disgusting face. She looked at the bitten Devil Fruit in her hand and decisively threw it into the trash can.
"This taste... Hina can't think of anything worse than this."
"Now, what abilities did you get?" Lynch looked at Hina expectantly.
Hina closed her eyes, concentrated for a moment, and said happily, "Hina can create prison-related items and give them special powers."
With that said, a long whip and a pair of handcuffs appeared out of thin air in Hina's hand, and she looked at Lynch eagerly: "Do you want to give it a try?"
Lynch's eyes roamed back and forth between the handcuffs, the small leather whip, and Hina's beautiful face. He suddenly shuddered and waved his hands.
"Forget it, let's talk about it later."
"Pfft~" Hina picked up the whip and said softly: "Look at how scared you are, and Hina won't really hit you."
After Hina relaxed for a while, she went back to her room to sleep.
Early the next morning, Lynch got up early.
While eating cookies on the sofa, the door to Hina's and Momousagi's rooms opened at the same time.
The two of them stretched their waists, revealing their slim waists, like lazy cats.
Pa~
The cookie in Lynch's hand fell to the floor.
Is Shura Field still here?
"Good morning Momousagi-nee."
"Good morning."
Momousagi Hina greeted each other like a pair of good sisters, which surprised Lynch.
This reaction between the two of them is not quite right...
"What are you thinking? You dropped all the cookies." Momousagi leaned over to pick them up and tossed them in the trash before sitting next to Lynch.
"Why do you look so surprised?"
Hina sat on the other side of Lynch. She didn't mind the half-eaten cookie on the table that Lynch had left, so she picked it up and ate it.
"No... it's fine." Lynch found himself sandwiched between two people, surrounded by their distinct fragrances, pretending to be calm.
Dong dong dong~
A sudden knock on the door came as a welcome distraction for Lynch.
Outside the door, a Marine shouted, "Brother Lynch, is Rear Admiral Momousagi here? The Fleet Admiral has called her to a meeting."
"By the way, the Fleet Admiral wants you to come too."
Lynch and Gion exchanged puzzled looks. What could be happening so early in the morning?
Lynch had a vague suspicion that it might be related to his actions from the previous night.
"Okay, we understand, you can go back."
...
The two were dressed neatly, and when they arrived at the conference room, they found that almost the entire middle and upper management of Marine had arrived.
The seats for a total of one hundred people were almost full, and Momousagi pulled Lynch to sit aside.
After everyone arrived, Sengoku came out from behind the scenes and fixed the three photos in his hand on the tactical board for everyone to see.
"Smoker!"
Lynch felt bad. The first photo on the tactical board was of Smoker.
But this time, Smoker looked different. Not only was he in prison clothes, but he also had a cigar in his mouth.
Sengoku tapped Smoker's photo with his baton and spoke in a deep voice:
"The first thing I want to discuss with you today is this young Marine."
"We, Marines, once assisted the World Government in escorting a Logia Devil Fruit."
"However, during the escort, the escort team was attacked by the Beast Pirates, one of the Four Emperors."
"A fight broke out between the two sides, and the escort team were no match. This young Marine ate the Devil Fruit himself in order to prevent the fruit from being taken away by the pirates."
Hearing this, Lynch secretly thought something was wrong.
The term "Logia" alone is worth ten lives like of Smoker. With all three Admirals currently being Logia users, it's clear that they're one-of-a-kind.
Especially with Marines assisting the World Government, which is troublesome.
The impact of this incident is not just as simple as the surface, but also has a deeper meaning.
This precedent cannot be allowed to stand; there must be a death sentence to deter others!
Just imagine, if Smoker is spared this time, the team escorting the Devil Fruit might see it as an opportunity to rebel, claiming the Devil Fruit for themselves with excuses that they were attack by pirates
As expected, Sengoku continued, "The World Government demands Smoker's execution. What are your thoughts?"
"What else can we do with this rebellious Marine? He should be executed"
Akainu said coldly with a sinister face.
In his view, Marines must always follow orders. No matter the reason, someone who disobeys orders and eats a Devil Fruit privately deserves death.
"Aalalala~ Smoker was right. If he hadn't eaten the Devil Fruit, everyone on that ship would've died, and the Devil Fruit would've been lost to pirates. Executing a hero like him would chill Marine's heart."
Aokiji voiced an opposing view to Akainu
There was quite a sense of tension between the two.
"Whatever, as long as it's the Fleet Admiral's decision, I agree with it with both hands." Kizaru slowly raised his hands as he spoke.
Lynch's mouth twitched when he saw it, Kizaru is truly a working man, as long as he wasn't personally involved, no one could touch him.
After the third Admiral spoke, the Vice Admiral followed, and finally, the Rear Admiral spoke.
As for Lynch... he couldn't intervene yet, being the lowest-ranking officer present.
Many suggested Smoker should be executed.
This might relate to Aokiji being seen as the dove at the start, and Akainu as the hawk.
"That's enough, stop."
Sengoku had a headache and rubbed his eyebrows, his already depressed mood became even more anxious.
"Lynch, tell me what you think."
"I?!"
Lynch saw all the senior officers looking at him and stood up to speak.
"I agree with Aokiji Admiral's opinion. We cannot let the Marines feel cold. A good army is based on military morale. If the military morale is strong, it will be invincible. If the military morale is weak, the enemy will win without a fight. I hope the Fleet Admiral will think twice."
As Smoker's friend, Lynch naturally doesn't need to speak for others.
"A good army should be based on military morale."
Sengoku's eyes lit up and he said to everyone: "You guys wait here for a moment, I will be back soon."
About 15 minutes later, a shouting voice came from the side room: "That's enough! I am the Fleet Admiral of the Marines!"
After hanging up the Den-Den Mushi, Sengoku returned to the front with a dark face.
"The decision is final. The World Government agreed not to execute Smoker, but as punishment, he will be stationed in East Blue to guard Loguetown for 20 years."
"Twenty years!" Aokiji exclaimed. "Sending a young and promising Marine to a remote corner like East Blue for that long—Smoker will be wasted by then!"
In East Blue, there's no Haki, no strong opponents. If Smoker stays there without regressing, that's the best-case scenario, let alone progressing.
.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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