Among the pirates, there are many who are unrestrained, and the Marines are no exception, with Smoker being one of them.
However, his 'unrestrainedness' isn't like that of Nezumi or Morgan; it's more a matter of his personality.
He does as he likes, refuses to be constrained, and some within the ranks secretly call him a mad dog.
As a Logia user, stationing him in Loguetown is an obvious waste of talent. His assignment to East Blue serves both as protection and a temporary demotion.
His attitude toward pirates aligns with the general philosophy of the Marines, but not with the policies dictated by the World Government. After all, eradication has never been the World Government's true goal.
Sending him to East Blue was partly to cool him down, to temper his disposition—ideally, to make him more obedient.
But Smoker's personality isn't so easily changed. Under his administration, Loguetown—the place which was the Beginning and the End of Roger—has entered an unusual period of stability.
Pirates in East Blue aren't particularly strong, yet they still raid towns. Loguetown, in particular, draws a lot of attention due to its history as the birthplace of the Pirate King.
Since Smoker was stationed here, Loguetown has become the final stop of East Blue's pirates.
Other Logia-types—Kuzan, Sakazuki, and Borsalino—each have their own temperaments. Whether it's Kuzan's apparent laziness, Borsalino's tendency to slack off, or Sakazuki's ruthless demeanor, they have all embarrassed the officials of the World Government.
Yet that never affected their positions as Admirals. The reason? They are powerful enough to be indispensable to the Marines.
In many ways, Smoker is similar to the three Admirals. He shares their temperament but lacks the corresponding strength. If he were strong enough, no one would be able to touch him, no matter how much they disliked him.
His stationing in Loguetown also has to do with the people he had offended.
The World Government is an enormous entity with a complex structure, and opinions about the Marines among them vary widely. There are even quite a few who believe that the Marines have always been nothing more than a dog of the World Government.
They may not be able to act against the Admirals, but they have their ways of making life miserable for others. The attack on Zephyr's family remains an unsolved mystery within the Marines.
Where were the soldiers assigned to protect them? How did the attackers find them? There were too many unanswered questions.
Even Zephyr got caught up in it back then—let alone the current Smoker. But he hasn't reached that stage yet, so the higher-ups have just chosen to temporarily push him out of their sight.
A Logia user who is loyal to the Marines—destroying him would simply be too much of a waste.
Some people disapproved of Smoker's way of doing things, but that didn't stop others from appreciating him. He has friends within the Marines as well, and Kuzan, in particular, shares a good personal relationship with him.
Kuzan had specifically called Smoker to prevent him from doing anything "suicidal."
Based on what he knew of Smoker, Yamato's actions in East Blue would inevitably draw his attention. The chances were high that he would actively seek her out. If he failed to find her, that would be fine—but if he did, he would be walking straight into his own demise.
Smoker had never fully explored the properties of smoke itself. To him, the Smoke-Smoke Fruit was merely a tool to evade attacks. As a result, when facing pirates who are adept in Haki and specialize in physical combat, he often finds himself at a significant disadvantage, easily overwhelmed.
"Captain Smoker, you are to follow orders. Stay away from that woman. Do you understand?"
Hearing only silence on the other end of the line, Kuzan repeated his command in an unusually formal tone, even addressing Smoker by rank.
"Yes, I understand."
"You don't need to feel dissatisfied; this is for your own good. That woman is not simple—right now, she has the ability to injure even me."
It seems that Kuzan noticed a hint of dissatisfaction in Smoker's tone, so out of friendship, he decided to add a few things more.
In truth, his battle with Yamato a year ago had given him a serious headache.
There existed a clear hierarchy among Devil Fruits—Arms-Arms Fruit and the Dice-Dice Fruit, or the Ton-Ton Fruit and the Kilo-Kilo Fruit are the direct example of this. This hierarchy is even more pronounced among the Logia-type elements.
Normally, the Ice-Ice Fruit and the Okuchi no Makami would have had no correlation. But after the Okuchi no Makami underwent modification, a new Kyurem was born, bringing with it an entirely unique ability in this world.
Devil Fruits were said to harbor devils, yet the devil within the Okuchi no Makami had been erased by Arceus himself. But when one devil disappears, a void is left behind—one that must be filled.
No new devil had taken its place. Instead, Yamato's own consciousness completely took control of the fruit, causing some alterations to the original demonic powers.
As the body of the Tao Dragon, Kyurem bore the title of "the strongest." So, the new version of Okuchi no Makami jumped to the very peak of all Ice-type Devil Fruits.
She had even developed an additional ability: Ice Consumption. Ice-type attacks were completely ineffective against her. Not only could Kuzan not freeze her—she could even directly consume his ice cubes as if they were food.
In another world, she could have rightfully claimed the title of Ice Devil Slayer. However, she had little interest in eating ice cubes. While it can restore a small amount of stamina, it wasn't significant enough for her to bother.
Her stamina bar was ridiculously thick—she'd probably have to consume an entire iceberg before it would have any noticeable effect.
The absolute suppression of his ability forced Kuzan into a pure physical combat with Yamato. In a way, even he couldn't tell whether she had simply chosen to retreat at her leisure or had just lost interest in the fight altogether.
Ability suppression is even more absolute than the restraint of a superior devil fruit. Among the current three Admirals, Kuzan is the easiest opponent for Yamato to deal with.
It was during that battle that Kuzan gained a deeper understanding of just how formidable her physical combat skills were. He could say with certainty—Smoker wouldn't be able to withstand even a single strike of her kanabo.
After repeating his warnings several times, Kuzan ended the call and left headquarters, heading to his designated position to carry out his defensive duties.
The World Government's orders were simple: no matter what happens, Mariejois must remain undisturbed. As for everywhere else, they didn't care how much was destroyed—they could always rebuild again.
After all, that was how they had operated for centuries. In the long history of the world, most nations fell to the flames of war, but there were quite a few that had been erased by Mariejois itself.
Meanwhile, after hanging up, Smoker remained silent for a while. It wasn't because he felt he was being underestimated—it was because he had wanted to tell Kuzan not to treat him like some brainless brute.
Sure, there were times when he ignored orders, but he wasn't reckless to the point of madness. If he were, he would've already charged off alone to challenge the Four Emperors by now. He knew full well that he wasn't capable of dealing with monsters with bounties over a billion.
Otherwise, back in Loguetown, when he encountered Dragon, he wouldn't have backed down so easily.
He had no desire to test whether getting his skull bashed in with a kanabo would somehow temper his Haki or awaken his Devil Fruit.
Still unsettled by Kuzan's warning, Smoker turned to his assistant to confirm something.
"Tashigi, what kind of person do you think I am?"
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