Zoro frowned.
"And what about the marines?"
"What do you mean?" Luffy didn't understand.
"There will definitely be marines on the ship. What should I do with them?"
"…Zoro, did you hit your head or something?" Luffy stared at his first mate as if he had said they no longer needed money.
"Nami's mother was a member of the marines; she probably wouldn't like it if we start cutting down every marine we meet," Zoro finally shared his dilemma.
"Zoro, do you think Nami is a fool?" Luffy rolled his eyes. "It's true that she doesn't like killing, but you're underestimating her. She knows exactly what her family is made of."
"So, can I deal with the marines as I see fit?"
"Zoro, raising our pirate flag means complete freedom. So, if you don't have my orders, you can always do as you please. If you want, you can go and cut down all the local marines, and I wouldn't care. Actually, no, I'm lying. If you cut down all the marines, you'd ruin one of my jokes… But if you really want to cut them all down, forget about the joke and go ahead."
Zoro was taken aback by this speech.
"Remember, Zoro, we are pirates now. From now on, the marines will always be our enemies" Luffy's lips twisted into a nasty grin. "Showing mercy to our enemies is a surefire way to end up dead. So, if anyone dares to attack you, kill without hesitation. The whole world should know that no one dares to touch our family members."
"…Understood," Zoro finally sighed. "Sorry, Captain. I guess I've become too accustomed to sparing the marines; it won't happen again."
Luffy frowned slightly:
"Just to clarify, my words don't mean that you need to kill every marine you see. We won't get any money for them anyway."
Luffy earned a few irritated looks from Zoro for his words.
"I kind of figured that out… and are you saying that if we got money for dead marines, we'd kill them all?"
|…Well, we've killed pirates, what's the difference with marines?"
Looking at Luffy, who seemed genuinely confused, Zoro sighed heavily. He had no illusions about his captain, but sometimes Luffy pretended so well to be a 'nice guy' that even he momentarily forgot the true, ruthless nature of the monster he was following.
With that, the discussion ended. Zoro went off to sample the Orc's personal alcohol stash, while Luffy went off to put his plans into action. Before leaving his favorite Orc's base, however, Luffy gave a few additional, highly specific orders. Perhaps someone else wouldn't have understood the purpose of these orders, but Zoro knew his captain better than anyone, so if the swordsman had overheard Luffy's words, he would have immediately suspected something was up. Unfortunately for Zoro, he didn't hear anything. And when Luffy went off to his business, Zoro was under the full belief that his captain was 'just' going to cause a ruckus with the local marines, which had nothing to do with him. They were 'just' marines. How amazing the naivety was! Zoro was so focused on 'the unexpected encounter with his past' in the form of a young marine member who resembled his deceased girlfriend, that he completely overlooked one crucial fact. Specifically, that this very encounter had happened in front of his captain. His captain. And Zoro didn't think much of it. A mistake…
Meanwhile, several hundred meters away from Zoro, on the third floor of a four-story building, another person was blissfully unaware of his imminent, rather unpleasant future. A future that threatened to leave not a single stone standing from his present, as well as from the present of one of his subordinates. For two people, this day marked a turning point that would split their lives into two distinct periods: 'before this day' and 'after this day.'
Smoker. Captain Smoker. Marine. A person who could confidently be said to be known by every dog in Loguetown. Loguetown, by East Blue standards, was not a small city — nearly thirty thousand residents — but Smoker had always been in the spotlight. Since he took charge of the local Marine base about five years ago, no pirate had been able to leave the city. And this was with the fact that Loguetown was considered the 'last city of East Blue.' This unique title meant that if anyone from East Blue was planning to head to the Grand Line, Loguetown was the last city of East Blue on their way to the most mysterious and dangerous sea in the world. It was quite clear that the overwhelming majority of ships, before setting sail for the Grand Line, would dock in Loguetown to replenish their supplies. Including pirates. Fortunately for many involved, the vast majority of pirates either lacked the intelligence and insight or had no means to gather information, or simply didn't bother with it... or, in simpler terms, were overconfident fools who thought they could easily handle any threat. So all the pirates who had come to Loguetown in the past five years before their departure to the Grand Line ended up in the hands of the strongest marine of East Blue. Without exception! And there were very serious reasons for this.
Firstly, by East Blue standards, Smoker wasn't just considered an unbeatable monster; he was one! The nickname 'Strongest Marine of East Blue' was not an exaggeration or fabrication in his case. For Smoker, who had been hardened by the Grand Line, his assignment to East Blue, and to his native city no less! — was akin to a five-year vacation. Even worse for pirates, besides his strength, Smoker was not a dumb soldier but rather an intelligent man. That's why even if pirates, upon arriving in Loguetown, decided to be cautious and disembark in some secluded part of the island, their fate remained unchanged. All such secluded spots had been identified by the captain within the first month of his assignment — being born and raised in Loguetown, he already knew most of them before his appointment — and all were under close surveillance. In all these places, Smoker had established rotating patrols, making it rare for a pirate to land on the island unnoticed. However, even if such a miracle did happen — the human factor and unforeseen circumstances capable of changing any plan — pirates always revealed themselves fairly quickly. As soon as they visited the relevant spots in the city, like the famous bar where the Pirate King used to spend his time when he was an unknown pirate, or began to act too brazenly, marines led by lieutenants, or even Smoker himself, would soon descend upon them.
In the rare case where pirates managed to land on the island unnoticed and avoid detection while in the city, and then somehow departed without being spotted, Smoker had several ships stationed on the best route leading from Loguetown to Reverse Mountain. This route was favorable because the lighthouse on one of the island's capes always pointed sailors in the right direction… and this was where even the luckiest pirates fell into Smoker's trap. Feeling overconfident, they would naturally use the lighthouse as their guide and set out from the island… only to fall straight into a trap set by Smoker. If pirates had any chance of avoiding this last trap, it would only be during a severe storm or thick fog. However, if given a choice, no sensible person would venture into the sea during a storm, and there weren't many willing to do so in thick fog either. In other words, only a truly devilishly lucky or devilishly strong pirate crew could sail out of Loguetown unscathed. Smoker hadn't encountered either type… Of course, he could only confirm the latter.