Smoker's confidence was indeed based on pure logic, and it could be considered flawless. Even the renowned Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, was not even a fraction as strong as he would become by the end of his journey on the Grand Line, despite having been considered the strongest in the East Blue. Smoker reasoned in the same vein. Even if each of the 'Pirate Slayers' were capable of reaching the strength of the Pirate King in the future, right now they possessed only a fraction of that future strength. Without the tempering of the Grand Line's waters, even Logia-type Devil Fruit users with incredible power could not display even a hundredth of their true strength. What kind of development of powers can occur if all your opponents can't even scratch you? One opponent, ten, a hundred, a thousand, or even tens of thousands — Logia-type users in the East Blue, in the eyes of ordinary people and soldiers, could easily be seen as some Immortal Gods from ancient legends or Invincible Heroes from children's tales. Conversely, in the second half of the Grand Line, in the New World's waters, such an 'Immortal God' might be taken down by a random drunkard whom the 'Immortal God' had the misfortune of bumping into… especially if done intentionally. So yes, no matter how you look at it, Smoker's logic was indeed flawless… The problem was that the strength of the 'Pirate Slayers' did not conform to ordinary logic, which Captain Smoker would soon experience firsthand.
When the captain arrived at the dock, there was an almost reverent silence among the gathered guards, and most of them, as if forgetting all their duties in an instant, stared intently at the 'Pirate Slayers' ship. The arrival of Smoker and his accompanying lieutenant — the same one who had recently reported to him in his office — went almost unnoticed. What if someone from the pirate crew were in their place now? However, Smoker did not immediately start a showdown, instead, he first decided to find out the reason for such behavior of his subordinates. Even if they were not 'the best of the best', but they were not exactly green recruits, which they now resembled so much. So there was a reason.
Smoker did not immediately start an investigation. Instead, he first decided to find out the reason for his subordinates' behavior. They were not the 'best of the best,' but they were not completely green recruits either. Therefore, there must be a reason.
It was not difficult to find out.
As soon as Smoker and his lieutenant boarded the ship, they were met by a pair of visibly anxious lieutenants, who immediately escorted Smoker to one of the ship's compartments. To be precise, it was the anchor compartment combined with the storage room. At first glance, Smoker thought it was just a storage room, but he soon had to change his mind. It became clear that he had entered a genuine ship's warehouse.
There was nothing in this warehouse except shelves filled with silver cases. The cases were almost stacked on top of each other, separated only by a small metal margin on the edges. All the cases were strictly identical and were not so much placed on the shelves as fitted into precisely measured grooves. Each case had its own rubber band to keep it securely in place, preventing them from moving during a storm. Although that was mere detail. The most important thing was what was inside the silver cases. Money. The highest denomination. Neatly stacked bundles of ten-thousand-yen bills, wrapped in easily recognizable bank bands indicating the specific amount contained in each bundle.
On the floor lay five open cases, taken from different shelves and levels, full of identical bundles. Next to the cases stood the anxious lieutenants, clearly awaiting a decision from the frozen Smoker.
"Mother of God… how much money is here?" the lieutenant accompanying Smoker finally regained his speech.
"Billions," came the response.
"Are you sure all the cases are full of money?" Smoker asked, looking around at the opened cases on the floor.
"Cases? Is that what you call these types of suitcases?"
Hearing this question, Smoker realized he might have missed a potentially important detail: cases were a product of the New World. In East Blue, no one had heard of them, and even if they had, they wouldn't know what they were. So where did all these cases come from in East Blue? They were rare even on the Grand Line. Custom-made, perhaps? But why? It was unclear. However, they were here, which could mean anything — from nothing at all to serious problems. People in East Blue might know the name of the second half of the Grand Line, but knowing about specific things from the New World? Or worse, having connections to the New World? If so, Smoker would honestly admit that he had seriously underestimated the threat from the 'Pirate Slayers.'
"These suitcases are specially made for money or important documents, so they are called cases rather than suitcases," Smoker calmly explained to his subordinate. "So what? Have you checked the other cases, or did you only look at these five?"
"After opening these five, we immediately started checking the rest. Except for these five empty ones and this one half-full, all the others are packed with money," one of the lieutenants reported, pointing to the empty cases and the one that was only half full. "Another spot was empty, so it seems one of these cases was taken away. Although I can't say if it was full or not."
"And all of them contain ten-thousand-yen bills?"
"Yes."
It was indeed an enormous amount of money. Smoker knew that the 'Pirate Slayers' were not impoverished, but he was not prepared for such wealth. It turned out that there was still much he did not know about them. Another misjudgment of the enemy. Smoker was becoming increasingly uneasy about the situation, especially that the 'Pirate Slayers' had left all this money completely unguarded. Even if their confidence might have been overwhelming, how could they be sure that no one would snatch a few of these cases from their ship? And this was not only about the guards.
Reputation or not, if there were idiots out there testing their luck against entire Marine Admirals, there must be even more idiots willing to try their chances against the 'Pirate Slayers'. Especially if it was only about their ship, not the crew itself. Could Roronoa Zoro really not understand this? Smoker wanted to believe that, but he could not. The captain realized that if it were that simple, he would not be standing in an improvised warehouse with an indeterminate amount of billions in it. So, what was the catch? Why were all these money left unguarded on the ship? Smoker could not find an answer — or could he? How did the 'Pirate Killers' manage to eliminate all the watchers so quickly? Given their number — many, very many — they should have missed at least one by pure statistics. And there should have been enough time for reinforcements to arrive. But no observer was missed, and they dealt with them so quickly that reinforcements did not have time to arrive. A power that allowed not only detecting observers but also eliminating them from a distance? Or powers? One responsible for detection and another for elimination? Then it was possible that right now, one of the 'Pirate Slayers' was watching the situation on the ship. And what would happen if someone tried to take one of the cases off the ship?
Smoker decided to test his hypothesis immediately and check it himself:
"I'm going to try to carry two cases off the ship right now, and if nothing happens, each of you will also take two cases."
"Captain, you want to move the money?"
"…Maybe."
Realizing that someone among the 'Pirate Slayers' might have an unknown ability to detect people from a distance, Smoker further speculated that this individual could be listening to their current conversation, so he did not go into details.