Loguetown - The town's Plaza.

Arriving at the plaza's vicinity, Austin and his subordinates quickly noticed the increase in the number of soldiers gathered in the area.

Stepping into the plaza, Austin saw Buggy and Alvida in the center. The two were trapped in a net that seemed to be made of sea stones because otherwise, it was impossible to trap those two who were Devil fruit users.

"Yo, Alvida! I heard that you were captured here." Austin said in a relaxed tone to Alvida, gathering everyone's attention on him as a result.

Everyone present at the plaza glanced in the sound's direction and found 6 people walking in, with the one at the front wearing everything black, from his shirt to his long coat.

Smoker narrowed his eyes, intently inspecting the newcomers.

While Buggy tensed up the moment he heard that 'Yo'!

The poor Clown could never forget that devil's voice in his life, especially since just listening to that voice made the wound on his chest ache again.

On the other hand, Alvida was dancing with joy as she yelled happily, "AUSTIN!"

Remembering she was still trapped, embarrassed, she said with a wry smile. " As you can see, I got captured right after I joined your crew."

Hearing this, Brain frowned because he recognized Buggy but couldn't recognize the woman who just spoke now at all.

He clearly remembered people saying Alvida was captured here alongside Buggy at the plaza, but he found it unbelievable that Alvida was THAT gorgeous woman who just spoke!

"Is this our new crew member?" Zero asked curiously, looking at Alvida, who just spoke.

"It appears so," Emilia replied before looking at Austin for confirmation, who just nodded in response.

On the other side, glancing at Austin's group, Smoker interjected mockingly. "Hooo! ... So you are that famous Black Storm Austin!"

Shifting his gazes from Austin to the people behind, namely Brain, Zero, and Sebas. He added, " Hmm, you must be Brain Unglaus, Zero, and Sebas."

Smoker narrowed his eyes, examining Erya and Emilia, but he couldn't recognize them and said: "It appears you have some new companies, huh? ... Well, it doesn't matter anyway."

While Smoker was talking, Austin quickly used 'Detect' on him, and he was surprised by his level and stats.

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Name: Smoker ( The White Hunter)

Race: Human

Level: 49

Strength: 520

Agility: 530

Stamina: 500

Charisma: 50

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'Huh? Level 49? No wonder Luffy couldn't defeat him at all when he arrived here in the anime.' - Austin was surprised by Smoker's level, as the man was clearly qualified to train in Haki, but he probably hadn't started yet.

' He is quite strong.' - Austin thought. - ' If he was a pirate, with his logia devil fruit, he would probably have at least a bounty of 200 million Berries on his head.'

" And you must be the 'White Hunter' Smoker. " Austin smiled at Smoker in the utmost calm and relaxed manner, clearly displaying his confidence in his strength.

" Aren't you a little bit relaxed considering your current situation?" Smoker smirked.

As if to prove their commander's statement, the Navy soldiers moved closer, encircling Austin and his group while, at the same time, staying at a certain distance since they were ordered to just cut their way of retreat and not attack directly.

"Alright, I'm a busy man ... So let's cut to the chase, Smoker." Austin paused momentarily before saying in a deep voice," I will overlook the fact that you captured a member of my family, so release her, and I will be leaving this island." Austin smiled and added, " So how about this deal ?"

"Hoo! Aren't you overestimating your strength, or do you need help understanding your current situation?" Smoker narrowed his eye, acting confident. But actually, he was cautious because Austin's reaction wasn't what someone trapped and surrounded by hundreds of soldiers suppose to show.

In addition to Austin's abnormal reaction, Smoker noticed that the other Black Strom pirates were also way too calm for the circumstances, making him more alert.

"Oy, Smoker! I do have great respect for you ..." Austin paused before saying with a serious expression," And that's the only reason I'm not pressing this matter to the end. Because, believe me ... if it was someone else ... he would have already been dead, and I wouldn't even give him a way out."

"Well, since you have all this consideration, then I will propose something else." Smoker smiled, adding, " ... Surrenders right here, and I will leave your other crew members who don't have bounties on their heads to flee."

Austin sighed in response. He wasn't surprised by this outcome since he expected it.

And the truth is, he didn't want anything other than this to happen because he would otherwise lose the rewards of kicking Smoker's ass. So, he was actually quite happy with this turn of events!

"I hope you won't regret this," Austin stated as he took a step forward.

" Whiteout!" Smoker responded by using the same move he used on Buggy and Alvida previously.

Alas, the outcome was different this time, prompting his face to instantly change to shock!

Austin enveloped both his hands with Haki and grabbed Smoker's arms, which turned to smoke.

Catching Smoker's smoke arm with his left hand, Austin forcibly dragged Smoker's body towards him before grabbing his face with his right hand and slamming him to the ground.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Slammed to the ground, Smoker coughed blood before looking at Austin with a dumbfounded look on his face. Clearly, he didn't expect him to be a Haki user because all he heard was Austin being a Devil Fruit user.

Smoker finally understands where Austin's early confidence comes from. Because the latter mastery of Haki changes everything here, as in this case, the prey easily turns out to be the predator instead!

Smoker wasn't the only one shocked by this outcome. Everyone else in the plaza, whether they were citizens, Navy soldiers, or the captured pirates, were stunned after Austin casually grabbed Smoker's smoke easily.

The plaza immediately turned deathly silent!

Austin stomped on Smoker's stomach with his right leg, which was wrapped with Haki, making him cough more blood.

He then leaned forward while still trampling on Smoker's stomach with his leg and said. " Tell me, what made you so arrogant in front of me?"

" Was it because you have a Logia-type Devil fruit ... " Austin paused, looking down at him. " ... Or was the fact that you were playing around with these weaklings in the East Blue made you forget you are not invincible? "

" As a sign of respect, I offered you a chance I usually don't give to others..." Austin looked straight into Smoker's eye and said, " ... Yet it appears you took that as a sign of weakness."

" Smoker ... If I wanted to kill you, I would have already done it, and I wouldn't care less about the consequences..." Austin smirked, adding, "... Or that Icy friend of yours."

Austin paused when he noticed Smoker's eyes open wide in shock.

"What? Are you surprised that I knew about your little friendships with Kuzan?" Austin smiled a savage smile, stating.

" 'Cough'...' Cough'...Who...are...you!" Smoker asked with difficulty. Clearly shocked by this turn of events.

First, it appears this Austin is stronger than what he revealed, and he seems more mysterious, especially with those back eyes of his, which gave Smoker the impression that they could see directly through his soul.

Secondly, he obviously knows a lot, making Smoker question Austin's origin since the latter was clearly impossible to be someone from East Blue.

" Now, I will tell you what's gonna happen next..." Austin paused and narrowed his eyes, saying, " After I take a look at the execution platform, I will bring back my crew member and leave the island quietly afterward."

" Smoker ..." Austin paused and added in a solemn voice," ... There's no need for unnecessary blood to be spilled here."

After lifting his leg from Smoker's stomach, Austin walked towards the stunned pirates, who were looking at him with fear in their eyes.

Not giving a damn about all the Navy soldiers surrounding him, Austin strolled toward the plaza's center with his head raised high, ignoring everyone around as if they were some kind of ants.

Arriving before the trapped Alvida, Austin took out his sword, Diablo, enveloped it with Haki, and cut through the net of sea stone, freeing Alvida and the rest of the pirates.

Alvida was looking at him with stars in her eyes, while Buggy was frightened even though he had already expected this outcome since the moment Austin showed up.

Buggy had seen his share of strong pirates before when he was with the Roger pirates, and he could tell that Austin was at least on the level of those monsters from the New World.

" Long time no see, Buggy!" Austin looked at Buggy and smiled, saying." I hope you haven't returned to your old habits."

Buggy hurriedly shook his head weakly, indicating that he hadn't done anything wrong since the last time they met.

" Good. Take your crew and get out of here. I will take it as you owe me one this time." Austin smiled gently at Buggy.

Alas, that gentle smile didn't comfort Buggy at all, but on the contrary, it sent a chill through his spine.

The frightened Clown didn't even try to speak or look at Austin as he quickly signaled for his crew to retreat, wanting to get as far away as possible from this monster.

But before they could withdraw, they were interrupted by Smoker's furious roar.

Standing back to his feet, Smoker wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and roared furiously at Austin. " Black Storm Austin, don't look down on us! ... We are the Navy, the justice in this world! ... Even if we have to die here, we will stop you no matter what!"

The soldiers tightened the grips on their weapons in response to their commander's roar.

"Smoker, you and I both know that you will all die for nothing here, and I will still leave this island unscathed at the end," Austin said.

"So it's up to you ... Do you want to die for nothing today or live to fight for another day? " Austin smirked and grandly opened his arms, stating. " It's your choice!"

Smoker gritted his teeth because he knew it was the truth.

Just from that previous quick clash, he already knew he wasn't Austin's opponent and that there was a vast disparity in their strengths.

Yet he still refused to back down and smiled mischievously, saying. " I admit, I'm not your opponent ..." Smoker paused. " But at least you will not leave this island without a loss, as you claim."

" And how will you do that?" Austin asked while narrowing his eyes.

Smoker spat on the ground some blood from his mouth before declaring with a wide grin.

" I have already sent a whole unit armed with cannons to destroy every pirate ship docked on the port." Smoker added after a quick pause," ...And, of course, your ship is no exception."

The expression on Austin's crew's faces changed slightly after hearing what Smoker said, and even Austin closed his eyes and lifted his head to the sky.

Noticing this change, Smoker was delighted because, from the look of Austin's crew and the changes on their faces, he seemed to have finally succeeded in giving a slap to this man's face.

He couldn't help but feel good even though he knew it was just a meaningless loss of a ship and not of crew members, but still, it was better than nothing.

At least that is what he thought until he heard Buggy mockingly say in a low voice," A bunch of fools !"

Even though Buggy said it in a low voice, Smoker clearly heard it, and the soldiers close to him also heard it.

Actually, the changes in Austin's crew expression weren't because of nervousness. But on the contrary, it was envy and jealousy from Azuth, who, according to Smoker's words, will be having some fun with the soldiers right now.

As for why Austin closed his eyes, he was actually weighing the pros and cons of killing Smoker here!

He has absolute trust in Azuth's capabilities, so he wasn't worried in the slightest about 'Black Star'. But nonetheless, he still needs to respond strongly to Smoker's provocation in order to teach him a lesson and make an example of him.

' I can't kill him because I don't want Aokiji to come looking for me. I'm still not at the level of admirals yet, so killing him is out of the question.' - Austin thought. - ' And I can't make him my 'Subordinate' either because there are a lot of people present here ... So if I want to cover up the fact that I killed him first before 'reviving' him afterward, I will have to kill him and everyone else here, including the citizens, which is absolutely unacceptable.'

After thinking for a while and coming up with a suitable solution, Austin opened his eyes again and released his 'Predator Mode' Skill at full capacity.

To the bystanders, it didn't even take Austin a second to open his eyes after closing them. And the moment he did so, a horrifying pressure and intense killing intent descent on the area, rendering everyone present paralyzed in their spots.

The majority of the Navy soldiers and the nearby citizens were trembling in fear and gasping for air, feeling suffocated by the intense pressure and bloodlust.

Austin then used his 'Wind bullets' and 'Wind blades' skills, attacking all the Navy soldiers in the area.

Soon all 200 soldiers present got shot and injured, especially in their legs, and dropped to the ground afterward, bleeding.

After taking care of the soldiers, Austin appeared before Smoker and smashed him to the floor.

He then started punching him multiple times all over his body with his fists that were enveloped with Haki, resulting in many cracking sounds, clearly from Smoker's bones, which were damaged badly by this barrage of attacks!

After beating up Smoker to his heart's content, Austin then drew his sword and slashed at Smoker's chest, giving him a massive wound similar to what Zoro received from Mihawk in the anime.

From attacking the hundreds of soldiers to injuring Smoker severely, all it took Austin was only a matter of seconds to finish everything up, showcasing his overwhelming strength for everyone to see!

Looking down at the now gravely injured Smoker, who was lying on the ground, bleeding all over his body, clearly in critical condition, Austin said in a deep voice. " I told you before, don't take my kindness as a sign of weakness!"

" Listen well, Smoker ... I will see that Execution Platform and leave with my comrades... " Austin paused before adding in a severe tone," ... And if I returned to the shore and found even a single scratch on my ship... I will be back to burn you alive alongside all your soldiers."

"You have already touched one of my family. And now ... you want to demolish my home?" Austin looked straight into Smoker's eyes and smiled a savage smile, stating. " Don't test my bottom line twice, weakling!"

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( A/N: I sincerely apologize for the delay in delivering this chapter.

Thanks to everyone who expressed their support and understanding in the comments. I truly appreciate your kind words, and I am grateful for your patience.

Thank you 💙.

.....

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