Chapter 125 The Riot Ends

  Smoker's Haki-covered fist smmed towards Serindi, but stopped an inch from his face, unable to penetrate any further.

  [Hmm? Ryuo defense?! The texture is off...]

  "Dehahaha! How's my air armor?!"

  "With my current defense, whether it's Garp, Sengoku, or those three Logia bastards, no one can touch a hair on my head!"

  Smoker: "..."

  You're just spouting nonsense.

  Leaving aside others, just take Kizaru,

  Do you think he couldn't turn you into a honeycomb through that transparent shell...

  At that moment, Smoker foresaw the surrounding air solidifying and quickly jumped away.

  "Such sturdy armor won't come without a price, like your movement speed... Bck Whip Lasso!"

  A bck whip, with a sharp whistling sound, shed towards Serindi,

  But the bck whip, which was effective against steel and boulders, failed this time.

  The whip struck Serindi's armor, producing a thunderous sound, shaking the dust on the ground, but failed to break through the defense.

  "Dehahaha, useless!"

  Smoker's expression remained unchanged: "Such a hard turtle shell, judging by your reaction, you can't move at all, can you?!"

  Serindi's ughter faltered, but then he put on a disdainful expression.

  "So what! I have as many ranged attacks as I want!"

  With a wave of his hand, several air threads sshed towards Smoker's neck.

  Smoker: "..."

  Just like the String-String Fruit...

  He didn't dodge, simply covering his neck with Armament Haki.

  The threads struck his neck, sparking, but leaving no mark.

  Smoker touched his neck: "Good concealment, but the hardness is far too weak, at most it's useful for ambushes, completely useless in battle!"

  Serindi coldly snorted: "I can't hurt you, but I can trap you!!"

  Then, countless air threads fell, and Smoker felt his body tighten, bound firmly by the threads.

  Smoker tried to break free, snapping many threads, but more threads fell, quickly immobilizing him.

  Seeing this, Serindi showed a smug look.

  "Now you're a sitting duck!!"

  "Let's see if your Armament Haki defense can withstand my attacks!"

  He said, and several mountain-like air cones appeared in the sky, their tips slowly moving, aiming at Smoker.

  Smoker frowned slightly, losing patience.

  He had basically figured out his opponent's abilities and didn't want to waste time anymore.

  Smoker activated his ability, darkness spreading, covering the desert within a hundred meters.

  As it flowed past Serindi, it made a faint sizzling sound.

  The darkness could still erode the air armor, but at a slow pace.

  "Your ability is interesting, but sorry, I'm in a hurry... You can slowly admire your invincible defense in the darkness!"

  "Dark Hole!"

  Suddenly, a huge gravitational pull came from the darkness,

  Not only did Serindi almost fall to his knees, but the huge cones in the air also crashed into the darkness.

  "What?!"

  Serindi was terrified, struggling to escape, but it was futile.

  His entire body, armor and all, slowly sank into the darkness, disappearing completely after a few seconds.

  A few minutes ter, Daz arrived, panting.

  Seeing only Smoker left, he showed a terrified expression.

  Smoker looked at him, his expression a half-smile.

  "Daz, the assassin from the West Blue..."

  He said, and then withdrew the darkness, walking slowly forward.

  A few minutes ter.

  Smoker stood still, his clothes full of holes, and a wound on his chest.

  He held a Devil Fruit in his hand, the Dice-Dice Fruit.

  This fruit was actually quite good, even if he took it back to Marine Headquarters, it would impress many officers.

  It seemed weak only because Daz was a liability.

  In the Four Blues, this fruit would make anyone invincible, as long as they didn't encounter someone overpowered.

  Smoker looked down at his chest, darkness surging, quickly restoring it.

  He looked at other parts of his body, either with white marks or no marks at all.

  [It seems that pure physical strength is still slightly inferior to real steel.]

  [With Iron Body, simple steel sshes can't hurt me anymore, but I still feel pain. If I kept taking hits, I would probably get injured.]

  [But with Armament Haki, I don't even feel pain...]

  Smoker moved his body, his joints cracking.

  In terms of physique, he was already comparable to a Marine Admiral, but he was still inferior to monsters like Kaido and Big Mom.

  Moreover, as his physique grew stronger, the effect of training with Seastone aids was diminishing...

  He had basically given up on that method now.

  Smoker shook his head, now wasn't the time to think about that, he had to hurry back to Yuba!

  He put the fruit into the darkness, looked at Daz's corpse, and also put it away.

  A 55 million Berry bounty couldn't be wasted.

  Even if he couldn't cim the bounty, there was Sana, the bounty hunter!

  That much money would be enough to help dozens of ensved commoners regain their freedom.

  As for Serindi, although he was still barely alive, his head and fruit were already his...

  Smoker looked around, and seeing nothing left, he activated his ability and flew away.

  At this time, the riot in Yuba was nearing its end.

  Without the threat of the sand bandits, the Royal Guard completely overwhelmed the scattered rioters.

  Compared to the pirates' mindless charges, the Royal Guard's tactics, like crossfire and fnking maneuvers, were a complete mismatch.

  Occasionally, powerful pirates would be focused on and eliminated.

  The most eye-catching were a group of cavalry,

  They were few in number, but extremely fast, able to quickly move across the battlefield, providing support to various areas.

  They weren't riding camels or horses, but a group of fast-running ducks...

  Suddenly, Smoker noticed Sana's aura.

  Sana occupied a high tower, raising her gun, picking off pirates one by one, reaping their lives like a grim reaper,

  He targeted those who were either powerful or well-equipped, the toughest nuts to crack. With his active participation, the Royal Guard's morale soared, and they crushed the pirates' defenses like a whirlwind.

  Of course, some clever pirates spotted Sana,

  But from that distance, their guns and cannons couldn't reach him.

  When they tried to attack the tower, they found Griffin, transformed into a griffin, guarding the base, giving no one an opportunity.

  After Sana cleared an area, he called out to Griffin and jumped off the tower.

  Griffin leaped high, catching him on his back, then fpped his wings and flew to another part of the battlefield to clean up...

  Smoker watched silently from high above, a look of satisfaction on his face.

  [That kid... he's good!]

  [Looks like we'll have a powerful sniper in the Marines soon!]

  Seeing that the Royal Guard had gained a decisive advantage, Smoker didn't reveal himself, but remained hidden in the clouds, quietly observing the battlefield.

  The Baroque Works organization had a hand in this riot,

  He had to be ready for any tricks Crocodile might pull.

  However, until the riot was completely suppressed and the Royal Guard began clearing the battlefield, Crocodile still hadn't appeared... It seemed he wouldn't.

  Smoker rexed, sensed that Bell and Sana were together, and flew straight to them.

  Bell, Sana, and two others were talking when Smoker suddenly descended from the sky, startling them.

  "Smoker-sama!"

  "Mr. Smoker?!"

  Bell and Sana looked grateful and pleased to see him, while the other two looked curious.

  Bell quickly introduced everyone.

  Actually, even without the introductions, Smoker recognized the other two.

  The tall man with curly hair was Igaram, and the one wearing a blue robe was Chaka, the user of the Dog-Dog Fruit, Jackal form.

  Igaram, as the highest-ranking official here, naturally became Abasta's representative.

  He approached Smoker and bowed deeply.

  "Smoker-sama, we are truly grateful! If not for your intervention, Yuba would have been in real danger!!"

  "You're welcome, Mr. Igaram. Protecting merchants and civilians is the justice the Marines must uphold. The Marines would have done the same!"

  Smoker was quite fond of Abasta's "Three Treasures."

  Their strength was cking, but their character, loyalty, courage, and responsibility were impeccable.

  Igaram: "Regardless, Abasta will remember your kindness!!"

  Bell and Chaka nodded in agreement.

  If not for Smoker, even if the Royal Guard had won against the 7,000 sand bandits, it wouldn't have been such a resounding victory.

  Both the army and the city would have suffered significant losses.

  And if the Royal Guard had lost, the consequences would have been even more disastrous.

  The city would have been destroyed, and countless civilians would have been killed or injured.

  Worse, the sve auction could have been canceled,

  And if the Celestial Dragons had retaliated against Abasta, that would have been a true catastrophe...

  Damn, the thought was terrifying...

  Smoker looked around at the devastation.

  "The sve auction is only a month away, will this be alright?"

  Igaram waved his hand.

  "Thanks to you, this level of destruction is nothing. We have more than enough time to repair it in a month. Rest assured, the auction won't be deyed!"

  "How about civilian casualties?"

  "Fortunately, the pirates mainly targeted merchant groups, so the impact on civilians was minimal. We've organized follow-up rescue and resettlement efforts."

  Smoker nodded.

  Merchant groups usually had guards, so they weren't defenseless against pirate attacks, and since the riot was quick, their losses shouldn't be too great.

  "Smoker-sama, what are your pns now?!"

  "Me? I'm just a tourist, naturally I'll continue to experience Abasta's culture and see the auction. However, I have a request!"

  "Please, speak."

  "I'd like to have the opportunity to visit King Cobra..."

  "That's no problem at all, I'll arrange a time for you!"

  If it were anyone else, Igaram would have asked the king first,

  But Smoker was practically Abasta's benefactor, and King Cobra would definitely not refuse, so he agreed immediately.

  Smoker nodded: "Thank you for that, any time is fine for me."

  "Alright..."

  ...

  Deep in the desert, where Smoker and Serindi fought.

  Due to Serindi's ability, a rge area of the desert had turned to stone.

  Suddenly, the stones began to weather, their surfaces cracking, and soon they turned back into fine sand.

  Then, a giant lizard emerged from the sand, looked around, and opened its mouth.

  Two figures walked out of the lizard's mouth.

  One, wearing a suit and overcoat, with a gold hook on his hand, was Crocodile,

  The other, with a voluptuous figure, wearing a light green tight leather suit, made faint rustling noises as she moved.

  She was Crocodile's current partner, Eine.

  Eine patted the giant lizard's nose.

  "I didn't expect Serindi to have such troublesome abilities... and I didn't expect Abasta to have creatures that could evade Observation Haki..."

  Crocodile said calmly: "This rare desert giant lizard is one of the few creatures born with the ability to block Observation Haki, but not many people know this secret."

  He walked around: "I didn't expect Serindi to be killed by the Marines..."

  Eine: "Not only that, the one you originally commissioned was also killed..."

  Daz would never have imagined that the one who commissioned him was his future boss, Crocodile.

  And Baroque Works agents were mixed among the sand bandits.

  "It doesn't matter, if he's dead, it means he was too weak. We'll just find a repcement!"

  "Hehe... I wonder when my repcement will appear?!"

  "Hmph... don't make such pointless jokes!"

  "Hehe... sorry, Boss. But are you still going to Yuba? Without the sand bandits, the rioting pirates can't do much."

  "The fighting should be over by now, there's no need to go. And with the Marines there, it's best to be cautious. Let our people go silent and await new orders!"

  "As for those pirates... consider them my gift to him! Gwahahaha..."

  Crocodile ughed and turned to leave.

  Eine jogged after him.