Chapter 56: Smoker, the Man of Smoke

Sword Intent! The sublimation of the Way of the Sword!

For ordinary swordsmen, the moment they grasp Sword Intent is equivalent to taking a crucial step on the path of swordsmanship. From then on, they cease to be mere swordsmen and become swordmasters—figures who, in the world of pirates, can truly be called masters of the blade!

Consider the world’s greatest swordsman, known as "Hawkeye." To understand just how terrifying the mastery of Sword Intent can be, one need only think of him. Even though "Hawkeye" never truly displayed his peak strength in the original tale, Chu Yi could easily imagine that, at his best, a casual swing of his sword, imbued with Sword Intent, could surely... rend the very sky!

Chu Yi’s swift comprehension of Sword Intent—his leap from a brute-force swordsman, relying solely on physical prowess, to one who rapidly attained the threshold of a swordmaster—stemmed from two primary reasons.

First, Chu Yi’s solid foundation, laid by Tiger’s teachings in Fishman Karate, gave him an unshakeable base.

Second, naturally, was the cheat-like advantage of his Shadow Clone technique!

By creating a multitude of shadow clones, Chu Yi and his clones lost their overwhelming physical edge. This had a hidden benefit: it made grasping Sword Intent much simpler. With both Chu Yi and his clones reduced to the physicality of ordinary people in the pirate world, each clone, every time they wielded the Blade of Asura, became akin to a disciplined, ordinary swordsman, honing their swordsmanship in life-and-death struggle.

And in that brief clash, how many of Chu Yi’s shadow clones had vanished?

Over a thousand!

Even if each clone’s disappearance during battle with the navy equated to a single day’s training for a regular swordsman, then over a thousand clones falling meant an accumulation of over a thousand days of practice—nearly three years!

Such is the terror of a diamond-grade awakening material, the multi-shadow clone. Through the marvels of this technique, just a few minutes of desperate struggle could rival nearly three years of another’s training.

Thus, it was no coincidence that Chu Yi could comprehend Sword Intent; it was the natural result of accumulated effort in the Way of the Sword.

And yet, even Chu Yi hadn’t expected that today’s surprises would come one after another. He had only just grasped Sword Intent and hadn’t even fully mastered it when a familiar face from the original tale of pirates suddenly appeared before him. Moreover, this person...

Bore the awakening material Chu Yi urgently needed to collect!

It was just as Chu Yi, having comprehended Sword Intent and preparing to step forward and test its wonders, heard the system’s cold prompt echo in his mind:

"Host, awakening material detected. Collect now?"

Was there even a question?

Of course!

Communicating silently with the system, Chu Yi heard the awakening material collection mission issued:

"Host, awakening material collection initiated. Please complete the task within three days. Failure will result in the loss of the material."

"Awakening material quest triggered: Smoker Quits Smoking. Please complete within the time limit."

Huh? Smoker?

The so-called weakling wielder of a Logia-type Devil Fruit from the original tale?

Who would have guessed...

That he was actually here in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise!

Upon learning that his collection target was none other than the "unlucky" Smoker, Chu Yi, who was advancing his Observation Haki toward awakening, suddenly sensed a threat and adroitly sidestepped the ten-hand weapon that emanated danger. Narrowing his eyes, he fixed his gaze on the figure that had flashed into view—Smoker, the "Man of Smoke."

In short...

Smoker truly dressed like an exhibitionist!

A shock of striking silver hair was the first thing Chu Yi noticed. As he studied Smoker’s attire, he saw that with a face begging for a beating, Smoker clenched a cigar between his teeth, wielded a sea-prism stone ten-hand staff, and stood bare-chested, displaying his muscular form, wearing only black shorts and standing barefoot before him.

"Aside from the shorts, he doesn’t seem to be wearing anything at all..."

Black lines creased Chu Yi’s brow. He really couldn’t fathom when Smoker’s exhibitionist tendencies had emerged.

Yet, recalling the system’s awakening material quest, Chu Yi couldn’t help but feel amused.

Why?

Because Smoker’s trademark was his cigar!

When he first debuted in the original tale, Smoker, cigar in mouth, looked so cool and imposing—a Logia user of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, a naval captain of Loguetown. Who didn’t think he was a boss among bosses?

Yet Smoker’s fate was nothing if not unfortunate; he was almost always humiliated whenever he appeared.

After his first clash with the protagonist Luffy in Loguetown—claiming the story’s first victory—Luffy’s father, the world’s most dangerous criminal and leader of the Revolutionary Army, Dragon, appeared. Though he didn’t thrash Smoker, he showed him just how vast the gap was between him and the summit of the world.

The second time Smoker tried to teach Luffy a lesson, Luffy’s older brother Ace happened to be there, and Smoker tasted bitter defeat once more.

In his next major appearance, Smoker fared even worse—utterly crushed by Doflamingo!

At that time, Smoker had already risen to vice admiral. After two years of assumed growth, everyone expected him to have transformed, to become Luffy’s lifelong nemesis. But his grand entrance only ended in total defeat. If Aokiji, who had left the navy, hadn’t arrived in time, Smoker probably would have met his end at Doflamingo’s hands!

As for Smoker’s Smoke-Smoke Fruit... well, it still struck Chu Yi as rather underwhelming.

Its best trait was allowing the user’s body to become smoke—without Armament Haki or a Devil Fruit power that could counter smoke, Smoker was untouchable. But things like solidifying smoke to bind foes or using the fruit for flight failed to impress Chu Yi.

Still, having one more awakening material was a net positive.

So, as Chu Yi finished sizing up Smoker’s attire, he was already pondering how to get the "Man of Smoke" to quit smoking.

Smoker, for his part, performed far better in this battle than Chu Yi had anticipated!

Of all the shadow clones Chu Yi had lost, at least thirty percent had fallen to Smoker’s ten-hand weapon. Because of this, brimming with confidence from dispatching so many clones, Smoker narrowed his eyes when his initial attack failed to harm Chu Yi, and prepared to use "Shave" to dart behind him and subdue him with the sea-prism stone ten-hand staff.

But just as Smoker was about to use "Shave" to slip away, a sudden cry rang out behind Chu Yi!

"Smoker, be careful! Asura isn’t as weak as you think. If you don’t want to die, get back!"

"Lu... Lucci?"

From the voice alone, it was clear that the one warning him was Lucci, the only member of the new generation of marines who could truly compete with him.

Looking past Chu Yi, Smoker saw Lucci, now a captive under Chu Yi’s oppressive presence. The memory of the humiliation at the Sabaody Archipelago surged within him, and, furious, Smoker thrust his ten-hand weapon forward, aiming to pierce Chu Yi’s chest.

But just as the ten-hand weapon was about to touch Chu Yi’s body...

With a "whoosh," Chu Yi’s figure vanished!

The next instant, he reappeared behind Smoker.

"Smoker..."

"Have you ever considered quitting smoking?"