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  .....

  In the captain’s quarters, Zéon swirled her gss of wine.

  "Diamante, since we’re just idling here, why don’t you tell me what Dofmingo wants from me?"

  "Based on your words, I decide whether t my gun or just keep my drink. So, think carefully before you speak."

  Diamante chuckled awkwardly. "Lord Zéon, you sure know how to joke."

  Then he leaned in a little closer.

  "Actually, the proposal is quite simple. Our family wants to use the G2 jurisdi as our base and start a sve trade operation on the Grand Line!"

  "So, we need you to cover for us. Of course, there will be bes for you as well..."

  Zéon froze for a moment. "Sve trade?!"

  Her gaze lowered, seemingly deep in thought, before she looked up again after a brief pause.

  "Sve trade in the G2 jurisdi brings in about a hundred billion in profit every year."

  "But those businesses are mostly trolled by pirates and underground forces. If you dive in recklessly, there won’t even be scraps left."

  Diamante burst into ughter.

  "Lord Zéon, we’re pirates after all!"

  "The strong survive, the erish. If that day es, it will be because we weren’t strong enough!"

  "But... with us as family, the young master will never fail!"

  Zéon didn’t respond, instead lifting her gss and taking a sip.

  Inwardly, however, she thought, "Family, huh…"

  Despite her distaste, Zéon had to admit that Dofmingo was ialented—audacious, ing, ruthless... and his strength was endable.

  Too bad he couldn’t see things clearly.

  Without Whitebeard’s overwhelming power, he roo pying the "happy family" game.

  And he could at least pick reliable people!

  Yet his so-called "family" was full of oddballs, eae with infted egos and little actual power.

  Especially Diamante and that sniveling T-bor, their skills rgely spent on boasting and talking trash—two walking disasters waiting to happen.

  They were loyal, truly, but that was about all they had to offer.

  There was one kid with a mushroom head who seemed grounded, but he was too low-key, and Zéon had barely seen him.

  Of course, despite her arrogance, Zéon would never voice these thoughts aloud.

  After all, she'd been in the system long enough to know how to maintain de and avoid direct frontation.

  "I naturally believe in the capabilities of the Dofmingo family, or else I wouldn’t have led you on this loour."

  Zéon’s mission was to test new artillery developed by the Navy’s tech division and gather operational data.

  The best choice would have been to lie in wait in an area frequently visited by pirates.

  But her curiosity about Dofmingo's offer had brought her to this desote pce.

  Because of that, the mission had been unnecessarily prolonged.

  In fact, on this ship, there were not only G2 personnel, but also stists and their guards. The two groups mixed poorly, causing stant fri.

  The G2 Navy despised the stubborn, inflexible stists, while the stists derided the G2 Navy for their simple-mindedness and brute force.

  It wasn’t so bad in the short term, but as time wore on, the flicts grew unbearable, and Zéon couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

  If it weren’t for the higher-ups insisting on this mission, she would have ditched this mess long ago.

  In her mind, the detour was already a huge sacrifice.

  Diamante spped his thigh.

  "Exactly, Lord Zéon! Your cooperation with the young master would be a powerful alliance! And we are truly sincere!"

  Zéon smiled faintly and swirled her wine gss.

  "Is that so? I do enjoy w with sincere partners, so here’s to a pleasant colboration!"

  Diamante quickly raised his gss, eager to k it with hers.

  But Zéon had already pulled her gss bad was sipping it on her own.

  Diamante’s expression stiffened, and he awkwardly lowered his gss.

  ...

  On the isnd’s outskirts, amidst the ruins.

  Two plumes of smoke, one bd one white, rose into the air.

  The white smoke rapidly coalesced, taking on Tashigi's form once again.

  Though the bombardment had been inte had no effe a Logia-type user like her.

  However, Hina wasn’t thinking about herself at the moment.

  She hurriedly moved several wooden pnks and revealed Smoker, who was trapped beh.

  "Smoker, are you okay?!!"

  pared to Hina, Smoker was in far worse dition.

  His body was scorched, with tless wounds c him. His limbs were twisted and broken, and if not for the dark mist swirling around him, Tina might have thought he was already dead.

  Smoker wasn’t dead, but he was in Pain.

  The intense pain was so overwhelming that just breathi like torture.

  Fortunately, his strong will kept him scious, and he mao absorb some of the damage with his ability.

  The recovery process was rapid, and within seds, Smoker had fully healed, though the aftereffects of the intense pain caused him to tremble, gasping for air.

  "Dammit... that hurts like hell!!!"

  This was the worst pain he had ever felt.

  The explosion had been violent.

  His iron block couldn’t withstand it.

  tless shrapnel had torn into his body.

  The intense heat had carbonized his flesh.

  The powerful shockwaves had shattered his limbs.

  The pain was unbearable, and the effects of the Dark-Dark Fruit had amplified it by several times.

  No wonder Bckbeard had screamed like a baby...

  Hina quickly helped him sit up. "Smoker, are you okay?"

  Smred at the navy ship with hatred.

  "Those bastards, something’s off!"

  Hina was taken aback. "What do you mean?!"

  "Under normal circumstahe Navy wouldn’t open fire on a building."

  "Our house clearly looks like a shelter, it shouldn’t be a target!"

  "Well..." Hina's gaze wandered a bit.

  "Uh... yesterday the wall had a hole in it, and since we were low on wood, I used a pirate fg to cover it..."

  Smoker: "..."

  On the warship, Zéon stood by the and room window, gazing out at the small isnd in the distance.

  "When will your young master arrive?!"

  Diamaood up. "After the st day, you’ll be able to meet him!"

  Zéon narrowed her eyes.

  This isnd looked iing.

  "Get in touch with Dofmingo and ge the meeting location. I’ll wait for him on this isnd!"

  Diamante froze, then hurriedly said, "Wait, but..."

  "No buts. That’s the pn. Unless..." Zéon cut him off, her voice growing firm.

  Here's a smolish adaptation of the passage while maintaining the inal character names and atmosphere:

  ---

  Zeon's gaze became dangerous. "What surprise have you prepared for me?"

  Diamante froze for a moment, then chuckled awkwardly. "What are you talking about... Alright, I'll tact the young master right now!"

  Diamante felt helpless. Though he romi figure in the North Sea, in front of Zain, he had no room to be arrogant.

  He moved to the er and began tag Dofmingh the transponder snail.

  Meanwhile, the warship began to turn, slowly heading toward the isnd.

  Hina watched from a distance as the warship approached.

  "Great! Smoker, the warship is here! We're saved!" she excimed.

  Smoker patted Hina's shoulder. "Don't rush. Let's hide and observe the situation first."

  He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off with that ship.

  "Eh?" Hina replied, puzzled.

  Despite her strange feeling, she kept quiet and followed Smoker as they hid in the forest.

  Soon, the warship docked he ruins of the house.

  Zeon disembarked and looked at the wreckage, clig his tongue in admiration.

  With just one shot, the house was reduced to rubble. It seemed the new onball teology was quite effective...

  Then, a group of stists in white b coats hurried down, pletely ign Zeon as they began studying the debris.

  Zeon knew what kind of people these stists were and didn’t care much for them, so he turned and walked away, summoning several officers.

  "Pass my orders. The guards of the sce team are to stay here and eheir safety."

  "Everyone else, search the area. See if there are any pirates hiding here!"

  "Yes, sir!"

  The navy began to a the orders.

  At that moment, Diamante casually walked over.

  "What a beautiful isnd... I’m going to stretch my legs, and ohe young master arrives, I'll e find you!" he said.

  Zeon had no objes. Diamante irate, and though everyone here was his trusted subordi was always good to have fewer eyes on things.

  Diamante, carrying a sword, made his way off with a crab-like walk.

  Seeing him leave, a Navy captain walked up to Zeon and whispered, "Major, should we..."

  He made a throat-slittiure.

  This captain was one of Zeon's trusted subordinates from the North Sea and was one of the few who knew Diamante's identity.

  Zeon paused for a moment, thinking it over.

  "Not yet. Send a few of our owo follow him..."

  "Yes, sir!"

  In the distance, Smoker and Hina were watg the coast through binocurs.

  Although Smoker had been in this world for quite some time, he didn’t knoeople aside from those from the inal storyline. So, Tina pyed the role of guide.

  "Those in white coats are from the Navy's sce division!" she expined.

  "The female officer is Zeon! She’s the princess of the Todenau Kingdom in the North Sea."

  "She was a el in the North Sea before, and after wiping out dozens of dark forces, she romoted to the Navy Headquarters."

  "Retly, she ointed as the viander of the G2 branch!"

  "North Sea, huh..." Smoker instinctively thought of Dofmingo.

  "Who else is high-ranking in G2?"

  "The branander is Rear Admiral Kaisha, and the viander is Majeneral Gumer and Major Zain!"

  "I see..." Smoker nodded. "It seems there’s no issue with their identity. We could head out now..."

  Suddenly, Hina raised her eyebrows. "Hey, who’s that guy?!"

  She was looking at Diamante.

  He wasn’t wearing a uniform, and didn’t seem to be a Navy officer, stist, over official. Could he be a noble from another try?

  Smoker took a look through the binocurs and froze.

  He didn't reize many people, but Diamante was one of them.

  "Ah, it's him... Looks like we ’t leave now. This Majeneral Zeon from North Sea has something is really weird!"

  "What do you mean?" Hina was fused.

  "Do you know the Dofmingo family from the North Sea? That guy is Diamante, one of the high-ranking members of the Dofmingo Pirates..."

  "Are you serious? How a Navy Major be with pirates?!!"

  "I’m not sure... but it looks like Diamante went off on his own. How about we go ask him ourselves?"

  ...

  Diamante was walking through the jungle when he suddenly noticed several scattered footprints.

  "Huh? Could there be others on this isnd?"

  If the Navy had discovered unfamiliar footprints, they would have reported it immediately.

  But Diamante wasn’t Navy, and he was arrogant enough to follow the trail, not g about the possible sequences. After a while, he found himself oher side of the isnd.

  On the beach, Hina had ged into a Navy uniform and was quietly waiting for Diamante.

  "Well, well, well. Hello there," Diamante sneered as he g Hina’s uniform. "A little Navy... Private, is it?"

  Hi her expressioral, replying coldly, "Diamante of the Dofmingo Pirates. I never expected someone like you to follow the warship here!"

  Diamante's pupils shrank, and he grinned widely. "You really are an ignorant little girl..."

  With that, he drew a ribbon from his waist and flicked it into a sword, aiming it at Hina's chest.

  Suddenly, Hina transformed into a puff of white smoke and reappeared right in front of Diamante, nding a punch to his chest.

  Diamante was caught off guard, quickly raising his cloak.

  "Bullfighter Cloak—Return Roll!"

  The cloak ed around him, transf into a steel shield. Hinas punch left a dent in the shield, but it didn’t cause any harm.

  "Damn it... A Logia-type user?!" Diamante cursed under his breath, preparing to retaliate, but before he could, a bck hand reached out from behind and grabbed his neck.

  Diamante was shocked. As he tried to resist, he realized he couldn’t trol his cloak anymore.

  "Dammit, what’s going on?!" he yelled.

  The one who had seized him was her than Smoker.

  With the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, Smoker had ralized Diamante’s ability, turning his cloak into a prison.

  Smoker sneered. "You’ve trapped yourself, just like a co."

  Diamante roared angrily, "You bastard! Who the hell are you? Let me go!"

  But his rage was futile.

  What was on advantage, now left him utterly helpless.

  Smoker pulled a Sea Stone pendant from his pocket and pced it around Diamante’s neck.

  Instantly, Diamante felt his body go limp.

  "Dammit... Sea- Stones..." he grumbled.

  Hina hadn’t expected the battle to be so easy. She stepped forward.

  "Smoker, do you o interrogate him?"

  Smoker shook his head. "No hough this guy's an idiot, he won’t betray his captain!"

  "That’s right! I won’t sell out Dofmingo!!"

  Smnored him, carefully avoiding the Sea Stone, and pulled a transponder snail from Diamante’s pocket.

  "As expected, it's a le transponder snail. This is perfect!"

  "With this, even without taking the G2 warship, we still tact headquarters for rescue."

  Hina sighed in relief. "At least we have some good news..."

  "But I’m still curious... Why would a pirate be on the warship? Let’s iigate further!"

  "Alright, no problem!" Smoker hen turo Diamante. "Before we do that, though, there's something I've wao try!"

  (End of Chapter)