Smoker flew through the air using Geppo when he suddenly noticed a plume of white smoke rising in the distance.

  It was Hina, using her Observation Haki and abilities to signal his arrival.

  Guided by the signal, Smoker nded on the beach where Zeon y unscious, her face pale as Hina stood guard by her side.

  As Smoker touched down, Hina hurried over to him, immediately iing the gashes on his chest.

  “Smoker, are you okay? Was that attack meant for us?” Her voice was filled with guilt and worry.

  Smoker shrugged it off, his tone casual.

  “It’s nothing serious,” he said. “You know my powers—if I’m not dead yet, I won’t be dying anytime soon.”

  Hina gave him a slightly exasperated look. “Uh... right.”

  Without further discussion, Smoker used his ability to absorb the damage from his wounds. Once healed, the two walked over to che Zeon.

  Zeon y sprawled on the sand, her body covered in wounds.

  Her arms were particurly battered, with one bandaged injury still oozing blood. Her once blue-and-white uniform was soaked in crimson, and her face was ghostly pale from severe blood loss.

  Smhed deeply. “Holy, her dition is way more ing than mine.”

  Hina g him hesitantly. “Smoker, you... heal her too?”

  Smoker frowned, his expression ptive.

  “She fought Dofmingo, so it’s clear they’re enemies for now. But who knows what their retionship was before? What if their cooperatio deeper thahink?”

  He looked at Zeon with skepticism.

  “Right now, we have a on enemy in Dofmingo, so she’s w with us. But if we heal her and she turns on us to steal the evidence, we’d be in trouble. We ’t rule that out.”

  Hina gripped Zeon’s cold hand tightly, her expression resolute.

  “No matter what, Zeon has always looked out for me. I ’t just stand by and do nothing. Smoker, please... save her.”

  Her pleading tone softened Smoker’s resolve. With a sigh, he relented.

  “All right. Move aside.”

  Smoker summoned his dark energy, letting it envelop Zeon as it worked to heal her wounds. The process took time, but eventually, the darkness faded, and Smoker exhaled deeply.

  **She was in rough shape,** he thought. **Stubborn to the core—tenacious at best, reckless at worst.**

  Zeon’s injuries were now gohough she remained unscious, her face still pale from exhaustion and blood loss.

  “I’ve absorbed her injuries and pain,” Smoker expined. “But she lost a lot of blood and her body’s drained. She’ll o rest for a while longer.”

  He g Hina. “Letting her recover naturally is probably better in the long run—less strain on her spirit and on me.”

  Hina nodded gratefully. “This is more than enough. Thank you.”

  Smoker stood and goward the forest.

  “There’s a town on this isnd, but it’s too far for Zeon to travel in her dition. We’ll have to camp here for the night.”

  He started walking toward the beach.

  “You stay with her. I’ll take care of some loose ends.”

  At the shoreline, Smoker released a wave of darkness over the sand. A pink fmingo-themed ship ulled out of the shadows, along with dozens of pirates who fell onto its deck, fused and disoriented.

  Before they could process what was happening, Smoker attacked, quickly incapacitating them all.

  Ohey were subdued, he jured several translut spheres, each brimming with the pain he had absorbed earlier.

  Tossing the spheres at the pirates, the deck erupted into cries of agony as the pain overwhelmed them.

  When sileurhe pirates were left writhing and barely scious. Smoker nodded in satisfa before sealing them bato the darkness.

  In the past, his approach to captured pirates had been brutally straightforward: those with bounties were hao the base, while those without were thrown into the sea to feed the fish.

  But his enters with Dofmingo’s sve trade had given him new ideas.

  Smoker detested the sve system—one of the most corrupt institutions in the pirate world. As a modern-minded outsider, it repulsed him.

  Yet, he uood the harsh reality. With the world’s current state of produ and his limited resources, dismantling the system was impossible.

  **If you ’t destroy it, adapt to it.**

  Smoker had reached a grim realization: he could “recycle” pirates by turning them into sves, filling the market’s demand.

  Bounties represehe threat a pirate posed to the gover. Those without bounties often itted heinous crimes but were overlooked by authorities, being “invisible” threats.

  Smoker had once sidered such pirates useless waste. Now, he saw potential.

  “Why waste them?” he muttered to himself.

  For most pirates, death was too merciful. Turning them into sves was, in his view, a more fitting punishment.

  The idea was grim but practical: let these pirates die slowly uhe torment of svery, day by day.

  pared to ordinary civilians, pirates had stronger bodies and were far more capable.

  Every pirate ensved meant one fewer i civilian suffering the same fate.

  If that’s the case, why not? Besides, it was a ce to profit—though Smoker vinced himself this wasn’t about money.

  **Justice doesn’t profit, right?**

  After dealing with the pirates, Smoker prepared a few rooms on the ship, and the three of them settled in for the night.

  Zeahrough until the day.

  Had she not explicitly ordered no oo tact her, the battleship would likely have e looking for her by now.

  As m arrived, Zean’s eyelids twitched, and she slowly opened her eyes.

  The moment she became aware, she sat up abruptly, sing her surroundings and cheg her body, particurly her arm.

  When she saw her injuries were pletely gone, her expression turo disbelief.

  Hearing the otion, Smoker and Hiered the room.

  Hina stepped forward quickly. “Zean, are you all right?!”

  Zean nodded, her voice urgent. “Where are we? What happeo Dofmingo?!”

  Smoker lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

  “This is Dofmingo’s pirate ship. I’ve seized it,” he said calmly.

  “As for him, he escaped. We only mao capture some of his crew and subordinates.”

  Zean sighed in relief but pressed on. “And the thing we were looking for?”

  Smoker exhaled smoke as he responded, “The item I needed is secured. As for what you’re after, it’s probably somewhere on this ship. Since you were still out cold, we didn’t search the ship without you.”

  Hearing this, Zean struggled to her feet.

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s find it!”

  To her, the rec Den Den Mushi was like a death sentence. Every mi remained intact was a minute she couldn’t rex.

  Unsteady but determined, Zean rushed toward the captain’s .

  Earlier, Diamante had revealed the location of the Den Den Mushi, and Smoker hadn’t held back the information, telling her directly.

  In the , Zean quickly spotted the er of the room where a anel cealed a safe.

  She removed the panel, revealing the tents: fidential dots, property deeds, tracts, maps, and multiple Den Den Mushi.

  It was clearly a treasure trove of Dofmingo’s years of illicit dealings.

  Smoker and Hiered the behind her, but Zean ighem as she sifted through the safe.

  Her hands moved frantically until she found the rec Den Den Mushi, her name inscribed clearly on its surface.

  Her face darkened as she ched her teeth and activated the snail.

  Its eyes opened, and a halting rec began to py:

  “...The North Blue is tmented... We... must domi...”

  “...This money... it’s only the first batch... If we keep w together, the profits will grow...”

  “...I promise you, no harm will e to your nation... Think it over.”

  “...el Zean, to a successful partnership! Click.”

  The rec ended.

  Smoker and Hina exged uneasy gheir expressions guarded.

  The fragmented dialogue hi a much deeper colboration than Zean would likely admit.

  Zean, oher hand, was livid, grindieeth in frustration.

  That bastard Dofmingo had deliberately distorted the rec to make their iation for eradig underground forces sound like a pn to trol the North Blue.

  If this rec reached Navy Headquarters, even if it wasn’t enough to vict her, it would certainly destroy her career.

  But her expression softened as she remembered something: this ecialized rec Den Den Mushi. Its recs were unique and could not be duplicated.

  Relieved, she clutched the snail tightly.

  Seeing Smaze on the snail, Zean’s heart tightened. She snatched it closer to her chest.

  “Thanks for your help,” she said quickly. “But this Den Den Mushi is my responsibility. I’ll ha myself.”

  These specialized snails were tough, with strong defenses and life spans. Destroying one required special methods.

  Smoker narrowed his eyes, the embers of his cigarette glowing faintly.

  His orders from the higher-ups were clear: iigate Zean.

  This snail was crucial evidence.

  Taking another drag, Smoker extinguished his cigarette underfoot.

  “Zean, you pyed that rec right in front of us,” he said dryly. “Aren’t you worried we’ll report you?”

  Zean’s grip tightened, her gaze sharpening dangerously.

  “You heard it because I couldn’t stop you. But as long as I’m alive, no one else will hear it.”

  “Ah, but I’ve already heard it,” Smoker replied with a faint smirk.

  “And you heard—”

  Before she could finish, a voiterrupted.

  Zean froze, her whole body stiffening.

  Turning meically toward the door, her eyes widened in shock.

  A tall, imposing figure stood there, looking at her with a half-smile.

  “Z-Z-Z... Zephyr-sensei?!” she stammered, her voice almost a squeak.