Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 8: Smoker, the White Hunter!

East China Sea, Rogge Town.

This place is known as the "Land of End and Beginning," the hometown of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, and the place where he ultimately died.

The glorious era of piracy began here.

Roger's throne still stands in the square of Loguetown, the famous execution platform.

After seven days of travel by merchant ship to Rogge, Bann has finally set foot on the port.

"So just how incredible is the Straw Hat Pirates' speed?" Bane couldn't help but exclaim, feeling exhausted from a week's journey.

In less than half a year, the Straw Hat Pirates went on various adventures from the East Blue to reach the Sabaody Archipelago, the end of the first half of the Grand Line.

If this were the speed of a merchant ship, it's a mystery whether it could even cover half the distance in a year.

Standing in the harbor, feeling the comfortable sea breeze, Bane looked back at the dock. As expected of a well-known and prosperous island town in the East China Sea, the dock was filled with ships of all sizes from all over the world.

Surprisingly, Bane even spotted a pirate ship!

As far as he knew, the commander of the Loguetown naval base at that time was none other than Navy Headquarters Colonel Smoker, known as the White Hunter.

In the original story, Smoker confidently told his subordinates that he had never let a single pirate escape during his tenure in Loguetown.

In other words, pirates traveling from the East Blue to the Grand Line, as long as they can get out, like the so-called East Blue Overlord Krieg, should have bypassed Loguetown and never even come here.

It's quite obvious that the owner of this pirate ship will probably be in trouble here soon.

Honestly, the security situation in the East Blue is really good. Bane has been sailing at sea for a week and hasn't encountered a single pirate.

After glancing at the pirate flag twice and confirming that it belonged to a nobody he didn't recognize, Bane stopped paying attention to it, stepped out of the port, and headed towards the town. He planned to go to the naval base to collect his reward first, then observe Roger's execution throne, experience the local customs and culture of Loguetown, rest for a couple of days, and then take a new merchant ship to Shimotsuki Village.

Whether it was luck or not, Bane had barely stepped into the town's commercial street when he heard a very urgent whistle. The surrounding vendors were startled by the whistle, then quickly packed up their goods, shouting to each other, "It's the Navy's emergency whistle! Run! They're probably catching pirates again!"

In less than three minutes, the entire commercial street had been emptied, leaving behind a mess of stalls and shops that hadn't been cleared away yet, and a bewildered Ben standing in the middle of the street.

"Huh? So skilled?" Bane looked around at the empty streets, unsure of what to say.

The next second, gunshots rang out from the end of the street, and then a group of pirates rushed out, followed by a large group of marines.

The pirate in the lead was tall and burly, bald with one eye, holding a pistol in his left hand and a machete in his right, exuding a fierce aura.

"Damn it, wasn't it said that the White Hunter went back to Marine Headquarters to report for duty? Why did he suddenly appear?" The pirate leader cursed as he yelled at his underlings to run away.

Just then, a large amount of white smoke billowed out from behind them. This thick white smoke rushed towards them at an extremely fast speed, and in just a few breaths, it enveloped the last few pirate henchmen, silencing them completely. The white smoke did not stop at all, but accelerated again, chasing after the pirates in front.

The pirate leader didn't care about the lives of his underlings at all; he only wanted to escape. After running for more than a hundred meters, he saw Bane standing in the middle of the road, looking like he was in a daze.

"Get out of my way!" the pirate leader cursed, raising his hand to slash at Bane.

However, before he could bring his knife down, everything suddenly went black. He felt as if he had been surrounded by boundless darkness in that instant!

"What's going on?" the pirate leader exclaimed in surprise.

Before he could react, a large hand emerged from the darkness, precisely grabbing his neck. A powerful force emanated from the hand, pulling him off the ground. The pirate captain felt himself lose weight for a moment.

The next instant, with a bang, he was slammed to the ground by Bane. The solid stone floor tiles shattered instantly, and blood flowed from the back of the pirate leader's head. After twitching a few times, he stopped moving.

At the same time, the thick white smoke also swallowed up all the remaining pirate underlings.

The billowing white smoke and the dense dark elements confronted each other on the street for a moment. Soon, Smoker's figure slowly emerged from the white smoke, and then the darkness gradually dissipated, revealing Bane's figure. He looked at Smoker opposite him with a bright smile on his face.

"You're not a space-related ability user, are you?" Smoker looked at Bane and spoke after a moment.

Clearly, as a captain in the Marine Headquarters, he was very concerned about the situation at sea and recognized Bane at a glance as the murderer of Thatch, the fourth division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!

Of course, this is described from the perspective of the Whitebeard Pirates. From Smoker's point of view, Bane was doing a great service to the people!

"I never said I was a space-related ability user," Bane replied with a chuckle.

Smoker harbored no hostility towards Bane, but he remained wary. He stood still and asked, "Speaking of which, no one knows your name yet. Would you mind introducing yourself?"

"Bane." Without hiding anything, Bane gave the answer directly. After a slight pause, he smiled and said, "As for profession, you're a pirate hunter? As for age, I just turned twenty this year. Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Smoker hadn't expected this guy to be so proactive, blurting out everything in one go. After thinking for a moment, he added, "Yes, what brings you to Loguetown?"

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

"Claiming the bounty? I already said I'm a pirate hunter. I was on the move to avoid the Whitebeard Pirates' retaliation and didn't have time to claim Thatch's bounty. Now that I'm in the East Blue, I'm finally safer, so I've come to the Navy to claim my reward. 360 million Berries, don't skimp on it!" Bane said with a smile.

Smoker glanced at the half-dead pirate at Bane's feet before speaking, "Now it should be 362.2 million Berries."

Bane naturally understood what he meant, and without refusing, nodded in response, "You pay, so it's your decision."

Just as the two were talking, the main force of the Navy caught up. Without Smoker having to say anything, the Navy soldiers began to "pack up" the pirates with practiced ease.

Seeing this, Smoker spoke up, "This isn't the place to talk. Would you mind coming to the naval base with me? Our navy is quite interested in you."

Bane had originally planned to go to the naval base, and Smoker could only give him money there. Moreover, Bane trusted Smoker's character and had never had any conflict with the Navy, so he didn't mind and generously agreed to Smoker's request. The two then went to the naval base in Loguetown together.

As soon as I stepped through the gates of the naval base, I saw a cute girl wearing glasses rushing towards me from inside the base, looking rather flustered.

Bane recognized her at a glance; the female navy officer was Tashigi.

"Colonel Smoker, are you alright?" Tashigi stepped forward and asked with concern.

But Smoker waved his hand dismissively and said, "What could possibly be wrong with me?"

Then, before Tashigi could speak, Smoker ordered, "Go and report to headquarters that the man who killed Thatch has come to our Loguetown naval base to collect his reward. He is a pirate hunter named Bane."

"Oh," Tashigi responded instinctively at first, then realized what was happening and looked at Bane in surprise.

But Smoker wasn't going to tolerate her. Seeing her looking a bit dazed, he snapped at her fiercely, "What are you daydreaming about? Get up!"

(End of this chapter)