One Piece Gunslinger

Speaking of Leon, Smoker had already felt uneasy when he heard "If only Leon were here." It was the Navy that dragged the villagers of Cocoyasi into the abyss, and Leon, the wanted criminal, was the one who rescued them.

That's right, Smoker has figured it out now: Leon is Jason, the fake wanted criminal.

Smoker had already given up on the idea when Li Ang demonstrated his marksmanship, since a person's talent and time are limited and it's impossible to master several martial arts.

However, according to the villagers, Smoker heard that Leon defeated the vicious fish-man pirate with a single punch, sending him flying nearly a hundred meters away. It was then that Smoker suddenly realized that with such physical abilities and strength, it wouldn't be impossible for him to defeat another machete-wielding maniac.

After all, the corpses were cut in two with a single stroke, and the cut surfaces and wounds were not smooth, indicating that it wasn't the kind of great sword that could cut through iron like mud or sever a hair with a single blow. It would take immense strength to cleave a person in two with a single stroke.

So Smoker knew that, like Colonel Rat, he had once again fallen into the trap of fixed thinking, believing that a sharpshooter couldn't also be a swordsman. This just goes to show how dangerous habitual thinking can be.

Having learned from these two lessons, Smoker will probably be more careful in the future, which can be seen as a way of improving his IQ.

At this moment, the second pit dug by Li Ang brought Smoker a second shock.

"No need to join the Navy? Can you still uphold justice without joining the Navy?" Smoker thought about Leon's words and chuckled self-deprecatingly. "It seems there's something strange about Leon's wanted poster. Would a serial killer, a wanted criminal, help a group of ordinary villagers who are not related to him? Is that Colonel Morgan the same as Colonel Rat? No, after this matter is over, I will personally go again to see what really happened. Perhaps it wasn't even disclosed in the newspapers."

If Li Ang saw this process of Smoker learning by analogy, he would probably jump for joy. This second trap was a complete success, completely turning Smoker's worldview around.

This not only helped Smoker accept the fact that wanted criminals aren't necessarily bad people, and that the Navy isn't always the one upholding justice, but it also led him to consider that the Morgan incident might not have been as it seemed, and that newspaper reports might not be entirely true.

In the long run, Leon might not even need to dig a third hole for Smoker to cause a third shift in his worldview. Perhaps Smoker, as he researches, will become increasingly entangled, eventually reaching the heart of the world's darkness. He'll dig his own grave, discovering the true nature of the World Government and the Navy.

It's true that it's extremely rare for someone to reach this point and see the true nature of the world on their own. But it's not without precedent; some intelligent people, or those influenced by specific events, have managed to reach this stage.

Although every revolutionary soldier knew the true nature of the World Government and the ugly operating rules of this world, what Li Ang's book taught them back then was not how to get to this point on their own.

The problem is that after reaching this point, neither were they defeated by the overwhelming darkness, nor were they intimidated by it, afraid to take a single step, only able to flee. Very few can withstand the pressure and confront it. Of all the people Li Ang knows, only Dragon truly stands out. Perhaps Roger was one too, but Roger is dead, making verification difficult.

This is also why Li Ang didn't dare to use a three-pronged attack to dig a hole; it wouldn't be good if he directly caused Smoker's personality to change drastically.

His thoughts raced. The two pitfalls Li Ang had encountered, coupled with Smoker's experiences in Cocoyasi Village, were like a door to a new world had been opened for him, making him feel as if the whole world had changed.

However, this stretch of road was not long, and Smoker was unable to figure out the various problems that came flooding in after the gate opened, so he had to put them aside for the time being.

After all, the door in front of him told him that no matter what, he should deal with Colonel Rat first.

Years later, tourists from all over the world flocked to the famous tourist attraction, Dragon Realm, to admire this still well-preserved building.

The tour guides here always say, "It was here that Smoker, the chief inspector of the revolutionary army, was inspired by Chief of Staff Leon, and started by dealing with that unnamed rat colonel, and then gradually dealt with the whole world."

Chapter 194 I'll Leave as Soon as You Return

Smoker had already arrived at the door, but Colonel Mouse was completely unaware, still engrossed in his fine wine and food, and in his fantasies of a wonderful life to come.

"Drink, everyone, keep drinking. After tonight, there will still be opportunities in the future. As long as you follow me, I guarantee you will enjoy wealth and luxury with me in the future. When I get old and retire, we will find a place to buy a big house and enjoy the feeling of being a nobleman."

It's fair to say that drinking too much can make one a bit tipsy. This Colonel Rat still has at least two or three decades until retirement, and he's already thinking about how to be a proper nobleman. Who knows, by then the Revolutionary Army might have already overthrown the World Government and established a new regime; whether or not noblemen will even exist then is another matter entirely.

"Crack!"

Just as Colonel Rat and his trusted henchmen were chatting idly, the main door was kicked open with tremendous force. The force was considerable; half of the wooden door flew into the center of the banquet hall, knocking one person to the ground and rendering him unconscious.

"mouse!"

Smoker spotted the rat in the central chairman's seat at a glance, and with a roar, pounced on the rat, leaving out the word "colonel." It seems that Smoker had already automatically kicked him out of the Navy in his mind.

Smoker's pounce is definitely different from ordinary pounces; it's a true flying pounce, his feet barely touching the ground, leaving a trail of smoke trailing behind him. This move has terrified countless small-time pirates, yet today Smoker used it on Colonel Rat.

Colonel Mouse was truly drunk. When he saw Smoker barge in, he wasn't alarmed at all. Instead, he laughed and said, "Hahaha, he dares to come alone. Shoot him dead!" With that, he pulled out his pistol and pulled the trigger at Smoker.

They say alcohol emboldens people, but this has gone too far, completely obscuring the true strength of the contestants.

However, Colonel Rat's shot passed right through Smoker's body, causing no real damage. Other attacks, whether with swords or guns, all passed right through Smoker, and some even accidentally injured others.

Colonel Rat was stunned. His alcohol-numbed brain suddenly remembered that Smoker was a Logia-type Devil Fruit user and couldn't be hurt by these physical attacks.

However, that brief moment of hesitation was enough for Smoker to fly over and slam Colonel Rat's head to the ground.

Colonel Rat then said in a panic, "Don't kill me! I'll give you whatever money you want. We can cooperate. As long as you let me go, we can split the profits 50/50, no, 40/60, or even 30/70."

Smoker, not wanting to hear Colonel Rat's ramblings any longer, grabbed him by the head and slammed it hard on the floor, knocking him unconscious.

"Spare your life? I will, because you'll still have to stand trial and spend the rest of your life in prison." Smoker spoke first to the unconscious Colonel Rat, then turned and shouted, "Arrest them all!"

It turns out that the ordinary naval soldiers that Captain Rat had stationed in Dragon's Territory had already defected to Smoker, which explains why no one had informed him as he stormed in. The scenes of frantically reporting to the lowly soldiers were all gone.

They had no choice but to abandon their evil ways and seek the light. Who could defeat Smoker's Logia-type Devil Fruit power? None of them possessed Haki, so they could only take the beatings without being able to fight back.

As for Seastone, it's true that the navy is equipped with Seastone weapons. However, Seastone weapons aren't readily available everywhere. Remote areas, far from central control, don't have them.

Besides, those officers, led by Colonel Rat, live a life of luxury, which has nothing to do with the lowly soldiers. They get no share of any benefits. Since that's the case, they should decisively betray their allegiance, abandon the darkness and embrace the light, and become upright naval officers again.

Meanwhile, the Rat Colonel's confidants' expressions changed instantly. Since so many navy personnel had abandoned the darkness and turned to the light, and they knew that the situation was hopeless, it was no use in them to argue or insist that the Rat Colonel had done nothing. The Rat Colonel was truly finished this time.

Smogna was a complete man of action. After capturing these people, he didn't rest. After explaining things to the villagers of Cocoyasi Village, he led them back to Rogge Town overnight, and reported the matter to his superiors on the way.

When Smoker returned to Loguetown, it was already the next morning. Smoker had been busy all night, barely sleeping, only managing a short nap on the way back, and even then, he had to let Colonel Rat escape.

"Colonel Smoker, you're back?" The Loguetown navy saw several naval ships and, though they didn't know what was going on, were sure to greet them. But instead, Smoker stepped off one of them.

"Keep a close watch on him, don't let him escape," Smoker ordered sternly. "Hey? By the way, where's Leon?"

By the way, where is Leon? Of course, he ran away a long time ago. Why would he wait for Smoker to come back and arrest him? Even if Smoker harbors resentment towards the Navy and the World Government, and has doubts about Leon's arrest warrant, he's still at least a member of the military. Failing to arrest a wanted criminal would be a dereliction of duty.

So Li Ang had no choice but to run away. The time wasn't right yet, and he didn't want the two of them to stand there awkwardly staring at each other.

Not only did Leon run, but he ran incredibly fast, already crossing Reverse Mountain and entering the Grand Line. Unfortunately, whether it was bad luck or something else, Leon didn't see the giant whale Laboon when he flipped over, and naturally, he didn't encounter Kukaros, who lived inside Laboon.

However, Li Ang quickly put this minor regret behind him, because he had taken the same detour on this trip and didn't have much time to dawdle. If he didn't hurry up and finish his business and return, the General Staff would probably be in an uproar.

"Ugh, I'm so bored. Before, I had to row the boat myself, but now I don't even have to row anymore. I feel so bored that I have no friends. If only you could talk, moo, you could chat with me for ages." But the only response Li Ang received was a long "moo~" from the manatee.

Li Ang couldn't understand this, so he had to give up. After all, no matter how smart the manatee Moo Moo was, it was still only compared to other animals. Expecting it to learn how to speak human language was simply asking the impossible.

"Hey, let me check the compass... Hmm... This should be the direction. I have to say, this map produced by the Navy is very detailed, with all the islands, big and small, marked on it."

Hey...wait a minute, just how much did you swindle from Tashigi? No wonder you had to run away before Smoker came back. Otherwise, even if you weren't wanted, Smoker would have killed you when he returned. Smoker is probably having a really tough time right now. They've only been gone a day, and Tashigi was almost crippled by Leon's tricks, basically saying goodbye to her bicycle.

Li Ang lay on the boat, gazing at the sky, letting the manatee moo as it pulled him along. Just then, a newsbird flew overhead, and Li Ang immediately became interested.

"Huh? This is the news? Finally, I have something to do."

"Hey! Get down here." Li Ang quickly stood up and waved to the news bird.

Now that Li Ang is all alone, newspapers are his only source of information. Sometimes, however, he has to peel back layers of disguise like a detective to see the true nature of an event. He also has to distinguish between truth and falsehood, truth mixed with falsehood, and falsehood containing truth. For someone like Li Ang, reading a newspaper is utterly exhausting.

"Tsk tsk, that speed is unbelievable. Only one night has passed, and they've already made up a new story and published it. Maybe it's because this matter has a big impact? And it's written so vividly, it's practically worth reading, no, I guess it's only good for reading. Let me take a closer look at what actually happened." After buying the newspaper, Li Ang started to complain as he read it.

The reason is that today's newspaper headlines, unusually, didn't mention anything about the World Government being very busy or doing anything earth-shattering. Nor did they mention how happy the world's people are, living well under the protection of the World Government and the Navy, or even the misery of those under the rule of the Four Emperors or the Revolutionary Army. These three commonplace, generic news items were absent; instead, the focus was on Smoker's nighttime attack on Colonel Rat yesterday.

"This is ridiculous! It's just a local news story that's making headlines, and everything in the Grand Line is overshadowed! All I did was remind Smoker about the Cocoyasi Village incident. What earth-shattering things did Smoker do after he went there?"

After all, Li Ang was still unaware of Colonel Rat's ruthless actions. He assumed Smoker's visit would uncover Colonel Rat's corruption, bribery, or dereliction of duty. He never imagined that Smoker would return to find Colonel Rat not only engaging in petty schemes but also venturing into larger ones. And then, as things progressed, they ended up creating a major scandal together.

"So that's how it is. Colonel Rat actually had that kind of guts. It's a pity that a rat has the guts of a bull; his body must have been bursting. But seriously, this is written way too unbelievably. It's really written like this, distorting the facts madly. If I didn't know the inside story, I would have believed your nonsense too."

Looking at the newspaper in his hand, Li Ang sighed. Half a day had passed since then. Smoker's actions last night had touched a nerve with the Navy, so this was the only way it could end.

"Everyone says that face is something you earn, not something given to you. I never expected that the World Government could conjure up face for the Navy out of thin air. This ability must be the Face Fruit on the World Government's side. I admire you, I really admire you."

Chapter 195 The Master of Shifting Blame

"Taking the blame? Taking the blame is impossible, I will never take the blame in my life. The higher-ups in the World Government who are in charge of crisis public relations are all talented people. None of the reporters who write news reports can get a big story. They all have to be honest. Pretending, pirates, it's all just a matter of a word. The truth is not important at all."

Li Ang chuckled at the manatee, "Right, Moo Moo?"

The manatee didn't understand any of this, so it could only moo again in response. What was even more frustrating was that it had to moo in different tones and voices each time, otherwise Li Ang would say it was being perfunctory.

While the newspapers provided detailed coverage of Smoker's actions the previous night, they made some alterations. The biggest change was that they directly described Colonel Rat as a pirate.

Thus, the World Government's reputation was largely preserved. They didn't mention scandals like the Navy persecuting local villagers or colluding with pirates, since Captain Rat was a pirate himself, and it was all just a scheme set up by cunning pirates.

Seriously, it must have been incredibly difficult for the crisis management team and the newspapers to manage to salvage such a situation. They devoted a significant amount of space to recounting the "detailed process" they had compiled after their "extensive investigation."

The story begins by fabricating a ruthless, shifty-faced pirate in the East Blue. It then recounts how this pirate gradually murdered and replaced the rat-like figure who looked remarkably like him.

The plot is so intricate and the process so arduous that it could easily be made into a major drama series, "The Rise of the Rat," which is the biggest production of the year in the East China Sea.

In short, after several thousand words of analysis and introduction in the newspaper, this non-existent pirate in the East Blue successfully and secretly replaced the original Captain Rat, and also replaced some of the staunchly righteous marines under the "original Captain Rat" with his original trusted pirates.

What followed was quite logical. After taking command, this pirate decisively began to collude with other pirates, taking advantage of his status as a Marine to do many things that only pirates would do.

Of course, the truth will eventually come out. In the end, Colonel Rat's biggest partner—the Arlong Pirates—as well as himself, were discovered and killed by the wise and insightful Colonel Smoker.

Of course, Smoker, who single-handedly thwarted the rats' plot, was the biggest winner in this incident. It was normal for him to be promoted and made a fortune. Even his trusted subordinates, like Tashigi, were promoted.

So Smoker was promoted to rear admiral two years ahead of schedule, and even more so to a rear admiral in the Navy Headquarters. Now that he's been promoted, the East Blue is no longer a suitable place for him, and Smoker should be transferred to another location.

However, Smoker firmly refused, insisting that he would stay in the East Blue and would not leave until the East Blue was in turmoil. As a result, Major General Smoker's scope of work expanded from Loguetown to the entire East Blue. The base remained in Loguetown, but the other colonels were now under Smoker's command.

As a result, even if some local tyrant colonels in the East Sea, like Colonel Morgan and Colonel Rat, were unwilling, they had no choice but to temporarily restrain themselves. However, behind Smoker's back, they cursed him a hundred times over, almost to the point of making a straw doll out of him.

Finally, the newspapers devoted hundreds of pages to praising Captain Smoker to the skies, and also extolled his decision to stay in the East Blue. After all, boasting costs nothing, and the goal is to create the illusion for the public that the navy is powerful and mighty, and that relying on the navy guarantees a good life. This tactic is so familiar, so common, and so effective.

So who is Li Ang? There's no mention of Li Ang in this newspaper at all. It's all Smoker's doing, okay?

"Oh my god, I'm so angry! I've been working myself to the bone, outwitting and outmaneuvering all sorts of forces, fighting the fish-men, deceiving the Navy, and putting in a lot of effort, and in the end, I don't even get a share of the credit! It's utterly shameless!" It's unbelievable that even the shameless Li Ang would be angered by the World Government's shamelessness. There's always someone better, and there's always someone with a thicker face. When it comes to the level of shamelessness, Li Ang is still a bit lacking.

However, this was all thanks to Smoker's help. Fortunately, Smoker was smart and never mentioned Li Ang's name throughout the entire process. Moreover, Smoker also instructed the villagers not to mention Li Ang, taking all the blame upon themselves.

This wasn't Smoker being greedy for credit; it was because Leon was an outsider, and a wanted criminal. Before figuring out why Leon was wanted, Smoker didn't want to rashly expose him. Otherwise, if others knew of Leon's existence, his situation would worsen, and the higher-ups might even increase his bounty, keeping him on the run all the way to the Grand Line.

However, Li Ang wasn't afraid. Let him be wanted. With his current strength, he could hold his own against anyone unless a general-level expert appeared. Even if he couldn't win, he could still run. And if he couldn't run, he could call a Didi (ride-hailing service) and have Long Fei come to his rescue.

Leaving aside for now Li Ang's "one hundred ways to use dragons," there's still one rather puzzling aspect to what the newspaper said.

The newspaper also reported that "Colonel Rat and the Arlong Pirates were both killed by Colonel Smoker." However, Smoker didn't actually kill Rat on the spot; he captured him and is awaiting trial.

This content also made Li Ang sigh, lamenting that the World Government had dug a hole for itself, pushing talented people out of the country.

Although Li Ang did not witness Smoker's operation firsthand, he could easily guess that Smoker, given his personality, would not have accidentally killed Colonel Rat.

He was definitely planning to capture Smoker, put him on trial, and then bring justice to Koyassi Village and the twenty-odd islands in the area, finally sending Colonel Rat to prison for life.

However, Li Ang knew perfectly well that a trial was out of the question. Given the nature of the World Government, they would definitely kill the rat, thinking that only dead rats are good rats.

Just kidding. If there were a trial, how would they rewrite that charade from the newspaper article? If Colonel Rat cooperated, that would be fine, but if not, the whole thing would be exposed. But could the World Government really expect a prisoner who'd spent his entire life in jail to cooperate with their act? Of course not. The World Government doesn't want a huge blunder to happen in court.

Therefore, Captain Rat had to die. No matter how unwilling Smoker was, Captain Rat had no choice but to sacrifice his life to save face for the Navy.

And that was exactly what happened. Smoker had been holding Captain Rat in good condition, waiting to hand him over to the Navy's higher-ups. But as soon as the people who came to pick him up opened the cell door, they found him dead inside.

Then, in a great shock, Smoker rushed to check the other cells, only to find that none of them were alive; they had all died within those few short hours.