One Piece: Starting With Flame-Flame Fruit

Tony glanced over at Nami with a teasing smile. "Hey little thief, are you scared? You're about to become a wanted criminal of the Marines!"

"Hmph! Who do you think you're talking to? I've been a pirate for years now. By seniority, you should be calling me 'senpai'!" Nami retorted, crossing her arms and tilting her nose up playfully, striking a pose as if she were the boss. Her cuteness was undeniable, and Tony couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha, all right, 'senpai'! We need to set off now. It's time to leave Cocoyasi Village." Tony sheathed his sword and strode off in the direction of the village harbor, with Nami happily skipping along behind him.

 ...

A week later, the news of the massacre couldn't be contained, and the Marines branch soon discovered the fate of Rat Colonel and the dozens of soldiers who'd died at Cocoyasi Village. However, the villagers kept Tony's name a secret.

Now, the Marines saw the incident as a direct challenge to their sense of justice—a brutal slaughter of more than ten Marines soldiers in the weakest of the Four Seas, East Blue, including a branch colonel.

The news exploded across the seas and reached Marines Headquarters, drawing immediate and serious attention.

"Brrrr! Brrrr!" The transponder snail rang at the Marines office in Loguetown.

Smoker, wearing sunglasses and reclining with his legs up, a double cigar in his mouth, was dozing off with a thoroughly unbothered look. He scowled as the ringing interrupted his nap, and with clear irritation, he picked up the receiver.

"Loguetown HQ here. This is Headquarters Captain Smoker. If it's urgent, speak; if not, goodbye."

"..."

Smoker's naturally unlikable demeanor and stubborn temper made his career path in the Marines anything but smooth. He paused, though, as he realized a big name was on the other end of the line—Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself.

"Smoker, it's been a while. How have things been? Are you getting a little too comfortable in East Blue?"

Hearing Sengoku's questioning tone, Smoker softened immediately, throwing out a few flattering responses. After all, his promotion prospects depended on "the boss" at the other end of the line.

"Thank you for asking, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. All's well here in East Blue. We get a few pirates showing up during regular patrols, but I take care of them quickly. Nothing out of the ordinary—everything is under control here."

Sengoku almost wanted to reach through the receiver and throttle Smoker. "What are you, brain-dead, Captain Smoker? A huge incident just occurred in East Blue, and you have no idea? If that's the case, you can kiss your title goodbye and start over as a soldier!"

Smoker was stunned, racking his brain for any newsworthy events in his little corner of Loguetown, but he came up blank. The Fleet Admiral's barrage left him with no time to react, so all he could do was reluctantly ask what had happened.

After another round of Sengoku's relentless scolding, Smoker finally got a word in.

"Captain Smoker, several days ago, Marine Headquarters received a report from the 16th Branch in East Blue. Colonel Rat and over ten other Marine soldiers were found slain and burned to death in Cocoyasi Village. The area of destruction was small, but we suspect a Devil Fruit user with fire-based abilities might be involved."

"Have you seen any suspicious people in East Blue recently?"

"Of course, this is merely my speculation," Sengoku clarified. "But as a Headquarters Captain, it's your job to investigate thoroughly. We cannot let anyone who kills Marine soldiers and defies our justice go unpunished."

"The target reportedly has swordsmanship skills and wields a flammable and explosive ability. That's all we know, so the bounty will start at 100 million Berries."

At this, Smoker recalled the young man he'd seen in Loguetown, whose obnoxious demeanor left a lasting impression.

"That guy did have a sword… could it be…?"

Smoker muttered into the receiver, deep in thought.

"Oh? Have you encountered anyone suspicious?" Sengoku pressed.

"Ah, no, no. I think I might be mistaken."

In the next moment, Smoker dismissed his own suspicions. After all, Cocoyasi Village was a poor place, and Tony, with those two big chests of cash and his evident business ambitions, would hardly seek profit in such a remote, impoverished area. Plus, Tony's name wasn't even on the bounty list… so Smoker instinctively ruled him out.

Meanwhile, Sengoku was deeply frustrated by this entire situation. Reliable sources told him that Colonel Rat had intended to pocket the pirate's treasure for himself, leading to his and his subordinates' deaths. The Marines' reputation had taken a huge hit with this incident.

Sengoku couldn't care less about scum like Rat, but allowing an outsider to kill more than a dozen Marine soldiers—that was something he could not tolerate. Even if justice was warranted, it had to come from within the Marines. Letting someone else do it was akin to a stinging slap in the face, challenging the Marines' sense of justice.

This incident in the so-called "weakest" East Blue could shatter public confidence in the Marines and deepen fears of it instead. Sengoku gritted his teeth, hung up the phone, and slammed his fist onto his desk in anger. What really upset him was that such corruption had tainted the Marines.

The weight of public opinion pressed on him, and he vowed to hunt down the one responsible for this massacre.

As Sengoku sat in his office, he recalled the notorious figures from East Blue over the last decade: Pirate King Gol D. Roger, Dark King Rayleigh, and Monkey D. Dragon.

All of them had started as small-time pirates only to grow into world-shaking figures. Considering this latest incident, Sengoku had a sinking feeling that the man who'd killed those Marines soldiers was no ordinary person. He hoped he was just overthinking it.

Nonetheless, as Fleet Admiral, he had to consider the worst-case scenarios. So he ordered East Blue's strongest Marines warrior, Smoker, to investigate and see what kind of individual they were dealing with.

"Achoo!" Tony sneezed out of the blue as he sat leisurely on his small, motorized sailboat, fishing rod in hand. Instinctively, he rubbed his nose.

"Hm! Must be some pretty girl thinking of me," he joked, turning to glance at the nearby "little thief cat."

"Hey, Nami, were you just thinking about me?"

Tony, knowing that Nami would grow into a stunning beauty someday, enjoyed teasing her now and then. But Nami seemed entirely lost in her own thoughts, not even hearing him.

There she was, sitting in a corner with her small figure hunched over, pulling her hair in frustration. She was clearly regretting not saving any of the money she'd accumulated over the years, having handed it all over to Kenjo. She was practically obsessed with her loss, murmuring to herself in despair.

"My money… my money! How long will it take me to earn it all back?"

Seeing this little money-grubber, Tony could only shake his head in exasperation. "Ah, hopeless! All she thinks about is money."

"Hey, Nami, listen! There's still one hundred million Berries left. Remember?"

Hearing those words, Nami turned around as if she'd just heard the sweetest sound in the world, her eyes glittering with greed as she stared at Tony with an unfiltered, eager expression.

"…Wow, how realistic can you get?" Tony muttered, covering his face, unable to bear the sight of this "greedy little thief cat."

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T/N:

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