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•———•———•———•———•
Chapter's Events:
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"You…!! Smokey…!!! Of course… that jitte…"
After taking a hit, Luffy regained his balance and identified the person who attacked him as Smoker.
"Haa… Haa… It's got Kairouseki in it…!! Damn you!!"
"I will finish you myself!!!" declared Smoker firmly, determination evident in his eyes.
Luffy was undeterred by Smoker's threat and countered, "Gomu Gomu… Jet Gatling!!!"
His rapid punches didn't cause any harm to a Logia user like Smoker, who took the opportunity to strike back after transforming into smoke. "White Launcher!!"
"He's way stronger than way before!" Luffy quickly noticed.
"I believe that goes for both of us," replied Smoker, who had already reached Luffy and slammed him to the ground using his Kairouseki-tipped jitte.
"But you cannot defeat me with your ability!!!"
"Guahhh -" screamed Luffy as he was pinned to the ground by the Kairouseki-tipped jitte around his neck.
"I can see exactly why it was… Haa… Haa… That Dragon saved you back in Loguetown, Strawhat…" said Smoker as he applied more pressure, trying to pin down Luffy who was attempting to escape.
"M… My strength is fading… Dammit… That jitte… Get it off me…!" Luffy felt the weight of his body due to the Kairouseki's effect.
"Out of the way, fool!!!" At that moment, Smoker was kicked away from Luffy.
…
..
"How dare you attack my beloved and pin him to the ground!!!"
Hancock was furious to the point of wanting to tear Smoker apart.
"The pirate empress, protecting Strawhat!!?"
•———•———•———•———•
"What's happening with this damn woman?"
"Is she crazy!?"
In Marineford, the Marine leaders were enjoying Smoker's overwhelming performance against StrawHat Luffy, but suddenly, Boa Hancock intervened and kicked Smoker away.
Considering Smoker as Luffy's legitimate rival from the Marine, and their battles were always characterized by fair and equal fights, seeing Smoker outmatched completely, as it happened in their first clash in Loguetown, made Sengoku and others naturally pleased.
"... Just like in Loguetown, Luffy is being saved in almost the same way."
"This time it's Hancock instead of Dragon... Aren't she worried about her status as a Shichibukai?"
"It seems Luffy is more important to her than the Shichibukai seat... How lucky he is..."
Momonga concealed the lust in his eyes when he saw Hancock's legs, pure white, in the manga.
"Hmph! How pitiful... A Logia user who doesn't know how to use Haki..."
"Judging by his reaction after Hancock managed to hit him, he must not know about Haki at all..."
Akainu snorted contemptuously at Smoker's weakness in front of Hancock, who stopped him easily as if playing with a child.
"That's impossible. Recruits start learning how to use Haki in their training stage; they can't graduate without learning it... His Haki must be weaker than Hancock's, just like that." said Sengoku.
"That makes sense..." replied Aokiji.
"Anyway... it's clear that Hancock is playing both sides in this war... As expected, an ally who can't be fully trusted."
Sengoku was upset to see Hancock handing over Ace's handcuff key to Luffy; he immediately crossed out Hancock's name from the allies' list in this war.
…
Inside the Marigoa, in the Hall of Authority:
"This slave... how arrogant she is..."
Saint Warcury felt extreme annoyance at Hancock's attitude in the manga.
"Man, take it easy; she's that man's daughter..."
Although Saint Nasjuro had the same impression as Saint Warcury in his heart, the sudden death of the Celestial Dragon flashed through their minds after he expressed his desire for slaves her aloud in the art store.
"We're not in the art store, so he can't hear us anyway."
Saint Mars interjected.
"I wanted to see Smoker kill Luffy, but that whore intervened..."
"Even without her, it's impossible for Smoker to succeed in killing Luffy."
"Maybe this war will be Smoker's last chance to defeat him, after that, he'll be left in the dust."
"Hmm~ I'm curious about what happened to Bartholomew Kuma as well..."
Upon hearing that, the Gorosei's focus returned to the manga pages in the next scenes.
•———•———•———•———•
"Kuma... Kuma...!! Haa... Haa..."
Facing his comrade, Ivankov was still unsure of what he should do.
"If you do not stop this, then I will be forced to attack you...!"
"Enough of this nonsense!!! It is I!!! Do you mean to tell me you have forgotten this face!!?"
This was something Ivankov couldn't accept.
At that moment, a third party intervened with laughter:
"Fuffuffu... I don't know what connection the two of you may have had... but you should give it up. There's no point trying to talk to him, Revolutionary Army Commander Emporio Ivankov."
It was Doflamingo who said that.
"What on earth do you mean by that!!?"
Ivankov was surprised but felt that Doflamingo knew something about Kuma.
"I daresay the guy you knew was 'Bartholomew Kuma', right?"
"He's the man once known by the name of Tyrant Kuma."
Doflamingo paused for a moment, grinned wickedly, then continued.
"Well, he's already dead."
Ivankov was shocked to the point where his eyes turned red.
"… Whaaa!!?"
•———•———•———•———•
"Already dead? How is that possible?"
Even the Five Elders were surprised by what Doflamingo said.
"My prediction was correct then, huh~"
Saint Mars felt a strong sense of appreciation and praise from his comrades' eyes, as he previously stated that Kuma was already dead, and now his theory was confirmed.
"The question here is how did that happen... Did Vegapunk do it?"
"Why would he do that? Empowering himself into Pacifista in our hands..."
"His weakness must have fallen into our hands... Otherwise, a king like him couldn't do that-"
At that moment, the Five Elders felt new memories emerging in their minds out of nowhere, about a certain female.
The matter of retrieving Ginny, who was once a slave of the Celestial Dragon in the past.
The strange scientific experiment conducted by Saturn personally on Ginny, revealing she was pregnant during the experiment.
The Sapphire Scales disease...
Ginny being cast away and her success in reaching the Sorbet Kingdom...
Her death after giving birth to a daughter and leaving her in the care of Bartholomew Kuma, who was also their former slave.
A unique slave of Buccaneer descent.
...
"Hmm?"
On her high throne, Imu felt the strange tension that occurred with her subordinates, whom she shared memories, power, and almost everything with.
She looked towards the western horizon, directly towards Ohara, with a gentle smile on her face.
"Weird..." she said.
...
"... His daughter must have inherited her mother's chronic disease, and to save her, he had to surrender to us..."
"Everything is clear now..."
Suddenly, the Five Elders felt enlightened about the reason that drove Kuma to transform himself into a cold weapon in their hands.
They never doubted the memories that suddenly appeared out of nowhere in their minds.
Only Imu was distracted, thinking about the strangeness of what had just happened.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 716: Bartholomew Kuma is already dead.
Chapter 717: Luffy VS. Mihawk!
Chapter 718: The Appearance of Pacifistas!
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