Chapter Eighty-Seven: Smoker’s Decision

Then Bu Fon pressed one palm to the ground, and needles threaded with black silk burst outward in all directions like a spider’s web.

Under his breath, he murmured, "Goalkeeper Secret Art, Net of the Gate, Strangling Snare!"

As the divided slabs of floor tumbled away, a neatly cut opening appeared before Bu Fon without a sound.

Lily leaned over to look inside, and saw clear water beneath the opening, where massive banana crocodiles, linked head to tail, were swimming in a line toward a passageway.

"Captain Bu Fon, what kind of crocodile is this?" Lily asked, her eyes already sparkling.

"These are banana crocodiles, fierce beasts that can prey on Sea Kings. They bear banana-shaped growths on their heads, and their powerful jaws can crush boulders! Hurry along now, and your share of the feast will not be forgotten!"

At Bu Fon’s reminder, Lily suddenly came to herself. She promptly shrank her body to five millimeters in size, then slipped away through the crack in the door.

Seeing Lily gone, Bu Fon said to Yi with a smile, "See you outside!"

Then he leaped into the water and swam toward the underwater chamber where Crocodile was hiding.

By then, in the chamber, Crocodile had already thrown the cage’s "key" into the water and left with Robin. The banana crocodile that had swallowed the key had followed the current into the chamber and was now locked in battle with Vivi.

The slender Vivi was clearly no match for the giant brute. She could only dart away in frantic avoidance, unable to retaliate at all.

Half the staircase in the chamber had already been bitten away by the enormous banana crocodile, and behind it a second one was already pressing in.

Inside the iron cage, now submerged up to the knees, both Luffy and Smoker, as ability users, were in the same dire state, barely clinging on after exhausting themselves.

Seeing this, Nami and Usopp, the two ordinary humans, were at a loss. They could only watch helplessly, torn between worry for Vivi battling the banana crocodile and concern for the two landlocked captives.

"Straw Hat kid, don’t you have companions?" Smoker asked weakly.

Luffy, equally straining himself, answered, "Why don’t you think of something too? We need to get out first!"

Smoker sighed when he heard that. In this cage, an ability user like him truly had no way out.

But at that very moment, a drenched figure emerged from the passageway, dragging with him a banana crocodile that had already fainted.

The instant Vivi saw that figure, she could not help crying out, "Captain Bu Fon!"

Yet in that brief moment of surprise, the banana crocodile swallowed her whole.

Seeing this, Bu Fon flashed forward at once and drove a knee straight into the crocodile’s belly.

At once, stones of all sizes, along with a wax shell and Vivi’s figure, were vomited back out. Bu Fon ignored the wax shell and went straight for Vivi, scooping her up and carrying her to the staircase that had not yet been submerged.

Seeing that she was unharmed save for a few superficial wounds, Bu Fon finally relaxed.

By then the wax shell had already cracked open. Mr. Three peered out from inside, sneaking a look at Bu Fon. He pushed up his shattered glasses, and when he made out Bu Fon’s face, his body involuntarily recoiled, nearly tipping the wax shell over and sending him into the water.

"Bu, Bu Fon!" he stammered, already racing through a desperate search for a solution.

If he did not want to be caught by this monster and handed over to the navy again, then he had to prove that he was useful.

After a moment, Mr. Three spoke up. "Captain Bu Fon, the people in the cage are your friends, right? I can use the Wax-Wax Fruit’s power to make a key and open the lock."

Hearing this, everyone in the cage, as well as the weakened Vivi, immediately brightened and all turned to Bu Fon, waiting for him to speak.

But Bu Fon said nothing. He plunged headfirst into the water and swam toward the iron cage.

As soon as he reached it, the white gloves on both hands turned black, and with a gentle pull he separated the iron bars inlaid with seastone, then swam inside.

Everyone present was stunned by Bu Fon’s monstrous strength. Smoker and Mr. Three especially, having fought him before, had long assumed that such instantaneous suppression meant Bu Fon was definitely an ability user.

Yet just now, before their very eyes, Bu Fon had casually torn open an iron cage set with seastone while underwater, proof enough that he was not an ability user at all.

"So powerful, and yet not even an ability user. If he were to gain a fruit in the future, just how terrifying would his strength become?" thought Smoker bitterly, half his body soaked in water and on the verge of unconsciousness.

And Mr. Three, floating inside the wax shell, was equally shocked, even as his mind began racing for a countermeasure.

Bu Fon took Luffy in one hand and Smoker in the other, then swam back out.

Once they were all out, Mr. Three tried again. "Captain Bu Fon, I can use the wax shell to make a ship..."

Before he could finish, the chamber wall, already cracked from the damage caused by the banana crocodiles, could no longer withstand the pressure of the water and burst apart in an instant.

The surging flood overturned Mr. Three’s wax shell. After flailing only twice, he sank beneath the water.

Bu Fon had no intention of saving him, but then he thought of the bloodline factor transformation and quickly swam over to haul up the fainted landlubber.

Facing the chamber that was about to be submerged, Bu Fon calmly assigned the roles. "Vivi, you and Nami handle the smoker. Usopp, you take Luffy. Mr. Three is mine. This place connects to the river outside, so there’s no problem swimming up."

With that, Bu Fon tucked Mr. Three under his arm and dived down, swimming toward the water outside the chamber.

Vivi and Nami each took one of Smoker’s arms and followed Bu Fon, while Usopp remained where he was, hesitating.

He could swim, yes, but dragging Luffy, a landlubber, such a long distance left him uncertain. He feared that if something went wrong halfway, not only would he lose his own life, but Luffy’s as well.

What was more, there were still several banana crocodiles roaming in the water.

But just then, he saw Bu Fon in the water, fierce as a merman, barreling through the currents while still carrying Mr. Three. In no time at all, he had dealt with the remaining banana crocodiles.

Seeing that the greatest obstacle had been cleared away by Bu Fon, Usopp gritted his teeth and dragged Luffy after them.

But after swimming for a while, he found Luffy’s body growing heavier and heavier. He was on the verge of collapse. In his panic, he failed to hold his breath, and after swallowing a mouthful of water, he slowly began to sink together with Luffy.

At that very moment, Bu Fon, who had plunged back into the water, brought the power of the merman to its absolute peak. White waves surged behind him as he shot toward the two of them, and in an instant he caught them both and swam for the surface.

By the time Bu Fon broke the water, the two women, with Smoker in tow, had only just floated up as well.

Bu Fon tossed the two "dead fish" from under his arms onto the shore. After climbing out himself, he lifted Smoker from the women’s hands and then leaped back into the water.

Smoker woke at once. Looking at the two women, he said with some confusion, "Why would pirates save me, a marine who has been chasing you all this time?"

Nami brushed back her wet hair and answered solemnly, "That’s Captain Bu Fon’s order! If he hadn’t spoken up, who would want to save a marine like you?"

Hearing this, Smoker stood up and said seriously, "For that alone, I’ll let the Straw Hat Pirates off once. But only this once. If we meet again, I won’t show mercy. And as for Princess Vivi, I, on behalf of the navy, give you this promise: we will capture every last one of Crocodile’s rebellion faction and bring them back."

The marines who arrived after hearing the report saw the Straw Hat crew and raised their guns to fire.

At that moment, a massive banana crocodile was suddenly thrown out of the water and onto shore, followed immediately by a second.

The flintlocks in the marines’ hands began to tremble.

"Lower your guns. Let them go!"

At Smoker’s command, one marine questioned him. "Major Smoker, aren’t you afraid that if headquarters finds out about this..."

Before he could finish, Smoker cut him off. "Since when have I ever been afraid of those old men at headquarters?"