I collect everything in the One Piece world.

Colonel Smoker, whom they considered invincible and an unyielding pillar of the East Sea, was sent flying by a single punch?! And he seemed utterly powerless to retaliate?! Even his Seastone weapon couldn't touch him?!

As the smoke and dust slowly dissipated, Smoker struggled to his feet, his left cheek visibly swollen and turning purplish-blue.

His eyes were unfocused due to the intense pain and shock, and his gaze toward Mosen was filled with extreme shock and disbelief.

Mosen calmly withdrew his fist, and the Armament Haki covering it receded like a tide.

He brushed off non-existent dust from his shoulders and calmly looked at the disheveled Smoker.

"Excuse me."

"I don't have much time to waste here with you."

Gugu Strips

I drank too much during the Chinese New Year and really can't take it anymore. I need to rest for a day to recover.

Chapter 97, The Gap in Strength, Advice for Tashigi (Part 2)

"How can it be so strong? That power just now... was it Armament Haki?!"

Smoker muttered to himself, the shock and disbelief in his eyes quickly replaced by a strong fighting spirit.

If, when he first stopped Morsen, he was still struggling with a dilemma, weighing the conflict between the Navy's "procedural justice" and Morsen's "substantive justice," trying to find a balance between duty and morality...

Now, after being overwhelmingly defeated by Mo Sen, the chaotic thoughts in his mind were instantly cleared away, leaving only one thought: to see just how strong Mo Sen really was! And just how big was the gap between them?!

His thoughts raced, but his body's instincts and the desire to fight overwhelmed everything. Smoker suppressed his surging blood and activated his ability once more!

"White Jet!" he roared, his lower body instantly transforming into thick white smoke, propelling him toward Morsen at an even greater speed and a more daring angle!

At the same time, he gripped the 10 Hands tightly with his right hand, while his left hand manipulated the surrounding smoke, transforming it into countless white tentacles and fists that bombarded Morsen like a storm, attempting to block all of Morsen's escape routes and create an opportunity for the 10 Hands to attack!

This time, he combined the mobility and area-of-effect attacks of his Devil Fruit ability with the Seastone weapon in his hand to the extreme. The cold light of the Jitte could be seen and hidden in the smoke, ready to deliver a fatal blow to Morsen at any moment.

Despite the overwhelming momentum of the joint offensive, Morsen remained calm and composed, his eyes showing no sign of emotion.

His Observation Haki had allowed him to clearly "see" every movement of Smoker's body, every trajectory of the smoke, and even the angle and force changes of the Jite Thrust.

From Mosen's perspective, Smoker's seemingly fierce attack was full of flaws, and its trajectory was as clear as a slow-motion demonstration.

He didn't even draw his sword; he simply used his hands, covered in Armament Haki, to casually parry, dispersing the smoke and kicking away the Jitte's thrusts.

Smoker's attack looked impressive, but in reality, he couldn't even touch Morsen.

In contrast, Morsen's counterattack remained simple, direct, and efficient.

"Bang!" A straight punch covered in Armament Haki landed precisely on Smoker's ribs.

Then a sharp chop to his wrist nearly knocked his hands off his wrist.

Morsen's attacks ignored the elemental nature of the attacks, landing squarely on Smoker and causing real, intense pain and damage, constantly draining his strength and willpower.

In the brief exchange of ten seconds, Smoker felt pain all over his body, his right arm, which was gripping his hands, was numb from the shock, and his breathing became increasingly rapid.

His prized combination of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit and Seastone weapons seemed like a complete joke in front of Morsen.

No! He absolutely has to prove himself!

As his thoughts raced, a massive cloud of smoke coalesced into a giant fist that came crashing down from the front. At the same time, Smoker used the smoke as cover to move to the side at high speed, his jitte stabbing at Morsen's neck from an extremely tricky angle.

A red glint flashed in Mo Sen's eyes, as if he had expected it, and he dodged it by tilting his head back slightly.

Then, his Armament Haki-covered hand grabbed the back of the Jute, and the irresistible force made the Jute spin, forcing Smoker to release it.

"What?!" Alarm bells rang in Smoker's mind.

But before he could react, another punch landed squarely on his face.

"boom!!!"

Smoker felt a buzzing in his head, and everything went black before his eyes. All his senses and consciousness were completely shattered by that punch.

He was like a broken wooden stake, flying backwards without any resistance, spitting out blood, and several teeth mixed with blood and foam flying everywhere.

At the same time, Mosen shook his hand again.

"Whoosh! Pfft!"

The jitte, which had just been snatched from Smoker, transformed into a streak of black light, arriving before Smoker with a sharp whistling sound, and pierced through Smoker's right side in the abdomen.

"Ugh!" Smoker let out a painful groan as his body was pinned to the already cracked wall by the Jute, leaving him hanging there!

"Cough... Ugh!" Smoker coughed up another mouthful of blood, his face deathly pale, and all his strength drained away like a punctured balloon.

The power of the Seastone continued to exert its effect, making it impossible for him to even maintain the most basic elemental state. He could only be helplessly nailed to the wall, blood gushing down the hilt of the jitte and the wall, pooling at his feet.

The gap... is too big.

I am now too far away from him.

It wasn't just their strength, but also their application of power, their understanding of combat... a complete and utter defeat.

Mosen withdrew his hand, glanced at Smoker pinned to the wall, and said in a deep voice, "This weapon is not suitable for you..."

As a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, his greatest reliance and advantage should be his Devil Fruit ability.

However, Smoker focused on another aspect, relying on weapons inlaid with seastone to deal with other ability users, which was somewhat putting the cart before the horse, or even a waste of resources.

After all, rather than relying on this to restrict ability users, it's better to spend more time and effort honing Armament Haki.

Armament Haki can also capture Logia-type entities, and its application is wider, without limiting the user's ability.

I don't know what Smoker was thinking. He had the three admirals of the Navy setting an example for him, but he insisted on developing his own 'Seastone weapon' approach.

"Wait...wait a minute!" Smoker looked up in a hoarse voice at Morsen, who was about to leave.

"Sorry……"

"The incident in Cocoa West Village... was the Navy's fault..."

"It's also my fault... I failed to spot and stop that woodworm in time..."

"but!"

"I...I will still not give up on justice!"

"Next time! I will be even stronger! Strong enough to uphold my justice! Strong enough... to truly stand before you!"

This is his apology, but also his unwavering belief and new goal.

Even after such a crushing defeat and witnessing this exaggerated gap in strength, his fighting spirit did not die out; instead, it burned even brighter.

Upon hearing this, Mosen turned around and looked at Smoker, who was disheveled but had a stubborn look in his eyes, on the wall.

“If you want to apologize, you should go and apologize to the villagers of Cocoyasi Village. Their pain and losses cannot be erased by a simple ‘I’m sorry’.”

"And what does it matter to me whether you give up your 'justice' or not?"

"Whether you are strong or weak next time doesn't matter to me, but I will definitely beat you even harder."

“I admit that you are indeed an upright person. But your uprightness and justice do not mean that the entire navy is upright and justice.”

"If you insist on equating 'naval justice' with your 'personal justice,' you'll have a lot more to struggle with in the future."

After saying that, Mo Sen didn't linger and turned to leave.

The surrounding naval soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment, not daring to make any rash moves.

Smoker was pinned to the wall by his own ten hands, enduring excruciating physical and mental pain, with Morsen's last words echoing repeatedly in his mind.

Blood dripped continuously, staining the walls and his coat of justice red.

……

Another battlefield not far away.

Tashigi was kneeling on one knee, holding Shigure in both hands, panting heavily.

Behind the glasses, his eyes were filled with weariness, frustration, and deep incomprehension.

She had several shallow abrasions and bruises on her arms, shoulders, and even cheeks. Her navy uniform was also somewhat disheveled and torn, and she looked extremely exhausted and in a very sorry state.

In stark contrast was Bakala, who stood not far away opposite her.

Her breathing was steady, her cheeks were rosy, her hair was perfectly styled, and she was spotless, without a speck of dust in her clothes. It was as if she hadn't just been through a battle, but had instead taken a leisurely stroll and done some aerobic exercise.

There was no way around it; her Luck Fruit ability was simply too abstract and abnormal.

For a swordswoman like Tashigi who relies on swordsmanship to fight, her attacks become completely meaningless when every sword she swings fails to hit her opponent effectively due to various "accidents".

Despite possessing remarkable swordsmanship and strength, she felt as if she had punched cotton, leaving her so frustrated that she almost vomited blood.

Although in terms of pure combat strength and physical attributes, Tashigi is definitely much stronger than Baccarat, who is not good at direct combat.

However, this gap isn't large enough to completely disregard the factor of "luck" and result in an absolute crushing defeat. The current difference in their strength is precisely within the range where Baccarat's Devil Fruit ability can be most effective.

"Little sister, you still need to practice more~ You've been fighting for so long and you still can't even touch the hem of my clothes, that won't do~" Bakara crossed her arms and raised her chin slightly, her face showing undisguised pride and smugness.

Upon hearing this, Tashigi bit her lower lip hard, a hint of humiliation and resentment flashing in her eyes, along with a deep sense of self-doubt and confusion.

This battle almost shattered her Dao heart; she had never encountered such a bizarre and powerless way of fighting before.

"The battle is over, Miss Tashigi." Just then, a calm and familiar voice suddenly came from the side.

Tashigi shuddered and turned her head sharply, only to see Morsen's figure appear beside her at some point.

He simply reached out and casually hooked his hand over the other's.

"Clang!"

The sword Shigure, which Tashigi was holding tightly, fell lightly into Morsen's hand and then returned precisely to the empty scabbard at Tashigi's waist.

"?!" Everything happened so fast that Tashigi didn't even have time to panic because her weapon had been taken away before she felt a weight on her waist, and Shigure had already safely returned to his original position.

“Mr. Mo, Mr. Mosen…” Tashigi came back to her senses and looked at Mosen, who was so close to her. Her cheeks flushed slightly, but she felt a complex mix of guilt, unease, and confusion.

She lowered her head, her voice barely audible: "I'm sorry, I've disrupted your schedule..."

She did feel guilty. Mr. Morsen was a good man, yet the Navy wanted him. The one who had done wrong was that corrupt, rat-like colonel; the problem lay within the Navy itself…

"It's not your fault," Morsen said calmly, looking at Tashigi with a smile. "We're still friends, aren't we?"

"Friend!" Tashigi suddenly raised her head, her usually serious and stubborn eyes instantly filled with tears, which then turned into deep excitement and emotion.