The Great Voyage: The Props Master on the Straw Hat Ship

"Fifty-five million Berries, an unprecedented bounty. Even the Pirate King Roger couldn't achieve this back in the East Blue. And he easily defeated Arlong, a fishman who was supposedly a companion of Jinbe, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who came from the Grand Line!"

"It's said that he even fought against another Shichibukai, Hawkeye Mihawk, and remained undefeated!!"

Bartolomeo exclaimed excitedly, almost incoherently, "Your glorious deeds have gone viral throughout our gang circles!!"

"We now consider you all the pride of the people of Donghai!!"

"Really? I didn't expect it to have spread this far. I'm truly honored. Let's keep a low profile~"

The two chatted back and forth, creating a very cheerful atmosphere.

If two more bottles of wine were brought out at this point, Bartolomeo would definitely swirl one at least.

"I said you..."

Smoker, who had been waiting nearby, gradually darkened his expression. "Isn't this a bit too dismissive of me?!"

My dear!

In an instant, a large amount of smoke emanated from his body, enveloping the entire area.

The wind outside was getting stronger and stronger, and even those inside could hear the intense whirlwind outside.

"Hey, hey, hey, White Hunter!!"

Bartolomeo, who was excitedly standing there, was immediately indignant upon seeing this scene.

He appeared in front of Link in a flash, crossing his arms in a strange pose.

"Don't disturb our meeting between the mafia and the pirates, and I will absolutely not let you, a marine, ruin the pride of our East Blue here!!" He said with unusual determination, his steps unwavering, just like his gaze.

"To regard pirates as something to be proud of, they're just gangsters after all, they're all lowlifes..."

Smoker said coldly, and the smoke in the room immediately became even thicker.

Moreover, the smoke was thick with danger, and it seemed that an attack was about to begin at any moment.

"What did you say……"

Just as Bartolomeo was about to explode and release the barrier, he was gently patted on the shoulder.

"This is my battle, so leave it to me."

Link stepped forward and, without turning around, instructed, "Please get me a bottle of wine first; I'll drink it right away."

"So handsome!!"

Bartolomeo watched Link's forward strides and figure, his relaxed and carefree demeanor causing his eyes to gleam with a sharp light.

“【Props Maker】Link…”

Smoker, now a wisp of smoke floating in mid-air, shouted, "Your journey ends here!!"

580 "In the name of the Navy Headquarters Captain and the garrison commander of Loguetown, it is announced that you are under arrest!!"

Having said that, he grasped the weapon called "Ten Hands," which had a seastone inlay at the top, in his palm.

"I'm sorry, my journey has only just begun, why is it ending here?"

Link chuckled and snapped his fingers, and a small bottle appeared in his hand.

His actions left both Smoker and Bartolomeo speechless.

"You can conjure items out of thin air, is that your item-generating ability...?"

Smoker tightened his grip on the jitte. "It's useless. No matter what kind of tools you bring out, they can't cause any damage to my elemental smoke body!"

"Is it?"

Link gave a subtle smile.

"If you were another naturalist, I might actually have a tough time."

"But if it's smoke, that's incredibly easy, Colonel Smoker."

He held the small glass bottle in his hand, with its long neck and mouth, which resembled a combination of a wine dispenser and a vase, and pointed it at Smoker.

"Why don't you experience the effects of the items I possess?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the bottle in Link's hand suddenly began to glow faintly.

"Ok?"

Smoker was standing there, focused and on guard, when suddenly he felt a tremendous force of attraction surging towards him.

The source of this suction force was the bottle Link was holding.

"How is this going?!!"

Smoker's expression suddenly changed.

He tried to steady himself, but his heart skipped a beat.

"There's no way to stop it?!"

His face suddenly turned ugly; even with all his strength, he couldn't break free from that seemingly ordinary little bottle!

Wow! !

There was absolutely no way to stop it; Smoker could only watch helplessly as the thick smoke he was emitting rapidly converged towards the bottle's opening.

First the lower body, then the hands, arms, neck... until finally the head turned into smoke and was collected into the bottle.

Clang.

The sound of the 10-hand falling to the ground was clearly audible, and the thick smoke that had enveloped the entire tavern vanished without a trace.

"That's good."

Link capped the bottle, looked at the thick fog inside, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Then, let's continue."

Link looked at Bartolomeo, who was standing there with a blank stare, drool dripping from his wide-open mouth, almost onto his clothes.

"What delicious wines and local specialties do you have here? Let me try some!"

He patted the dazed Bartolomeo on the shoulder and sat down at the bar first.

"Boss, bring out all your local specialties."

The bar owner (cafj), who had been hiding and watching the whole thing, looked at Link, who seemed completely unaffected and still had a warm smile on his face.

He glanced again at the small bottle he had casually placed on the table, which was constantly throbbing and imprisoning Smoker.

He was silent for a few seconds, then burst into laughter.

"The future life is terrible..."

He didn't say much, but just gave Link a deep look, then gave a meaningful smile before turning around and going to work in the kitchen.

At this moment, Bartolomeo finally came to his senses.

He turned around and stared in disbelief at Link's retreating figure.

"Lin... Linlinlin..."

"Speak clearly before you speak~"

"oh oh!!"

Bartolomeo hurriedly patted his cheeks and then quickly went to the seat next to Link.

"Link-senpai!!"

His gaze was also fixed on the small, trembling, yet remarkably sturdy bottle on the table.

"this is……"

"【Smoke Man Manufacturing Bottle】, one of my props."

Link flicked the bottle with his finger, producing a crisp ringing sound.

Prop: [Smoke Man Manufacturing Bottle].

Description: You can inhale thick smoke into this bottle, and then a smoke person will appear who obeys you.

As you can see from the description, this item has two effects.

Firstly, it allows the dense smoke to be inhaled into the bottle; secondly, it allows the dense smoke to be used to create smoke-like beings that obey commands.

Link wasn't sure whether beings like Smoker, who possessed self-awareness and were Smokers themselves, would be affected by the creation bottle.

However, it is undeniable that, as smoke, he could not escape being inhaled into the bottle.

Regardless of whether it can obey orders or not, the mere fact that it can suck it in and trap it is already quite satisfactory to Link.

That's why Link said that Smoker is a user of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, and it would be more troublesome if it were anyone else.

But dealing with him as smoke is a piece of cake, isn't it?

This item is a perfect counter to Smoker!!

Gudong! !

Bartolomeo swallowed hard.

Although he didn't know what this prop was all about, he heard Link talking about it so casually.

With a simple gesture, he easily subdued the naval captain who was particularly troublesome in his eyes.

Bartolomeo was deeply impressed by Bartolomeo's effortless and confident tone and demeanor.

"Senior Link, you are really amazing! Even the natural-type naval captain stationed here is no match for you. You truly deserve to be the pride of our East Blue!!" Bartolomeo's face flushed red, and he admired Link to the point of complete awe.

"He barely made a move, yet he easily subdued and sealed it away; it was like he was a magician!!"

"I told you, I'm just a prop maker."

Link took the glass of wine handed to him by the boss and took a sip.

Hmm, it tastes pretty good.

"Um, Link-senpai..."

Bartolomeo rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming, and said somewhat embarrassedly:

"Can I...?"

He kept humming and puffing, but ultimately didn't finish his sentence.

"You want to go out to sea with me?"

Link knew what this guy was thinking, and pointed it out first.

"Yeah!!"

Bartolomeo nodded vigorously.

There is nothing more joyful than being able to fight alongside your admired idols and seniors.

"Sure, I'm fine... but what about you?"

Bartolomeo was about to cheer when he heard the first half of Link's sentence.

But then Link asked the next question.

"You said yourself that you are the underworld boss of 150 small towns. If you just follow me and leave, what will happen to the brothers who ate with you? What will happen to the empire you built?"

"I……"

Bartolomeo clearly hadn't considered this issue.

"Therefore, I hope you will think carefully and weigh the pros and cons before making a decision."

Link patted him on the shoulder, "With your big family and big business, it's impossible for you to just abandon everything and come together with us, a group of people who have no burdens."

"This one……"

Bartolomeo hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"Actually, you can wait and see. After all, this is our first time going to the Grand Line. Let's test the waters first."

Link took another sip of his drink. "Once we've settled down, you can bring your crew and form your own pirate crew to come find us. We can meet again then." "Link-senpai..."

Hearing Link's consideration and thoughtfulness for him, Bartolomeo was so moved that he burst into tears.

As for whether to abandon everything and follow Link without hesitation, or to take care of his underlings... he immediately made up his mind: to go and ask Grandma.