# Chapter 410: A Different Loguetown
Time passed quietly. About twenty-some days later, at the East Blue Loguetown Marine Base.
The base's commander, Smoker, was currently staring blankly at a newspaper, even forgetting to flick the ash from the cigar dangling from his mouth.
On the newspaper, there was a massive headline that read: "Donquixote Doflamingo Stripped of Warlord Title!"
Below this title were two large photographs. One was of Doflamingo wearing sunglasses, looking thoroughly evil. This photo was actually taken from a wanted poster, and beneath it was a long string of numbers representing a bounty amount.
The Dressrosa incident, after so many days of investigation, had finally reached a conclusion. Although reluctant to admit it, there had been four Warlords and one Marine Admiral on the island who had personally witnessed Doflamingo's crimes. Combined with reports from numerous intelligence agents and World Government officials, the World Government had finally made its decision: strip Doflamingo of his Warlord title, reissue his wanted poster, and directly raise his bounty to 700 million Berries.
Compared to his 340 million Berry bounty before becoming a Warlord, Doflamingo's bounty had more than doubled this time!
Smoker had met Doflamingo before. Back when he was still at Marine Headquarters before being transferred to the East Blue, he had encountered this man more than once. How to put it? Smoker had always felt this man was dangerous. Every time he saw him, he felt unconsciously uncomfortable. He had often wondered back then: was it really a good idea to let such an evil bastard become a Warlord?
But that was a joint decision by Marine Headquarters and the World Government, not something a mere Captain like Smoker could question. And now, Doflamingo's crimes had finally been exposed. Logically, Smoker should have felt relieved. But when he saw the other photo below, he felt terrible.
The person in the second photo was very familiar to Smoker. Wearing a bear-ear hat with a ponytail, an sleeveless coat open to reveal his bare chest, and a distinctive bell-wrapped bandage on his right wrist — who else could it be but Ian?
However, this photo had been taken by someone at just the right moment. It captured Ian on Dressrosa using his Thousand Cherry Blossoms Final Release, in his White Emperor Sword form battling Jack the Drought. So what was revealed to the world was his majestic posture with wings spread wide.
So when Smoker saw this photo, he froze. The newspaper's content clearly recorded the battle's details, specifically mentioning the scene where Ian split Dressrosa Island in two with a single slash.
"Damn it!" Smoker bit down on his cigar with mixed emotions. "He's getting stronger and stronger. Is it really okay for me to be holed up here in this peaceful little East Blue?"
It hadn't been that long since he first met Ian. Most of Smoker's memories of Ian were still from when Ian was a swordsmanship instructor. Back then, Smoker could even beat Ian up. But now?
Without a doubt, Ian's achievements had already stimulated Smoker. Although he had been sent to the East Blue as a problem child, and had wallowed in self-pity when he first arrived, now, seeing that familiar figure again, Smoker couldn't help but ask himself: was he going to continue wasting away in the East Blue?
Smoker was older than Ian. Being surpassed by a junior didn't feel good at all.
The Den Den Mushi on the table went "purupuru." Smoker picked up the receiver and answered the call, but said nothing.
The person on the other end seemed accustomed to this and spoke directly: "Smoker, you've probably seen the newspaper by now, right? What are you thinking?"
"Tina, spare me the nonsense!" Smoker blew out a puff of smoke. "You know that kid too. What are you thinking?"
The person on the other end was indeed Tina. She chuckled and said, "Tina doesn't have any particular thoughts. But as for you, if you're willing, you could say a word to Admiral Kuzan and probably return to Marine Headquarters. There's no need to keep wasting your willpower in the East Blue."
"I'll come back when I want to come back!" Smoker said. "Anything else?"
Tina's tone turned serious. "There is something. Admiral Kuzan sent word that the Warlord Ian has suddenly left, apparently with Fire Fist Ace. Kuzan suspects they're going after Blackbeard Teach. When Ian gets involved in something, it's often hard to control. So Kuzan told me to tell you: if you encounter Blackbeard Teach in the East Blue, find a way to capture him yourself. If possible, don't let Ian get involved. Otherwise, who knows what kind of commotion they'll cause."
"I understand," Smoker said. "If Teach appears in the East Blue, I'll keep an eye out."
In fact, at this very moment, it wasn't just Smoker who had received this news. In the other three seas, as well as the first half of the Grand Line, almost all Marines had received similar notifications: if they discovered Blackbeard Teach's whereabouts, they should capture him directly and not let Black Dragon Ian get involved again.
By now, Blackbeard Teach had already attracted the Marines' attention, but not everyone knew how dangerous Teach was. Although Teach had defected from the Whitebeard Pirates, he had previously been an unknown pirate with no bounty at all. So many Marines thought Teach wasn't anything special, which led to this order.
Perhaps only when the Marines actually fought Teach would they realize how terrifying this man was...
Just as Smoker put down the phone, a sudden knock came at the door.
"Come in!" Smoker said.
A Marine soldier rushed in breathlessly, snapped to attention, and reported anxiously: "Captain Smoker! Pirates are causing trouble at the execution platform square!"
"Oh? What pirates?" Smoker asked.
"Unknown! It's a kid wearing a straw hat!" the soldier said. "He climbed onto the execution platform..."
"Damn it! Get him down!" Smoker said. "Is that execution platform something just anyone can climb onto? It was just repaired not long ago. What if it gets wrecked again?"
"But... but..." the soldier stammered. "But the Buggy Pirates have also appeared. They seem to want to catch that straw hat guy..."
As soon as Smoker heard the name Buggy Pirates, he became serious. Grabbing his coat and his weapon, the Ten Hands, he ordered: "Immediately notify Lieutenant Commander Kuina and Sergeant Tashigi. We're going to check it out!"
Thanks to the achievements from capturing the Arlong Pirates earlier, Kuina had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander. But Tashigi was still stuck in the same position. There was no helping it — the gap between a Devil Fruit user and an ordinary person was just that big...
Meanwhile, as the Marines gathered in Loguetown, on the other side, on the island of Baltigo in the New World, Sabo, Koala, and the fish-man Hack had just returned to Baltigo Island.
Sabo had brought back a large batch of weapons and naturally needed to report to Revolutionary Army leader Dragon immediately. However, he was told that Dragon had been away for a long time.
"Really, where did Dragon go?" Sabo said with some confusion. "When he goes out, he usually brings people with him. Why did he leave alone and in secret this time?"
...
Back in Loguetown, Kuina and Tashigi quickly arrived to rendezvous with Smoker.
Meanwhile, the Marines had obtained some basic information about the two pirate crews causing trouble in the square.
"According to intelligence, the ones currently in the square are the Buggy Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates!" Smoker briefed them. "I don't need to say much about the Buggy Pirates. As for the Straw Hat Pirates, they seem to be a newly emerged rookie crew. The captain is Straw Hat Luffy, and the members include the Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro..."
Although Smoker continued speaking, Kuina couldn't hear him anymore. The moment she heard Zoro's name, she was stunned.
"Zoro!? Why is he here? And... he became a pirate!?"