One piece: Dark Smoker

After receiving their undercover mission, Smoker and Tashigi were both frustrated, their faces turning green with worry. They had no choice but to lower their heads and gather information.

Soon enough, their frowns turned into smiles.

Just a few days before Zean set sail, the G2 base had just gone through a major shakeup. Navy officers were reassigned to various bases within the jurisdiction, while new personnel were being brought in to fill the vacancies.

With so many changes happening at once, G2 received an urgent mission, and they didn't have time to properly screen recruits. In desperation, they decided to send the top 100 performers based on their training results, without much thought.

This meant that on board the ship, many of the sailors didn't even know each other, and they weren't much stronger than Smoker and Tashigi.

The two of them were now feeling more optimistic. They immediately split up to investigate.

Smoker took it upon himself to gather intel from the crew. Every day, he wandered around, chatting with everyone he could find.

"Hey, Lieutenant Shuen, good morning!"

"Hey, Kez, want to go throw a couple of shots?"

Being a Navy man himself, Smoker found it easy to blend in. Soon, he was on friendly terms with nearly everyone.

As for Tashigi, her striking looks made her a bit too noticeable, so she stayed in the cabin. She used her elemental powers to slip into the data room and search through information.

While Smoker and Tashigi were busy with their investigations, Zean was about to lose her mind.

In her office, she sat behind the desk, staring at a report, her face shifting from red to green to pale.

In front of her stood a group of rigidly upright soldiers, all with proud, confident faces, their eyes gleaming with naive arrogance.

Zean slowly set the report down and lifted her head.

"Is this the report you've written for the week?!" she asked.

The soldiers puffed out their chests. "Yes! Major Zean! Thank you for the compliment!"

"I... sigh..."

Zean had intended to say, "I didn't compliment you," but she couldn't bring herself to.

At that moment, she had none of the elegance or sharpness she had when facing Doflamingo. All that remained was an overwhelming sense of helplessness, like a hen struck by disease.

Zean had been sent on this mission under the pretense of protecting Navy scientists. She had brought along the strongest soldiers and put them on the ship.

But little did she expect that, although they were elite fighters, they all seemed to have muscles but no brains.

They were fearless when fighting pirates, but once it came to handling administrative tasks, they became completely useless.

For example, when assigning dormitories, they didn't consider ranks or genders, they just drew lots.

And the one responsible for supplies bought dozens of barrels of liquor and completely forgot about food and fresh water.

Now, this week's report was a disaster—just two pages, half filled with typos and the other half scribbled with nonsense.

Even worse, after sailing for half a month, they discovered that dozens of sailors were missing from the crew roster.

Zean stared blankly at the ceiling, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"If I'm wrong, then let the pirates kill me. Why do I have to suffer through this with these idiots…"

But no matter what, these were the soldiers she had chosen. Even if she cried, she had to lead them.

So, Zean wiped away her tears and forced a gentle smile.

"Don't you have anything to say?"

"Uhm... Major Zean, should we be eating now?" one of the taller sailors asked, stepping forward.

Zean's face stiffened, and her eyelid twitched slightly.

Another soldier, a bit smarter, awkwardly asked, "Uh... Major Zean, is our report not good enough?"

The other soldiers, sensing the tension, nervously glanced at Zean.

Zean's expression returned to a calm one.

"No, I'm not angry…"

"Phew..." the soldier sighed in relief. "As long as you're not mad, I'm good!"

The others shared relieved smiles.

Zeran slowly stood up, her fingers transforming into five sharp spikes.

"I'm not angry. But with a group of people who are about to die, what's there to get angry about?"

The soldiers froze in fear.

...

In the hallway, Smoker and Tashigi were chatting as they walked.

"I haven't found anything suspicious so far. The key to this mission still lies with Zean."

"But she's a Major, and with our positions, it'll be hard to make direct contact…"

"If we push too hard, we might raise suspicion…"

Suddenly, a loud scream echoed from a nearby room.

"Help!!"

"Major Zean has gone crazy! She's killing people!!"

The door slammed open, and several battered sailors rushed out, crashing into Smoker.

"Hey!"

"Argh!!"

It was so sudden that Smoker barely managed to prevent himself from transforming, and the sailors fell into a pile.

One of the sailors dropped his report.

"Ugh, ugh..." Smoker got up and helped the sailors to their feet.

Tashigi bent down to pick up the papers. "Your files are all over the place…"

Then she curiously glanced at the contents and sighed with relief.

"Phew, it's just waste paper…"

The Navy sailors looked confused.

Inside the room, Zean heard this and suddenly rushed to the door, grabbing Tashigi's shoulders.

"You think this is just waste paper?!"

"Uh? Ah?" Tashigi was caught off guard and asked, "Isn't it?"

"Hahahaha!!" Zean suddenly burst out laughing, her eyes glistening with tears.

She slapped Tashigi's shoulder heavily.

"Exactly, just a pile of waste paper!"

"Hmm, you seem unfamiliar. What's your name?"

"Ah, T-Tashigi," Tashigi quickly snapped to attention. "Major Zean, Navy Ensign Tashigi reporting in!"

Zean nodded, extending her hand to the side. "Roster!"

A sailor quickly handed over a book filled with names.

Zean flipped through it quickly, her eyes darting between the book and Tashigi.

Smoker and Tashigi's hearts leaped into their throats.

Uh-oh…

After receiving their undercover mission, they had quickly prepared false identities. Even in the G2 base, their files were already there.

The only problem was the crew roster.

Their names were missing!

They could explain it away by saying it was a mistake and that they would call the G2 base to verify, but that might raise suspicion!

To their surprise, Zean finished looking through the list and tossed it at the sailor's face, turning it into a thorn and whipping it as she scolded.

"Asshole! Where's Tashigi's name in it?! Give me another count!"

"If I make another mistake, I'll jump into the sea and feed the sharks myself!!"

"Ah! Ah! Yes...yes!"

Several marines picked up the list and ran away in a mess.

Smoker and Tashigi were stunned. Is this okay?!

Zean threw the list to the thorns, turned back, and looked at Tashigi up and down.

Whether it was temperament or appearance, she felt that Tashigi seemed fitting. More importantly, she also thought the files were just waste paper!

For a moment, there was a feeling that the heroes were looking at the same thing...

"Warrant Officer Tashigi, from today on, you are my personal assistant."

Smoker and Tashigi: "?!!"

At this moment, there was another noise in the corridor.

"Where's Zean? I want to see Zean!"

Hearing the sound, everyone looked over curiously.

Only Zean looked like she had a toothache.

After a while, several old men with white beards trotted over angrily, followed by a dejected sailor.

"Major General Zean! I said I wanted an assistant, what kind of idiot are you looking for?!"

"I asked him to get gunpowder, but this bastard actually took a torch into the explosives warehouse. Does he want us to blow up the sky?!"

"That's right! And there's more..."

Several other scientists also began to complain, as if hundreds of ducks were quacking.

Zean felt like her head was going to explode.

She wasn't afraid of pirates, she could just fight them.

She wasn't afraid of her superiors, she could argue with them.

She wasn't afraid of her subordinates, she could just beat them.

But she was afraid of these naval scientists.

They couldn't be beaten or scolded, and they still acted like they were tough and unbothered.

The worst part was that every time they looked at her, they made her feel like she was mentally challenged, when in reality, she knew they were probably smarter.

At this time, a tall and thin old man raised his hand, and the others immediately fell silent.

"Major General Zean, we don't want to embarrass you, but without an assistant, the progress will definitely be affected!"

Zean secretly had a headache.

The new artillery shell tests needed adjustments while being tested.

Her ship was not an experimental ship like those used by the scientific corps, so the equipment and conditions weren't ideal...

Additionally, many tasks required the help of Navy personnel, but she knew the soldiers were just rough and not suited for delicate work.

But Zean couldn't think of that right now; she just needed to stop these old men from complaining!

Suddenly, she noticed Smoker.

Compared to the dull soldiers around him, he seemed much smarter.

So, she pulled Smoker over.

"Dr. Aubrey, I'm sorry these bastards are bothering you!"

"This... Smoker is the new assistant I found for you. He's very interested in research and quite talented. Let him follow you!"

After saying that, Zean whispered in Smoker's ear in a voice no one else could hear.

"I don't care what method you use, you can use the people, money, and materials on the ship as you wish, but there is one thing..."

"Don't let these old guys bother me anymore!!"

Smoker: "..."

Dr. Aubrey frowned and looked at Smoker.

Two meters tall, with an inverted triangle figure, thick arms, and marble-like muscles, he didn't seem like someone who would be interested in science.

In the past, Dr. Aubrey would never have asked for such an assistant.

But after spending half a month on the warship, his patience had worn thin.

He looked at the intelligence in Smoker's eyes and sighed slightly.

"Okay, just him..."

And so, Smoker was taken away by the scientists.

Zean looked at Smoker's back and let out a long sigh.

"I hope he can last longer..."

Then she said to Tashigi, "Follow me!"

...

Smoker followed Dr. Aubrey to the rear of the warship.

Originally, it was just the deck, but now a house had been built as a laboratory, making the whole ship look a bit strange.

There were cannons and several cannonballs of different shapes next to the lab, with several people in white coats doing tests.

At this moment, an explosion occurred in the laboratory.

A group of people in white coats ran out, terrified.

As soon as they emerged, streams of purple-green smoke began pouring out of the laboratory.

Dr. Aubrey rushed forward and grabbed one of the young men. "Songmiao, what happened?!"

"Cough cough cough cough..." Songmiao coughed violently before finally managing to speak.

"Sorry, Dr. Aubrey, the gas bomb failed..."

Before Dr. Aubrey could respond, Smoker's eyes widened. "Gas bomb?!"

Is the Naval Science Corps researching such dangerous things?!

Dr. Aubrey was also shocked.

"Confused! How can you study this kind of weapon?!"

Songmiao looked dejected.

"A few days ago, Dr. Caesar Courant of MAD published a research paper on poison gas bombs. I just wanted to try it out..."

Dr. Aubrey pointed at Songmiao with trembling fingers. "Stupid! Do you know how terrifying this weapon is?"

Smoker nodded slightly. "Yes, although there is no good or evil in weapons, things like biological and chemical weapons should be avoided..."

Dr. Aubrey: "With the conditions of this ship, how is it possible to study poison gas bombs?! Why didn't you wait until we returned?!"

Smoker was stunned.

Was that the reason?!

Okay, now he understood. He had been mistaken before...

These scientists only focused on technology and testing. Whether the results would be used or how they would be used had nothing to do with them...

Songmiao looked at the laboratory in frustration.

"What should we do now? The highly toxic material has leaked and there's no way to clean it up!"

"It doesn't matter if this lab is destroyed, but if it keeps leaking, the other labs will also be affected..."

Smoker was stunned. Such a big safety accident had just occurred! This couldn't be happening.

So, he stepped forward, and the darkness from his hands spread, soon covering the entire laboratory.

The naval scientists stared in awe.

Dr. Aubrey asked in confusion, "Smoker... are you an esper?!"

"Um... it's a bit complicated to explain. Just think of it as a gravity fruit."

Smoker began to withdraw the darkness, and after a while, the entire laboratory had been cleaned out.

Smoker had no fear of being poisoned.

When Blackbeard had broken into the second floor of Impel Down, he used darkness to absorb Magellan's poisonous wall and wasn't affected at all.

As long as the body didn't come into direct contact with poison, there was no problem.

Songmiao grabbed Smoker's hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Smoker, you've really helped us!"

Dr. Aubrey also nodded with a smile.

Smoker secretly felt pleased. These scientists were so easy to handle!

But soon, his mood changed.

When the scientists realized that Smoker's darkness could absorb and release things, their eyes lit up with excitement.

The lab had become incredibly crowded.

Now, they used Smoker as a storage unit.

Everything was stuffed into him and taken out whenever needed.

By the end of it, they were even using him as a trash can.

Smoker: "..."

(End of Chapter)