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Effectively the Marine gatekeeper at Loguetown, Smoker had encountered many pirate crews in his time. There were many pirate crews who broke up and splintered into smaller factions when their captains were caught. Those who remained a formidable force were rare and even rarer were those who stuck around attempting to free their old captains.
Loyalty was in short supply among most pirate crews. They were mercenaries, concerned only with treasure and plunder.
Even if Strawhat Luffy was a breath of fresh air, men like Roronoa Zoro were not. They were rare, but every once in a while, such criminals would pop out of the woodwork, taking down swathes of marines before they themselves were cut down. Those who did not get caught...well, they went on to make a name for themselves. Alone.
Demon of East Blue, Pirate Hunter, Wielder of the Three-Sword Style, whatever moniker Roronoa had, it didn’t matter. They were all the same. Such men were lone wolves with a one-track mind. They had their own code of honour, rarely compatible with the law. They lived by the sword and died by the sword. Rarely did they deign to join a pirate crew. If they did, so leery of authority were they that they either became captain or committed mutiny within months.
Something about the Strawhat Pirates’ Roronoa Zoro stood out however. In the seastone prism cage trap set by Crocodile, when Smoker held his jutte over the chest of a fallen Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro had immediately stepped forward threateningly, a hand on his sword.
It had been instinctive, the way Roronoa had quickly stepped forth. Certainly not a move made out of reluctant obligation. The ferociousness in Roronoa’s gaze lent credence to Smoker’s theory of protectiveness. Protecting his captain’s honour perhaps? For a swordsman of his level, surely he could see that Smoker had no killing intent at the moment.
Curious, Smoker jabbed his jutte at Strawhat Luffy’s chest again, watching with no little amusement as a vein throbbed in Roronoa’s forehead.
Before he could goad Roronoa into making a move however, the man’s crewmates stepped in. To Smoker’s surprise, Roronoa actually listened to logic and stepped aside.
Huh. Curiouser and curiouser.
Smoker watched with no little disbelief as Strawhat Luffy started playing a game with his crewmate, right there in the seastone prism cage. Instead of thinking of a way to escape, they were playing a game! Were they that convinced of their own invincibility?
Strawhat Luffy, Smoker was starting to realise, was a bit of an idiot. That goofy facade of his was no facade at all! It was his true self.
To top it off, Roronoa was sleeping right there in the cell, without a care in the world. Wasn’t he worried that Smoker would hurt his captain just moments ago?
Smoker gritted his teeth in irritation. To think that such a joke of a crew had given him the slip in Loguetown. Unforgivable!
Still. There was no point thinking about the Strawhat Pirates right now. Smoker wasn’t even sure he could escape with his own life.
Crocodile. The corrupt warlord was still bragging about his plans right in front of Smoker. Was he that confident that Smoker would not live to tell the tale?
When Strawhat Luffy charged at the cage, Smoker heaved a mental sigh. In weary tones, he asked Roronoa, “Is he stupid? Did he not hear what I said?”
The smirk on Roronoa’s face and his harsh words belied the respect in his voice. “He’s definitely stupid. But that’s also why he’s our captain.”
Smoker was surprised. Had the idiotic Strawhat Luffy somehow managed to tame the lone wolf?
Things unfolded rather quickly after that. When the princess faced a difficult choice, Smoker had no grounds to persuade the Princess to save him, so he did not even try. He was a man of honour and had long since made peace with the fact that he would die in pursuit of pirates.
Then, the blonde member of Strawhat Luffy’s crew appeared and with it, so did hope. Looking at the flooding room however, Smoker was not sanguine about his own chances of survival as a Devil Fruit user.
After all, he had made his choice long ago, to give up the ability to swim in exchange for power.
Roronoa Zoro was having a no-good, very bad day. First, his idiotic captain had led them into a trap. Secondly, some marine hotshot thought that he could threaten his captain in front of him. Then, Zoro had to be rescued, of all people, by the cook.
Last but not least, to add insult to injury, when the pipes burst, even though Zoro was physically the closest to Luffy, his captain had given him a look.
“Oi Zoro! Save him!” Luffy’s expressive face ordered, even though he was trying his best to hold his breath.
At times like this, Zoro hated his ability to read his captain like a book. He gestured furiously with one hand and a raised eyebrow, “Huh?! He’s our enemy! Leave him be!”
Luffy managed to pull off an intense gaze in the midst of drowning, “If we leave him there, he’s gonna die, you know! He can’t swim!”
And at times like this, Zoro hated his captain’s naivete. How could he explain to Luffy that he’d willingly let the marine who was their enemy die. In fact, he was willing to kill Smoker himself, just so the man would never threaten his crew again. As a bounty hunter, he had killed for far less.
“Yeah, well, I know that, but he’s...” Mid-conversation, Zoro realised that they were out of time. His captain had been swallowed up by a gush of water.
Before Zoro had to make a decision between his captain’s life or his captain’s orders, the cook had swam over to place one arm around Luffy. The rest of his crew was also making their way to safety.
So. He didn’t have an excuse then.
Roronoa Zoro scowled and swam towards Smoker.
He had no choice. He had never once disobeyed Captain’s Orders and he wasn’t about to start now.
“Roronoa!”
Zoro had kept an eye on his comatose captain and most of his attention on his crewmates. Even so, he was always on the alert and he felt Smoker move moments before he blocked the jutte from landing on his face with a drawn Wado.
“Why did you save my life?”
The confusion and anguish in the man’s voice was palpable. Zoro could empathise; he imagined he’d feel the same if he suddenly owed his life to an enemy.
Staring at the marine with narrowed eyes, Zoro thought of ignoring Smoker, but at the end of the day he wasn’t the type to take credit for actions that were not his own. In this matter, he had been but an extension of his captain’s will.
Repelling the jutte easily enough, Zoro told Smoker blandly, “I was only following Captain’s Orders."
That should have been explanation enough, but the Marine was not a pirate and probably did not understand his obedience to his captain.
"There’s no need for thanks. It was just one of his whims. Don’t think too much on it.”
Smoker absorbed Roronoa’s words grimly. While reluctant to save him, Roronoa had done so merely because Strawhat had ordered it. So. The lone wolf was tame; he was truly loyal to Strawhat.
That made Strawhat a truly dangerous man indeed.
Smoker chewed furiously on his cigars. The Strawhat Pirates appeared to have the makings of a formidable crew. He should stop them in their tracks right now.
He couldn’t do it.
At the end of the day, his honour did not allow him to pursue someone who had just saved his life.
Smoker always repaid his debts.
But he was still a Marine officer.
Next time he saw them, he would capture Strawhat and Roronoa.