Hearing those words, Smoker was taken aback. His eyes locked on Kairos Flint, now tinged with surprise.
He hadn't expected this.
Someone from the East Blue actually knew about Haki?
"How are you so sure that I have it?" Smoker asked.
Since Kairos knew about Haki, there was no point in hiding it. Haki wasn't exactly a forbidden secret. It was possible the information had come from someone else with experience in the New World.
"You're a colonel from Navy Headquarters. The instructors there wouldn't be completely useless. I'd expect they'd teach something worthwhile," Kairos said with a knowing smile.
How did he know? No need to elaborate.
The truth was, Kairos had tried practicing Haki on his own the night before. Despite all his efforts, he hadn't felt a thing. After thinking it through, the answer seemed clear: ask Smoker.
After all, Smoker might be a problem child in the Navy, but there was no denying he had come from Navy HQ and was trained by none other than former Admiral Zephyr himself.
Even if Smoker hadn't mastered Haki yet, there was a good chance he at least knew how to train for Observation Haki and Armament Haki. Soldiers in the New World could learn these skills, so surely a Logia-type like Smoker was given that knowledge during training.
Would someone like Zephyr really neglect something so important?
Kairos didn't think so.
"Here," Smoker said, pulling a small notebook from inside his jacket. "The training methods for Haki are written inside. Copy it and give it back later."
"That's more than fair," Kairos replied, grinning as he accepted the notebook.
A favor for a favor. In exchange for aiding with the internal corruption in the Navy, he got access to the basics of Haki training. A solid deal.
If he had to wait until reaching the Grand Line—maybe the Sabaody Archipelago or Fishman Island—to start learning Haki, it would have delayed his progress immensely.
But with this? He could start immediately.
And whether he could learn it or not?
Please. He had imperial-level talent.
After tucking the notebook away, Kairos looked to Smoker and asked, "So how are you going to handle this mess?"
"Depends on how the higher-ups decide to act," Smoker said darkly. "But when it comes to dealing with scum like this... unless someone from the World Government is backing him, there's no way he gets off easy."
His eyes landed on Colonel Mouse with open contempt.
Smoker wasn't wrong.
With Sengoku currently serving as Fleet Admiral, scum like Mouse wouldn't be tolerated. Even Akainu, ruthless and uncompromising, would probably reduce Mouse to ash without hesitation. No due process. Just molten justice.
Only if Mouse had powerful patrons in the World Government—maybe one of the Celestial Dragons or even the Five Elders—could he hope to avoid punishment.
But Mouse, a low-ranking officer from a remote branch in East Blue?
Unlikely.
He was doomed.
"So, how does the Navy plan to compensate the villagers from the twenty-plus villages that suffered under the Dragon Pirates?" Kairos asked.
Smoker looked confused. "Compensate?"
He genuinely hadn't considered that.
"Smoker, you remember what I told you. Every adult here had to pay 100,000 beli a month. Every child, 50,000. And if they couldn't pay, they were killed."
"For eight years, these people lived in constant fear because of the Navy's collusion with pirates. They were extorted and slaughtered. So do you really think arresting Colonel Mouse is enough?"
Smoker was silent.
Kairos continued, his voice hard. "What I want is simple: use the money Mouse extorted to compensate the villagers."
The amount stolen by the Dragon Pirates was obscene.
When they first arrived, they got over 25 million beli from just one village. After taking control of nearly twenty villages, that figure ballooned.
Rough estimates showed the pirates made about 500 million beli a month.
That was 6 billion a year.
And this had gone on for eight years.
During interrogation the night before, Mouse had confessed—with a bit of encouragement—that he took half of the profits.
That's tens of billions of beli.
When Kairos showed up yesterday, Mouse tried to buy his way out of it with a mere 15 million.
Insulting.
And now, since he had stepped in for Nami, he wasn't about to walk away and leave these people hanging. He was going to make Mouse cough up every last beli.
No excuses.
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