"Navigation complete. Reaching destination Loguetown. Please dock reasonably and watch out for vessels behind you!"
Finally, after three days of drifting, the Smiling arrived at Loguetown—the birthplace and execution site of the King of the Pirates, and the most crucial turning point in the history of piracy.
Loguetown held profound significance for young pirates. Every major powerhouse currently making waves on the seas had once come here to witness the execution of the King of the Pirates and see what the hometown of the man who conquered the Grand Line was truly like.
This was where countless pirates' dreams began, and where the world quietly began to change.
Because of a single remark by the King of the Pirates Roger, the seas were churned into a tempest. The dawn of the Great Age of Pirates could be said to have paved the way for the world's future peace, yet it also brought endless trouble to ordinary people. After all, most pirates produced nothing. Countless scoundrels poured into the Grand Line to roam about, naturally relying on pillage to supply themselves, with arson, murder, and plunder becoming a frequent affair.
"Attention, Post 356, please pay attention! Pirates have landed! It's the currently surging Smiling Pirates, a major crew with a captain boasting a bounty of 30 million Beli."
"Copy that, Post 356 copies. Keep close surveillance, I'm going to report this to Captain Smoker!"
In a corner of Loguetown, after observing Summer and his group stepping ashore, a concealed Marine pulled out a Den Den Mushi to report. Summer had already gained a modest reputation.
To say the least, with the power of a Logia Devil Fruit, Smoker was practically invincible in the East Blue, a sea where Haki was yet widely mastered. Ever since he took office, illegal incidents in Loguetown had grown increasingly rare.
Any clueless, unruly pirates who landed on the island were given a lesson and then locked away in the dungeons for a dual education in ideology and labor. It was fair to say that Loguetown was currently exceptionally stable.
"(⊙o⊙) Wow, what a huge town! Boss, I'm going to explore this place to my heart's content! (???????????)*??*"
Tuantuan's beady little eyes rolled around. The little fellow had lived in the forest all its life, and the largest cluster of buildings it had ever seen was Foosha Village. So, upon arriving in town and seeing the bustling crowd, it was beyond excited—especially when it saw the food stalls, causing drool to start pooling from its mouth.
"Alright, I'll let you play to your heart's content. Just don't forget to gather up by the afternoon. There will be even bigger places for you to explore in the future."
Summer smiled, nodded, and agreed. As for himself, he was naturally going to check out the execution platform. After all, having arrived in the pirate world, he simply had to take a commemorative photo at such a historically significant spot, and he intended to take pictures at every new place he visited from now on.
Of course, casually completing the system's random check-in mission along the way would be wonderful too.
[Random Mission: Check in atop the Loguetown execution platform and experience the perspective of the King of the Pirates for one minute;
Mission Completion Reward: +1 lottery chance, +50 points]
"Aigin and Carina, you two go wander around as well. See if there's anything you need, and meet back at the Smiling's docking spot by the afternoon."
With that, Summer waved his hand and strode toward the execution platform, a trace of excitement unexpectedly stirring in his heart.
"Don't even think about running away, or I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish~(*?_?)ノ⌒*" Aigin turned his head to glare coldly at Carina, speaking with a completely expressionless face.
"Hehe, of course I won't run away. I, Carina, am a thief who honors her word above all else!" Carina was startled by Aigin's merciless tone. Over the past few days of traveling together, she found that this guy in front of her was completely impervious to reason and wore a bitter expression all day long. Apart from when he faced Summer, he treated everyone else as if they owed him hundreds of millions of Beli.
Upholding the principle that "women survive through wit," Carina never allowed herself to take a loss. After all, the treasure she had worked so hard to earn was currently being confiscated by Summer, so she had to find a way to get every last coin back. There was no way she was leaving empty-handed.
...
Inside the office of the Marine captain in Loguetown, a Marine soldier rushed up to the door panting. He pushed it open and was nearly knocked backward by a wall of thick smoke. Inside the room, hazy clouds billowed, and looking closely, a shirtless man was smoking two cigars at once.
"Captain Smoker, it's bad! That rookie pirate crew that defeated the Black Cat Pirates has landed on the island in the last couple of days. Their captain is a major pirate with a 30 million Beli bounty, so only you can handle this personally!"
The Marine soldier hurriedly began to explain. Indeed, due to their defeat of the Black Cat Pirates, Summer's bounty had now climbed to 30 million Beli, while Aigin's bounty had reached 12 million Beli. As for Fei Tuan, it remained at 100 Beli—and that was only because he was recognized as a bear-like beast; if he had been mistaken for a "tanuki," fifty Beli would have been the absolute limit.
"What is all this shouting and panicking about! Getting nervous over a little thing like this won't do. I have my own way of doing things. Since I took office, has a single pirate ever managed to escape?!" Smoker frowned, turned around to push the window open, letting the smoke billow out, and then picked up the bounty poster to take a look.
"30 million Beli? That really is high!"
After all, this was a remote sea in the East Blue, known as the "Weakest Sea." A bounty of this caliber had practically hit the ceiling here; anything higher belonged to the prices in the Grand Line.
Smoker casually picked up the clothes from his desk, slung his Seastone weapon, the Jitte, over his shoulder, chomped down on two cigars, and pushed open the door to head into town.
Aside from the high bounty, what caught Smoker's attention even more was Summer's name: Monkey D. Summer. It unexpectedly shared the same surname as the Hero of the Marines, though he wondered if there was any relation.
Colba Mountain, the secret base of Ace and Luffy.
At this moment, Ace was holding Summer's bounty poster in his hand, the corners of his lips curving upward into a smile.
"Ace, Ace! Summer is so amazing! His bounty reached 30 million Beli in such a short time. I'll definitely be able to do it someday too!"
Luffy tilted his head back, staring hard at the bounty amount, and then declared with absolute confidence.
"Yeah, of course. We're definitely going to become great pirates."
"Luffy, keep training. Summer said that Haki is the means to truly become a powerhouse, and we've only mastered the first stage. That's still far from enough."
Compared to Luffy's excitement, Ace was far more concerned with his own strength at the moment. Having absorbed the concepts Summer imparted ahead of time, Ace's desire to grow stronger was driven to even greater heights.
"Mm-hmm! Ace, wait for me!" Luffy jumped to his feet and sprinted after Ace. He had better work hard on his training too, or else getting hit by Ace using Haki would hurt way too much.
...
In Loguetown, Summer arrived at a small tavern and pushed open the weathered wooden door.
*Creeak...*
"Boss, bring me a barrel of rum."
"Hmph, this isn't a place for a brat like you. Scram."
"Isn't this the place the King of the Pirates Roger used to frequent? Old man, chasing customers away like this isn't very hospitable." Unfazed, Summer casually walked over to the counter and took a seat.
"Oh? You know quite a bit! Looks like you're a pirate, then?"
"Hehe, of course. Hurry up and bring that barrel of rum, old man. I'm going to check out the execution platform. As the trailblazer of the Great Age of Pirates, I have to go offer a toast. It won't do to be late—I still have to set sail with my companions in the afternoon. After all, the New World is where I truly belong."
"Hmph, what an interesting kid. Wait for it!" The old man slowly reached into the liquor cabinet and pulled out a barrel of rum.
"See ya, old man!" Hugging the barrel of rum, Summer dropped some Beli on the counter, waved his hand, and turned to leave.
"Hey, kid. What's your name?"
"Monkey D. Summer!"