One Piece: Starting With Flame-Flame Fruit

After packing away the three chests of treasure, Tony slapped his forehead hard. "Damn! Just my luck. That idiot pirate captain Goro and his first mate, Kln, had bounties of 70 million and 20 million Berries, respectively!"

"Ninety million Berries, and I just tossed them into the sea!" Tony looked regretful, tempted several times to dive in and retrieve them. But he couldn't!.

Klen had been burned beyond recognition, and he cannot dive in the sea to get Goro.

So, Tony simply comforted himself with a shrug. "When you're rich, you can afford to splurge a little!" he chuckled.

Soon after leaving the waters near the Sabaody Archipelago, Tony continued toward his next destination, Loguetown. His small motor-powered sailboat, the Starry Night, without any flag, sped forward with the wind.

Thanks to Rayleigh's modifications, it moved significantly faster than ordinary vessels. But even in the early part of the Grand Line, things were far from peaceful; despite his lack of a flag, Tony encountered nearly ten pirate ships in the span of two weeks.

With about one battle a day, he faced one small-fry crew after another, each encounter adding to his spoils. In no time, Tony amassed close to 100 million Berries—getting rich quick was no longer a dream!

By now, word had spread among the pirates. Tony had somehow earned the nickname "The Bounty Hunter Who Only Wants Treasure!" Unlike typical bounty hunters who collected the heads of well-known pirates to exchange for bounties with the Marines, Tony specialized in looting treasure from pirate ships. And, truth be told, this line of work was becoming somewhat addictive—he had the process down to a fine art.

...

It took Tony about a month to reach Loguetown. Arriving at the harbor, he hailed a carriage to transport his four chests of treasure to the "CASHING" bank, where he converted it into cash—an impressive 200 million Berries. Tony grinned, holding two black leather cases filled with money as he left the bank. Little did he know that a young girl had her eyes on him—more specifically, on his money.

Tony wandered toward Loguetown Square, known as "The Town of Beginnings and Ends." He glanced up at the slightly elevated execution platform in the center. "So, that's where Gol D. Roger was executed…"

With a swift leap, he jumped up, landing atop the iron structure of the platform. Standing there, he looked out over the square, closing his eyes and imagining the scene at Roger's final moments. The crowd's eyes were on him, as Roger, with a serene smile, used his last seconds to ignite an era of piracy that would span decades.

"Do you want my treasure? Go find it! I left everything in one place!"

Tony chuckled softly. "It's unbelievable. The Pirate King, Roger…the man Uncle Rayleigh respected—he really was something else."

"I can almost feel that commanding presence, that peerless air of authority!"

Just as Tony was about to climb down, a familiar voice called out, "What do you think you're doing?"

Not far away stood a stern Marine officer with two large cigars in his mouth, perched on his Motorcycle. He gazed at Tony with a heavy expression.

It was none other than "White Hunter" Captain Smoker of the Marine Headquarters, feared by pirates everywhere. As a Logia-type Devil Fruit user with the power of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, he was the scourge of the weakest of the seas, the East Blue, where no pirate had ever escaped his grasp.

Tony calmly descended from the platform. He wasn't a wanted man yet, so he had no reason to fear the Marine officer before him. If Smoker did try to arrest him, Tony felt confident that his current strength would allow him to breeze through the East Blue.

"Just sightseeing, Captain. No need to get so worked up," Tony said casually, hoisting his leather cases with an unbothered expression that clearly irritated Smoker, who turned to a nearby Marine and asked for more information.

"Is this guy a pirate? Does he have a bounty poster? We can't let people like him sneak into Loguetown," Smoker demanded, clearly suspicious. His instinct told him that Tony was not an ordinary man and he was determined to investigate further.

A nearby Marine rummaged through their files, but after a thorough search, found no record of Tony. This ruled out the possibility that he was a pirate. Smoker narrowed his eyes and took a deep drag on his cigars, still unwilling to let Tony off the hook so easily.

"What's your name?" he asked. "Even though you're not a pirate, something tells me you're no ordinary guy… What's in those cases?"

Tony raised an eyebrow, secretly giving Smoker credit for his sharp instincts. He mused to himself, "This guy's intuition is spot-on. Among the captains in the Marine Headquarters, he's one of the strongest, possibly even rivaling a branch vice admiral. But his attitude's a problem—too stubborn and defiant for promotion to come easy."

Tony knew that Smoker wouldn't give up without some clear evidence, so he simply opened one of the black cases. Inside was a neat stack of cash, easily over a hundred million Berries. Some of the nearby Marines stared, greed plain on their faces, eyes fixed on the two money-laden cases.

Closing the case, Tony said calmly, "My name is Tony, and you could say I'm here on business in Loguetown. If there's nothing else, I'll go grab a meal. Captain, if you have any other questions, feel free to join me—I'll answer anything you ask."

Without waiting for Smoker's response, Tony picked up his two cases and headed toward the town's biggest restaurant. Smoker frowned deeply; he hated this kind of arrogant attitude but couldn't do much, as Tony seemed to be just a rich civilian flaunting his wealth.

Arriving at Loguetown's finest restaurant, Tony ordered a grand feast, placing his two cases and his Zanpakutō on the table. Rolling up his sleeves, he began to devour the meal with gusto, making sounds that drew both admiration and annoyance from around the restaurant. Though it wasn't as good as anything Sister Shakky cooked, he had to admit the flavors weren't bad.

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T/N:

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