Chapter 52: This Is Your Reason
Just as Axel had said, Smoker's real strength at this stage did not come from his physical prowess, but from the Smoke Smoke Fruit.
A Logia type Devil Fruit was enough to shut most opponents out of the fight before it even began.
Right now, Smoker was still only a rookie Marine. Aside from his personality and appearance already being exactly like the Smoker of the future, his actual combat ability was only a little stronger than that of an ordinary new recruit. Against Axel's reflection, that level of power was nowhere near enough to break through.
In other words, Smoker could not hurt Axel.
But the reverse was also true.
Axel could not hurt Smoker either.
Without Armament Haki and without a Seastone weapon, he had no way to truly touch a Logia user. At the instant of contact just now, Axel had tried to interfere with the energy of Smoker's Devil Fruit, but the result was disappointing. He could influence its direction, yet he could not force the smoke to materialize.
Smoker stared at Axel, then clicked his tongue.
Since Axel would not explain it, then fine. He would figure it out himself.
He threw another punch.
The result was exactly the same.
The instant his fist reached Axel, it dissolved into smoke again, the attack losing all power before it could truly land. This time, Smoker noticed something important. Axel had not moved at all. He had simply stood there and let it happen.
Smoker narrowed his eyes.
A Devil Fruit user. It had to be.
With a cold snort, he withdrew his hand. Whatever Axel's ability was, one thing was clear now. Zephyr had been right. He really could not hurt this brat, at least not in any normal way.
Smoker lost the urge to keep trying.
He turned and began walking back the way he came.
"Giving up?" Axel asked.
To everyone else, Smoker's retreat looked exactly like defeat.
Several recruits who had just been humiliated by him a moment earlier could not hide their delight.
"Wasn't he acting all high and mighty a second ago?"
"So that's it? He's leaving already?"
Their voices were low, but not low enough.
Axel merely watched them in silence, his expression cool.
He had no intention of warning them, nor any desire to defend Smoker. But in his eyes, their reactions were ugly. A truly strong person would never feel proud just because someone else had failed. People who built their confidence on another person's defeat would go nowhere.
A real strongman felt shame after losing. Then he got up and came back stronger.
Just like Zoro before Mihawk.
He had known he was outmatched, yet he still charged forward. And after losing, the only thing he cared about was not staining his pride as a swordsman.
Smoker clearly had not given up.
He had simply gone to find another way to win.
Before long, while several recruits were still lingering in the corridor, Smoker returned with a bag slung over one shoulder.
The moment they saw him, the hallway quieted.
Under a dozen wary stares, Smoker stopped in front of Axel's room, pushed the door open with his foot, and stepped inside.
At that moment, Axel, Ain, and Binz were sitting on the floor reading.
The sudden intrusion made all three look up.
"It's you again..." Axel said, sounding more tired than annoyed.
He already understood what kind of person Smoker was. Once he got competitive about something, he would cling to it stubbornly. Axel just had not expected him to come back this fast.
Smoker let the bag slide to the floor and pulled out a bottle.
"I'm not here to fight this time," he said. Then he lifted the bottle slightly. "Let's drink."
Ain frowned immediately.
"Axel is still a kid. He shouldn't be drinking."
Binz also spoke up at once. "I don't think drinking is a good idea either."
Smoker ignored both of them completely.
He just kept his eyes on Axel and waited.
He had already asked around. Zephyr had made it very clear that Axel was a boy. Fine. If he could not win with fists, then he would win some other way. A drinking contest was still a contest.
Axel looked at the bottle, then at Smoker, and suddenly smiled.
"Sure."
Smoker's eyes lit up.
He slapped his knee and grinned. "That's more like it. That's how a man should act. For a second there, I thought you were the timid type."
Axel looked at him calmly.
"Really? I think the timid one will be you later."
His confidence came from the simplest reason possible.
With vector manipulation, even pure alcohol would be no different from water to him. He could alter the flow of liquid inside his body at will. Before intoxication could take hold, he could guide it away, even slowly expelling it from his system altogether.
Cheating?
Absolutely.
But Smoker had brought the challenge himself.
Soon, the two were sitting shoulder to shoulder like old drinking buddies, bottles lined up beside them, while Ain and Binz watched from the side with expressions that grew more helpless by the minute.
Several hours passed.
By then, the floor was littered with empty bottles.
Smoker's alcohol tolerance was already monstrous by ordinary standards, but against Axel, who was effectively drinking flavored water, he never had a chance.
His face was flushed. His eyes were unfocused. Even his breathing smelled heavy with liquor.
Still, he stubbornly refused to admit defeat.
"I... can... keep going..." he muttered, forcing the words out.
The moment he finished, his face twisted. He slapped a hand over his mouth and nearly threw up on the spot.
Axel instantly sat up straighter.
That would not do.
This was his room.
Even if he could manipulate air to keep the smell away from his nose, he still did not want to look at vomit all over the floor.
"That's enough for today," Axel said decisively. "I'll drink with you again tomorrow."
Smoker's head was already swimming, yet his stubbornness remained terrifyingly intact.
"No... I haven't won... can't stop..."
Before he could continue, a hand grabbed the back of his shirt.
Hina had arrived at some point.
She looked at the scene, at the bottles everywhere, at Smoker's miserable state, and gave Axel a polite nod.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Then she dragged Smoker away.
Smoker still tried to struggle, but in his current condition, it was completely useless.
After tidying up the room, Axel thought that would finally be the end of it.
He was wrong.
Smoker began pestering him constantly after that.
"Axel, I didn't expect you to be such a heavy drinker. Come on, learn to smoke too."
Axel waved him off immediately.
"Forget it."
Putting everything else aside, just imagining himself with a cigarette in his mouth felt strange.
But Smoker would not let it go. Bored on the ship and having finally found someone he found interesting, he kept following Axel around and trying to lecture him on the so called benefits of smoking.
In the end, Axel had no choice but to hide in Zephyr's room.
As expected, Smoker did not dare follow him inside.
The moment Axel entered, Zephyr looked up from where he sat cross legged on the floor, hands on his hips, and stared at the boy currently occupying his bed.
"So... this is your reason for coming into my room?"
Axel lay there comfortably and replied without even sitting up.
"Otherwise what? Do you think you, an old geezer, are charming enough to make me come here on purpose?"
The answer was so natural that Zephyr was left speechless for a second.
Then he coughed twice, clearly annoyed but unwilling to admit it.
To cover it up, he changed the subject.
"Axel," he said after a moment, "what do you think of the sea now?"
.....
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