The battle began, and Lucas’s expression instantly became incredibly calm.
Iai Slash!
Clang!
The expected sight of Smoker transforming into smoke did not occur.
Instead, Smoker directly blocked Lucas’s Iai Slash with the jitte in his hand!
Is this Haki?
Shock flashed through Lucas’s eyes.
His Nidai Kitetsu could be said to be one of the strongest among the Great Grade Blades.
Combined with his Iai Slash, which was already comparable to a Sword Master’s slash, it had actually been blocked head-on!
The jitte in Smoker’s hand was merely an ordinary weapon, yet it had managed to stop the attack.
It seemed this was the effect of Haki.
At this point, however, Smoker was still unable to make his Haki manifest visibly.
It remained an invisible and colorless force.
Based on what he knew from the original story, Lucas divided Armament Haki into four stages.
The first stage was colorless and invisible, while the user was unable to control it completely.
The second stage was colored but invisible.
Once mastered to its peak, Armament Haki could cover the entire body.
The third stage was both colored and visible.
At this stage, Haki could not only cover the entire body but could even directly take the form of a weapon, making it more powerful than simply coating a weapon in Haki.
Smoker was undoubtedly at the first stage right now.
Judging from his degree of control, he was already infinitely close to the second stage.
Lucas’s expression became exceptionally solemn, and he let out a sharp shout.
Ghost Shadow Flash!
Smoker was just about to use his jitte to trap Lucas’s sword and knock him away with a punch when he suddenly noticed Lucas flicker and disappear before his eyes.
Not good!
Smoker’s heart jolted.
He immediately released his Observation Haki while completely transforming his body into smoke.
The next moment, a massive X-shaped sword slash tore through Smoker’s body, slicing him into fragments.
However, Smoker had already transformed into smoke beforehand, so the attack caused him no damage whatsoever.
Even so, when Lucas reappeared, the corners of his mouth curled upward.
A trace of enlightenment appeared in his eyes.
So that’s how it works.
This is Armament Haki.
After exchanging only two attacks, Lucas had already discovered the secret behind Armament Haki.
Discovering it was one thing, though.
He had never actually trained in Armament Haki, so there was no way for him to use it.
And even after discovering its underlying principle, he was still completely clueless about how to train it.
The smoke gathered in midair and reformed into Smoker’s body.
Smoker sneered.
“Brat, don’t you know that swords are completely useless against a Logia user?!”
The next moment, Smoker’s entire body dispersed into smoke.
A massive cloud of smoke completely enveloped Lucas.
On the ship in the distance, Nami watched the scene with concern.
But when she remembered how confident Lucas had looked beforehand, she still had complete faith in him.
Clang!
Bang!
Crash!
After a chaotic barrage of impacts, Lucas was sent flying out of the smoke in a sorry state, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth.
He gave a bitter smile.
“As expected, fighting a Logia without Haki is just too disadvantageous.”
Smoker’s body reformed.
Hearing this, he sneered.
“Now you understand?
Too late.
I’ll arrest you right now!”
“Hmph!”
Lucas snorted coldly.
His expression gradually turned icy as he said in a low voice, “Do you think my goal was to defeat you?”
Heaven-Splitting Dragon Strike!
Lucas gripped his sword with both hands and suddenly drew it upward.
This technique was similar to the Iai Slash, except that the slash was unleashed vertically.
It was a powerful single-target attack.
Swish!
Smoker’s body was once again cleaved in two.
Yet in the blink of an eye, his body reformed.
“I already told you.
Your sword is useless against me.
Don’t you understand?”
Smoker sneered and charged forward.
He completely ignored the sword in Lucas’s hand and struck him with his jitte, sending Lucas flying more than ten meters before he crashed heavily onto the ground.
“Lucas!”
Nami cried out in alarm, her face filled with worry.
If Lucas hadn’t specifically instructed her beforehand not to leave the ship under any circumstances, she would have already rushed over to him.
Cough!
Cough!
Lucas coughed several times and spat out some blood.
“That should be enough.
My body can’t keep this up any longer.
So, Captain Smoker, thank you for being my sparring partner!”
A smile appeared on his lips.
His body suddenly vanished, and with a single leap, he moved toward the ship.
Seeing this, Nami immediately followed Lucas’s instructions and threw out a wooden plank.
Lucas stepped onto the plank in midair and used it as a foothold to propel himself upward once more, finally leaping onto the ship.
He looked back at Smoker, who was furiously pursuing them in his smoke form, and smiled faintly.
Then he picked up Tashigi, who had been tied up like a pretzel, and whispered into her ear, “Don’t blame me.
I only wanted to have a fight with Smoker.
I had no choice but to resort to this.
Sorry about that.”
With that, Lucas tossed Tashigi toward Smoker and shouted,
“Set sail!
Let’s go!”
Nami had already made the preparations.
The ship immediately sailed away into the distance.
Smoker’s airborne body suddenly stopped.
He caught Tashigi and reluctantly flew back to shore before undoing the ropes around her.
Watching Lucas disappear into the distance, he gritted his teeth.
“Damn you!
I’ll definitely arrest you!
I swear!”
Meanwhile, Lucas coughed again and spat out another mouthful of blood before sitting down at the bow of the ship.
Seeing this, Nami hurried over in a panic.
“Are you all right?
Why did you put yourself through all that just to fight that guy?
That guy isn’t even human!”
Lucas wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and took a deep breath before smiling.
“Don’t worry.
I’m fine.
I know my own condition.
After spitting out that thick mouthful of blood, I already feel much better.”
“And I really have to thank Smoker.
If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be this close to becoming a Sword Master.”
Excitement flashed in Lucas’s eyes.
His plan had succeeded.
Although he knew how to train his Sword Pressure, practicing against nothing but invisible air was extremely difficult, and his progress had been painfully slow.
So he had thought of Smoker, the Smoke Man.
He could use Smoker’s smoke to help him reach the bottleneck of his Sword Pressure and break through it.
And he had succeeded spectacularly.
When Smoker transformed into smoke and enveloped him, Lucas had deliberately endured Smoker’s punches.
While his sword appeared to be uselessly slashing through the smoke, he had actually been using the smoke to comprehend Sword Pressure.
Now, once his injuries healed and he stabilized his gains a little further, he would truly become a Sword Master!
If he wanted to take someone away from Warlord of the Sea Crocodile, it would still be dangerous without reaching the Sword Master realm.
Even if he knew Crocodile’s weakness, defeating him would be difficult.
After all, Lucas wasn’t Luffy, blessed with the protagonist’s plot armor—the kind that let him survive three supposedly fatal situations, grow stronger the more he fought, and ultimately defeat the Sand Crocodile.
Once he possessed Sword Pressure and became a Sword Master, he would be capable of damaging a Logia user even without Haki.
The damage might be barely one-tenth of what it would normally be, but being able to hurt a Logia user at all would give him the confidence to fight.
Besides, Crocodile’s weakness was extremely exploitable…
With those thoughts running through his mind, a deep wave of exhaustion suddenly washed over Lucas.
He tilted sideways and collapsed into Nami’s arms, falling deeply asleep.
Looking at the man in her arms, who had finally revealed a weary side of himself, Nami smiled faintly.
So he isn’t really a god after all.
He’s still just an ordinary person who needs to be taken care of…
With some effort, Nami lifted Lucas’s somewhat heavy body and gently carried him to the bed, where she carefully treated the various wounds covering his body.
Even in his sleep, a faint smile remained on Lucas’s lips…