Commander Hammer's head hit the ground.
All his "precious" life experience had been converted into EXP for Garen's level-up.
Yet Smoker remained motionless. He simply stood with his back to Garen, silently smoking.
The thick cigar in Smoker's mouth soon burned down to the stub under his heavy breathing, but unusually, he didn't pull out a fresh one to replace it.
As the ever-present cigar smoke gradually dispersed, the cleaner air—free of secondhand smoke—actually felt unfamiliar to Garen.
"Smoker."
Garen walked over and gently patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't let that guy's words get to you."
"He was already twisted beyond recognition and still had the nerve to lecture his juniors on 'life experience.'"
"If the sea were full of 'clever men' like that, the world would truly be doomed."
With genuine disdain on his face, Garen straightened up and declared solemnly:
"As a Marine bearing the weight of justice, what you need to do is—"
"Stay true to your original aspirations and remember your mission!"
"I understand."
Smoker's tone was extremely stiff.
But Garen still wasn't convinced and asked, "Then why aren't you smoking anymore?"
Smoker shot him a strange look. "I ran out."
"Ah..."
Garen, suddenly self-conscious from all his preaching, turned red. "Forget I said anything."
There's an old saying: "Man's trouble lies in his eagerness to instruct others."
Garen's self-righteous pep talk had no effect on someone like Smoker—an independent and mature man with a solid worldview.
Even if Garen hadn't stepped in earlier, Smoker's jitte would've smashed into Hammer's head all the same.
After all, Smoker was the type to punch his own superior when provoked.
Now, with Commander Hammer decapitated by Garen's greatsword and Lieutenant Charles teetering between life and death after taking Smoker's full-force blow, the corrupt garrison of Loguetown was now leaderless.
However, the chaos at the base continued. In fact, the turmoil was even more intense than when Commander Hammer was still alive.
The fall of their leader hadn't made the corrupt Marines surrender.
Instead, it had awakened their desperation and savage instincts—this was a fight to the death.
Surrender meant prison.
But a desperate gamble might lead to escape—just beyond the base walls lay the vast, lawless ocean where scum could revel in unrestrained freedom.
At the base's main gate, the thirty HQ Marines led by Tashigi had blocked the exit and were engaged in a fierce battle with the numerically superior corrupt Marines.
Flames suddenly burst within the base.
Gunshots, shouting, screams, and clashing steel echoed continuously—waves of sound crashing down like a relentless tide.
Smoker spat out the cigar stub, grabbed his heavy jitte, and turned into a plume of smoke as he launched into the air.
Garen also picked up his greatsword without hesitation and dashed toward the source of the commotion.
Aside from wanting to rack up more EXP from the grunts, he also wanted to try out a new skill.
After killing the powerful Commander Hammer, Garen had received a massive EXP bonus and leveled up to 5 in one go.
Then came the familiar system notification:
Random reward drawn.
You have received a random skill: [Frenzying Taunt].
This skill came from the game's armored armadillo, Rammus.
However, just like Garen's other skills, it had been modified slightly from the game's original version:
Frenzying Taunt
Taunt a unit, forcing the target to attack you for 2 seconds.
Range: 30 meters.
Quite different from the version he remembered.
Garen suspected that in real life, this [Frenzying Taunt] would play out very differently from its in-game effect.
Intent on testing it, Garen soon arrived at a smaller skirmish site.
Several HQ Marines who had followed Tashigi in were engaged in a grueling fight with bloodthirsty corrupt soldiers.
They didn't notice a powerful ally had arrived at their side.
But rather than charging in with his sword like usual, this powerful ally stood to the side, calmly observing the battlefield.
Garen's gaze darted around before locking onto a burly man currently clashing blades at close quarters with a Marine.
He activated [Frenzied Taunt] in his mind and couldn't help shouting:
"You there, filthy scum! Come hit me if you dare!"
"Huh?"
Everyone on the scene froze in confusion.
If the skill worked like it did in the game, that guy should've turned and rushed at him immediately—
That's what Garen was thinking.
But then a gunshot rang out.
The bullet hit Garen squarely on the armor.
The burly man's first reaction to the taunt wasn't to run up and attack—but to drop his blade, pull a flintlock pistol from his waist, and shoot at Garen from a distance.
Garen blinked, suddenly understanding a hidden aspect of the skill:
It did force the target to attack him—but didn't limit the method of attack.
He was a little disappointed.
In the game, Rammus's Frenzied Taunt forced enemies to use only basic attacks—
Mages and squishies were compelled to wade in and slap him with their bare hands.
The skill's crowd control potential was immense.
But this version… not quite so powerful.
However, Garen quickly changed his mind.
The taunt's two-second duration wasn't up yet.
The man who had just fired a shot was now frantically reloading his gun with a crazed look in his eyes—dead-set on getting off another shot at Garen.
But he had forgotten one thing.
The HQ Marine he had just been fighting was still right there.
After a moment of stunned surprise, the Marine quickly reacted—slashing downward with his sword.
At such close range, the blade came down hard.
The corrupt Marine didn't even flinch.
All he wanted was to attack Garen again.
But terror and panic were still clearly written on his face—he hadn't lost his mind.
It was as if some unseen force was manipulating his will, compelling him to do whatever it took to attack Garen.
The blade sliced down from his shoulder, mangling half his arm in a spray of blood.
The corrupted Marine howled in agony, his face contorting from pain.
Yet he still struggled relentlessly, trying to crawl toward Garen to continue his assault.
Only when the two seconds were finally up did he collapse into a pool of blood, overcome by his injuries and slipping into unconsciousness.
The whole scene looked like something out of a psychological horror film.
Even Garen, the skill's user, felt a chill run down his spine.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Garen, the HQ Marines, and the corrupt Marines all stared at each other, at a complete loss for words.
[Frenzying Taunt]'s 12-second cooldown ended quietly.
Garen glanced toward another enemy soldier and muttered: "Frenzying Taunt."
The second poor fool stiffened—then uncontrollably grabbed his sword and charged at Garen.
"H-How?! What's going on?!"
He cried out in panic, while his body moved against his will.
He wanted to escape—yet another thought had hijacked his brain:
I must cut that bastard down!
To attack Garen, he abandoned all defense, all evasive instincts.
An HQ Marine behind him quickly raised his musket and fired.
The man cried out, crumpling to the ground.
Even while bleeding out, he dragged himself forward and flung a handful of dirt toward Garen in a final act of defiance.
Two people had now died trying to attack Garen.
Dead silence.
This mind-warping skill was too eerie, too terrifying.
Seconds later, the remaining enemy soldiers all dropped to their knees, crying out:
"Please spare us! Don't curse us!"
"Uh..."
Garen waved toward the nearby Marines. "I'll leave the rest to you."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
The Marines nodded frantically.
Garen turned to leave—but a familiar voice stopped him.
"You..."
"How did you do that?"
It was Smoker.
After turning into smoke, he had finished purging the rebels across the base.
He had just arrived and witnessed the whole disturbing scene.
"Um..."
Caught off guard, Garen pushed it all onto a nonexistent Devil Fruit.
"It's part of my Knight-Knight Fruit ability."
"Knight-Knight Fruit?"
Smoker didn't buy it. "What part of that looked like a knight's power?"
"That invisibility skill was already sneaky enough. But this..."
"Ahem."
Garen put on a serious expression and began to lecture:
"As the Art of War says: 'Appear weak when you are strong.'"
"Invisibility and substitution—these are just tactical applications of a knight's wisdom!"
"And just now..."
He paused to find the right words.
"Where there's candlelight, the moths will come."
"If they charged me so recklessly..."
"Maybe it's just because I'm too brilliant."
[TN: Do you guys prefer I remove this?]
(End of Chapter)