Chapter 98 - Soren’s Theory

Soren was wearing both his hood and his mask, so all Smoker could see was the dress style of the man before him. Soren then removed the hood so Smoker could tell who he was, and once the hood was removed Smoker spoke.

[You!... You have evaded the Marines for almost 14 years… The second I seen your wanted poster I thought that you couldn't be much of a challenge, but when I heard what you had done, I couldn't believe it… Blue Reaper!... I will be taking you into HQ here and now, prepare to fight!]: smoker

Aa Soren listened to Smoker's long speech he began to get annoyed, Soren then reached out before him and a sword came out of the void and shot out towards the ground and Soren caught it. Soren then spoke after staying quiet throughout Smoker's speech.

[I will only tell you once… I want you to leave my students alone, if you still wish to pursue them after this warning tell me now so that I can end your life now rather than later]: soren

Soren spoke clear enough that not even someone who was deaf could make out what he said and meant. Smoker then took the cigar that was always in his mouth even while he fought Ace out of his mouth and spit towards the ground before speaking.

[*Pft*... So you are their teacher?... You must not amount to much then… I will tell you now, my name is Marine Officer Smoker, I will never let pirates like Fire Fist Ace and Monkey D. Luffy escape my grasp… I will also tell you that today is your last day as a free pirate because I will take you down here and now!]: smoker

Smoker then unsheathed the sword that hung from his back and aimed it towards Soren, and all Soren did was give a slight chuckle to which Smoker took a deep offence and asked.

[What are you laughing about? Have you gone so mad that you feel confident towards me?]: smoker

It wasn't that Soren "Felt" confident against Smoker that he was laughing, it was due to the fact that he "Knew" that he could beat Smoker that he laughed. In fact, he knew that he could kill Smoker a thousand times over as he was giving his speech, and it only made it more funny when Soren thought about the faces that Smoker might make when he realizes that nothing he could do could stop him. Soren then broke out of his thoughts and spoke to Smoker as if speaking to a child who just stuck a fork into an outlet and shocked themselves.

[It's best not to point sharp objects towards someone more skilled than yourself… If you do you may just lose an arm… Or worse… Your life!]: soren

As Soren said that last part he then disappeared from his spot and reappeared right behind with his Kitetsu drawn and aimed towards his neck. Smoker then turned with a bit of shock on his face due to Soren's speed, he then broke out laughing himself.

[Hahaha!... You must be stupid, I am a Devil Fruit user who has eaten the Moku Moku no Mi, there is nothing in this world that can touch me… So your attack is useless]: smoker

Soren just gave a grin that Smoker could not see due to the mask and covered his sword in Armament Haki, the sword then turned Black in color with a teal glow, when this happened Smoker became surprised due to his lack of knowledge of Haki. Soren then moved his sword just a bit and it made contact with Smoker's skin leaving a cut, blood then started to appear on the blade and Smoker couldn't move due to fright.

[H-how c-can you h-hurt me!?]" smoker

Soren just started laughing again, he then spoke once more, and what Soren said would change Smoker's whole view of the world.

[The so called Devil Fruit is not as invincible as you think… There are many methods and ways to kill a user… First should be obvious… Sea Water! You can't swim, but there are ways around that… You use smoke and you can travel in the air… And not all Fruit users can be affected by weapons like you… Your smoke lets you be practically invincible, but as you saw I was able to harm you… This is just a loophole that God set on these fruits, you see… I use what is known as Haki… I can cover my body or anything I touch in a coating that will make my defence as hard as Iron, and it also has the effect of damaging Devil Fruit users quite easily… There is never true Immortality in anything]: soren

As Soren gave his speech Smoker slowly started to back up to get away from Soren, but Soren didn't let it happen as he kept walking forward towards the fleeing Smoker. Soren then ended his statement with his parting words before disappearing from his spot to catch up with Luffy and Ace.

[I will give you this last chance… Stay away from my students or next time I will kill you… And feel free to get stronger and challenge me in the future, I will be glad to fight you again]: soren

Soren then left Smoker there while he was covered in his own piss due to the frightening aura that Soren left him with, it was also at this moment that Smoker vowed to never mess with Soren, Ace or Luffy ever again.

Soren then appeared in a canyon where Ace and Luffy were along with the rest of Luffy's crew, he had sat a ways away to watch as Ace and Luffy had their brotherly reunion. And as Soren was going to make his entrance something unexpected happened, Ace and Luffy then stood around 10m apart from each other and started preparing for a battle between each other.

[Looks like this might get interesting… I will watch for now]: soren

Soren then sat down where he was and watched as the fight went on.

[You ready Luffy? Let me see what the extra 3 years you had with Sensei taught you]: ace

[Your going down Ace!... I will beat you here and then become the Pirate King!]: luffy

After a brief declaration between the two they began the fight. Ace covered his fist with fire and rushed towards Luffy, and as Luffy saw this he let Ace get closer so he could make a dodge towards the left, but once Luffy dodged Ace changed direction at a moments notice and hit Luffy in his stomach.

[GuuAhh!]: ace

Luffy then spit out a mouth full of blood before quickly recovering and sending a punch towards Ace, but once he saw this with Observation Haki he was able to dodge at the last second. Ace then backed away from Luffy and realized that there was a small cut on his right cheek.

[Great job Luffy!... How were you able to damage my body?]: ace

From far away Soren saw the whole thing as Ace punched Luffy and when Luffy struck back Ace dodged but only by a hair, but what surprised Soren was that when Luffy struck out his hand started to glow just a bit indicating that he was trying to cover his hand with Armament Haki.

[Interesting… I never showed nor taught him how to use Armament Haki yet he subconsciously used 1/1000th of it… I understand now… Ace is a lot more powerful than Luffy and die to that fact, the world is making an effort to bump Luffy up in strength without making anyone notice… I guess this happened due to the world revolving around Luffy… I should stop the fight now]: soren

As Soren came up with a probable theory about how the world protects the main characters that it revolves around, his theory was this.

-If the world is disrupted by an outside source (a.k.a me) and I train some of the Main Character to be stronger than they were in the main story then the world will suppress their power when they fight other Main Characters or Main Antagonists, but to the rest of the mob characters that mean nothing to the story, they would only see the (Trained) characters ar monsters.-

Soren would test this out later when he got the chance but for now he decided to end the fight between Luffy and Ace as any further sparing would be pointless as Luffy would get stronger after fighting Crocodile. Soren then disappeared from his spot and then reappeared right between Ace and Luffy catching both of their fists before they could collide.

[Fighting ends here… Let's sit down to talk for a bit, it's been 4 years]: soren

Ace and Luffy then had smiles appear on their faces and they went back to Soren's Inn with Luffy's crew.