One piece: Dark Smoker

Smoker unleashed his power, dark smoke rising around him. The darkness rippled and surged, spreading across the beach in an instant.

The sight made both Pica and Trebol feel a chill down their spines.

Still, with their extensive combat experience, the two reacted quickly, deciding to strike first.

"Sticky Tides!"

Trebol released a torrent of sticky mucus, surging toward Smoker like a wave.

The black smoke and mucus clashed, each holding its ground in a tense stalemate.

Smoker remained calm. "Dark Pit!"

Suddenly, the darkness unleashed a powerful gravitational pull, instantly swallowing the mucus.

"What?!" Trebol shouted in alarm. "My mucus!"

Pica partially merged his body into the ground and screamed, "Trebol, move!"

A massive stone fist emerged from the earth, aiming straight for Smoker.

Unfazed, Smoker intensified the pull of his Dark Pit.

The stone fist froze mid-air before crashing heavily to the ground.

Pica panicked and tried to withdraw his real body, but Smoker was faster.

"Dark Lash!"

A whip of darkness lashed out, slicing the stone arm cleanly in half.

The cut wasn't like that of a blade—it was as though the darkness had devoured the stone, leaving nothing behind where it touched.

"Ahh! My arm!" Pica screamed, clutching his now-severed arm as he erupted from the ground.

Blood gushed from the wound like a torrent.

The power of the Stone-Stone Fruit allowed Pica to meld into and manipulate stone freely.

When fully submerged in stone, physical attacks on the rock would leave his real body unharmed.

But if his body wasn't fully merged, any attack on the active stone could damage him.

This weakness had been exploited in the past—Zoro had used it to deliver a devastating blow to Pica.

Smoker's attack had targeted the animated stone arm while Pica's real body was partially exposed.

As a result, the damage had transferred, severing his arm entirely.

"Lord Pica!" Trebol cried in shock. He sprayed more mucus over the wound to staunch the bleeding.

"You... what kind of monster are you?!" Pica's voice quivered with a mix of fear and pain.

Smoker ignored him, speaking coldly instead. "Your Devil Fruits are interesting. I'll take them."

"Dark Vortex!"

A tremendous gravitational force pulled Pica and Trebol toward Smoker.

"Watch out, Pica!"

Trebol released a massive glob of mucus, anchoring Pica to the ground while launching himself toward Smoker to intercept.

Trebol's gamble didn't pay off. Smoker swatted him aside with a single elementalized blow, knocking him unconscious.

Smoker's intangible, shadowy hand gripped Trebol's neck. With his fruit ability nullified, the sticky mucus coating his body melted away, revealing his thin, frail figure—and a box strapped to his waist.

Trebol's appearance shocked Smoker. Though Trebol had always appeared bloated, his true form was emaciated, his bulk entirely made of mucus.

But what caught Smoker's attention was the box.

As one of the top executives of Doflamingo's crew, anything Trebol kept so closely must be valuable.

Without hesitation, Smoker absorbed Trebol and the box into the darkness.

With Trebol's ability gone, the mucus binding Pica dissipated.

Seizing the distraction, Pica dove underground.

"Hmm?" Smoker frowned, quickly increasing the gravity to drag him back out.

But the ground blocked the gravitational pull. Though the earth cracked and tore under the strain, Pica managed to escape.

**How careless... I let him slip away,** Smoker thought, his frustration mounting. **The Stone-Stone Fruit is such a waste in his hands.**

**So, the Dark-Dark Fruit's pull can be evaded underground... interesting.**

Even so, there wasn't time to dwell on his oversight. Smoker turned his attention toward Doflamingo's pirate ship in the distance.

"If I can't catch Pica, I'll settle for taking a little interest!"

Smoker approached the pirate ship, summoning a gravitational force that yanked the entire vessel onto the shore.

The crewmates scrambled to take control of the ship, trying desperately to escape, but their efforts were futile.

The smarter ones jumped into the sea, leaving Smoker to deal with the rest.

Those who clung to the ship were dragged along with it toward Smoker.

Without sparing them a glance, Smoker enveloped the ship and its remaining crew in his darkness, consuming them all.

Doflamingo would never have imagined his ship being stolen so brazenly.

---

Meanwhile, Hina faced off against the remaining executives.

The tension was thick as the executives hesitated, unwilling to risk Diamante's life.

Suddenly, a stone wall rose between Hina and Diamante, attempting to separate them.

Hina reacted swiftly, swinging her blade toward Diamante's head.

But she was a moment too late. The wall deflected her attack, leaving only a gash on Diamante's forehead.

At the same time, sharp stone spikes erupted from the ground, skewering Hina like a pincushion.

The remaining executives cheered. "Lord Pica!"

Gladius, still seething with rage, slammed his hand to the ground. The spikes piercing Hina exploded, shattering her into pieces.

A sinister grin spread across Gladius's face.

"Foolish woman. That's what you get for opposing the Donquixote family!"

But before he could finish gloating,

a wisp of white smoke gathered before him, reforming into Hina's figure.

"You..."

Gladius was stunned, unable to react before Hina sent him flying with a powerful punch.

After years of training, Hina's punches were as strong as a sledgehammer.

Gladius coughed up blood, crashing heavily to the ground. He clutched his chest and struggled to get up, fear in his eyes. "Damn it! Be careful! This woman is a Logia type!!"

"Master Pikra, you take Diamante and get out of here! We've got this!"

Pikra glanced nervously in Smoker's direction but said nothing. He only yelled, "Be careful!!" before using his ability to drag Diamante underground.

Pikra never told anyone that he and Torrepoll had been defeated—he'd barely escaped with his life.

In the Donquixote family, lower-ranked members were expected to sacrifice themselves for their superiors. To Pikra, only Donquixote and the top executives counted as true allies. The others were expendable. If he could use them to buy some time, that was good enough.

The other executives moved in.

"Hundred Thousand Ton Pressure!"

Maharbis jumped high and smashed down at Hina.

Hina effortlessly dodged with her elemental powers. Just as she was about to counterattack, she sensed danger and quickly raised her hand to block a surprise whip kick.

The kick was powerful, sending Hina skidding back several meters.

Looking up, she saw a muscular old man.

"Don't think just because you're a Logia you can act cocky, girl! I can use Haki too!"

"Take this! Earth Elder Fist!"

Lao G charged at Hina, fists raining down like a storm.

Hina didn't let her guard down, blocking and dodging the attacks.

"Such strength and speed... So, this is Lao G?" Hina thought.

She leapt into the air. "If you think I'm just some useless fruit user, you're mistaken!"

"Storm Kick, Rain!"

Wind blades fell like a torrential downpour, forcing Lao G and the others to dodge.

From their movements, Hina realized that only Lao G was using Haki, which made things easier. Now she could focus on him.

"Shave!"

Hina vanished and reappeared in front of Lao G, throwing a punch. Lao G blocked with his arm, but his counterattack was perfectly avoided by Hina's observation Haki.

The two exchanged blows, neither giving an inch.

Meanwhile, the other executives—Gladius, Maharbis, and Senor—joined the fight. They couldn't use Haki, so they couldn't inflict much damage, but they helped distract Hina.

After a while, Hina found an opening and landed a punch to Lao G's face.

Lao G staggered but didn't fall. Instead, he grabbed her wrist tightly.

"Not bad, little girl. Your speed is impressive. But your attacks don't have enough force. Against my Haki, they're useless!"

Hina frowned, then smirked. "I know my weaknesses better than you do. Since you're so confident, take another punch!"

With that, she lifted her other fist and slammed it into Lao G's face.

Lao G didn't dodge, covering his face with Armament Haki to absorb the blow.

"Waste of effort…" he started, but before he could finish, there was a loud explosion, and Lao G was blasted back.

Lao G struggled to get up, blood dripping from his nose and mouth. "What... What was that move?!"

Hina grinned and raised her milky white fist.

Lao G muttered, "Elementalization?!"

"No, it's more than that. It's compressed smoke. I release it upon impact to create an explosion."

"How's that? Does it pack a punch?"

This technique was inspired by Smoker's own creation, based on the idea of Kuma's air compression, though it wasn't as powerful. Still, it could be used almost instantly, making up for the relatively low physical damage of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit.

"I see... A genius move!" Lao G said, shakily getting back into stance.

"But I'm an executive in the Donquixote family, and I won't give up so easily!"

Suddenly, Smoker descended from the sky.

With one foot, he crushed Lao G's head into the mud.

When it came to physical strength, Smoker was much stronger than Hina.

Lao G screamed, his skull shattered from the blow.

"Smoker!" Hina cried, both surprised and relieved.

Gladius, Maharbis, and Senor turned pale.

Pikra hadn't been defeating enemies and rushing over. He had been forced here.

"Run!!!"

Senor was the first to react, diving into the ground to escape.

Smoker frowned but didn't stop him. He'd already tested that the ground could block his gravity, so Senor's escape wasn't a big deal.

But Gladius and Maharbis weren't so lucky.

Against Smoker and Hina, they lasted less than a minute before being dragged into the darkness.