User blog comment:Fliu/Chapter 977: Another Step to Onigashima/@comment-167.187.101.239-20200416170341/@comment-108.83.222.210-20200417004900

To me the reactions of different people, those who know the Strawhats and those who are not his allies to the victories of the Strawhats are just as enjoyable as seeing the battles and victories themselves. I really want to see them react to this battle's outcome. As for Smoker, if I recall, he left LougueTown because he knew that Luffy was dangerous, because I saw similarities between Luffy and Roger and he felt that Luffy would grow to be a danger if left alone. He has since been hunting the boy and his crew relentlessly even taking measures to try and predict the crew's movements in the new world based on what Luffy was likely to do. I am sure he will seek to arrest Luffy if he thinks that the chance comes, but I imagine that if Luffy defeats a Yonko this arc then it will simply be a final confirmation of the sense of danger that caused Smoker to leave his original post years ago. The sad thing is, I think that he lost his best chance of beating Luffy in Marineford when Luffy was still unable to hurt him. Even since then, Luffy has been growing stronger and his crew with him. Unless there is some circumstance restricting Luffy and his crew or unless Smoker becomes much stronger I fear that the next time they fight Smoker will lose. As for Rob Lucci, the fans have been eager for a rematch since the end of the first battle and I admit I would like to see one as well. He is one of a number of possible people we can see in this arc. I certainly want to see Akainu react because I get the impression he is really going to be furious if this goes badly for him. As for the breaks between weeks, it is somewhat annoying especially given that I am finding myself with something of an overabundance of free time, but the more you want something, the harder it is to wait I suppose.