"hahahaha!"
Countless pirates of the Buggy Pirates burst into laughter.
"Hey hey hey, Thunder Pirates' captain, right?
I've heard of you—your bounty's only five million Berries!"
"Do you even know our Captain Buggy's bounty? It's sixteen million!"
"You guys are seriously overestimating yourselves!"
"Captain Buggy, I don't think they've ever experienced your Buggy Cannon."
"Why not tie them to it and let them feel true despair?"
"You think so?" Buggy pretended to ask.
"Of course! This whole town will soon be under your rule.
A little killing to establish dominance would be perfect!"
"Jihihihi—then let the fun begin!
Boys, capture them all!"
With a mad command from Buggy, over a hundred of his pirates charged toward the Thunder Pirates.
"Everyone, stand back!"
"Since this is a challenge against the Buggy Pirates, let me, Captain Red, take the first fight!"
Red cracked his knuckles.
His three-meter-tall body bulged with rock-like muscles,
and arcs of lightning flickered across his arms.
"Hold it!"
Buggy suddenly shouted for his men to stop.
He had noticed something… interesting.
Red seemed to be a Devil Fruit user—
how else could lightning appear from thin air?
And he wasn't wearing any device.
"Captain Buggy, why'd you stop us?"
"Jihihihi… because I will take care of this!"
"Thunder Pirates' captain, I'm quite interested in you.
Since you want to challenge me—
if you lose, how about joining my pirate crew?"
Red didn't respond.
Instead, Lucky Drake stepped forward with a sneer.
"You really don't take our captain seriously, do you?"
"He challenged you first, and you ignored him for a group attack."
"And now you want a one-on-one? That pisses me off."
"Jihihihi… brat, who the hell are you?" Buggy growled.
"I'm the vice-captain of the Thunder Pirates.
My strength is nowhere near our captain's—
but if you want a duel with him,
you'll have to get through me first."
Lucky Drake seemed genuinely offended for his captain.
"Jihihi… overconfident fool!"
"Fine, I'll kill you first,
then take your captain!"
Buggy smirked.
A mere vice-captain couldn't possibly be strong.
"Chop-Chop—Clown Knife!"
Buggy activated his ability.
An arm detached from his body and flew straight at Lucky Drake.
"Huh? It split off?"
Thunder Pirates members stared in shock.
A good, healthy arm suddenly detached?
A prosthetic?
No way—it looked too real!
"Hmph. A move like that? I'll slice it apart."
Lucky Drake channeled inner power from the Nine Yang Divine Art
and slashed diagonally.
A blade aura erupted, shattering Buggy's flying knife instantly—
And continued toward Buggy himself.
Buggy immediately split his torso, his body separating neatly as the blade aura passed through.
"Huh?! His body split too?"
Thunder Pirates reacted again in shock.
Was the guy made of puppets or something?
Buggy, now separated at the waist, frowned deeply.
Something was wrong.
He had underestimated them.
This brat's attack could reach him from that far?
Could he… actually be using Haki?
Impossible.
This was the East Blue—
and not even the central area, but the boondocks.
How could a pirate here know Haki?
If he DID know Haki…
this would be troublesome.
Buggy, having survived the New World, knew how deadly Haki could be.
"You… know Haki?"
He asked before he even realized.
Of course, only Lucky Drake understood what he meant;
the surrounding pirates had no clue.
"Haki?"
"You mean this power?"
BOOM!!
Lucky Drake burst forth with inner power.
A storm-like force exploded outward like a tidal wave.
Many pirates instantly felt suffocated, their knees nearly buckling.
Buggy froze.
T-this really was Haki?!
No…
this looked like Conqueror's Haki!
Cold sweat dripped down Buggy's face.
He never expected that in the East Blue, someone would have such terrifying power—
and could coat it onto weapons to unleash monstrous physical attacks.
Buggy loved money as much as he feared death.
And right now, he was terrified.
But with his crew watching, he couldn't just collapse in fear.
"Ahem… looks like we misunderstood each other.
Your strength and mine… are evenly matched.
No need to fight!"
"Let's just mind our own business!"
"Huh?"
Lucky Drake blinked.
That was fast.
Buggy switched attitudes faster than turning a page.
"No way. We killed your men.
And you're just letting that go?"
Lucky Drake asked on purpose.
"Jihihihi—just a misunderstanding!
I, Captain Buggy, am magnanimous!
I won't pursue it!"
"Oh, is that so?"
"But I still want to fight you."
"And also—we want some of your money as travel funds for entering the Grand Line."
Buggy's face instantly turned green.
They even wanted his gold?
Unforgivable!
He immediately split apart again.
His head floated to Lucky Drake's side and whispered frantically:
"Hey! Don't play dumb with me."
"You're hiding your strength—I know that."
"I already backed off, so take the win and stop pushing your luck!"
"You wanna take MY treasure next?"
"You trying to force a fight to the death?
Even if I die, your whole crew dies with me!
I've got over a hundred men here—think carefully!"
Buggy buzzed around like a fly, whispering nonstop.
"Oh? So what?"
"I don't think the Thunder Pirates would lose to you."
"After all—we have two Devil Fruit users.
You know what that means, right?"
Lucky Drake grinned.
Buggy wanted to bluff?
He had no idea who he was facing.
"W-what? You… you know about Devil Fruits?"
"You're not some East Blue native then?"
"You—are you from the New World?!"
Buggy blurted out, horrified.
Especially since Lucky Drake seemed to have Conqueror's Haki.
~~--------------------------------
HeadOver my pat reon for advance chapter:
patreon.com/FicWarden