"Captain Buggy, what should we do now?"
"Yeah! Those women don't even know your great name. We might as well take them out along with World!"
"!!"
If you wanted to find the bravest group of underlings on the sea, Buggy's crew would definitely make the cut. It's not that they're particularly strong, but they have an inexplicable confidence in Buggy.
In their minds, Buggy is the kind of legendary figure who punches Admirals and kicks the Four Emperors — the number one legend of the sea. Unlike those who saw him as the sole stain on Roger's ship, in the hearts of these pirates, Buggy is the one and only god.
After the end of the Summit War, this misunderstanding not only didn't get cleared up by a lucky coincidence, it actually deepened as Buggy's thinking grew increasingly bizarre.
Back then, they really believed Buggy was going to take Whitebeard's head. To them, declaring war on a Shichibukai was something Buggy could do on a whim.
But Buggy didn't see it that way. During the Summit War, while others were fighting for their lives, Buggy recognized how the world really worked.
Every one of those Shichibukai were monsters. Even Moria, who had turned into a fat shut-in from severe mental trauma, was someone Buggy couldn't handle, let alone Boa Hancock, who attacked indiscriminately on the battlefield without any reason.
Whether it was pirates or Marines, she attacked them all. Buggy definitely didn't want to get kicked and turned into a stone statue.
"This... uh... well, it's not that simple. First, we need to..."
Buggy racked his brains trying to come up with an excuse to fool his underlings. But as true masters of making wild assumptions, his underlings were quick to spare their boss the trouble. Before Buggy could speak, someone had already come up with a reason for him.
"Idiot! Lord Buggy still needs the Shichibukai position! How can he fight a Shichibukai right now? That would mess up Lord Buggy's future plans! Isn't that right, Lord Buggy?"
"Ah…yes, exactly. That's it! Anyway, we'll just quietly follow them for now. I've got a plan of my own."
Moved by his underlings' loyalty, Buggy's ship also set course toward Kuja. During the voyage, Mr. 3 approached Buggy.
"Hey Buggy, what exactly is your plan?"
"How should I know?"
"What did you just say?!"
"Calm down, calm down, Mr. 3. Things will work out when the time comes; there's always a way." [TN: There is a proverb used here- When the ship gets to the pier, it'll straighten on its own]
"More like the ship's going to sink before it reaches the pier..."
Whether it was Buggy or World, they were still some distance from Amazon Lily.
As for Kuja, they had rejected Buggy's "kind offer," but his words did have some effect.
"World... Granny, doesn't that name sound familiar?"
"Of course it does! The World Government summoned you all to deal with him, remember? But you didn't even look at the letter and just threw it away!!"
"Hancock, you're the empress of Amazon Lily. You can't be so reckless about things like this..."
"Enough. I was just casually asking. No need for such a long explanation."
Hancock didn't take Gloriosa's words to heart. Even the citizens of Kuja nearby were used to this kind of behavior from her. They had long since grown accustomed to Hancock's attitude.
Even if Gloriosa thought this wasn't how a ruler should act, due to Hancock's strength, all she could do was assist her from the sidelines, coming up with countermeasures on her behalf.
"World, isn't that Auntie Nightin's pirate crew? Aunt Nightin and the others waited thirty years for World. Did he do something?"
"Granny, I suddenly find myself interested in this matter. Please tell me more."
Olga's words made Hancock instantly change her attitude. Gloriosa once again put her hand to her forehead in helplessness. This thing was nothing new for her.
Only when Olga came to Kuja for a vacation would Hancock show her gentle side.
"Attacking the Celestial Dragons, attacking the Marines, attacking pirates... ever since World escaped from prison and started moving again, everything on the sea has become his target."
"Back then, because of this matter, that guy caused even pirates to panic. If I remember correctly, some pirates even planned to team up with the Marines to take down World, but in the end, nothing came of it."
"Yeah, after all, he was defeated by Captain Kaido back then, and I think he ended up imprisoned afterward.
It's already been thirty years—time really flies."
"Yes, I was still young back then."
Gloriosa suddenly recalled the past, and Olga just happened to have something to add in that area, which made Hancock feel a bit of a headache.
"Wait, Sister Olga, thirty years ago, were you already part of the Beasts Pirates?"
"I never told you? I'm a founding member, you know."
"Then how old are you… really?"
Olga's appearance and slow aging made it easy for people to forget her true age. Even Hancock had never looked into it deeply, but now she was suddenly curious.
"This year… I'm 205, I think. Soon to be 206, if I haven't miscalculated."
Her personal experience had led Olga to become indifferent to the passage of time. After all, from an individual standpoint, even Giants' can't compare to her.
"205? Sister Olga, you're joking again."
That would make her older than Hancock's great-grandmother. By that measure, Gloriosa should be calling Olga "granny."
Whether someone was older or younger wasn't something Hancock normally cared about. She knew Olga was far older than she looked. But a gap this big still gave her a headache.
Since Olga had a mischievous habit of joking around, her truthful words ironically became harder to believe.
In the end, Hancock took Olga's answer as her way of dodging the question about her real age; after all, it's perfectly reasonable for a woman to keep her age a secret.
Centering on the topic of World, they chatted about a few other things.
But not long after, the sound of an explosion suddenly reached their ears, and even the curtains of the Kuja palace fluttered from the shockwave.
"Snake Princess! It's… it's an island! An island suddenly appeared near our perimeter and fired cannon at the sea!"
"Boa Hancock! You lapdog of the World Government. If you don't come out now, the next cannonball won't hit the sea!"
World's voice came through a loudspeaker and reached Hancock's ears, while the island in the eyes of the Kuja warriors was actually World's ship. Its size was comparable to Moria's massive Thriller Bark.
World wanted to bring Hancock alive to Marineford, so he had only fired at the sea. The power of these cannons was a mystery. Even a strong powerhouse could inexplicably die under the explosion.
"How did they get here?!"
Hearing that the enemy had already broken through the Calm Belt and reached the edge of Kuja, Gloriosa's expression changed. Hancock had ignored Buggy, but Gloriosa had taken his words to heart and had long since arranged for others to strengthen the perimeter's vigilance.
But her precautions were ineffective. Even the Calm Belt surrounding Kuja had lost its defensive function.
"It came from underwater, Granny. That ship suddenly surfaced from beneath the sea."
"Underwater, huh..."
"Alright, Granny, don't worry about how they got here. Leave what comes next to me."
Hancock's brows had already darkened with fury. Buggy's phone call was meant to tip her off. Strictly speaking, he was on her side, yet even he didn't get a warm reception, let alone World, who came knocking at her door looking for a fight.
Right now, Hancock was furious. Even setting aside personal feelings, she was the empress of Kuja. The people of Kuja tolerated her whims largely because she had the strength to protect them.
When Kuja was under attack, it was her duty to stand up.
"Wait, let me go with you."
"Sister Olga, this is Kuja's affair. You don't need to get involved."
"No, I have some personal reasons, and this matter isn't entirely unrelated to us either."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... if I remember correctly, that ship's main cannon was sold by us. World's not exactly a normal person. With that cannon and his Devil Fruit powers, if anything goes wrong, it could cause real trouble."
The Beasts Pirates were just arms dealers. Where the weapons were used after being sold was something they couldn't control. Sometimes, weapons they had sold even ended up being used against them.
To deal with that, the Beasts Pirates deliberately left hidden mechanisms in specially made powerful weapons; something only the officers of the Beasts Pirates were aware of.
Olga knew exactly how powerful that cannon was. She only wanted to follow Hancock to prevent anything unexpected, and she also couldn't relax about the situation with Nightin. That's why she wanted to go with her.
"I see. Understood. Marigold, Sandersonia, take the warriors and prepare to deal with any other enemies. Granny, you lead the ordinary citizens to safety."
Facing the approaching flames of war, Hancock revealed the dignity of an empress. After assigning tasks, she took the lead and headed outside.
By "ordinary citizens," Hancock meant only the old, weak, sick, and disabled. Kuja was a warrior nation. Everyone born here was trained as a fighter from birth. Much like the Minks, it was a true militarized population.
After receiving the news, Hancock made her way toward the direction of the voice, but World was growing impatient.
"Start another round of shelling. This time, aim directly at the island."
Such a large battleship obviously had more than one cannon. World simply hadn't intended to use the main cannon yet, but that didn't mean he wouldn't use other weapons.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Flashes of fire lit up World's ship as a barrage of cannonballs rained down toward Kuja like a rain.
"Slave Arrow!"
Before the cannonballs could land, a volley of pink arrows streaked across the sky. Overwhelming in number, they struck the cannonballs midair, robbing them of momentum and turning them into heavy stone spheres that fell harmlessly into the sea.
"A Devil Fruit user, huh? So you've finally come."
[TN: There are now going to be many chapters of 1.5x length of normal chapters.]
****Please support on pat*eon for extra chapters; there is date to date subscription enabled on patreon. [There is a 7-day trial version availabe on patreon.]
https://www.pat*eon.com/dmtranslations
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my pa*reon.