"Hehehehe... So you've arrived, you cruel father!"
Hidden in the crowd, Aeridar looked up at the dark storm clouds, letting out a low chuckle.
Meanwhile, the Marines were positioned in the surrounding tall buildings.
"The pirates are going to take care of the pirates for us! What's better than that?" Smoker turned around and commanded, "Listen up! The moment that Straw Hat kid's head hits the ground, we'll immediately surround Buggy, Alvida, and their entire crew. Take them all out!"
In the plaza, Buggy stood on the wooden stock holding Luffy. He planted a foot on the stock, grabbed his cutlass, and excitedly declared, "Gyahahahahaha! Monkey D. Luffy, the criminal! For daring to cross me, you are hereby sentenced to a glorious public execution! Gyahahahaha!"
Immediately, the pirates below cheered, shouted, and laughed. Some even fired their guns into the air.
"This is my first time watching an execution!" Luffy said with a big grin, looking at the crowd and pirates below, completely oblivious to the fact that he was the one being executed.
"You're the one who's about to be executed!" Buggy shouted.
Luffy froze, pointed at himself, then his eyes bugged out in shock. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"You're the one who's kidding me!" Buggy screamed back, just as furious as Luffy was in that moment.
Buggy continued to gloat about the public execution, while Luffy screamed and struggled wildly.
"This guy..." Aeridar watched the two on the platform, amused. He had never seen such an un-serious execution before.
"I'm sorry! I won't do it again, please save me!" Luffy cried, struggling without success.
"Why would I save you, you idiot!" Buggy roared, absolutely fuming.
He paused, put his foot on Luffy's head, and held his cutlass up. "Do you have any last words? It's not every day you get this many people watching!"
"Never mind! It doesn't matter what you have to say, you're going to die anyway!"
Pinned to the platform, Luffy faced the crowd below and shouted with all his might, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm the man who's going to become the King of the Pirates!"
Luffy's voice echoed throughout the entire plaza.
A profound silence fell over the crowd. Everyone stared at Luffy on the platform, cold sweat beading on their foreheads and running down their faces.
"Wha—"
"He said... the King of the Pirates?!"
"And he said it in this town!"
"How audacious!"
Aeridar looked at Luffy, saying "King of the Pirates" in Loguetown, a place of such significance, and on that very special platform.
"Unbelievable..." Aeridar's smile faded as he stared intently at Luffy on the platform.
"What?" Smoker, in a nearby building, was also stunned.
"Well, you've had your say. Now it's time to die, you rubber bastard!" Buggy sneered, looking at the struggling Luffy.
"Hold on! You're not going anywhere with that execution!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out. The figures of Zoro and Sanji appeared in the plaza below. With their arrival, the civilians scattered, and the battle between the Straw Hat Pirates and the Buggy Pirates officially began.
One side was fighting to save their captain, while the other was trying to kill them. At Alvida's command, dozens of pirates wielding swords and guns charged at Zoro and Sanji.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Zoro and Sanji fought their way toward the execution platform, knocking down over a thousand pirates in a flash.
But it was no use. Buggy was right next to Luffy, and he had already raised his cutlass, ready to strike.
"Zoro! Sanji! Usopp! Nami!"
Knowing his end was near, Luffy grinned just as the cutlass fell.
"Sorry! I'm gonna die!"
"He's smiling...!" Smoker watched Luffy on the platform in disbelief. He saw the image of the King of the Pirates, Roger, at his execution, superimposed over Luffy.
"He's smiling..." Aeridar's eyes narrowed. Facing death so calmly, even he was stunned. You couldn't understand the feeling unless you were there. It was as if Aeridar were truly witnessing the execution of the King of the Pirates himself.
BOOM!!
In that moment, a bolt of lightning streaked from the dark clouds, followed by a huge clap of thunder. A single bolt of lightning struck the execution platform, shaking the entire town.
BOOM!
The platform was engulfed in lightning, and the iron structure burst into flames. Under the astonished gaze of countless people, the platform where the King of the Pirates was executed collapsed with a mighty crash.
At that moment, raindrops began to fall, turning into a torrential downpour.
The straw hat, once worn by the King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger, and then by the Yonko, Red-Haired Shanks, floated through the air and gently landed in front of Luffy.
"He smiled as he accepted death... the King of the Pirates... What does this mean? Is he a prophesied Child of Destiny?" Aeridar stared at the scene in a daze. He had seen this scene on a computer screen before and hadn't thought much of it, but witnessing it in person, he felt as if it was all a powerful omen.
Does this signify the end of the old era and the arrival of a new one?
Alvida and the Buggy Pirates stared in disbelief at the laughing Luffy. Sanji was so shocked that the cigarette he was holding fell to the ground, and he even asked Zoro if he believed in gods.
"Tch... Fate, huh? I'll kick the goddess of fate right in the ass!" Aeridar's eyes narrowed. He instantly vanished from the plaza.
In a nearby building, Smoker was silent for a moment. Then, he raised his hand and commanded, "Go! Surround all the pirates!"
"Charge!"
Hundreds of Marine soldiers poured in from five entrances, completely surrounding the plaza and clashing with the pirates.
The wind howled, rain poured, and lightning flashed as thunder rumbled constantly.
"Let the wind blow. The storm of destiny is coming..."
On a deserted street, a ghostly figure revealed a face with a red square tattoo on its left side.
"The inherited will, the changing of the times, the dreams of the people... None of these can be stopped. As long as people continue to seek the answer of freedom, all of this will never cease."
"Pirates, eh... that's not a bad name for it."
Back in the plaza, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji had easily broken through the Marine encirclement.
Smoker couldn't sit still any longer and decided to enter the fray himself. The Logia-type, known as the strongest, was too much for the third-rate pirates of the East Blue. Smoker easily subdued the entire pirate crew, and the Marines fired a special "prison net" projectile designed for Devil Fruit users, capturing Buggy, Alvida, and their entire crew. The Buggy Pirates were wiped out.
"Bring me my Billower Bike! I'm going to chase after that Straw Hat kid!" Smoker commanded, looking at the captured Buggy the Clown and "Iron Mace" Alvida.
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