[Cover Story Serial· Donquixote Family Arc: "Welcome back, my little brother"]
"Outside, snow fell thick and heavy. In front of the warm fireplace of a hotel room, Rosinante sat at the bedside, his expression complicated. Memories from years past flickered through his mind like a revolving lantern. After a long time, he let out a sigh. As expected, he still couldn't forgive that bastard."
"Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the door. Rosinante suppressed the tension and unease in his heart. How would he be treated this time? With suspicion? With coldness? With hatred…? The door opened. He raised his head—and saw Doflamingo grinning broadly, spreading his arms wide in a passionate welcome…"
...
Sofia was dead.
Dead in a messy, almost casual way. A Warlord of the Sea, a great pirate with a bounty of 400 million Berries, and yet she hadn't even lasted five minutes before being annihilated without even a corpse left behind.
"My god… s-so strong…"
"As expected of Lord Nao."
For the marine elites of the Thunder Hawk, this was nothing unusual. But for the G-5 Marines who had just witnessed such an overwhelming display, it took them a long while to recover from the shock.
They weren't even on the same level. The Rear Admiral adjutant who had worried earlier could only laugh bitterly now. Only then did he realize how ridiculous and unnecessary his concerns had been.
...
The giant hand of lightning slowly faded away, and the rolling black clouds above gradually cleared, the sky returning to calm.
On the shore, the battle was also coming to an end.
The subordinates Sofia brought to the New World were actually quite capable; even the weakest had a bounty exceeding one million Berries.
However—
Seeing Sofia butchered like livestock before their very eyes had delivered both a visual and spiritual shock so devastating that morale collapsed instantly.
Even some of the officers, seeing that escape was hopeless, were unwilling to give up and led the charge to fight to the death.
But the situation was already beyond saving, especially as Aokiji, having secured Molly, joined the battlefield.
It seemed he vented his resentment toward Sofia upon her subordinates. Without a word, his opening move was a sweeping Ice Age.
Soon after—
The battle ended. The shoreline was now covered with rows upon rows of ice statues, looking from a distance like some massive snow-and-ice festival.
The marines began clearing the battlefield, leisurely shattering the sculptures and piling the pieces up like trash, to be dumped into the sea when they departed.
Truly, "no witnesses, no remains."
Nao was not idle either. He personally escorted the rescued girls and villagers back to town, then left behind a large sum of money from the seized spoils as compensation.
He even helped clear the blood and bodies from the streets, calming the people. The effort took him more than half an hour of nonstop running about.
When he finally returned to the shore, he and Aokiji walked together across the messy battlefield, directing operations as they chatted.
"I thought you'd be upset that I didn't leave that crazy hag for you to finish off."
Nao glanced at Aokiji. "But from the look on your face, you don't seem to care at all?"
"What can I do? I don't have your kind of resolve—I couldn't bring myself to do it."
Aokiji shook his head with a smile.
His mood was obviously much lighter, his whole demeanor carrying a sense of relief.
Nao glanced towards the warship's infirmary, then gave Aokiji a meaningful look.
Looks like the relationship between this guy and Molly has finally thawed...
From this perspective, Sofia acted as a matchmaker. At least she did one last good deed before her wicked life came to an end.
"Hey, when we leave later—could you do that thing again?"
"What thing?" Aokiji asked, confused.
"You know…"
Nao mimicked the action of pedaling a bicycle so hard the wheels nearly flew off. "Just wondering if you have a spare chain..."
"Get lost."
Aokiji's face flushed red. He promptly gave Nao a sharp kick.
"I knew you'd mock me afterward. Hmph! If I could beat you, I'd…"
"Vice Admiral! Vice Admiral!"
The urgent voice suddenly cut into their conversation. Both turned their heads to see Onigumo hurrying over, panting heavily while holding a Den Den Mushi.
"Finally found you!"
"A call for me?"
Nao took the little snail, still going buru buru, a little surprised. He casually asked,
"What, is it from headquarters?"
"No, this isn't one of ours."
Onigumo shook his head, still out of breath.
"We just found it while cleaning up the battlefield—from Sofia's remains. It's been ringing since then, about five or six minutes now."
"How should we handle it, Vice Admiral? Answer, or just hang up?"
Five or six minutes?
That must mean someone had urgent business with Sofia…
Nao raised an eyebrow at the Den Den Mushi, thought for a moment, then picked up the receiver.
"SOFIA!!!"
The line instantly erupted with an enraged, elderly roar:
"What the hell have you been doing! How dare you make me wait this long, you wretch! Didn't we agree you'd be by the phone at six sharp, waiting for my call?!"
Quite the arrogance…
Aokiji's eyes narrowed slightly. Sofia might've been a Warlord, but for someone to dare speak to her in that tone… could it be one of those underground kings from the New World she was partnered with?
"So noisy…"
Nao dug a finger in his ear, moving the receiver away in annoyance.
"And who the hell are you? Yelling like that. Lady Sofia's busy right now. If you've got business, spit it out—I'll pass the message along."
"Pass it along? You're one of Sofia's lackeys?"
The old voice faltered at Nao's tone, then gave a cold snort:
"Useless fool with no sense! If you delay my business, can you afford the consequences? Go get her! Tell her Lord Bax himself is calling to confirm our last deal. If she dares not pick up within three minutes, she'll regret it!"
Lord Bax?
Nao frowned. The name sounded familiar, like he'd heard it somewhere before. Meanwhile, Aokiji immediately recognized it, his face shifting slightly.
But instead of speaking aloud, he exhaled, the frosty breath condensing midair into a line of words, which quickly dissipated with the wind.
After reading those words, Nao finally recalled where he'd seen that name.
It was years ago, during the Reverie. He'd spotted the name on a seating plaque in the conference hall.
If his memory served him right, Bax was an old man in his eighties, a representative of the World Government who had presided over that session. Although his status was far below that of the Five Elders, he was undoubtedly a high-ranking official in the World Government.
A big shot like that is secretly trading with Sofia?
Aokiji shot Nao a look. The meaning was obvious:
—Maybe it's best to just hang up.
Killing Sofia was one thing—if only the higher-ups in the Marine knew, it wasn't a problem. Kong, the Commander-in-Chief who already treated Nao as his successor, at most would give a helpless warning or scolding.
But if the World Government—especially this so-called "Lord Bax," who was clearly tied to Sofia—were to find out, it would inevitably bring trouble.
However—
Nao clearly had no intention of hanging up. He nodded at Aokiji to show he understood, then chuckled lightly and spoke into the receiver:
"Get Sofia within three minutes? That's impossible, Lord Bax."
"Hm?"
The elderly voice on the other end froze for a moment, then erupted in fury:
"What do you mean by that?"
"Because Sofia has already been killed by me."
Nao said leisurely,
"A corpse can't answer calls."
"…Sofia, dead?"
The line fell into a deathly silence, disbelief dripping from the pause. At last, the old voice returned, filled with barely suppressed rage:
"I don't know how Sofia's personal Den Den Mushi ended up in your hands, but don't you dare make a fool of me, brat. If you're lying—"
"Lying? Shi-shi-shi-shi! What a joke!"
Nao struck a pose with one hand on his hip, exaggerating a wide, clownish grin:
"Oi, old man! Don't tell me you think killing Sofia is some great achievement? Don't look down on me! For me, that was nothing but child's play!"
"Remember my name! I'm the world-famous Buggy the Clown!"
Click.
Without waiting for the old man's reply, Nao's expression went flat as he hung up the phone.
"…Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Seeing Aokiji and the others frozen in shock, he shrugged with a smile, spreading his hands:
"Sometimes you need a bit of acting, right? Handle surprises well enough, and they can actually turn into opportunities."
At the very least—someone else could take the blame.
…
Holy Land, Mariejois.
An elderly man with silver hair, wearing a suit and radiating quiet authority, lowered the receiver. The fury on his face slowly faded, replaced with a deep, shadowy gloom.
After a moment's thought, he pressed the bell on his desk.
The door opened, and two agents in black entered, standing silently before him.
"Lord Bax, what are your orders?"
"Sofia is dead."
The suited old man narrowed his eyes and said coldly:
"Send people to the New World immediately to confirm whether this is true. At the same time, allocate manpower to investigate the name Buggy. I want to know—who is this nobody, and where did he come from?!"
"Yes, sir."
The two black-clad agents exchanged glances, nodded, and quickly withdrew.
The old man, Bax, remained seated in his armchair, his knuckles tapping rhythmically against the table, a cold smile spreading across his face.
Sofia almost never let her Den Den Mushi out of her sight. That day, she had even arranged the call with him ahead of time. So the young man who had answered earlier probably hadn't been lying.
Sofia really was dead.
But as for who killed her… Buggy the Clown? Hmph.
Bax sneered. As a high-ranking official of the World Government, accustomed to handling documents on every major pirate, he knew the names of the great pirates of the New World by heart. He had never once heard of this Buggy.
There was no way some no-name brat from the gutter could have the strength to defeat Sofia.
The Beasts Pirates? Or the Big Mom Pirates?
Thinking about the batch of rare goods he had already paid a deposit for and reserved, Bax felt his heart bleed.
He clenched his teeth silently. If it turned out that Buggy was just a fake name, then he would have the New World turned upside down to hunt down that arrogant brat, and make him pay dearly!
…
The efficiency of his agents was commendable.
About two days later, the black-clad agents brought him a compiled preliminary report. It confirmed two things.
First: Sofia was indeed dead. Her entire elite force had been completely wiped out, erased so cleanly that no one even knew where it had happened.
Second: the name Buggy the Clown likely wasn't a pseudonym—it carried weight.
According to their findings, Buggy was very likely a former member of the Pirate King Roger's crew.
Though he was still relatively young, consider that Shanks, also from Roger's crew, was already a great pirate with a five-hundred-million bounty.
By that logic, Buggy's strength could also be unfathomable—perhaps even greater than Shanks'. Defeating Sofia was not unreasonable.
In addition—
Intel showed that ever since Roger's crew disbanded, Buggy had remained in the East Blue, keeping an extremely low profile. But recently, he had formed a fleet, left the East Blue, crossed Reverse Mountain, and entered the Grand Line. His whereabouts since were unknown.
Put together, the conclusion was clear.
"So he's one of Roger's remnants. No wonder…"
Bax ground his teeth, glaring at the report's photo of the clown grinning at him. He wished he could reach through the picture and rip off that red nose. He barked an order:
"Send word to Marine Headquarters immediately. Raise his bounty—make it as high as possible! Launch a full-scale manhunt for Buggy the Clown!"
"Yes, Lord Bax!"
The agents accepted solemnly and hurried away.
…
Five days later.
A bombshell of a news report exploded across the New World, like a boulder dropped into a lake, sending ripples racing outward until it spread across the entire globe—stirring up a storm of public uproar.