Bang!
"If swords can't deal with you, then maybe fists can."
Weiss drove his fist into Buggy's stomach so hard that the pirate's eyes bulged out, and he doubled over on the deck, unable to speak a word.
"Now hand over all the treasure on your ship, or I'll kill your captain."
Was Weiss being cruel? Not at all—by this world's standards, he was being extremely merciful.
In the original story, when Buggy first encountered the main characters, his methods were much more brutal. Back then, he was a true pirate through and through. His redemption arc didn't come until after the Marineford War.
Besides, Weiss had no intention of actually killing Buggy. Why? Because he couldn't beat Shanks. Who knows what kind of love-hate relationship those two childhood friends had?
What if he killed Buggy, and Shanks came running from the New World back to the Grand Line for revenge? That would be terrifying. Right now, Weiss wasn't strong enough to face off against a Yonko.
Shanks was the only Yonko without a Devil Fruit, and if not for losing an arm, he'd basically have no weaknesses.
And Buggy, for all his foolishness, had ridiculous luck. Who knows, maybe one day they'd cross paths again, and Weiss could loot him a second time. That's just good business for a pirate, right?
Weiss thought the crew would rush off in panic to gather the treasure. But to his surprise, none of them moved. Instead, they all glared at him with murderous intent.
"Get him!"
…
…
No one knows who shouted it first, but suddenly, all the pirates charged. Those with guns fired the first shots.
Bang! Bang!
The gunfire didn't faze Weiss at all.
To him, the bullets seemed to crawl through the air—like they were frozen in time. Dodging them was child's play.
He raised his dagger in front of him, and the bullets split in half like cotton candy. To the surrounding pirates, it looked like the bullets were deliberately aiming for the blade.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
More gunshots rang out—this time from Jack, perched on the crow's nest. He calmly picked off every pirate with a firearm, one shot at a time.
Cabaji brought up the rear. He knew none of them were a match for Weiss. As long as they could wear him down a bit, even if the captain had to hand over their treasure, he probably wouldn't mind.
There was no point fighting someone they obviously couldn't beat.
"Tch, seems like you really won't cry until you see your own coffin."
Weiss's face darkened as he prepared to end these pirates with his blade.
"Wait! Don't! We'll get the treasure now!"
Cabaji panicked as soon as he saw Weiss make a move. The pirates scattered immediately, terrified of being made an example.
"You can't do this!"
Buggy, still doubled over and clutching his stomach, protested from the ground. That last punch had been laced with Armament Haki—it was going to hurt for a while.
"Buggy, why don't you come join my crew instead? With my strength, we could grab any treasure you want. Even that legendary island, Laugh Tale—maybe we could reach it together."
Of course, Weiss had no intention of recruiting Buggy. A guy like that, who'd turned down offers from Yonko, wasn't going to follow some no-name pirate like him.
"No way I'd follow a bastard like you!"
Buggy didn't even flinch at the mention of Laugh Tale. Weiss noticed.
Maybe he really did need the four Road Poneglyphs to even get close to it.
Thinking back, Buggy was sick when they first arrived at that island, and Shanks stayed behind to take care of him. If they really had any useful information, the big shots up top would never let them go.
Can't handle the old one? Then go after the younger one.
"Well, forget it. I'll just be taking your treasure then!"
To stay alive, the pirates acted fast. In less than fifteen minutes, they had everything packed and delivered to the deck.
Jack carried one bag, Weiss carried another, and the two of them returned to their ship. The Buggy Pirates could only watch helplessly as the Chris sailed off into the distance, eventually disappearing beyond the horizon.
"After them! Set sail! I'm going to catch that damn bastard!"
Buggy, having recovered, shouted the order from his ship.
But when he went below deck and saw how little treasure remained, he nearly had a heart attack.
The sun dipped below the horizon, casting golden light across the sea. Fiery clouds hung in the sky, as if telling tales of warmth.
As night fell, the cool evening breeze replaced the day's scorching heat.
Kadun was studying navigation. Weiss was reading the newspaper.
Jack was cleaning his guns in the cabin—he had done most of the work today. Weiss only acted three times: grabbing Buggy, slicing Buggy, and punching Buggy.
The gun barrels were full of gunpowder residue. If he didn't clean them out, they could explode next time. Still, the battle gave him a clearer idea of his own strength—at least against low-level pirates or those with bounties around 10 to 20 million, he was more than capable.
Karina was cooking dinner!
Originally, she thought she'd wait until they came back and then make her escape. But as things got more dangerous, she figured she'd jump ship during the raid on Buggy.
The problem was—there was no lifeboat. She even thought about knocking out Kadun and stealing the ship, but considering Jack's terrifying marksmanship and the captain's overwhelming strength, she gave up.
The last guy on board probably wasn't weak either.
So she stayed and waited patiently for them to return.
What she didn't expect was that the bastard actually made the guest cook dinner!
When Karina protested—saying she was a guest and the captain should be providing for her—Weiss shamelessly pointed to a small line of text on the wall:
> "Final interpretation rights belong to Weiss."
With no other choice, Karina pouted and went into the kitchen.
If she could beat him, she'd have punched Weiss into the sea already!
But...
Karina smirked.
The treasure on this ship was way more than she expected. When she saw how much Weiss and Jack had taken from Buggy's ship, she was stunned.
She hadn't even entered the Grand Line yet, and already, this was the most treasure she had ever seen. The last big haul she remembered was with Nami, but even that ended with them getting caught by treasure hunters.
Today? This was on a whole other level.
When Weiss brought her little treasure chest into the vault, Karina secretly followed him. The moment the door opened, she was nearly blinded by the sparkle of gold.
From that moment on, she made a decision.
She was definitely going to steal all the treasure on this ship.
And she wasn't getting off until she had it.
If Weiss ever found out, he'd laugh his head off. Everything Karina saw today—Weiss wanted her to see. If he used Observation Haki, how could she possibly sneak around?
He had done it all on purpose.
Because what attracts a thief more than anything else?
A mountain of treasure.
And Weiss knew—no thief could resist that.
---
Currently at chapter 350 on Ko-Fi
https:// ko-fi.com/sami27