"Captain... Captain Buggy was actually a crew member of the Pirate King?" The others looked at Buggy in disbelief and said, "This... this is unbelievable!"
"We never imagined you had such a background, this is too shocking!"
"You're practically the star of pirates!"
"Captain Buggy!!"
"I..."
Buggy made a pained face and was just about to say something when he heard the Marine continue, "Not only that, we've also investigated and found that you and the Four Emperor, Red-Haired Shanks, are sworn brothers!"
"A man like you has managed to avoid causing any major incidents so far, always lurking in the shadows... You're truly something else."
The Marine paused for a moment after speaking, then continued, "Although we can't see your relationship with Fire Fist Ace, your goal must be the same as Straw Hat Boy's - to rescue Fire Fist Ace."
"No, actually I..." Buggy opened his mouth. He really wanted to say that he had nothing to do with that Fire Fist Ace and wasn't particularly interested in going to Marine Headquarters to rescue that guy.
But now it seemed the Marines had already marked him as one of their primary targets for elimination.
Thinking this, Buggy felt completely numb.
The Marine paid no attention to Buggy's reaction and coldly stated, "Pirates, here's some advice for you!"
"As long as we don't open the Gates of Justice, you'll never reach Marine Headquarters. So you're doomed!"
After these words, the Marine hung up the communication without hesitation, so quickly that Luffy didn't even have time to say anything.
"Damn it!"
Looking at the disconnected Den Den Mushi, Luffy complained, "I still had things to say."
That bastard, he should have at least let him finish speaking.
"The Gates of Justice." Meiser stroked his chin and said, "So it seems we'll need to figure out how to deal with these Gates of Justice."
Maybe when we see the Gates of Justice, I could use the Water Release Technique to move the warship away from the Basin Current, then try to break through to Marine Headquarters from another direction?
Hmm... I'll give it a try when the time comes.
At that moment, the pirates who had been silent for a while exclaimed again.
"Hey, Captain Buggy, is it true you were really a crew member of the Pirate King?"
"And, and you're actually sworn brothers with that Four Emperor, Red-Haired Shanks?!!"
"Our savior is truly no ordinary pirate!"
"Whoa!!"
"Captain Buggy!"
"Captain Buggy!!"
"Captain Buggy!!!"
"I..."
Unlike the excited prisoners, Buggy was currently panicking internally.
With such important information known to the World Government, what awaited him next would surely be a Marine siege.
"With my abilities, how could I possibly escape a Marine siege?!" Buggy thought frantically. 'If they send a Marine Admiral to lead the operation... wouldn't I be doomed?!'
The mere thought of this made Buggy's face turn green.
At this moment, he felt as if all hope had vanished from his life.
"I never expected you to have such a background," Jimbei said, looking at Buggy in surprise. "That's truly unexpected."
Crocodile also stared at Buggy with astonishment, clearly not anticipating such a past from him.
But the question was... why was this guy so weak?
"You were actually a crew member of the Pirate King?!" Mr.3 exclaimed incredulously, staring at Buggy. "Then why is this guy so despicable?!"
Recalling some of his past experiences with Buggy, Mr.3 couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Honestly, he simply couldn't connect this despicable fellow with the Pirate King.
"It seems no matter what kind of ship, there's always a bad apple~" Ivankov sighed with emotion.
Even someone as powerful as Pirate King Roger had such a character among his crew.
"But regardless, the fact that this guy was a crew member of the Pirate King should be true," Mr.1 stated.
Since the Marines had already called about it, there probably wasn't any mistake.
"That makes sense."
After saying this, everyone turned their attention back to Buggy's face and fell into deep thought.
The idea that such a man was a crew member of the Pirate King... this feeling was really subtle.
Meanwhile, the prisoners exchanged glances before quickly rushing to surround Buggy.
Then, these men lifted Buggy up, their expressions filled with excitement.
"Captain Buggy!"
"Our great savior!"
"Crew member of the Pirate King!"
"WOO!!!"
"No, wait, you idiots!!" Buggy immediately protested. "Although I was indeed a crew member of the Pirate King, I was just an apprentice crew member!"
"Just like that bastard Shanks."Hearing Buggy's words, everyone fell silent for a moment before becoming even more fervent."
"As expected of Captain Buggy!"
"WOO!!"
Buggy:....
Was he just making things worse by explaining?
No... wait a minute!
Although this exposure put him at some disadvantage, making him potentially face Marine encirclement at any time...
Because of this, his reputation would also grow higher and higher!
If by some chance I could take Whitebeard's head... wouldn't I be able to become one of the Four Emperors?!
No... if I go even further, becoming the Pirate King might not be impossible either!
It was at this moment that Buggy recalled his previous conversations with Meiser.
At this instant, a flame called ambition ignited in Buggy's heart.
In the future... perhaps he could stand shoulder to shoulder with that bastard Shanks!
Even... surpass him to become the Pirate King!
Thinking this, a smile immediately appeared on Buggy's face.
Then, he glanced at these cheering pirates and thought: 'These guys' bounties might all be higher than mine. If I can use them properly... my idea might actually succeed!'
"What's this guy smiling about?" Bon Clay said.
"Who knows," Meiser shrugged beside him. "Maybe he thought of some cunning scheme."
Yes, a sudden flash of cunning inspiration.
"Cunning scheme?"
A question mark appeared above Bon Clay's head, clearly not understanding what Meiser meant.
"Captain Buggy, we're willing to follow you!"
"Hooray!!"
"Captain Buggy, please give the order!" The pirates raised their weapons and said, "Let's take down those guys heading to Marine Headquarters and steal their ship!"
"That's right! This way we won't have to go to that dangerous place to fight!!"
"Sorry, Ninja bro." A prisoner walked up to Meiser, grinning as he said, "We're taking this ship."
"Ninja bro, we don't want to hurt you either." Another prisoner looked seriously at Meiser and said, "As long as you give up going to Marine Headquarters, we won't lay a hand on you."
The others nodded in agreement with this man's words.
They still held great respect for Meiser.
After all... this man had helped them hold off Magellan!
Hearing their words, Meiser didn't respond, only shaking his head in speechless exasperation.
These guys really thought they were something, believing they could defeat all of them just by relying on Buggy?
How naive!
"You ungrateful bastards!" Bon Clay shouted angrily. "If it weren't for Xiao Meiser and the others, do you think you could have successfully escaped from prison?"
"Maybe we should just kill them all." Crocodile laughed.
As he spoke, a sandstorm appeared in his hand, clearly showing he was prepared to attack.
If these fools dared to make a move against them, he wouldn't hesitate to slaughter them all.
"Shall we fight?" Mr.1 said.
Glancing at the prisoners who had approached him, Mr.1 activated his Devil Fruit ability without hesitation, transforming his arms into sharp blades.
He would immediately cut down these arrogant fools the moment Crocodile gave the order.
"Don't think we're afraid of you just because you have a Royal Seven Warlord and Ninja bro with you!" a prisoner retorted. "We have Captain Buggy on our side!"
"That's right! Captain Buggy was a crew member of the Pirate King - his strength must surpass all of yours!"
"These guys are beyond saving..." Mr.3 covered his face and said.
Unlike these blind idiots, he knew exactly what Buggy was really like.
Stronger than everyone else?
Bullshit!
This guy couldn't even defeat the Jailer Beasts in Impel Down - how could he possibly fight against a Royal Seven Warlord?
"Heh, it seems you're quite rational." Ivankov glanced at Mr.3 and said.
Mr.3 didn't respond, only sighing.
"Sigh."
Ivankov didn't mind, instead looking at Buggy who seemed lost in thought and asking, "How are you going to handle this situation?"
Just at that moment, Buggy snapped out of it, his upper body flying into the air as he looked down at the prisoners below.
"Shut up, all of you idiots!"
"Huh?"
The scolded prisoners were stunned - why was their Captain Buggy yelling at them?
"Use your brains and think for a moment - can this ship turn around now?" Buggy shouted. "From the moment we passed through the Gates of Justice, our only destination is Marine Headquarters!"
After saying this, Buggy paused for a moment, then grinned and said, "Although it's somewhat unexpected, this actually suits my intentions perfectly!"
"Captain Buggy, what... what do you mean?"
"Of course, I mean we're going to participate in this war!" Buggy raised his voice and declared, "Opportunities like this to reach the pinnacle of the world don't come often!"
"Today, I'm going to take Whitebeard's head at Marine Headquarters and conquer the entire world!"
"If you're real men, then follow me in pursuing your dreams!"
At this moment, Buggy appeared dazzling and incredibly sacred in their eyes!
"Captain Buggy!!"
"Dammit, we've been worn down for too long in this dark hell, to the point we've forgotten the gem called dreams..." A pirate knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face as he said, "Thank you for reminding me of my former dreams, Captain Buggy!"
"Captain Buggy!"
"We're willing to follow you!"
"Who wants a stable life? Let's go achieve our dreams together!"
"Yeah!!"
"Yahahahaha, well said!" Buggy laughed heartily. "Then let's set off!"
"Forward to Marine Headquarters!!"
"Yeah!!"
"Yahahahaha!"
Looking at the crowd he had successfully fooled, Buggy burst into laughter.
"Excellent, I'm one step closer to becoming one of the Four Emperors!"
Yahahaha!
"Did he actually pull it off?" Luffy asked while holding his head.
"It appears so," Jimbei replied, glancing at Buggy floating in the air behind them. "I never expected this guy to be so eloquent."
"That's fine too, it saves us energy," Ivankov added.
Although these guys were nothing but small fry to them, if a fight broke out on this ship, it could easily get damaged.
So it was better to avoid fighting if possible.
"Hmph, boring."
Crocodile snorted. He had thought these guys would charge at them fearlessly.
That way, he could have used them as appetizers before the main event.
But since they gave up, so be it.
Then, the man dissipated the sandstorm in his hand and turned away, no longer paying attention to that idiot Buggy.
"Alright, no need to compete with them in a staring contest," Meiser said, pulling Bon Clay back from his glaring match. "Let them do whatever they want, as long as it doesn't delay our journey to Marine Headquarters."
"But they just..."
"Although these guys are small fry, once we reach Marine Headquarters, they can draw away some of the Marines," Meiser explained.
The more Marines diverted, the fewer casualties they would suffer—this was a good thing.
"I see!"
Understanding Meiser's meaning, Bon Clay nodded and followed him back to Jimbei's side.
"Hmm?"
Noticing Mr.3's indifference, Meiser smiled and asked, "Aren't you going to join the fun?"
"I'll pass," Mr.3 shook his head. "I'd feel too embarrassed."
Join Buggy in showing off in front of everyone?
He had no interest in that.
After all... he didn't know if their weakling status would be exposed later.
"If these pirates find out how weak we two are... we might die!"
Perhaps imagining certain scenarios, Mr.3 shuddered involuntarily.
"Is that so? Then it seems you're still a normal person," Meiser nodded.
Mr.3: ???
So he was considered normal now?
Wait, he was always normal to begin with!!
Glancing at Meiser who was walking away, Mr.3 really wanted to complain.
But when he caught Crocodile's gaze, he forcibly swallowed the words that were about to come out.
Forget it, with this lord present, he better behave himself.
"Jimbei," Luffy looked at Jimbei and asked, "How much longer until we reach Marine Headquarters?"
"It should be soon," Jimbei said uncertainly.
He hadn't been to Marine Headquarters this way before, so he wasn't sure exactly how long it would take.
"Just arriving won't be enough," Crocodile said. "Don't forget about the Gates of Justice."
If they didn't find a way to open the Gates of Justice, they probably wouldn't be able to leave this ocean current.
Wait... could this ninja kid's Water Release Technique push the warship out?
Thinking of this, Crocodile narrowed his eyes.
"The Gates of Justice are indeed a problem," Jimbei said with a furrowed brow.
The controls for Marine Headquarters's Gates of Justice must be inside Marineford.
In that case, even Meiser wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
Thinking this, Jimbei glanced at Meiser.
"Don't worry, leave this problem to me," Meiser said.
"What method do you have?" Ivankov asked curiously.
"Although I can't go to Marine Headquarters in advance to open the Gates of Justice, I can use my Water Release Technique to carry the warship away!" Meiser grinned. "This ocean current... won't be able to stop us!"
The group exchanged glances, then said loudly, "Then we're counting on you, Meiser!"
"Alright!"
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