"To celebrate our successful escape from Impel Down, let's have a feast!" Buggy laughed heartily.
"Alright!"
"Hurry up! Captain Buggy has spoken! Get the food from the warship—we're going to eat our fill!"
Watching the group bustling back and forth, Crocodile frowned and said, "Captain Buggy?"
He had noticed this issue earlier—why was this useless guy hanging out with Mr.3 the leader of these people?
If he wasn't mistaken, some of these guys had higher bounties than Mr.3.
"Hey, Mr.3!"
"Here!"
Hearing Crocodile call him, Mr.3 immediately stiffened, then turned around rigidly to face Crocodile and said, "What can I do for you?"
"Who exactly is this Buggy?" Crocodile asked.
"Him?"
Mr.3 glanced at Buggy, who was laughing with his hands on his hips, and said, "I didn't know him before either. I only know he's Buggy the Clown from East Blue."
"Is that so."
Crocodile nodded with a frown, then turned to look in the direction of East Blue and murmured, "East Blue... the hometown of the Pirate King?"
After thinking for a while and failing to figure it out, Crocodile decisively gave up.
After all, in his eyes, Buggy was just a somewhat special small fry—not worth paying too much attention to.
"Meiser." Jimbei, who was steering the ship, glanced at Meiser standing beside him and said, "Thank you for giving me the chance to save Ace."
"I will remember this kindness."
"No need for thanks." Meiser laughed. "We're on the same side now, no need to be so polite."
"Right, Luffy~"
"Yeah!"
Luffy grinned widely and said, "Meiser's right, Jimbei."
Looking at the two smiling men, Jimbei fell silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "This old man will do his utmost to assist you."
This time, even if it cost him his life, he would help these two men rescue Ace!
"Alright!"
Just then, several men ran to the bow of the ship, carrying food and drinks.
"Ninja big brother, you guys should eat something," one of the men said with a smile.
"Eat something?"
Meiser glanced at the food that had been brought up, patted his stomach, and said, "I'm not really—"
Before he could finish, he saw Luffy dart over to the food in a flash.
"Let's eat!"
After saying this very sincerely, Luffy began stuffing food into his mouth frantically.
Meiser watched with some helplessness—this guy could really eat.
Before they set off, he had eaten for a full thirty minutes, and now he was hungry again... How absurd.
"It seems Straw Hat Boy has a great appetite," a few of them remarked with a laugh.
"Indeed."
"If it's not enough, just let us know. There's more below."
"Alright!"
Luffy waved at the group without looking up, then continued eating vigorously.
Shaking his head helplessly, Meiser turned to Jimbei and said, "If you're hungry, go get something to eat."
"This old man doesn't need to," Jimbei shook his head. "I ate my fill right before we left that place."
His need for food wasn't as great as one might imagine, so there was no need for him to keep eating.
Just then, Buggy came up from below deck, holding a glass of wine. "Meiser, let's have a toast!" he exclaimed.
"Huh?"
Seeing Meiser empty-handed, Buggy looked stunned. "It's party time right now! How come you're neither eating nor drinking?"
The last time they had eaten together was just yesterday, wasn't it?
Wasn't this guy hungry?
"I'm not really hungry right now. You guys go ahead," Meiser waved dismissively. Unlike Luffy, that bottomless pit, he didn't feel the need to pounce on food the moment he saw it.
"But how can you—" Buggy started to protest, only to be interrupted by Luffy, who looked up and asked, "Jimbei, if you come with us to Marine Headquarters this time, won't you lose your title as one of the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea?"
"After the ruckus we caused at Impel Down, this old man's title as a Warlord is as good as gone," Jimbei replied calmly. "But I don't care anymore. As long as we can rescue Ace from Marine Headquarters, that's all that matters."
After all, his Warlord title couldn't protect Fish-Man Island anyway, so... if it's gone, it's gone!
"Wait a minute!" Buggy snapped out of his daze and stared at them in disbelief. "Did you just say Marine Headquarters?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"But... what's this about Marine Headquarters?!" Buggy cried out frantically as the realization hit him. "Don't tell me this ship is heading to Marine Headquarters right now!"
"Correct."
"You bastards! You can't possibly be unaware of the war between Marine Headquarters and Whitebeard, can you?"
"We know about it."
"Then why are you still—"
"Precisely because we know, we're going to Marine Headquarters," Meiser said, crossing his arms and glancing at Buggy. "Don't forget our objective."
Stunned into silence, Buggy immediately recalled the reason Meiser and the Straw Hat Boy had come to Impel Down in the first place.
To rescue Ace...
So that's it. They're going to rescue Ace...
"No, that's not the point!" Buggy's upper body flew up in agitation as he glared at Meiser. "I agreed to go with you to Level 5 to rescue Ace, but I never said I'd go with you to Marine Headquarters!"
The war between Whitebeard and Marine Headquarters was bound to be terrifying. Going to such a place to join the fray at a time like this was nothing short of suicide! He had just escaped Impel Down—he had no desire to dive into another hell, damn it!
"Is that so? I thought you were willing to come with us~" Meiser said, a smirk playing on his lips.
Seeing the smile on Meiser's face, Buggy felt utterly defeated.
Was this bastard doing it on purpose?
"Dammit, I don't want to go to Marine Headquarters..."
"What's the point of saying that now?" Crocodile glanced at Buggy and remarked, "In the end, it's because you were too slow to catch on."
"What did you say?"
Ignoring the furious Buggy, Crocodile said calmly, "Once we pass through the Gates of Justice, the only places we can go are Marine Headquarters and Enies Lobby."
"What do you mean?"
"We're currently riding the World Government's exclusive Basin Current. This special current connects the three major facilities of the World Government."
"You could say that once a ship enters this current, there's no way to go anywhere else," Jimbei explained.
"So that means we can only go to Marine Headquarters now?"
"Yes."
Hearing Jimbei's words, Buggy was rendered speechless, while Mr.3, who had just come up, looked extremely grim.
"No way! We never heard anything about this!!"
The prisoners stared dumbfounded at the people above, their faces turning pale.
Going to participate in the war between Whitebeard and Marine Headquarters?
This had to be a joke!!
With their strength, going to such a place would be nothing but suicide!
"Bastards, stop this ship right now!" Buggy and Mr.3 grabbed Jimbei's hands and said, "We don't want to go to Marine Headquarters!"
"Stop causing trouble." Jimbei shook them off and said, "Didn't I just explain? Once you're on this current, there's no way to go elsewhere."
"Dammit, how can this be..."
Buggy and Mr.3 knelt on the ground in agony, as if they could already see their future.
Being killed by a stray attack from Whitebeard or a Marine Admiral at Marine Headquarters...
Damn, what a humiliating way to die!
"If you don't want to go, you can get off the ship yourselves," Luffy said while eating, glancing at them. "We're not changing our course anyway."
"Get off ourselves?"
The two were stunned for a moment before shouting with shark-like mouths: "Damn Straw Hat Boy, we're both Devil Fruit Ability Users! How could we get off the ship ourselves?!"
"Besides, this is the Calm Belt! It's the nest of Sea Kings, you bastard!"
Even if they weren't Devil Fruit Ability Users, they couldn't possibly swim out of the Calm Belt on their own—once those Sea Kings noticed them, they'd be dead for sure!
"Oh."
"Oh... oh?!"
Hearing Luffy's casual response, Buggy's eyes turned red with anger.
"Damn it! Marine Headquarters has Marine Admirals!"
"Not just that, there's also Whitebeard and the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea—all kinds of terrifying beings!"
"Going to such a place is worse than staying in Impel Down."
"We're done for, we're dead..."
Some prisoners who had escaped with Buggy sat on the ground in despair, as if they could already see their fate.
"Damn, if only we could leave this place."
"Leave?"
Hearing these words, Buggy suddenly froze, then jumped up from the ground and rushed to Meiser. "Meiser, can your Water Release Technique get us out of the Calm Belt?"
"Haven't tried, but probably yes."
"Then could you..."
"No!" Meiser refused bluntly. "I'm going to Marine Headquarters to participate in this war. Why would I leave with you?"
"But there are Marine Admirals there!"
"Admirals?" Meiser said. "They're exactly who I want to fight!"
Seeing Meiser's expression, Buggy knew the other wouldn't listen to his opinion this time... So now... they had no choice but to head to Marine Headquarters to participate in this war.
At this thought, a trace of despair surfaced in Buggy's eyes.
Going to a place like that... He might die!!!
Just then, the sound of a Den Den Mushi came from the ship.
"Buro buro buro~"
"Buro buro buro~"
"Buro buro buro~"
"A Den Den Mushi?"
Hearing this extremely familiar sound, everyone immediately turned their gaze to the groove on the mast.
There, a Den Den Mushi was emitting a ringing sound.
"Why would someone call at a time like this?"
"Who could it be?"
"Isn't it obvious? This is a Marine warship!"
"Then... it's the Marines calling?"
"Uh, should we answer it?"
"Idiot, what if we expose our whereabouts? We're—"
Before he could finish speaking, he saw Luffy appear in front of the Den Den Mushi and pick it up.
"Kacha~"
"Hello?"
"HEY!!"
"Why did you answer the Den Den Mushi?!" Buggy stared dumbfounded at Luffy.
Does this guy have no brain at all?
What if our whereabouts get exposed and the Marines intercept us along the way?!
"To think it actually got answered."
The person on the other end also sounded somewhat surprised, then said: "This is Marine Headquarters."
"Ah, I'm Luffy."
"What kind of pirate reveals their own identity, you idiot!" everyone shouted with shark-like grimaces.
Answering a Marine call was bad enough, but now he's directly giving his name—is he afraid they won't know who we are?
"Quite a bold guy," the Marine sneered. "As expected of one of the masterminds behind this Impel Down prison break incident."
"One of the masterminds?"
Then the other mastermind must be Meiser?
The others instinctively glanced at Meiser standing at a higher position, clearly understanding what Luffy meant.
Meiser paid no attention to their stares, instead stroking his chin and saying: "It seems Impel Down has already reported our information to Marine Headquarters."
"Perhaps the Marines already know we're heading there," Jimbei said.
"Doesn't matter."
Crocodile said indifferently: "We're fighting our way through anyway."
What can they do even if they know?
He refused to believe Marine Headquarters would dare come after them here!
Just then, another exclamation came from Luffy's side.
"So Ninja Big Brother is also one of the masterminds!""
"Huh?"
Hearing their exclamations, Meiser jumped over and asked Inazuma: "What did he say?"
"He said there are three main perpetrators in this Impel Down invasion," Inazuma reported. "Two of them are you and the Straw Hat Boy."
"Three?"
Meiser was taken aback, then asked with confusion: "Who's the other one?"
Could it be... Hancock?
At this thought, Meiser's heart sank.
But before Meiser could say anything more, the Marine on the other end of the Den Den Mushi announced: "The other person is... Buggy the Clown!"
"Eh?!!"
"Captain Buggy, you actually surpassed the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea to become one of the principal offenders—just who are you?!"
The pirates stared at Buggy in shock.
This man kept astonishing them!
"Me?"
Buggy pointed at himself incredulously and said, "Why me?"
He was just a small-time pirate with a bounty of over ten million berries—how could he become one of the principal offenders?
Could it be because he released the prisoners from the second and first levels?
But that didn't make sense—Mr.3 was with him, so if they were counting, Mr.3 should have been included too!
"That's right, it's you!" The marine who had taken the documents from his comrade said with a grim expression, "Did you think you were hiding it well?!"
"Former crew member of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger—Buggy the Clown!"
"We've investigated your records thoroughly!"
Hearing this, Buggy's eyes bulged in shock, his face full of disbelief as he stammered, "Wh-wh-why was this exposed?!"
He had been carefully hiding it for decades—why was it still discovered, damn it!