After speaking those words, Buggy raised his flaming sword Yan'yang and unleashed Thousand Flame Blades. Instantly, forty to fifty arcs of fiery sword aura swept toward Gott.
By logic, Gott was already gravely injured, so Buggy shouldn't have needed to go all out. But Buggy never forgot a saying: Even when the lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength. Gott was a Devil Fruit user—no matter how badly injured he looked, underestimating him would only invite disaster. Only by unleashing everything could Buggy avoid unexpected accidents.
Seeing dozens of blazing slashes flying toward him, Gott reacted instantly. Instead of fleeing, he brandished his massive scissors and charged forward through the storm.
With his Kenbunshoku Haki and Busoshoku Haki, Gott forced his way out of the flurry of sword aura, though his body was left riddled with a dozen fresh wounds.
Buggy's eyes flashed with a glimmer of admiration. As expected of a veteran powerhouse. Even in such a battered state, he could force his way through my strike head-on… If he were at his peak, this might have been a true life-or-death duel.
Without hesitation, Buggy tightened his grip on Yan'yang and charged at Gott—this was his respect for a worthy opponent.
But Gott's lips curved into a sinister smile. His sliver of hope had arrived.
As they clashed, Gott suddenly swung his enormous scissors in the air—snip! The cut wasn't physical, but rather a surge of power from his Devil Fruit. Then, without pause, he released dozens of pink-colored beams of light that shot straight into Buggy's body.
This was Gott's proudest technique: the power of his Memory-Memory Fruit (Kioku Kioku no Mi).
The scissors' cut was called Memory Interference. With one swing, he could disrupt his enemy's memories, flooding their body with phantom pain signals as though their very mind were on fire.
The pink beams were called Memory Threads — Playback. They forced the victim's memories to rewind like a racing slideshow, replaying the past in chaotic bursts, plunging the target's mind into confusion.
His plan was simple: scramble Buggy's memories, catch him while disoriented, and land a killing blow.
And it worked—partially. Buggy's body suddenly froze, his face twisting in pain.
Seeing this, Gott surged forward with all his remaining strength. His left arm—the only one he had left—was hardened with Armament Haki as he swung a desperate punch at Buggy's head.
But the instant his fist connected, his triumphant grin shattered into horror—his punch passed clean through Buggy's skull as though striking air.
The figure before him dissolved into nothingness.
Buggy reappeared several meters away, his heart pounding. He had almost fallen victim to Gott's insidious power. The attack on his memory had been terrifying—directly targeting the mind itself. The agony of Memory Interference hadn't slowed him much, but the Memory Threads had thrown his body into disarray, severing his control for a split second.
Luckily, Buggy's iron willpower saved him. The moment he realized something was wrong, his instincts triggered Soru, propelling him out of danger. Now, after regaining control, he struck back without hesitation.
Gott was still frozen in disbelief, his hand suspended midair, his face pale as though he had seen a ghost.
Buggy lunged, and Yan'yang pierced straight through Gott's chest.
The scissor-wielder's eyes widened as searing pain filled him. He looked down to see Buggy's flaming blade driven through his heart. His gaze dulled with despair—his struggle was over. Death was only breaths away.
Buggy withdrew Yan'yang and stepped back.
But Gott did not fall. Instead, he slowly turned, facing Buggy with a calm smile. There was no hatred in his eyes now—only a strange admiration.
"Sigh… still couldn't escape. Just one step short. I wanted so badly to return… I hope you make it further than I did."
He raised his left hand and pointed toward the horizon. Then, smiling faintly, he collapsed onto the deck.
Buggy understood the message. Perhaps once, Gott too had been a passionate youth, fighting to restore peace to the island. But obsession had warped him into what he became. That final smile, and the gesture pointing outward—it was an unspoken wish: that Buggy and his crew would find the path out of the cursed fog, and not waste their lives wandering in it forever.
As Gott's body hit the deck, the sounds of battle around them abruptly ceased. Panic and screams of retreat followed immediately.
Buggy hurried toward the noise. On the enemy's ship, he found Gott's surviving men scattering in terror, some even leaping into the sea to escape.
Buggy unleashed his Haoshoku Haki. The wave of Conqueror's spirit crashed over them, dropping the panicked crewmen unconscious where they stood.
Killing them here would be wasteful—these people still had value. In the treacherous seas ahead, their knowledge could serve as guides or bait to lure Sea Kings away.
As the last man collapsed, Kuro and the others regrouped around Buggy.
"Captain, that old bastard… You took him down, didn't you?" one of them asked.
"Yes," Buggy confirmed. "He's dead. Their collapse proves it as well."
He gestured toward the unconscious crewmen.
The others realized what had happened. Their suicidal ferocity earlier must have been triggered by Gott's fruit power. With his death, that effect had vanished, leaving them broken and fleeing.
"Boss, what do we do with these?"
Buggy answered coldly:
Keep them. We'll make use of them. They'll scout ahead for us and draw out the Sea Kings.