Suddenly, Can Yue remembered that Buggy was already injured, so he stopped gathering momentum and said to Buggy, "Rest for a while and recover from your injuries first. I don't want to bully an injured opponent."
Buggy was stunned for a moment, but he actually did not refuse. Instead, he slowly walked over to the unconscious underlings and searched them for some medicine.
After using the healing medicine, Buggy calmly looked at Can Yue and said, "I still need twenty minutes to recover to my peak condition."
Can Yue nodded. "Fine."
With that, Can Yue ignored Buggy, who had already lain down to rest, and walked toward Black-Nosed Clown among Buggy's underlings.
Can Yue grabbed the awakened but incapacitated Black-Nosed Clown by the collar and flung him beside Buggy.
Buggy frowned. "What do you mean by this? You want me to treat him too?"
Can Yue asked in return, "Do you know what he did?"
Buggy thought back for a moment. "You mean when he accidentally offended you, and you cut off his arm?"
"That's all you know? Forget it." Can Yue did not want to explain further. Though he was curious how Buggy would deal with this underling, it was only curiosity, not enough to make him waste his breath.
The moment Buggy heard that, he understood. This underling had previously complained to him that Can Yue had bullied him for no reason. Most likely, he had been lying.
Moreover, the brat had probably done something Buggy had forbidden.
At that thought, Buggy's eyes turned cold, but in the end, he still did not make a move.
After pondering for a moment, Buggy looked at Can Yue. "We'll deal with this after our fight."
"Fine!"
The area fell silent as the two adjusted their breathing.
In the distance, Luffy, Zoro, giant Chouchou, the Mayor, and the Pig Butcher Couple watched Can Yue and Buggy get along so harmoniously, and they all felt their heads itch with confusion.
"What are they doing?" The Mayor and the Pig Butcher Couple were outsiders to combat and could not understand their actions.
Zoro and Luffy roughly figured it out after a moment.
"As expected of Can Yue. He's incredibly confident," Zoro remarked.
"But Buggy is strong too. I can clearly feel it—when he fought me, he definitely wasn't going all out." Ever since fighting Buggy, Luffy had worn a solemn expression. There was none of his usual cheerful laughter.
Hearing them, the Mayor and the Pig Butcher Couple became even more confused.
"Why do you say Can Yue is confident?"
Zoro picked up his sword, walked over to a rock, and sat down. He explained to the three, "Letting your opponent recover to their best condition before fighting is the habit of a true swordsman. It is also a display of a strong person's confidence."
"Wow, that's so cool," the young woman and the Mayor exclaimed.
But the Pig Butcher still looked deeply worried and voiced his concern.
"Back then, I went into the mountains to gather firewood and saw Buggy from afar. In an instant, he destroyed that mountain..."
Upon hearing that, even Luffy and Zoro held their breath for a moment, unable to keep a trace of worry from showing.
"Can Yue, I believe you can win," Luffy muttered as he leaned against Chouchou.
Chouchou kept his eyes fixed ahead as well, seemingly very worried about Can Yue.
Twenty minutes passed quickly, and Can Yue and Buggy stood facing each other.
"Let's fight at the back mountain." Buggy was the first to suggest changing the battlefield.
Can Yue seemed to have anticipated Buggy's intentions. He was likely trying to protect his unconscious underlings, so Can Yue replied, "Fine."
With that, Buggy floated into the air and flew toward the back mountain. Strangely, this time his feet were not standing on the ground; they were firmly connected to his lower legs.
"Heh, looks like Buggy is truly getting serious." Can Yue smiled faintly and rose into the air, flying toward the back mountain as well.
Everyone behind them widened their eyes.
"So cool, he's really so cool." Nami, who had stolen the treasure and rejoined the group, was once again captivated by Can Yue's flying figure. She twisted her body coyly, her eyes sparkling.
Of course, the Pig Butcher's wife was not much better than Nami.
"Zoro, Can Yue can fly! He can actually fly!" Stars shone in Luffy's eyes. While repeatedly shouting about how cool and awesome it was, he also kept smacking Zoro's back with all his strength.
"That hurts, you bastard!" Zoro slapped Luffy on the head, then furrowed his brows tightly.
Naturally, Zoro was shocked by Can Yue's ability to fly, but he was even more concerned about Buggy's combat power. If what the Pig Butcher said was true, then winning would be extremely difficult for Can Yue.
"They went to the back mountain. It's too far away—we'd need at least an hour to run there."
The Pig Butcher's worry had not lessened in the slightest from beginning to end.
As if understanding that everyone wanted to watch Can Yue and Buggy fight, Chouchou let out a roar and lowered his body.
Everyone immediately understood and climbed onto Chouchou's back one after another.
Once everyone was seated securely, Chouchou ran forward several steps before flying up into the sky as well.
Everyone: "..."
At the back mountain, Can Yue had already drawn Demon God Slayer, while Buggy held six daggers in his hands.
"I'm coming, White-haired Swordsman!" Buggy grinned. His upper and lower body separated in an instant, and using the powerful thrust from that separation, he shot in front of Can Yue and slashed down with his daggers.
Can Yue sidestepped the strike, seized the opening while Buggy's arm was retracting, and swung his sword. A powerful azure sword aura instantly tore through the earth.
Unfortunately, even that terrifying strike was evaded by Buggy's splitting ability.
"Such a powerful slash. You can actually infuse Haki into your sword aura already!"
Buggy's expression turned solemn. If he had not dodged that attack, he would surely have been severely wounded.
At that thought, Buggy abandoned his fighting style of splitting into a huge mass of body parts and ramming into his opponent.
Because he could feel that Can Yue's Haki was stronger than his. That meant he could not use the techniques he had used against Luffy.
If he split his body too much, he would only become a living target for Can Yue, making it easier for him to cut Buggy down.
"Ka-hahahaha! It's been a long time since I've had a contest of hand-to-hand combat! Uncle Rayleigh taught me this."
With that, Buggy charged at Can Yue. The angles of his Armament Haki-infused dagger strikes were exceptionally tricky, and with small portions of his body splitting apart to adjust their angles, his attacks became endlessly unpredictable, causing Can Yue no small amount of trouble.
Can Yue once again truly felt Buggy's strength. He was indeed far stronger than Luffy, especially in Observation Haki. It was clearly superior to his Armament Haki, allowing him to evade every one of Can Yue's slashes.
No matter what happened in the original story, Buggy should at least have been able to dodge Hawk Eyes' slash in advance.
Since Buggy can foresee attacks, then I'll expand the attack's range.
Can Yue flashed backward, thrust out his claw, and shouted, "Poison Flower Claw Meteor Shower!"
Terrifying green claw marks blanketed Buggy like a meteor shower.
Every claw mark could easily corrode a vast stretch of ground into ruin.
Buggy had no choice but to focus entirely on dodging, not daring to take even a single hit.
On a distant mountaintop, the newly arrived group saw the back mountain corroded until it was utterly lifeless. They all gasped in shock, their pupils dilating.
Luffy: "Zoro, did you know Can Yue's poison was this powerful?"
Zoro: "Ridiculous!"
Mayor: "Terrifying!"
Nami and the young woman: "So cool!"
Chouchou: "Woof! Woof!"
Yet the Pig Butcher still had his brows tightly furrowed.
Just as Buggy was struggling to dodge, Can Yue's cold voice rang out.
"Azure Dragon Break!"
Before you continue