East Blue in Upheaval

Yesterday, two days after Buggy was defeated by the Straw Hat Pirates and the others,

the world experienced considerable upheaval.

Because Buggy had been an overlord-like figure throughout the East Blue, news of his defeat caused far greater shock than when Can Yue and the others defeated Captain Morgan.

Marine Headquarters—Pirate Bounty Management Department

A green-haired Vice Admiral was presiding over this bounty issuance meeting. Just as the meeting was drawing to a close and he was about to announce the results, a Lieutenant Colonel suddenly rushed into the conference room and whispered something to him.

"What? Buggy was defeated?"

The green-haired Vice Admiral shouted, then furrowed his brows and began to think.

The other officers at the meeting began discussing it among themselves upon hearing this.

"Buggy is far from as simple as he appears."

"He is an important figure in maintaining the balance between the underworld and the surface in the East Blue."

"We deliberately kept his bounty at thirty million and tacitly allowed him to be the East Blue's overlord so that pirates with even a little strength would have the courage to challenge him. Then Buggy would suppress them, and the East Blue would remain stable."

"Of course, if Buggy became dissatisfied with the status quo, we were confident we could deal with him."

"Buggy has never committed any excessively extreme crimes, so we have maintained this balance all along."

"This is an unspoken rule of the East Blue, yet it has now been broken."

"Even if we wanted to defeat Buggy, we would still have to pay a certain price."

"So, who exactly defeated him?"

The Marine officers discussed the matter one after another, each of them deeply interested in the pirates who had defeated Buggy.

At that moment, the green-haired Vice Admiral stood up and spoke.

"The ones who defeated Buggy's forces were the culprits who killed Captain Morgan a week ago: the Straw Hat Pirates."

Upon hearing this, the other Marine officers present were filled with doubt.

"They actually possess that kind of combat strength?"

"Buggy is far, far stronger than Morgan."

"What interests me more is whether they defeated Buggy through teamwork, or whether a single member was capable of defeating him alone."

The final officer to speak raised a topic that concerned everyone present.

The green-haired Vice Admiral had been frowning over that very question. According to the information they had, the Straw Hat Crew's strongest member should have been the White-haired Swordsman, Can Yue.

A week ago, Can Yue had killed Morgan with a single slash.

But he had also fought Pirate Hunter Zoro one-on-one, and according to eyewitness accounts, he had not completely overwhelmed Pirate Hunter Zoro.

Unfortunately, that island had been too underdeveloped to possess a Den Den Mushi capable of recording battle footage. Otherwise, they could have judged Can Yue's strength much more clearly.

Overall, if the Straw Hat Pirates had been able to defeat Buggy, the more likely possibility was that they had worked together and relied on a scheme.

Coupled with reports that the Straw Hat Crew had gained a beautiful female member, the possibility that they had used a plot was even greater.

That man was a crew member of the Pirate King. There was no way some rookie could defeat him in a one-on-one fight.

With that thought, the green-haired Vice Admiral made his decision.

"Then raise the bounties of every Straw Hat Crew member. The provisional bounty amounts are as follows..."

After the discussion ended, the Straw Hat Crew's new bounties once again flew across the world with the News Coo.

East Blue, inside a tavern on a certain island.

Several burly men were drinking together and bragging.

"Do you think the Straw Hat Pirates will run into Buggy after setting sail?"

"Hahaha, don't curse them like that. If rookies encounter Buggy, they can declare their pirate dreams dead."

"Hehe, we saw with our own eyes just how terrifying that guy was back then. A person like him actually stayed in the East Blue."

"That guy doesn't kill civilians, and he even writes IOUs when he takes things. How is he anything like a pirate?"

"A lot of people say Buggy definitely has connections with the Marines, but nobody knows why he never became a Shichibukai."

"Hmph, he's just a Marine dog."

"Damn it, if you want to die, don't drag us down with you. Watch your mouth."

"What are you afraid of? Don't we have a boss?"

"What the hell are you talking abou—?"

Just as they were chatting excitedly, a scrawny man walked in carrying a newspaper.

"Brothers, huge news! Clown Buggy... he was defeated!"

"Huh??"

Clown Buggy had remained in the East Blue for nearly the past decade, so his defeat did not cause much of a reaction in the Grand Line or the New World. But among the East Blue's powerful figures, especially those who understood Buggy's strength, this news was utterly terrifying.

East Blue, Loguetown Marine Branch.

A white-haired man with slicked-back hair, an arrogant expression, two burning cigars clenched between his teeth, and eight-pack abs exposed through his open shirt widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Clown Buggy was defeated by the Straw Hat Pirates? Damn it, I should have captured him myself."

"Does this Straw Hat Pirates crew possess strength comparable to Buggy's as well?"

Beside him, the bespectacled Marine Tashigi, a Master Chief Petty Officer, pondered for a moment before pointing out two important pieces of information published in the newspaper.

Joined forces, used a scheme.

"Captain Smoker, I believe they are definitely not as strong as Buggy. We should be able to capture them without difficulty."

Smoker thought for a while, took a deep drag from his cigar, and blew streams of smoke from his nostrils. Then his expression returned to calm as he said, "No matter who they are, as long as they are pirates, they must be captured and brought to justice!"

While Smoker was deep in thought, Tashigi answered a call. She pushed up her glasses, then said indignantly to him, "Captain, Headquarters just refused to allow us to deploy forces to capture Buggy again!"

"What the hell are those bastards sitting in Marineford thinking?" Smoker suppressed his anger and asked in confusion.

"Headquarters did not explain the reason."

"Bastards!" Smoker's hard-won calm shattered again, and the crease between his brows deepened.

"Captain Smoker, what should we do now?" Seeing Smoker's conflicted expression, Tashigi asked first.

Smoker took another drag. "Ignore Headquarters. Have some subordinates monitor Buggy's movements. If he does anything excessive, I'll capture him personally. Also, keep a close eye on the Straw Hat Pirates' movements. Be ready to capture those evil bastards at any time."

At this moment, Can Yue, Luffy, and the others had no idea their bounties had been raised. They had already landed at Syrup Village.

One hour earlier.

Usopp had tried to use a scam to make Can Yue and the others believe he was the captain of a great pirate crew with eighty million subordinates.

Can Yue, Zoro, and Nami naturally did not believe him.

Only Luffy and Chouchou believed him...

This made Can Yue begin to regret saving Chouchou. That puppy's intelligence was probably on par with a husky from his previous world.

The four people and one dog were now eating at a small restaurant in the western part of Syrup Village.

Luffy asked Usopp where they could get a pirate ship.

When everyone mentioned the villa on the hill, Usopp looked terrified, said he suddenly remembered he had something to do, and ran away.

Can Yue naturally knew that Usopp still did not trust their group and was afraid they would cause trouble for Kaya. That was why the kid changed the subject and slipped away, probably to go brag to Kaya while he was at it.

But if he wanted to obtain a pirate ship and get Usopp, who possessed basic shipbuilding skills, aboard, he had to do one thing now.

Deal with Kaya's butler, Captain Kuro, who planned to kill Kaya in order to seize all of her family's wealth.

Just then, Usopp's three little followers came in to confront the four of them. In the end, four people, one dog, and three children headed toward Kaya's villa.