The East Blue Trembles

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

The world experienced no small tremor.

Because Buggy was a hegemon-level figure throughout the entire East Blue, the shockwaves from news of his defeat were far greater than when Can Yue and the others had taken down Morgan.

Marine Headquarters—Pirate Bounty Management Department

A green-haired Vice Admiral was presiding over this bounty announcement meeting. Just as the meeting was winding down and results were about to be declared, a Lieutenant Colonel suddenly burst into the conference room and whispered something into the green-haired Vice Admiral's ear.

"What? That Buggy was defeated?"

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

The other officers in the meeting heard this and started discussing among themselves.

"Buggy isn't as simple as he appears on the surface."

"He's an important figure maintaining the black-and-white balance in the East Blue."

"We deliberately kept his bounty low at 30 million and tacitly acknowledged him as the East Blue's hegemon, so that slightly capable pirates in the East Blue would have the courage to challenge Buggy, only to be crushed by him, keeping the East Blue stable."

"Of course, if Buggy grew restless with the status quo, we had the means to deal with him."

"All along, Buggy never did anything too extremely evil, so we maintained this balance."

"This was the unspoken rule of the East Blue, and now it's been broken."

"Even if we wanted to defeat Buggy, it would still cost us something."

"So, who exactly defeated him?"

The Marine officers traded comments one after another, each one intensely curious about the pirate who had beaten Buggy.

Just then, the green-haired Vice Admiral stood up and spoke.

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

Hearing this news, the other Marine officers present were all baffled.

"They have that kind of combat power?"

"Buggy is far, far stronger than that Morgan."

"What I'm more interested in is whether they defeated Buggy as a group working together, or if a single member fought and beat him one-on-one."

The last officer to speak raised a topic that had everyone's attention.

The green-haired Vice Admiral had been frowning over the same question just now. According to existing data, the strongest member of the Straw Hat Crew should be the white-haired swordsman, Can Yue.

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

But he had also dueled the Pirate Hunter Zoro, and according to eyewitness accounts, he hadn't completely overwhelmed Zoro.

Unfortunately, that island was too backward and lacked Den Den Mushi capable of recording battles; otherwise, it would have been easier to gauge Can Yue's strength.

All in all, if the Straw Hat Pirates could defeat Buggy, it was more likely through coordinated teamwork and the use of some strategy.

Combined with reports that the Straw Hat crew had gained a beautiful new female member, the likelihood of trickery increased even further.

'That guy was a crewmember of the Pirate King. There's no way a rookie could beat him in single combat.'

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

"Then raise the bounties of each Straw Hat crew member. The provisional amounts are as follows..."

After the discussion ended, the Straw Hat crew's new bounties once again flew across the world via the News Coos.

East Blue, a tavern on some island

A few burly men were drinking and boasting together.

"You think that Straw Hat crew will run into Buggy after they set sail?"

"Haha, don't curse them, man. A rookie meeting Buggy means their pirate dream is as good as dead."

"Heh, we saw with our own eyes back in the day how terrifying that guy is. Someone like him actually staying in the East Blue."

"That guy doesn't kill civilians, and he writes IOUs when he takes stuff—how is that even a pirate?"

"A lot of people say Buggy definitely has ties to the Marines, but for some reason he never became a Shichibukai."

"Hmph, just a dog of the Marines."

"Damn, if you wanna die, don't drag us with you. Watch your mouth."

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

"What the hell are you even—?"

Just as the group was deep in their chatter, a scrawny man walked in carrying a newspaper.

"Brothers, huge news! That Clown Buggy—he actually got defeated!"

"Huh??"

Clown Buggy had been stationed in the East Blue for nearly a decade, so his defeat wouldn't cause much of a stir in the Grand Line or the New World. But among the strong circles of the East Blue, especially for those who knew Buggy's true strength, this news was absolutely terrifying.

At the Loguetown Marine branch in the East Blue.

A man with white hair slicked back, a face full of arrogance, two lit cigars clamped between his teeth, and his chest open to reveal eight-pack abs, now had his pupils dilated in utter disbelief.

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

"Does this Straw Hat Pirates have strength on par with Buggy's?"

The bespectacled Marine woman beside him, holding the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi, furrowed her brow in thought for a moment before pointing out two key pieces of information printed in the newspaper.

[Teaming up, using strategy]

"Captain Smoker, I believe their strength is definitely not on Buggy's level. They should be easy to capture."

Smoker thought for a moment, took a deep drag of his cigar, and exhaled plumes of smoke from his nostrils. Then his expression calmed as he said, "No matter who it is, as long as they're pirates, they must be captured and justice served!"

Beside him, Tashigi had answered a phone call during Smoker's contemplation. She pushed up her glasses and said indignantly, "Captain, headquarters just denied us permission to deploy troops to capture Buggy again!"

"What the hell are those bastards sitting in Marineford thinking?" Smoker asked through gritted teeth, barely containing his anger.

"Headquarters didn't give a reason."

"Bastards!" Smoker's barely recovered expression crumbled again, the furrow between his brows deepening.

"Captain Smoker, what should we do now?" Tashigi asked, seeing his conflicted look.

Smoker took another puff of his cigar. "Forget headquarters. Have some subordinates keep tabs on Buggy's movements. If he does anything too outrageous, I'll go capture him myself. Also, keep a close watch on the Straw Hat Pirates' movements. Be ready to arrest those scoundrels at any time."

Meanwhile, Can Yue and Luffy's group had no idea their bounties had been raised. They had already landed on Syrup Village.

Just one hour ago.

Usopp had tried to use a bluff to make Can Yue and the others believe he was the captain of a massive pirate crew with 80 million subordinates.

Can Yue, Zoro, and Nami naturally didn't buy it.

Only Luffy and Chouchou believed him...

This made Can Yue start to regret saving Chouchou in the first place. That mutt's intelligence was probably on par with a husky from his world before the transmigration.

Now, the group of four people and one dog were eating at a small restaurant in Syrup Village.

Luffy asked Usopp where they could get a pirate ship.

When the topic of the mansion on the hill came up, Usopp looked scared and said he remembered he had something to do, then ran off.

Can Yue naturally knew that Usopp didn't trust their group yet, afraid they would cause trouble for Kaya. So the kid changed the subject and slipped away, heading off to brag to Kaya instead.

But to get a pirate ship and also recruit Usopp—a guy with basic shipwright skills—onto the crew, he now had to do one thing.

Deal with the butler who was plotting to kill Kaya and seize her family's entire fortune—Captain Kuro.

Just then, Usopp's three underlings came in to confront the four of them. In the end, Can Yue, the four people, and one dog followed the three kids toward Kaya's mansion.