Zoro Instantly Kills Kabaji; Luffy VS Buggy.

"Kahahahaha! I never imagined three mere rookies would dare challenge the great Buggy-sama. What nerve."

Floating midair, the clown Buggy laughed loudly, his ferocious expression making the mayor beside him tense up, sweat beading on his forehead.

Nami snapped out of her starstruck daze at Buggy's laughter, seeming to remember her main objective as her expression turned serious.

Luffy glanced at Buggy, then turned to Can Yue and said, "I'll take Buggy!"

"Alright."

Can Yue nodded in agreement, then expressionlessly grabbed Chouchou by the scruff of the neck and carried him off to the side.

The Pig Butcher Couple was bewildered by the scene. What was happening? A fight right away? Then what was the point of them being here? It seemed that besides the matter with those two small-time pirates, Can Yue and his group had other grievances with Buggy.

Just as the Pig Butcher Man was about to open his mouth to explain something to Buggy, Luffy had already charged forward!

"Come over here, don't get caught in the crossfire!"

At Can Yue's call, the couple had no choice but to first move to his side.

"Benefactor, how strong is your companion?"

"Decent."

"Ah, aren't you worried something will happen to him?" The young woman grew concerned upon hearing Can Yue's lukewarm assessment of Luffy.

"I'm here."

After a brief reply, Can Yue ignored them and started talking to the little dog Chouchou instead. "Sit. Good. Shake. Not bad."

Seeing Can Yue so relaxed, the couple could only look helpless. Suddenly, the young woman remembered the mayor was still near Buggy, so she quickly had the Pig Butcher Man bring the mayor over to Can Yue's side.

But when he returned with the mayor, he found his wife staring at Can Yue with dreamy eyes, practically drooling.

Even the mayor was now giving the Pig Butcher Man a strange look.

The Pig Butcher Man had nothing to say. He could only sigh and mentally summarize the following three points...

On the other side, Luffy had already begun using his abilities, launching a fierce assault on Buggy in the air.

"Gomu Gomu... Gatling!"

Fists like a chain gun instantly filled the space around Buggy and his surroundings.

With Luffy's wild roar, Buggy was struck and sent flying toward a distant building.

Nami had a flash of inspiration and slipped toward Buggy's base, vanishing from sight in a few turns.

~

Luffy recalled the sensation of his earlier punches and frowned slightly. In his perception, out of that overwhelming barrage, only the last punch had actually hit Buggy—on his palm!

The strange feeling made Luffy abandon the idea of an easy fight, and he began to take things seriously.

Just then, a flash of fire appeared in the distance, followed by another explosion.

The immense force of a Buggy Ball blasted another row of houses to rubble, including the building where Zoro had been sleeping, and the shady spot where Can Yue and the others were.

The explosion ended, dust rising everywhere.

Zoro, thanks to his tough physique, crawled out of the wreckage, even yawning.

As for Can Yue's direction, a ring of silver-white light protected the group. Looking closely, the caster at the center of the light was actually the little dog Chouchou.

The mayor had just been stunned by Luffy's stretchy arms, and now he was shocked again by Chouchou's defensive barrier.

The mayor declared he had never seen anything so absurd in his entire life.

But the Pig Butcher Man still frowned deeply. Even seeing Can Yue and his group's formidable strength, he was still worried about something.

In the distance, Buggy slowly emerged from the rubble of a building. Behind him were a crowd of Buggy Pirates underlings, including the unicycling acrobat Kabaji, who carried a Western sword.

Kabaji flicked his silky long hair and said to Buggy, "Captain, let me handle these small fry."

Buggy grinned at Kabaji and replied, "The Pirate Hunter is yours. The Straw Hat Kid is mine."

Then Buggy turned to the other underlings behind him. "Next time, no one uses Buggy Balls without my order!"

His sharp gaze made many underlings sweat, especially the Black-Nosed Clown, who had already lost an arm. It was he who had suggested firing the cannon to Kabaji earlier.

"Yes, we won't, Captain!" Kabaji stepped forward to answer on behalf of the others.

"Kahahahaha! I'll let it slide this time since you're loyal to me. Now, let's wipe out those three rookie pirates who dared challenge me!"

"Ooh!!!"

With that, Kabaji charged at Zoro, while Buggy slowly walked toward Luffy.

The Black-Nosed Clown looked over the situation. Only Can Yue's group had no opponent. His eyes darted, and he goaded the remaining underlings into charging at Can Yue's position.

~

Zoro watched the unicycling swordsman rushing at him, grinned, ignored the pain in his side, tied on his headband, and assumed his Three Sword Style stance.

Why was Zoro so serious? Because Luffy had just told him that Clown Buggy was strong and mysterious, and warned Zoro to be careful of Buggy's men.

"Let me see, Buggy Pirates—just how strong are you really!"

Zoro stared intently at Kabaji, who was about to charge into his range, and murmured slowly to himself, "Three Sword Style, Onigiri!"

At present, Zoro could barely coat part of the blades on his two swords with Armament Haki, but for Kabaji, that was already overkill.

The two men's bodies crossed in an instant. Three jets of blood burst from the acrobat Kabaji's torso, and then his eyes rolled back as he collapsed, unable to rise again.

Zoro sheathed his swords, the corner of his mouth twitching. "This... too trashy!"

In Zoro's eyes, Kabaji's sword-swinging strength and reaction speed were inferior to his own self from a few years ago. He really wasn't worth being cautious about.

"But the reason Luffy told me to watch out for Kabaji was: Clown Buggy is strong. So then... cough—ah!"

Zoro, whose vitality had yet to recover from the kidney injury, had now overexerted himself by forcibly using Haki. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his stamina spent, and leaned against a nearby pile of rubble, watching Luffy's fight with Buggy.

As for Can Yue, Zoro didn't have a single shred of worry.

~

Indeed, Can Yue sat there without moving a muscle.

Before him, Chouchou had transformed into a white giant dog five meters long and three meters tall, its body covered in strange runes. With a light wave of its paw, Buggy's underlings collapsed in droves.

The Mayor wiped his glasses, his pupils shrinking. He felt that his sixty years of life had not been lived in vain—he had actually witnessed a legendary monster with his own eyes.

Chouchou's claws swept out. Their terrifying cutting power sent blood flowing across the scene and reduced the rubble to fragments.

In the end, only the Black-Nosed Clown remained, caught in Chouchou's jaws and dropped at Can Yue's feet. All the other Buggy Pirates underlings lay unconscious.

~

On the other side, Buggy and Luffy were locked in a heated battle.

Using the power of the Chop Chop Fruit, Buggy dodged every single one of Luffy's attacks.

It looked like a back-and-forth fight, but only Luffy knew how difficult his battle truly was.

No matter which angle he attacked from, Buggy could split his body in advance and evade.

Even a barrage of fists like a Gatling had yet to deal any real damage to Buggy.

"Straw Hat Kid, is this all the strength you've got?"

Buggy taunted Luffy as he dodged.

Luffy was growing anxious inside. If this kept up, his stamina would definitely run out.

"I've pretty much figured out your strength, Straw Hat Kid. Get ready to taste defeat."

With that, Buggy's body instantly split into dozens of pieces, scattering in all directions.

Under Luffy's astonished gaze, the dozens of pieces of Clown Buggy's body suddenly turned black and came hurtling toward him.

"Armament Haki!"

Zoro and Luffy exclaimed in shock, their voices one.