Despairing Buggy

The speaker may not have meant anything by it, but the listener took it to heart.

Wallace, the reporter who was single-mindedly focused on breaking a big story, instantly connected all the clues in that moment.

And the extensive knowledge Wallace had accumulated over his years as a reporter provided excellent material for him to fill in the blanks about Garen's identity:

First, Garen claimed to be from the distant kingdom of Demacia.

But when Wallace inquired in detail about the location of the Demacia kingdom, Garen was vague, and couldn't even say which sea his hometown was in.

Second, Garen's armor and sword were clearly once-in-a-millennium treasures.

Wallace didn't understand the forging process or the materials used, but he had never seen such a large natural sapphire, even in the royal palaces of some of the great kingdoms in East Blue.

What kind of noble knight could possess such luxurious and extravagant weapons and equipment?

That question was worth pondering carefully.

And Garen himself had just let slip that extremely crucial piece of information, revealing the important detail that "five million wouldn't even buy a toilet" in his mind.

Five million Beli not enough to buy a toilet?

The only people Wallace could think of who lived such extravagant lives and treated money like it was nothing were those legendary world nobles.

Wallace continued to let his imagination run wild, beginning to ponder the shocking secrets hidden beneath the surface of the world:

Why was it rumored that the world nobles were a bunch of good-for-nothing freeloaders, yet they could still sit securely on their "godly" thrones?

Why were there countless strong people in the Marines, yet they still had to treat such a group of weaklings with such respect?

Wallace found the answer in Garen:

The stereotype of incompetent freeloaders was just the facade the Celestial Dragons showed to the outside world.

And the true elite force hidden by the Celestial Dragons was made up of geniuses like Lord Garen!

That's right...

Wallace spent only a minute to come up with a guess about Garen's identity in his mind that sounded absurd, but was actually quite plausible upon closer inspection.

Big news is often made this way.

"Hey!"

Garen poked the dazed Wallace, who was lost in thought, with a frustrated look on his face, and then said righteously:

"You can't write about this kind of thing carelessly!"

"Understood!"

Wallace's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he picked up his pen and heavily blacked out the passage he hadn't finished writing:

"I will definitely not reveal any secrets about Lord Garen!"

"Just don't overthink it, I'm really not..."

Garen accepted Wallace's statement with some resignation.

"Cough cough..."

Nami, who had spent years in the lower echelons of the East Blue pirate ecosystem, didn't understand what the words "Celestial Dragon" represented. She simply coughed twice to bring the off-topic conversation back on track:

"In short, five million Beli is definitely not enough!"

Buggy hesitated and didn't speak.

Nami immediately gave Garen a meaningful look.

Garen nodded in tacit agreement, raised his hand and swung his sword at Buggy's feet: "Fatal Strike!"

Buggy's flying head landed on the deck for the third time...

And Garen's door-sized sword quietly blocked all the light in Buggy's field of vision.

"D-don't kill me!"

Buggy was so scared that his tongue was tied in knots: "I have more money!"

"How much more?"

Nami looked down at Buggy, who was slumped on the ground, and drew out the last syllable of her sentence.

Nami, who had always been a thief, was increasingly fond of her side job as a pirate hunter. It didn't require any technical skills, and it was a quick way to make money.

"About three million..."

Two tears of heartache welled up in Buggy's eyes: "It's all kept in the captain's cabin!"

Nami nodded in satisfaction, then pouted her lips and gestured towards the direction of the cabin with her eyes: "Lead the way!"

"Yes..."

Buggy replied weakly.

The silence effect had just ended, and Buggy's scattered parts flew up from the ground under Nami's watchful eyes, and led Garen and his group towards his captain's cabin.

Unlike the Steel Cutlass Pirates, Buggy the Clown's ship was much cleaner, and Buggy's exclusive spacious captain's cabin even had a hint of cleanliness and luxury.

Nami's impression of this flying clown immediately improved a lot.

As a professional pirate thief, she rarely saw such a clean room belonging to a middle-aged male pirate.

After the group entered the room, Buggy reluctantly stalled for a long time, finally pointing out the location of the treasure chest under the duress of Nami's gaze – it was in a hidden compartment under the floor.

Nami walked over, pried open two wooden floorboards, and lifted up a heavy chest.

Opening it, she saw: glittering gold coins, sparkling jewels, and bundles of Beli banknotes.

Nami's amber-like, brilliant orange eyes instantly transformed into a golden hue.

"All the money you want is here."

Buggy forced an ingratiating smile: "Can you spare me?"

"No."

Nami waved her hand with ill intent:

"Captain Red Nose, you're still not being honest."

"You're going to be eating prison food anyway, are you still being stingy with your worldly possessions?"

"You"

The fake smile on Buggy's face instantly froze into a sheet of ice.

Nami bent down again, reaching out to tap the hidden compartment under the floor where she had just removed the treasure chest.

The sound was crisp, with a clearly audible echo.

Buggy's face became even gloomier.

"A double-layered hidden compartment."

A faint, triumphant smile appeared on Nami's face:

"You think you can fool my eyes with such an old trick?"

Buggy's eyes went black, and he almost fainted on the spot.

Nami chuckled as she reached into the hidden compartment, lightly touching a mechanism.

With a little force, the hidden compartment, already concealed beneath the floor, was lifted open by Nami, revealing a small, exquisitely crafted treasure chest inside.

Nami eagerly took it out and opened it, revealing it was filled with high-quality jewelry and jade.

Buggy hadn't been a pirate for so many years for nothing; the value of this small box of jewelry far exceeded that of the previous large chest of valuables.

"And a small booklet?"

Nami curiously picked up a thin booklet from a pile of jewelry, flipping through it in front of Buggy:

"The secret recipe for the Secret Buggy Bomb?"

Wallace couldn't help but interject:

"Is that the cannonball that sank our ship before?"

"That kind of cannonball is indeed extraordinary, completely different in power from ordinary solid cannonballs!"

"Oh."

Nami responded with little interest, casually putting the secret recipe for the Buggy Bomb back into the treasure chest.

Buggy didn't say a word, but the sound of his heart breaking echoed in his chest.

As a legendary pirate who had returned from the Grand Line, he was completely manipulated by a greedy little girl.

Finally, Nami smiled playfully at the ashen-faced Buggy:

"Then thank you for your care, Red Nose!"

After speaking, Nami said to Garen:

"I'll leave this Red Nose to you; it's up to you to decide whether to kill him or not!"

"Wait"

Buggy suddenly came to life, gnashing his teeth as he said:

"You've emptied my treasure! And you still want to kill me?"

"Whether you live or not isn't up to me."

The smile on Nami's face became even more cunning:

"It depends on what our knight decides."

Nami waved the small treasure chest she was holding, saying with satisfaction:

"You guys can take your time, I'm going to go and properly settle this haul."

The captain's cabin fell silent.

Buggy's head was covered in beads of terrified sweat, his eyes fixed on Garen, who was holding his life in his hands.

And Garen was somewhat conflicted.

Should he kill Buggy or not?

They started by bombing him with high explosives, then ordered their lackeys to hack at him. Killing him could be considered getting what he deserved.

And Buggy the Clown was still a Devil Fruit user with considerable strength.

The previous bounty of ten million Beli on Steel Cutlass provided such rich experience; after killing Buggy the Clown, Garen might be able to level up directly to level five.

However, Garen was also somewhat concerned about Buggy the Clown's identity.

Not just because Buggy was a major character in the original story, but because...

He was a crew member of the Pirate King, and Red Hair's old buddy!

What if, after he killed Buggy, Dark King Rayleigh, the Four Emperor Red Hair, and a group of retired, reclusive big shots from Roger's crew came knocking on his door in ten days or half a month?

At that time, he, a novice player just starting out, probably wouldn't survive even if he had two Systems on him.

To kill or not to kill?

Garen struggled alone for a long, long time.

During this long silence, Buggy the Clown was the first to break down.

He suddenly went crazy, using his scattered, floating body to crash into Garen, attempting a desperate gamble to take back the painful spot where he was being controlled by the other party.

"Fatal Strike!"

Garen's neural reaction speed was also different from what it used to be.

He swung his sword without hesitation, scattering Buggy into a large pile of fallen parts again.

Buggy, unable to survive the desperate situation, burst into tears and shouted:

"Help, help!"

"Hey, hey..."

Garen said helplessly, "Stop shouting."

The desperate Buggy just kept shouting, "Help, help!"

"Sigh..."

Garen sighed softly and cooperatively said the remaining lines:

"Stop shouting!"

"No matter how loud you shout, no one will come to save you!"