A Flag That Came True Instantly

"Captain Buggy!"

Mohji shouted:

"That guy is a Pirate Hunter who wants to trade our heads for money!"

"We should hurry up, raise the sails, and escape with the wind!"

Mohji said this, but his hands were already desperately working the oars in the sea.

His pet lion, Richie, was also doing its utmost to help its master paddle.

"But..."

Buggy said with immense hesitation:

"My foot is in his hands. If I get more than two hundred meters away, I won't be able to move."

"Captain Buggy!"

Cabaji said with a serious expression, "I have a solution."

"What solution?"

Buggy asked in surprise.

Cabaji slowly drew his katana. "Amputation."

"Brilliant!"

Buggy slapped his thigh excitedly, then said in sudden realization:

"If we cut off my leg, that foot won't count as part of my body anymore!"

"Then I'll be able to move freely!"

It was as though he had opened the door to a New World, gaining a new understanding of his Devil Fruit Ability.

Meanwhile, Cabaji's coldly gleaming blade quietly moved toward Buggy's calf.

"Uh..."

Buggy froze for a long while before finally coming to his senses.

"Bastard! That's my leg!"

"Captain Buggy!"

Cabaji urged him solemnly:

"If we cut it off now, we'll only lose one foot."

"But if that Pirate Hunter gets aboard, we'll lose three lives!"

"Roar, roar, roar~"

Richie roared tearfully, reminding everyone that more than three lives would be lost.

"This..."

Buggy instantly fell into deep conflict.

He had already lost his ship, lost his crew, lost the treasure he had hoarded for years, and lost the formula for the Buggy Bombs he had painstakingly developed. He truly did not want to lose a leg as well.

But under the current circumstances, he seemed to have no choice but to sacrifice a limb to save his life.

"Captain Buggy!"

Mohji glanced back at Garen's group of three, who had been tightly pursuing them and were getting closer and closer, then joined in persuading him:

"If we don't raise the sails and run now, it'll be too late!"

"..."

Buggy looked around at his remaining two or three subordinates, then finally said with great reluctance:

"To save everyone's lives..."

"Cut it!"

After saying that, Buggy clenched his fists in resignation. His conspicuous red nose trembled nonstop.

"Captain Buggy!"

Cabaji was so moved that tears filled his eyes. "We will remember the life-saving grace of your severed leg for the rest of our lives!"

Mohji and Richie also clung tightly to each other, watching Buggy cry with his head in his hands.

The tiny lifeboat was suddenly filled with a tragic, impassioned atmosphere, and Buggy's heart was filled with sorrow.

Am I, Buggy the Clown, going to become disabled from now on?

Cabaji gripped the hilt with difficulty and slowly raised his blade toward Buggy's calf.

Boom, boom—

A tremendous wave of sound swept down from the sky again, interrupting the gruesome tragedy that was about to unfold.

"Huh?"

Buggy froze slightly, then fixed his gaze on the cannonball's trajectory.

Garen, who had been busy rowing after the lifeboat, stopped in astonishment. His expression instantly turned strangely aggrieved and furious.

"You've got to be kidding me. Again?"

"I've already abandoned ship and fled. How can the cannonball still hit me in the head?"

To accurately strike a small, high-speed target like him from beyond visual range, that plain-looking solid cannonball probably had a combined guidance system with global positioning, inertial navigation, visual imaging, and infrared thermal sensing. It might even have an attitude-control computer and built-in propulsion.

Garen suddenly gained a far more shocking understanding of this world's black technology.

But Garen had no time to hesitate. He could only activate Fatal Strike and Courage in an instant, leap from the piece of broken wood, and collide with the high-speed cannonball flying toward him once again.

Garen successfully cut down the cannonball, but he still could not escape the tremendous recoil. He was slammed down from the air again.

Last time, there had been the wrecked hull to catch him. This time, Garen could only plunge straight into the sea.

Water sprayed everywhere, and Garen vanished from sight in an instant.

On the lifeboat not far away, Buggy quickly began to suffer from his ability failing, his whole body going limp.

"He fell into the sea with my foot!"

The desire to survive instantly flared up in Buggy's heart. He immediately shouted excitedly at his two subordinates:

"Go over there now and capture that Pirate Hunter's companions as hostages!"

"If we have hostages, we might be able to get away safely!"

"Got it!"

Cabaji did not hesitate to withdraw the blade hanging over Buggy's leg and decisively prepared to turn back and attack.

If he had a choice, he did not want to sacrifice his captain's leg either.

Mohji gritted his teeth and tossed aside the sail rope he had yet to untie.

"Richie, let's go!"

Richie was somewhat unwilling.

But its master, Mohji, had already kicked the huge lion into the water, then climbed onto Richie's broad back with Cabaji.

"Roar, roar, roar~"

Richie roared twice to bolster its courage, then carried the two men swiftly toward Nami and Wallace in the distance.

"Garen?!"

Seeing powerful enemies approaching, Nami's face showed a hint of panic, and she instinctively called Garen's name.

Without realizing it, Nami, who had struggled to survive alone for years, had gradually grown accustomed to Garen's help and protection.

But Garen did not surface for a long time.

Cabaji and Mohji, riding on Richie's back, had already revealed their ferocity—one raised his katana high while the other swung his beast-taming whip.

"Damn it..."

Nami looked worriedly at the patch of sea where Garen had fallen, then cast a heavy glance at the chests of treasure at her feet. In the end, she decisively picked up the long staff she carried for self-defense and gathered her courage to face the approaching enemies.

Wallace also set the box holding his manuscripts and camera at his feet, then quietly broke off a wooden plank from the piece of driftwood beneath him and gripped it in his hand.

Just as the two vicious enemies and their snarling lion were about to clash at close quarters with Nami and Wallace, the two weak fighters, Garen's voice suddenly rang across the sea:

"Stop! Or your captain dies!"

Richie abruptly halted. Cabaji and Mohji had not even reached their targets before they were forced to stop midway.

They turned around and saw:

At some point, Garen had already climbed onto the lifeboat.

Their Captain Buggy, whom they had left alone aboard it, had a gleaming door-sized greatsword pressed tightly against his neck.

Garen's heavy armor and greatsword made it difficult for him to float in the water. He could only force himself forward by kicking through the water.

But Garen possessed a tireless data-based body, so treading water did not exhaust him. Combined with his already formidable physical strength, his speed through the water was not slow.

When he had fallen into the water from the air just now, Garen's body had not been damaged by the impact, so he quickly recovered.

Then, to seize the lifeboat, Garen silently swam underwater to its side and ultimately captured both the boat and Buggy, who had been soaked limp by seawater.

Faced with the suddenly reversed situation, Mohji and Cabaji were caught in a dilemma.

They could not take down Nami and Wallace anytime soon, while Garen could take their captain's life at any moment.

"Damn it..."

Buggy fell into despair once more. "Why can't I move yet?"

"Oh."

Garen explained with a smile, "I dropped your foot in the sea and forgot to bring it up."

"You!"

Buggy was so furious that his big red nose swelled by another third.

The greatsword pressed against his throat quietly lowered a few more centimeters.

Buggy did not dare say another word. He could only cry out inwardly in anguish.

Garen, on the other hand, felt much more relaxed.

Although there had been many twists and turns, he had ultimately regained absolute control of the situation.

With an easy smile on his face, he calmly confronted Cabaji and Mohji.

"Surrender!"

Garen shouted:

"You definitely won't escape this time!"

The moment his words fell—

Garen felt the sunlight behind him suddenly dim.

A massive shadow enveloped the entire sea.

Garen slowly turned around in astonishment and saw a gigantic warship as tall as a mountain moored steadily behind him.

Its densely packed cannon muzzles were cold and terrifying, while its endless sails blotted out the sky.

A strange cloud of smoke suddenly rose from the massive ship, then flew in a bizarre straight path toward the lifeboat where Garen stood.

"I..."

Garen stared at the towering warship and could not help muttering:

"I'm never raising a flag again."