Who's the Toughest Here!

Looking at Will's tall back ahead of her.

Nami walked along, silently praying in her heart:

"Clown Buggy, your strength had better be enough."

"Otherwise, you won't be able to hold Will back for long..."

In truth, after seeing Will easily take down Treasure.

Nami had considered using the money she'd saved over the years to ask him to deal with Arlong.

But after thinking it over carefully on the ship for an entire night.

Nami ultimately abandoned that idea.

After all these years, no one knew better than her how strong Arlong and those fish-men were.

Every fish-man possessed monstrous strength far beyond any human.

And Arlong, as their leader, was even more terrifying.

Effortlessly lifting an entire house, casually splitting a tall building in two with his serrated blade.

All of that was easy for Arlong.

So no matter how strong Will was, it couldn't shake the fear she felt toward Arlong's power.

Since she was a child, Nami had seen too many humans die at the hands of Arlong and his fish-men.

Maybe it was just as Arlong always said—humans could never defeat fish-men.

That was why Nami worried that if Will ultimately failed to beat Arlong.

It wouldn't just cost Will his life—it could drag the entire village into disaster.

After all, if she really decided to ask Will for help, she couldn't just hide in the shadows and wait for the outcome with a clear conscience.

If she failed to kill Arlong and his fish-men.

Even if Arlong didn't kill her afterward, he would definitely strike at the village to warn and punish her.

So Nami simply didn't dare take that gamble.

Plus, she was only a little short of the 1 billion Berries needed to fulfill the deal she'd made with Arlong and buy back the entire village.

There was no need to risk so much.

So Nami ultimately decided to stick to her original plan and not drag Will and Carina into it.

She just needed to find a way to shake them off without them noticing.

And the reason she'd suggested coming to Orange Town was to use the Buggy Pirates to distract Will.

So she could create a chance to slip away in the chaos.

If she could also make off with some of the Buggy Pirates' or Will's treasure along the way, that would be even better.

Thinking of this.

Nami couldn't help the slight curl at the corner of her mouth, and a hint of nervous anticipation crept into her eyes.

Beside her, Carina's gaze flickered between the two of them, and she keenly caught Nami's subtle expression, silently smiling to herself.

But she didn't say anything.

Instead, she naturally looked away, clearly having her own plans as well.

The three of them walked through the silent streets of the town, finding every house completely empty.

And there were no corpses or bloodstains on the road, barely even signs of a fight.

If not for the fact that all the townspeople had vanished.

This town didn't look like it had been invaded and occupied by pirates at all.

Carina was surprised: "I didn't expect the Buggy Pirates to not go around killing and destroying in this town."

"That doesn't quite match some of the rumors."

By now, Nami had already controlled her nervous mood and said indifferently:

"Who knows? Maybe the townspeople evacuated in time and the Buggy Pirates didn't get a chance to strike."

"Yeah, that's possible." Carina nodded in agreement.

In her experience, pirates who didn't plunder treasure or kill civilians were far too rare.

You could almost say they didn't exist.

At least, she'd never met any.

Walking ahead, Will listened quietly to their conversation, lost in thought.

The three continued deeper into the town.

Still, they met no living person, saw no corpses, and found very few damaged houses.

When they reached the entrance of a tavern, Will suddenly stopped.

Just now, by covering the entire town with his Observation Haki, he had easily located the Buggy Pirates' position.

So the clamor coming from the tavern didn't surprise him in the slightest.

Will reached out, pushed the door open, bent down to enter the tavern, then straightened up and swept his gaze around.

What met his eyes was a group of pirates sitting there drinking and laughing.

Watching this man who had suddenly barged into the tavern—tall, hands in his pockets, eyes cold, giving off a clear vibe that he wasn't someone to mess with—

The pirates' movements froze instantly, all of them falling silent, their eyes filled with malice and vigilance.

Will ignored those stares, expressionlessly scanning the pirates present, and said coldly:

"Who's the toughest here?"

For a moment, the tavern was dead quiet.

Then one of the pirates suddenly slammed the table and stood up, bottle in hand, forcing calm as he shouted loudly:

"The strongest guy is obviously our Captain Buggy!"

As he spoke, his eyes instinctively flicked upward.

The thought of the "invincible" captain being right on the rooftop.

That pirate instantly felt his confidence swell, his momentum surging a few notches more, his expression turning vicious.

"Coming alone to pick a fight with us Buggy Pirates—I'd say you've got a death wish!"

Will, who had been observing closely, immediately extracted key information from this man.

Combined with what his Observation Haki had sensed, He could be sure Clown Buggy was here.

Shave!

So Will didn't waste any more words with these pirates. A flicker of afterimage at his feet, and his entire form vanished from the spot in an instant.

Next, Amid the crowd came the sounds of bones breaking, impacts, and screams.

These noises were orchestrated by Will's hands, rising and falling like a symphony.

Nami and Carina, who had been walking a bit slower, had just pushed open the tavern door and stepped inside when they saw Will single-handedly beating down a group of pirates.

Both of them froze for a moment, then, somewhat unsurprised, silently stood at the doorway watching Will display his violent artistry.

A short while later, Seeing Will toss aside a pirate whose eyes were rolled back and blood trickled from his mouth, Nami and Carina snapped back to attention at the same time, stepping over the pirates scattered across the floor to reach Will's side.

Carina reached out and patted Will's solid arm, asking with slight curiosity:

"Aren't you going to keep one to ask where their captain is?"

"No need."

Will's gaze lifted, as if piercing through the ceiling above:

"Clown Buggy is right up there."

"Let's go. Let's see just how strong that so-called terrifying guy really is."

With that, he turned and walked straight toward the stairs nearby.

Nami and Carina didn't understand why Will was so certain Clown Buggy was upstairs, But they didn't dwell on it much, quickly following along.

The three of them unhurriedly climbed the stairs toward the rooftop.

Soon, A louder, more chaotic mix of laughter, shouts, and jeers gradually reached their ears from above.