Afraid to die?
How could I possibly be afraid of dying!
Sicily felt he had countless things to say, countless flames to unleash. He wanted to show this guy who looked down on him what a Marine Rear Admiral was capable of!
He was nothing like a Noble Major like him!
But the reality of the situation left him speechless at those two words.
He didn't know how to argue back.
"At the very least... at the very least, you have to guarantee those nobles' safety."
That was Sicily's bottom line.
As long as the lives of the nobles and wealthy merchants weren't threatened, the World Government wouldn't put too much pressure on the Marines. There was still room to negotiate.
"Mm. Well, that depends on how hard they try."
Buggy gave it some serious thought and decided it wasn't very likely.
After all, he'd always considered himself a man of his word.
If he said he was going to set a fire, then he was definitely going to set a fire.
Now and then, building materials around him burst into flames with a crackle.
The fierce blaze turned his face bright red.
The enormous building, originally a semicircle, was now little more than a rough outline, still struggling in the flames.
"Such a shame."
He hung up the Den Den Mushi on his own. Sicily had inferred certain facts from Buggy's tone and the sounds around him, and now he was like a barrel of gunpowder set alight.
He was making quite a racket.
"I already told them I recommended they save themselves."
"Didn't you take their money?"
Swan, her short hair neat and sharp, had thrown a brown cloak over her shoulders. It gave her an air of quiet courage.
"What do you mean, their money!"
Buggy furrowed his brow, feeling deeply insulted as a criminal.
"House Search. You understand? They took my money!"
"And I'm just taking back what's rightfully mine."
Could it really work like that?
Swan's lips parted soundlessly. Her worldview had taken quite a hit.
After stripping the nobles and wealthy merchants of all their money, then locking them inside a building and burning it to the ground while listening to them scream in desperation...
That sort of thing.
It made the word "justice" on the man's back stand out even more!
Swan gazed at Buggy's back, her eyes practically sparkling.
Before meeting Buggy, what had she been?
A kidnapped commodity waiting to be sold.
An exiled soul, able to control her body's functions but with no ownership over her own flesh.
The Slave Catchers had wanted to preserve their merchandise, so they hadn't subjected her to any serious abuse.
But what she'd heard from the other slaves had long since prepared Swan for her fate.
Slaves without beauty were condemned to endure endless physical labor under their owners' oppression.
Until death.
And the fate of some beautiful slaves was even more cruel.
So cruel that just thinking about it made Swan tremble uncontrollably.
She had been prepared to trade her life for her dignity.
Until Buggy appeared.
Save yourself.
What a beautiful phrase!
It meant she finally belonged to herself again.
At last, she could give something in return.
For a moment, Buggy didn't know how to describe the strange feeling inside him.
It was as if he'd held a gun to some passerby's head and threatened to kill them.
And the other person had cried out, "Then you should go do something good!"
That was the order of this world.
It was always so bitterly ironic.
So ironic that when you tried to destroy the current order and its so-called justice, the advice you got was probably to go do something good.
What about that guy who liked wearing leather jackets?
What would he do?
Buggy shook his head as he pondered, then turned his gaze to the Marines other than Jacques.
Arne had already gone to the Newspaper Agency. Buggy needed him to spread the news across the island as soon as possible.
These Marines weren't like Jacques. They'd had no idea what Buggy was really like.
Most of them weren't even officers.
They'd simply followed orders and come along, doing what they were told.
It wasn't until their pockets were stuffed with cash and they'd personally planted their boots on noblemen's heads that they began to understand.
There was no going back.
Joel was one such Marine.
He'd spent two years doing odd jobs.
Washing dishes, mopping floors, doing laundry, scrubbing the deck...
After two years of menial work, he'd finally become a full-fledged Marine Soldier.
Then he started catching cats and dogs for the nobles.
He helped execute slaves who disobeyed or tried to escape.
And along the way, he buried the ridiculous ideals of justice he'd held as a boy.
So the first time he pointed a gun at a noble, Joel felt his hands trembling.
And while frantically stuffing every pocket he could find with Beli, he experienced the pleasure of contentment for the first time. He finally gained a clear understanding of just how rich the nobles were.
And now, we'd burned them alive.
Joel's face was clouded with confusion—the kind that came when the life he'd known came crashing down.
"Waaah... waaah..."
Beside him,
an old soldier with a dark, weathered face suddenly covered his face and began to sob.
Joel knew him.
He was a soldier who'd escaped from a Non-member Nation.
His country had been conquered by pirates.
His wife and daughter had been seized by Slave Catchers like piglets in the wilderness.
He'd never heard from them again.
So he'd joined the Marines, hoping to avenge something, hoping to save someone.
Only when he looked back
did he realize
he'd become an accomplice.
Tears streamed from the rough edge of his hand as he tried desperately to hold them back.
The roaring fire seemed to soothe all the pain he'd suffered throughout his life.
"Mm. I'm sorry to tell you all that our operation was carried out entirely without the orders of our superior officer—that is, Rear Admiral Sicily."
"In other words, the Marines won't take responsibility for our actions."
He watched as the carefree man in front of him announced the bad news with an offhand air.
"So, I have two suggestions for you."
Buggy looked completely unconcerned about what might happen to him later.
Of course, whatever happened to the esteemed Major Arrow had nothing to do with him, Buggy.
He held up one finger.
"First, I suggest you take the money on you and run right now. Head deeper into the mangroves, somewhere higher up if you can. I figure you've got more money on you than you'd earn in ten years as Marines."
Though he'd been the one to drag them into this mess, and though he'd ordered them to act in his capacity as their superior, Buggy felt not the slightest bit guilty.
Guilt? Remorse?
How could anyone expect Gotham City's most ruthless criminal to feel that sort of thing?
And even if he did, he would probably just open his arms wide and welcome those strange emotions into his already strange heart.
"Second, hide your Beli, then come back with me to District 66 Base."
"Then wait."
Wait for what?
Buggy couldn't be bothered to say.
Of course, it was also possible he hadn't figured it out himself.
But more than a dozen resolute pairs of footsteps followed behind his nonchalant figure.
Ah, the latest chapter had me, a pure romance fan, seeing black.
Before you continue