The Opportunity They Couldn't Afford to Miss

"Gyahahahaha!"

Buggy's grin was exaggerated.

His arrogant, unrestrained laughter was steeped in villainy.

What a rare feeling!

Ever since leaving Gotham, he hadn't felt like such an evil villain in ages.

He rather enjoyed it.

Especially watching the amusing scene of the Marineford soldiers frozen in stunned silence through the Image Den Den Mushi before him. It even brought a little comfort to his heart, twisted beyond recognition by its long drought.

"This is exactly what we've all been looking forward to."

The common thread behind the chaos was their shared dissatisfaction with the current order.

And the instinct to anticipate chaos was the starting point for everything Buggy did.

"Hey! You there, worthless commoner! Hurry up and unlock this thing!"

Inside the iron cage.

After struggling with it for a while, Saint Charlos grew even more displeased and berated them in an extremely haughty tone.

Clearly, he still had no grasp of his situation.

Of course, as far as Charlos was concerned, he'd just been picking out today's mount when everything went black and he wound up here.

Those bodyguards were useless!

He'd demote every last one of them to slaves when he got back!

"Of course I'll unlock it," Buggy replied with a smile.

He held a switch in his hand and pressed it several times.

"Let's see. How should I set this? Automatic detonation, immediate detonation, delayed detonation. Yes, this one."

"The Donquixote Family really does make some fine stuff."

He couldn't resist giving Doflamingo another plug.

Then he raised his head and looked at the blue Den Den Mushi responsible for the live broadcast.

The snail's bell-like eyes didn't blink once.

It was hard to imagine it was a creation of nature.

Buggy thought it looked more like some kind of highly advanced biotechnology, with nearly every modern communication function built right in.

"Almost forgot."

"As our first auction item, the opening bid for His Excellency Saint Charlos is..."

"One Admiral."

Buggy's voice rang out clearly across the entire plaza.

An Admiral, offered in exchange for a Celestial Dragon.

How audacious!

"That bastard!" The veins in Sengoku's forehead were about to burst.

He understood now. That damned bastard was forcing him to make a choice at a time like this.

Saint Charlos's family of Celestial Dragons lived permanently on Sabaody Archipelago. Their disappearance would immediately set the Cipher Pol organization into turmoil.

If that had happened, he wouldn't have been in such a passive position.

So the kidnapping of this Celestial Dragon had to have been sudden—perhaps an hour ago, or even just half an hour ago.

That meant the culprit could only be on Sabaody Archipelago.

There simply hadn't been enough time for the pirate to move him elsewhere.

Sengoku's gaze swept over the Three Admirals.

Could Kizaru handle it?

"Ooh, am I already making my entrance when the show's only just begun?"

As if sensing the question, Kizaru stood up of his own accord.

Smashing the screen and then pretending not to know anything, before continuing the war against the Whitebeard Pirates?

That wasn't realistic. The World Government wouldn't allow it, either.

In their eyes, a Celestial Dragon's life mattered far more than Whitebeard's.

But they couldn't let Buggy keep crushing the Marines' morale, either.

Ever since Buggy finished speaking, the pirates' raucous laughter had almost reached the platform.

The best option was to kill that reckless pirate right in front of the cameras!

But just as Kizaru moved—

A terrifying tremor, powerful enough to rend the heavens and earth, suddenly erupted from the Underground Depths!

"Gahahaha! Kid Buggy, I owe you one for this!"

Whitebeard's eyes widened. A sphere of white light formed around his fist as he slammed it down on the side of the Moby Dick.

Crack—crack—

The air split apart again and again under the terrifying power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

Even more frighteningly, the tremors traveled down from Whitebeard's hand and plunged deep underground.

Rumble—rumble—

The entire Execution Plaza shook violently, as if struck by an Earth Dragon Turning Over.

Chunks of dark soil welled up through the concrete, while the fissures deep beneath the ground amplified the force of the tremors.

A bottomless Great Rift Valley split the Execution Plaza in two.

"How dare you let yourself get distracted while facing me, Sengoku? Looks like you're getting old!"

With a colossal rift and a booming, aged roar, the Strongest Man in the World declared his undeniable presence to the Marines!

"..."

On the giant screen, the mocking grin on Buggy's face seemed to turn solemn before this terrifying display of power.

Only after a moment did his relieved voice ring out.

"Phew. The screen's still intact."

If the Marines weren't part of this grand show, it would lose half its fun.

His untroubled gaze seemed to address the two beyond the Den Den Mushi's field of view.

Luo, quietly leaning against the wall with his Demon Blade, and Morgans, already packing his belongings and preparing to flee.

Take a good look.

This was without a doubt the opportunity they couldn't afford to miss since the Great Pirate Era began.

At least, in the first twenty years, they wouldn't find another chance to see the Marines and the World Government so humiliated—and yet so helpless!

What was even more terrifying was that this broadcast was being shown to the whole world.

"An auction... for a Celestial Dragon?"

Across the entire world—in every Member Nation of the World Government, before millions upon millions of people—

They saw the Celestial Dragon wearing a Slave Collar.

The supreme image and status of the World Nobles seemed to collapse in an instant.

What a... lunatic!

Luo's hand gripped the Demon Blade so tightly that it trembled.

What unthinkable audacity!

This was—

So thrilling!

Beneath his spotted hat, even his seemingly indifferent eyes seemed to burn with excitement at the sheer audacity of it all.

He was even a participant!

"Ah, I almost forgot to mention."

Buggy slapped his forehead, looking thoroughly regretful.

"Our first bidding session will last five minutes."

"If there are no bids, well, that would be a real shame."

"You really wouldn't want to see—"

Whoosh—

A golden Golden Shockwave smashed the screen to pieces.

At some point, Sengoku had flung off his glasses. He looked absolutely furious.

He pointed toward Whitebeard with one hand.

"Attack!"

The gritted command made it clear to every Marine that their Fleet Admiral was truly enraged.

With this damned Joker throwing everything into disarray, the Marines' strategy had been completely derailed.

Originally, all they had to do was hold Whitebeard back on their home turf, then execute that evil bloodline before the world.

But now they had no choice but to launch an attack!

The trap they'd laid to surround Whitebeard had suddenly become an obstacle, keeping them from reaching the Celestial Dragon.

The war.

It had only just begun, yet it had already reached a frenzied, all-out pitch that left both sides with no choice but to go berserk.

"Madness is like gravity. All it takes is a little push."

Amid the shattered screen, Buggy's smile seemed to be the very origin of madness.

"Hey, you worthless commoner, did you hear—"

Bang!

Blood splattered across the ground.

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry. I think I set the detonator wrong."