From the East Sea

"Scum!"

Brigadier General Brownie spat, utterly disdainful of this rabble.

Even a bit enraged.

Enraged that these scum dared to climb out of their cages and not take him seriously.

But it was fine.

When Warden Magellan asked later, he would have an excuse.

Brownie quietly raised his target kill count from half to two-thirds in his mind.

They were just pirate scum, after all. No one would appeal their deaths.

"Don't let a single piece of scum escape!"

He roared.

Well-trained Marines poured in from the passage behind Brownie, forming a single-file formation towards the prisoners.

Dark gun muzzles pointed directly at Buggy and the others, chillingly.

At least in the first half of the Grand Line, such a musket formation still held considerable deterrence, causing even some prisoners to waver.

They blocked the passage to the upper deck, coldly cutting off all hope of survival for the prisoners.

Every step forward compressed the meager operational space the prisoners had managed to carve out.

Magellan could accept pirate prisoners being killed during a rebellion while in transit, but he would never accept a single prisoner escaping.

But this was exactly what Buggy wanted to see.

He lowered his head, a slight smile playing on his lips, his peripheral vision constantly scanning the pirates with their varied expressions...

Greed, ferocity, cunning... these were the most common descriptions of the pirate profession.

Put more nicely, it was called a spirit of adventure.

In summary, it was bestiality.

The bestiality of pirates.

It was the bestiality forged by facing the unpredictable sea and a career where death was more likely than life.

And what Buggy was doing was gradually bringing out the beastly nature of these jackals, forcing them into a corner where they had no other choice but to fight for their lives!

Survival and hatred were the best catalysts.

"Fire!"

Brownie's expression was stern as he gave the order to fire without hesitation.

He didn't care about the pirates' thoughts.

Bang--

The thick smell of gunpowder instantly filled the entire ship's cabin, and blood splattered from flesh.

A burly figure emerged from the smoke, raising an arm as rough as rock.

"I'd rather die than go to that prison and be a slave to those scum!"

Habler's roar drowned out the gunshots as he charged ferociously towards the Marine formation.

Habler and the others could guess how pirate captains sold publicly on Sabaody Archipelago came to be.

"Let's go all out!"

"Rum is still waiting for me!"

"Kill these Marines!"

These pirate prisoners howled, using the chains that had just bound them as weapons, and charged furiously towards the Marine formation.

This scene truly had the spirit of brave warriors.

That is, if their deliberate avoidance of Buggy hadn't been so conspicuous.

The Marine musketeer formation was pointing directly at Buggy, completely unobstructed.

"See?"

"You have to rely on yourself; you can't expect others to suddenly grow a brain."

Buggy wasn't surprised and patted the stunned Arne a few times.

If this were a novel where the protagonist's actions were misinterpreted as brilliant, these pirates should have long ago been convinced and clamoring to pledge their loyalty unto death, right?

Even in Buggy's original timeline, there was a group of such followers who misinterpreted his actions and imagined his greatness.

If that were the case, Buggy would have been quite happy to follow the grand plans he had originally envisioned for this group; a pirate crew with warships would surely have been quite interesting, right?

His gaze swept over the ship.

Unfortunately, the ones he had encountered so far were all more cunning than the last.

Arne, who was originally considered cunning, was actually quite pure and honest among them.

I have to play by myself.

Buggy suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for the talents of Gotham City, especially that cute guy who adhered to a no-kill creed...

They were like kindred spirits.

Equally twisted.

"Who is he?"

"Buggy the Clown, bounty 15 million Belly, from the East Blue."

"Oh."

The Marines in the front row didn't exchange many words. "From the East Blue" said it all.

Unanimously, they turned their gun muzzles and began firing fiercely at the other pirates.

The pirates, who had initially planned to sell their captain, were a bit confused.

That weird guy is the source of the chaos, why aren't you dealing with him?!

Unfortunately, the Marines had no intention of reasoning with these fugitives.

The intense firepower forced the fugitives to scatter in all directions.

The weakness of the East Blue was evident.

It is our duty to revitalize the prestige of the East Blue!

The image of a certain hot-blooded youth suddenly appeared in Buggy's mind...

Never mind, let that kid with the cheat-like bloodline handle such things.

However, he wasn't flustered. He calmly moved the cleaver he had placed on his chest to his forehead, embedding it halfway into his brow. He then smeared some blood from who-knew-which corpse onto it.

Combined with his missing hand, eye, and ear.

It was as if he had slapped the label of a harmless creature—the old, weak, sick, and disabled—onto his forehead!

Then, he squatted excitedly to the side, watching his pawns battle the Marines.

Buggy might have been used to this before, but now, with two sets of memories merged, he found these events quite novel.

Especially the one from Arkham.

It would be even better if he had a bag of sunflower seeds and a bottle of cola right now.

Buggy completely disregarded the fact that he was the instigator of this entire chaos.

The Marine Rear Admiral, draped in a white coat, was clearly a veteran who had fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Facing the encirclement of multiple pirates, he remained calm and composed. First, he ordered the Marines to fire a few volleys, suppressing the pirates' momentum.

Then, holding his curved moon blade, he appeared before the little giant Habler with a whoosh.

The little giant's movements were too conspicuous.

Soru?

The name of the technique naturally popped into Buggy's mind.

It was one of the Six Powers commonly used by the CP organization, which debuted in the Enies Lobby arc of the original work.

Soru was considered the second most famous among them.

The first was Tekkai.

Brownie's actions didn't stop. He gripped the blade with both hands, raising it above his head. His feet lightly tapped a few times in mid-air as if treading on solid ground, utilizing another of the Six Powers, Geppo, to gain leverage in the air.

Then, he slashed down fiercely.

Blood immediately gushed out from the little giant's chest like a fountain.

In pain, the little giant Habler could only stagger back a few steps. Fortunately, Brownie wasn't only focused on him.

A pirate with a full beard, holding a comrade's corpse, charged towards the Marine formation. Although he was quickly cut down by the Marines, it caused a pause in the volley formation.

Joseph's eyes flashed with sharp light. Seizing this opening, he suddenly rushed to the passage entrance.

The wet, salty scent of freedom seemed to beckon him!

However, in the next instant, his vision spun wildly. In a daze, he felt as if he had floated into the air. Looking down, he saw his own empty neck.

He had been beheaded.

Only then did he understand.

Brownie lightly flicked the blood from his curved blade, the crimson liquid dripping onto the floor. The feeling of slaughter brought him a thrilling pleasure.

Even the pain of muscle tearing from frequently using Soru became a form of stimulation.

This was the fate that scum deserved!

He tightly gripped his curved blade, his slightly reddened eyes searching for his next opponent.

Suddenly.

His gaze met another pair of eyes, filled with playful mockery...