What was the purpose of pirates?
Pillage and plunder. Burn and kill.
Sometimes they searched for treasure; often, they fought the Marines.
If Habler had been thinking like a pirate, he should have shown some pirate spirit and fought these Marines to the death. While the Marine with the highest threat value on this transport ship was occupied, he should have done everything he could to break through the Marine defense line.
Or, as a crew member who had just joined the "Batty Cutie" Pirates, he should have fought valiantly to give his nominal captain more time.
But unfortunately,
Habler saw himself as only one thing.
A fugitive.
What was a fugitive's duty?
To escape.
The Little Giant's burly body had been lying there ever since Brownie struck him.
Once everyone's attention was elsewhere,
he began crawling
toward the passage to the upper deck.
Well, he still drew plenty of attention.
With a body that big, the Marines could hardly pretend not to see him.
But they didn't have much energy to spare for him, either.
Before long, Habler had actually managed to reach the stairs.
Now that he was farther and farther from Brownie, the Commodore,
he suddenly sprang to his feet. The wound Brownie had inflicted hadn't slowed the Little Giant down at all.
Then he took off at a run.
This time, the free world was truly reaching out to him.
If he could just get out of the hold, if he could just get the chance to return to the Azure Sea, Habler was confident he could swim to the next island on his own!
When he had first become a pirate, he'd once been abandoned on an unknown island by his previous pirate crew because of his enormous appetite.
But Habler had managed to swim away using nothing but his own two hands.
After that, he'd never trusted pirates again, even though he was one himself.
His broad feet thudded across the iron deck.
For some reason, none of the Marines he passed seemed inclined to stop him.
Were they perhaps Marine support staff or strategists?
He only wondered briefly before rushing toward the light.
Freedom—freedom was waiting for him!
At some point, the moon had sunk beneath the sea. An orange-red veil spread across the blue water, while white gulls skimmed the distant horizon, their cries carrying over the waves.
Habler reached the light.
Sunlight fell on his hand, but he couldn't feel any warmth.
Not far away,
beneath the gulls' wings, three dark-green warships bristling with gleaming cannons had surrounded the transport ship in a triangular formation.
The only direction left open—
Habler turned around in a panic. The Gate of Justice loomed ahead, an endless white cliff stretching from sea to sky.
It was slowly opening, sending up waves as big as hills.
The warships had clearly come through the Gate of Justice.
Could he still escape?
Habler's heart sank. His whole body turned cold. It felt as if everything he'd done had been nothing but a stage performance. No matter how many twists and turns there were, the ending was always the same.
He even thought Buggy's actions were ridiculous.
All that desperate struggling was laughable in the face of the Marines' overwhelming strength.
He stood there, stunned,
until an explosion from every direction engulfed him.
Brownie had a very clear idea of what a monster was.
He'd personally watched three monsters rise up beside him, step by step, then leave him far behind and claim the Admirals' seats—the very symbol of Marine strength.
Those three monsters had left a deep impression on Brownie.
They were like prodigies beside a hardworking top student.
He'd struggled for months to learn one or two Rokushiki techniques, while they only needed to watch for a little while
before they could use them smoothly.
And they always acted as though it were only natural.
What was worse, the next time they met, Brownie would be congratulating himself on mastering a technique, only to find that they'd already mastered all of Rokushiki and developed new techniques better suited to themselves.
It was so demoralizing!
Brownie had never imagined he'd have to suffer that kind of blow again today.
"This is a fun game, isn't it?"
the Red Nose Joker said with a grin.
He'd learned so many interesting techniques from the old Marine: Soru, Kami-e, Geppo, Rankyaku, and Finger Pistol.
The seasoned Marine veteran had used every technique except Tekkai.
Some of them were techniques Brownie had spent years developing to complement his curved blade.
For example, now—
Brownie raised his hand and hastily used the flat of his curved blade to block a knife that suddenly flew toward him.
The knife flashed through the air, leaving one or two afterimages as it traced a slight arc.
It was a technique he'd developed over many years, combining Soru, Finger Pistol, and swordsmanship.
But after seeing it just once, the Red Nose Joker had learned it.
And now he was using it against Brownie!
It was like having someone do that to you, then doing something even worse right in front of your wife!
But the anger in Brownie's heart quickly faded as the other man reproduced his techniques almost perfectly.
The Red Nose Joker used a row of fruit knives to slash and hack just as Brownie used his curved blade, moving with a fluid, graceful beauty.
If Brownie hadn't seen him wildly slashing with those knives a moment earlier, he would have thought the man was some master who'd spent years honing his sword skills.
At least there was one consolation: Brownie had reported the anomaly to Marineford as soon as he noticed it.
The investigators should be arriving soon, even if they'd had to set out from Marineford.
If a monster like this were allowed to roam the Great Sea, Brownie would be too ashamed to face Instructor Zephyr.
After all, it was only because of his repeated demonstrations that the other man had learned most of Rokushiki.
The Seastone Ring on his left hand had also become nearly useless after its first attempt failed.
The Red Nose fellow had the agility and keen observational skills of a Circus Clown.
"Yeah, now I understand better how a friend of mine who likes wearing tight clothes feels."
Buggy caught his right hand as it came back, speaking with a sigh.
Maybe it was because he'd fused with Three Heads, but his mind was now incredibly stimulated. Every one of his opponent's movements was being imprinted in his mind, frame by frame.
Even his old memories were crystal clear.
He could vividly recall the seasoned, ever-changing moves Batman had used when they fought.
That guy was a genius too, wasn't he?
But he couldn't keep playing around much longer.
Buggy raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
As if reacting on instinct, Brownie heard the snap and immediately tensed his whole body, using Tekkai.
After all, his expression had gone from calm at first to pale now, and he was covered in cold sweat.
Who could understand the pressure he'd been under?
His nervousness wasn't unfounded.
Several Split Bodies suddenly darted past him.
The vibration in the air was unmistakable.
Damn it, the Split Bodies could use Soru too? Who could he even complain to about that?
He even had to watch out for some sharp bone hidden somewhere behind him,
in case it suddenly gave him another puncture wound like before.
Brownie felt that, under this pressure, he was gradually mastering the Observation Haki he'd trained so hard to learn, but never truly grasped.
But Buggy wasn't targeting him.
He was targeting Little Left, who'd been away from him for a long time.
Little Left returned holding a length of fuse and a box of matches.
The other end of the fuse disappeared from sight, as if it kept branching out to every part of the warship.
"Our Newcomer deserves a dazzling fireworks display to celebrate, don't you think?"
Buggy stood up straight. Though he wore a prison uniform, it looked almost like a close-fitting, tailored purple suit.
He bowed slightly, offering a farewell salute.
Then he struck the end of the fuse with two fingers.
His flesh-colored thumb and forefinger clinked like metal.
The sound grated on Brownie's ears.
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