Defeating the Playing Card Pirates

Aboard the Yanhuang, on the main ship.

Moya sat in his seat, thinking that Cao Cao must have directed his men's assault from the rear just like this back in the day.

It really felt good—he was almost overcome with the satisfaction of looking around and feeling that everything was going according to plan.

"Moya, have a grape."

Rika held a grape up to Moya's lips.

"Want to come up and have a look? The scenery must be beautiful from an island this high. You've never climbed somewhere this tall before, have you?"

Moya ate the grape, then turned and asked the girls.

"Sure, sure," Nami immediately replied. She was waiting to go up and scoop up the treasure.

Moya saw that Maddie and Rim seemed eager, but were hesitant because they felt they were too weak.

"Come along. I'll protect you. Richie, over here!"

Moya made the decision for them and lifted Rika, Rim, Maddie, and Kaya onto Richie the Lion's back.

Moya led the way, with Nami and Nojiko flanking him. Behind them, Richie carried the four girls as they leisurely made their way up the tower.

"Whoa, that's hot, that's hot!"

Buggy exchanged a blow with King Bear and could barely hold his own. After all, he hadn't reawakened his Haki yet.

"El Drago, you take care of him."

Without a second thought, Buggy abandoned his fight with King Bear and went after Honey Queen, the delicate beauty.

"No problem. It looks like I really am the strongest officer under the captain. Buggy, you just joined the Moya Adventure Group a little earlier than I did."

El Drago lifted his chin and put on a smug expression, as if he were the greatest man in the world.

"My martial arts have improved a lot lately. The captain said I'll awaken Haki soon. Take this!"

Sonic Vibration Fist!

El Drago's fist collided with King Bear's blazing red fist. The resulting shockwave made everyone's clothes flutter in the wind.

"Incredible! He actually met King Bear head-on and held his ground," Honey Queen said, covering her delicate lips in shock.

"Don't get distracted, beautiful!"

Buggy wasn't one to play fair. He took advantage of the opening, and his dagger flashed as it slashed across Honey Queen's neck.

Honey Queen panicked, but her severed head immediately turned into paste, as did the rest of her body. Leaving behind only her clothes, she slipped into a pipe and escaped.

"Could she have a Logia Devil Fruit?"

Buggy was shocked. But how could a Logia user be so weak that she'd just run away?

The Paste-Paste Fruit should be a Special Paramecia, like Katakuri's Mochi Mochi no Mi and Gasparde's Candy-Candy Fruit. It had the ability to partially turn its user into an element.

Never mind. Captain Moya was guarding the bottom, so she definitely couldn't get away.

Seeing swordsman Golass and Needle Sword Clown locked in a fierce fight, Buggy felt as if he'd spotted a fellow professional. He frowned. There could only be one clown, so he crept over, planning to launch a sneaky attack.

Just then, Ghost Man Gin exploded into action and smashed Jack's spiked armor to pieces with a single blow, defeating him.

Krieg, standing nearby in his own hedgehog armor, broke out in a cold sweat. That kid had been stronger than him all along.

In the original story, if Krieg hadn't once saved Gin, Gin wouldn't have lowered himself to join Krieg's pirate crew.

As swordsman Golass and Needle Sword Clown fought tooth and nail, a treacherous hand holding a dagger suddenly appeared above them.

Chop-Chop Sneak Attack Hand!

Needle Sword Clown's shoulder was pierced in an instant, and he staggered back, wounded.

"Lord Buggy, you..." Golass's face darkened at once.

"Heh heh, don't get mad. I just saw you couldn't finish him off, and the captain was about to come up, so I gave you a hand."

He was about to follow up with another attack. There could only be one clown, and that was going to be him!

But Golass blocked Buggy's dagger and said, "The captain might want to recruit him. Please don't kill him, Lord Buggy."

Buggy thought it over and spared the clown. Then he quietly moved beside El Drago and King Bear's fight, ready to launch a sneak attack at any moment.

When King Bear saw him, he immediately grew cautious and began holding back.

Hey, I'm not fighting. I'm just watching.

It looked as if King Bear's defeat was only a matter of time. Still, El Drago wasn't to be underestimated. His Oto Oto no Mi was powerful; he was only fighting King Bear hand-to-hand because he wanted to train his martial arts.

At the bottom of Clockwork Island, Moya and the others leisurely made their way up, as if they were out sightseeing.

Suddenly, Moya heard a noise coming from a pipe beside him. He was instantly on guard.

But a blob of paste flew straight at his face. In Moya's cautious gaze, the blob transformed into a completely naked, delicate beauty, full of charm.

Moya instantly lost his composure, and the Haki coating on his hands vanished in shock.

The naked beauty crashed right into his arms. Moya somehow ended up holding her naturally, and his hands instinctively gave her a squeeze.

It was just like that feeling of driving with the wind blowing against you back in the day.

Moya was completely dumbfounded.

Behind him, Nami and the others stared in shock, then erupted in fury. Their teeth sharpened, their hair stood on end, and their eyes glowed red.

A woman had fallen from the sky!

"Moya, put her down! What a shameless woman!"

Nami exploded in an instant.

"Ahem, um... does anyone have any spare clothes?"

Moya asked, enjoying the moment while feeling a little awkward.

"I'm not giving my clothes to a shameless woman like her," the girls said angrily.

But, Rika, why were you speaking up?

With your figure, what right did you have to say anything? Tsk.

Moya had no choice but to give Honey Queen his shirt, which was similar to Cavendish the White Horse's.

Honey Queen was still struggling in Moya's arms, confused about why she couldn't turn back into paste.

Nice try. As if he'd seen right through her thoughts, Moya's Haki-coated hands gave her butt another hard squeeze.

Honey Queen felt pain for the first time in ages. It was the first time she'd felt pain since eating her Devil Fruit in East Blue.

"Stop struggling. Haki can suppress elementalization. Get dressed, or the people behind us are going to kill you."

Honey Queen saw the girls behind them glaring at her with murderous red eyes.

She immediately stopped hesitating, climbed out of Moya's arms, and took the shirt he had removed. She put it on, then stood quietly to one side with her head lowered, not daring to say a word.

"Follow us up, Honey Queen. You're an officer of the Playing Card Pirates, right?"

The girls angrily continued up the stairs, and Honey Queen followed under Moya's threatening glare.

The top floor...

After fighting with martial arts for a long time without gaining the upper hand, El Drago had finished practicing every move he knew. He began attacking from a distance, hoping to end the fight before the captain came up.

Sonic Lightning Laser Cannon!

At the shout, everyone's attention turned toward him. After all, El Drago had just used that very move to blast Skunk One into pieces.

King Bear barely dodged, but the attack still hit his shoulder. His skin and a chunk of flesh carbonized, and he fell to the ground in pain. The wall behind him had been pierced, leaving a gaping hole.

El Drago was about to fire another sound-wave cannon and finish off King Bear.

"Hey, hey, don't go breaking things. Don't you want this underling? What a waste."

Moya's impatient voice came from the stairway. In an instant, everyone on the top floor turned to look.

A young man stood at the top of the stairs, bare-chested, with perfectly defined muscles and an incredibly handsome face.

"Captain Moya~"