Loguetown Free-for-All

To Buggy, the World Government was a bunch of bastards he could not afford to provoke, but could afford to avoid.

So when Kuro said they were going to cooperate with people from the World Government, Buggy decisively refused.

Not only did he refuse, but to keep the bad luck of those four words from tainting Captain Buggy's fortune, he even specifically gave himself and his crew a holiday.

Everyone went to Loguetown to drink, eat meat, soak in baths, and hold a feast!

Today, while the rest of the pirate crew went to prepare for the barbecue feast, Buggy rented out one of Loguetown's famous hot spring bathhouses all by himself, intending to properly relax.

He still wore that red nose, but he had unusually washed off the rest of his makeup. Wrapped in nothing but a bath towel, he happily sank into the hot spring.

As a devil fruit user, soaking in water made his entire body feel weak, but perhaps that was what relaxation was supposed to feel like.

It felt like his whole being had ascended!

Buggy could not help letting out a long sigh.

Ah, this was nice!

Suddenly, a commotion came from above the ceiling.

Buggy frowned. Before he could say, "You're too damn loud! Believe me, I'll kill you," a crack had already appeared across the ceiling.

Then, Buggy watched as the crack grew larger and larger. Finally, with a thunderous BOOM, a huge hole opened in the ceiling, and two figures fell through it.

"Huh?"

Buggy froze, then immediately jumped out of the hot spring, still wrapped in his bath towel.

Right afterward, the power of the Chop-Chop Fruit activated. Buggy detached one of his hands and sent it over to the changing room in the distance to retrieve his usual dagger.

Only after getting a weapon in hand did Buggy feel somewhat reassured. He fixed his gaze on where the two figures had landed.

There were two men there. One had silver-white hair and wore beachwear; the other had purple hair, wore a suit of heavy black armor, and held an enormous war lance.

Both men were covered in dust and dirt. With dust swirling all around them, Buggy could not see their faces at all.

The two seemed to be fighting, and their battle had already reached its most intense stage.

The silver-haired man suddenly sprang up from the ground. His left hand clamped around the purple-haired man's throat, while his right seized his face. He lifted the man's entire body and slammed him into the wall!

BOOM!

With a dull crash, cracks spread across the entire wall. One more hit like that, and the whole wall would probably collapse.

"Hey, hey, do those two have some kind of blood feud?"

Buggy stared at the scene, momentarily speechless. Then he looked at the hot spring pool, now muddied by dust, and his irritation only grew.

His rare moment of hot spring relaxation had been ruined by two complete strangers.

Looks like Captain Buggy has been seriously underestimated!

Buggy observed the two men. The purple-haired man in armor was already barely clinging to life, while the silver-haired man was panting heavily as well, his stamina seemingly at its limit.

Since that was the case, Buggy quickly made his decision. He would tie both men up first, then bring them to the feast and hand them over to his underlings. Those bastards who had ruined Captain Buggy's mood would get a proper taste of suffering.

With that thought, Buggy broke into a grin. He detached his upper body and stabbed his dagger toward the silver-haired man's back.

Because of the angle, the purple-haired man's war lance was still blocking Buggy's attack path. Buggy reached out, intending to push the lance aside.

But the instant Buggy's hand touched the weapon, a wave of weakness suddenly spread through his entire body.

"This is... Seastone?"

The war lance in that purple-haired man's hand was actually a Seastone weapon!

Buggy froze. Then he looked closely and realized that the purple-haired man was Commodore Krieg, whom he had met just recently!

What the hell?!

Though startled, Buggy reacted quickly. He let himself fall toward the ground; as long as his hand left the Seastone, he would regain his ability to move.

Being able to get his hands on such a valuable Seastone weapon meant Krieg must have formed a Pirate Alliance with Kuro and reached some kind of deal with the World Government.

Damn it, Captain Buggy had already withdrawn! Why had they come all the way to Loguetown to fight?!

This involved the World Government. He absolutely could not get involved. They had not noticed Captain Buggy yet, so he just needed to get away quickly and leave Loguetown with his underlings.

But an odd sensation around his waist disrupted Buggy's train of thought.

The barb on the war lance had somehow caught onto Buggy's bath towel, touching his skin in the process.

That meant even if Buggy fell with the momentum, the barb would leave his entire body hanging from the war lance. He could not break free at all!

And because he was a devil fruit user, Buggy had no strength to wrench himself free from the barb. He could only watch helplessly as he dangled from the lance.

Most infuriatingly, Krieg subconsciously tightened his grip on the lance, leaving Buggy helplessly swaying back and forth along with its tip.

Thus, a bizarre yet perfectly reasonable scene emerged.

Smoker clung to Krieg's shoulders with all his strength and charged forward, smashing through wall after wall along the way.

Meanwhile, Buggy hung from the end of Krieg's Great War Gun, forced to follow Smoker and Krieg all the way forward.

In the end, the three crashed through the final wall in an utterly chaotic tangle and arrived at Number Five Backstreet.

And this was Lynn Barek's main battlefield!

The arrival of Smoker, Krieg, and Buggy disrupted the rhythm of everyone present.

Kuro, who was currently being held by Lynn with one hand, seized the chance to break free. He rolled several times across the ground before barely managing to get to his feet and put some distance between himself and Lynn.

Lynn looked at Smoker, while Kuro looked at Krieg. The two asked the same question at the same time:

"What happened?"

The difference was that Krieg had already been beaten completely unconscious, while Smoker barely managed to stand. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, took a drag on his cigar, and calmly spat out two words:

"Enforcing the law."

Lynn naturally knew Smoker's temperament. Based on Krieg's miserable condition, he had already guessed roughly what had happened.

Smoker had probably discovered the hiding Krieg, only to be caught off guard by his Seastone weapon. In the end, relying on sheer stubbornness, he had beaten Krieg half to death despite the Seastone armor.

But then again, according to Kuro, Krieg should have firearms loaded with Seastone bullets.

Sure enough, Lynn spotted a gunshot wound on Smoker's shoulder.

After stepping forward to examine it, Lynn found that the wound was deep. To avoid lasting damage, the bullet would need to be removed with professional medical equipment, which the current situation did not allow for.

"You really saved us a lot of trouble."

Lynn walked over to Smoker and patted his shoulder. "You've been shot. Rest for now. Leave the rest to me."

"Tch, that's exactly what I don't like about you!"

Smoker took a drag from his cigar and looked at the surrounding pirates, his brow tightly furrowed. "It's just that I can't use my ability. My fists alone are enough for this bunch of trash."

He tore his shirt into strips and roughly wrapped his wounded shoulder to stop the bleeding.

Taking advantage of the moment, Kuro, who had finally caught his breath, suddenly ran deeper into the street.

Noticing this, Smoker tightened the cloth strip with his teeth as he continued, "If you're going to save someone, hurry up and chase him! Leave this place to me!"

Lynn watched Kuro's retreating figure as the Energy Value in his body began to drain, his presence suddenly surging.

"Three minutes is all I need."

"Three hours would be fine!"

Smoker lit the last cigar in his pocket and held it in his mouth alongside the one he had not finished smoking earlier.

Lynn did not hesitate. He immediately chased after Kuro.

The entire street was left with only Smoker, smoking away; Krieg, lying on the ground; and—

More than two thousand pirates wielding Seastone weapons!

Wait, was someone missing?

Only then did Smoker notice that someone seemed to be hanging from Krieg's Great War Gun.

"A civilian?"

Smoker's heart skipped a beat, but when he noticed the dagger in the other man's hand, he immediately relaxed.

Was he one of those mysterious people guiding civilians away from the backstreets? Or another partner Lynn had found?

Either way, as long as he was not someone who had been dragged into the fight for no reason, it was fine!

But... why was he wearing only a bath towel?

At that moment, Buggy took a deep breath, tensed his entire body, and finally broke free from the barb on the Great War Gun. He sat on the ground, gasping for breath.

"Krieg, was it? Captain Buggy will remember this! And that Kuro too—sooner or later, Captain Buggy will settle the score with you!" Buggy muttered viciously to himself.

Hearing that, Smoker became even more certain that this red-nosed man was a friend Lynn had brought in to deal with Kuro's group.

Smoker then said to Buggy, "Hey, looking for Kuro?"

Buggy's eyes widened. "Huh? Who the hell are you?"

"Someone else looking to settle the score with Kuro!"

Smoker picked up a handy iron rod from the ground and rolled his neck at Buggy. "If you want to fight, get up and help!"

Only then did Buggy notice his surroundings. Countless pirates had surrounded the area completely, and their weapons faintly gave off the dangerous aura of Seastone.

"Hey, hey, no way... Is Kuro trying to silence everyone?"

The sight before him completely threw Buggy into confusion, so he could only come up with an explanation he could barely accept:

The World Government had learned that Buggy knew the inside story but did not intend to cooperate, so it had sent Kuro and his group to kill him!

This silver-haired man must be the same, right? Kuro had lured him here, but he had refused to cooperate and ended up surrounded.

Still, he looked pretty strong. After all, he had taken down Krieg by himself.

Fine! Even facing this many pirates was better than discussing that suicidal cooperation with the World Government. Captain Buggy would break through with him!

Buggy got to his feet and bumped fists with Smoker.

"Oh! Brother, Captain Buggy's back is in your hands!"

Smoker looked at the man before him, wearing nothing but a bath towel, and simply could not take the situation seriously.

The two stood back to back, taking their stances and warily watching the pirates before them.

"Oh, right, brother."

Buggy suddenly remembered something and casually asked, "I haven't seen you before. Where are you from?"

Smoker answered calmly, "The Marines."

Buggy:

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Huh?"