Why Is Buggy Here

Number Five Backstreet.

Facing over two thousand pirates armed with Seastone weapons, Buggy and Smoker were in a tough fight.

They stood back-to-back, constantly vigilant against attacks from all sides.

A pirate swung his saber, but Smoker grabbed his wrist first. Then, with a precise Marine grappling technique, he delivered a knee strike to the pirate's face!

With a "bang," the pirate's face instantly burst with blood, and Smoker casually tossed him aside.

The powerlessness caused by the Seastone bullet was still affecting him, but Smoker's face showed no signs of fatigue. Instead, it held a terrifying ferocity.

"Come on!" Smoker roared at the surrounding pirates.

The pirates were so intimidated by Smoker's aura that they didn't dare to advance.

Seeing this, Buggy couldn't help but swallow. He thought to himself, Hey, hey, hey, hey, does this guy have to try so hard? We could just cooperate and break through!

However, when he saw Smoker swinging the iron pipe in his hand, taking down pirate after pirate, he instantly understood—

That guy genuinely intended to take down the two thousand pirates before him by himself!

"What a crazy Marine, I'm not playing along!"

Buggy immediately decided to make a run for it.

But just then, Linley's angry roar echoed from the sky:

"Whether it's you or [JOKER]—"

"You're both going down!"

Bang!

With a muffled sound, a figure plummeted from the sky like a cannonball, heading straight for the ground of Number Five Backstreet.

Boom!

With a loud crash, the figure slammed heavily onto the ground.

The ground instantly cracked, forming a large pit, and dust flew everywhere, throwing the pirates into chaos.

"What happened?"

"Who fell from the sky!"

"Is it Captain Kuro? No, it's not him, he looks like a big guy..."

Swish!

The pirates closest to the impact point, who had managed to get a glimpse of the figure's true identity, couldn't even finish their words before a black finger sliced across their eyes.

Poof!

"Ah!"

In an instant, the pirates in the innermost circle clutched their eyes, screaming in pain.

Meanwhile, Vergo, who had fallen to the ground, clutched his chest, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. His gaze swept over his surroundings as he quickly formulated an escape route.

"Tsk, my ribs are broken..."

Lynn Barek's strength far exceeded his imagination. Fighting further would only result in mutual destruction, or even his own defeat!

In that case, the plan to eliminate the witness and then arrest the pirates as a Marine had failed.

Vergo couldn't gain anything from the entire incident. Since that was the case, his goal shifted to minimizing losses as much as possible—

For example, ensuring he could continue his undercover role within the Marines.

There were too many people here, and he couldn't expose his undercover identity yet!

He had prepared a solid alibi before his operation, and Lynn Barek was a wanted criminal; his words wouldn't be believed by the Marines.

Therefore, as long as no one else saw his face, he still had a chance to continue his undercover work!

With that thought, Vergo stomped his foot hard, kicking up another large cloud of dust around him to conceal his movements.

He then pulled a Den Den Mushi from his pocket, placed it on the ground, and used Soru, one of the Rokushiki, to quickly dart into a nearby alley.

As the highest-ranking executive of the Donquixote Family, Vergo's actions were incredibly swift; the entire sequence took only a few seconds.

Immediately after, a figure enveloped in a black and white storm descended from the sky, punching the spot where Vergo had just been.

With another loud "boom," the large pit on the ground instantly expanded and deepened.

The pirates felt an earthquake-like tremor beneath their feet, and a familiar, terrifying emotion surged into their hearts.

He's back?

Lynn Barek, has he already defeated Captain Kuro!

When the dust settled, Linley's figure indeed appeared in the street.

What terrified the pirates even more was the black and white storm raging around Linley's body. He looked like a ferocious, terrifying beast, his chilling aura lowering the temperature of the surroundings slightly.

Linley twisted his neck and looked around, but he couldn't find Vergo, only the Den Den Mushi on the ground.

"He runs pretty fast. By the way, did he leave this Den Den Mushi for me?"

After picking up and putting away the Den Den Mushi, Linley turned his gaze to the pirates around him, who were staring at each other in bewilderment.

He then grinned:

"Are you guys still going to fight me?"

Seeing this, the pirates immediately became restless. They remembered their companions who had been sent flying by Linley earlier, and cold sweat streamed down their faces.

"Whoa, no way, are we doing this again?"

"I don't want to fly into the sky!"

"Look at that punch he landed on the ground, can anyone survive that hit!"

"I became a pirate to eat well and live luxuriously, not to die!"

Suddenly, a sharp-eyed pirate noticed something unusual.

The black and white storm around Linley was slowly weakening, and his aura was visibly declining.

"He... is injured?"

Seeing this, Smoker came up to Linley and said in a low voice, "Hey, what happened? Don't tell me that Kuro did this to you!"

"Ran into a tough opponent," Linley gasped, his arms hanging limply, trembling uncontrollably.

Vergo had indeed inflicted quite a bit of damage on him.

To be honest, Linley was already giving it his all just standing there. He was desperately maintaining the Armament Haki form of his Icebound Domain, purely to intimidate the surrounding pirates.

Linley knew Smoker's condition well; having been hit in the shoulder by a Seastone bullet, he was only able to persist thanks to sheer grit.

As for Buggy? Linley guessed he was already considering making a run for it.

Wait a minute…

Why was Buggy even here!?

Was he involved in this?!

Why wasn't he wearing makeup and only a bath towel!?

And why did he seem to be on hostile terms with the pirates allied with Kuro!?

What was going on?!

Linley looked at Buggy, his mind filled with question marks.

However, the commotion from the surrounding pirates interrupted Linley's thoughts.

Upon realizing Linley was in a weakened state, they managed to regain some courage, grabbing their blades and closing in on the three of them.

They didn't know what had happened, but if they could kill these three in front of them, it would likely solve many problems.

"Tsk, mere pirates…"

Smoker bit down on his cigar, took a deep breath, and frowned at Linley, "You're not going to need me to take care of you too, are you!"

"Do I need to?"

Linley grinned widely, clapped his fists together, and said loudly to the surrounding pirates, "I am the BOSS!"

Before he finished speaking, a pirate suddenly shouted:

"He's finished, kill him, go!"

Immediately, dozens of pirates swarmed forward.

Just as Linley and Smoker prepared to fight to the death, and Buggy was ready to seize the opportunity to escape.

A fist, with a "bang," sent a pirate flying.

A familiar laugh echoed across the battlefield.

"Mwahahaha, what a lively scene, let old man me be your opponent as well!"