Meeting at the Casino

The bald man sneered, "Hey, where are you guys headed?"

The pirate standing behind the bald man immediately reached out and blocked the way for the group who wanted to leave, and the atmosphere in the bar began to become tense.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down the foreheads of the men. "What... what do you want to do?!"

The bald man's eyes gleamed as he said, "I don't think you'd refuse a suggestion like joining the Squid Pirates that could lead to instant success, would you?"

"The Squid Pirates, a defeated crew from the New World, dare to dream of us joining them!" The group pulled out their daggers and gripped them tightly. "If you intend to continue blocking my way, don't blame us for being impolite!"

"The defeated opponent... really doesn't hold back at all..."

A fierce glint flashed in the bald man's eyes, and he immediately charged towards the group.

The men quickly raised their daggers to stab or thrust, but the bald man slightly shifted his body, easily dodging their attacks. Then, two whip kicks and a knee strike sent them all flying.

The men crashed into tables with wine glasses on them, or against walls, rolling around in pain and groaning.

"Anyone else leaving?" The bald man patted his trousers and coldly surveyed the pirates in the bar.

No one raised an objection, nor did anyone stand up to leave; they seemed to have succumbed to the bald man's tyranny.

The bald man continued his seductive plea, "What do you all think? If you join the Squid Pirates, you'll receive the best rewards, attend the most lavish and lively banquets, and have access to wealth, power, and women! The New World... awaits us ahead!!"

Hearing these enticing words, quite a few pirates were indeed tempted. Although the Squid Pirates had retreated from the New World, their leader Gold, was still a great pirate with a bounty of 100 million. Joining his crew would be like finding a good patron!

A few breaths later, a burly, red-bearded man with a bare upper body stood up, a large axe slung over his shoulder. "Alright... then I, Mas, will join your Squid Pirates!"

With the first person pledging allegiance, the wavering pirates suddenly seemed to have found a compass, and they all stood up and asked to join the Squid Pirates.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen people had already joined them. The remaining twenty or so pirate villains looked at each other. Firstly, they were intimidated by the high bounty on Squid Spear Gold. Secondly, there were many pirates joining these Squid Pirates. If they refused now and rashly offended them, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Moreover, the horrors of the New World were legendary to them, especially since it was located at the midpoint of the Grand Line. A lot of information and rumors would drift to this island, and after hearing them so often, the image of "hell" would take root in their minds. The New World... was the graveyard of countless pirates!

Faced with such a volatile and mysterious sea, these pirates had absolutely no desire to go there. However, due to the power of the Squid Pirates, they had no choice but to remain silent.

Buggy sized up the bald man and the surrounding pirates, muttering, "These must be the men of Squid Spear Gold Sister Xia mentioned. After their defeat in the New World, they've been eager to recruit cannon fodder to New World... Hmm, eccentric in their actions, but commendable in their spirit."

Although Buggy's voice was low, it was still heard by many sharp-eared pirates. The bar was dimly lit, but he still attracted everyone's attention.

The first man to pledge allegiance to the Squid Pirates, a burly man with a red beard, pointed his massive axe at Buggy and said menacingly, "Hey, wasn't it you, you piece of trash, who was talking bad about us just now? Are you looking for death?!"

Buggy glanced at Redbeard, catching a fleeting glint of shrewdness in his eyes, and nodded noncommittally, saying, "Your brain doesn't seem as rough as your appearance suggests. Being the first to step forward and join the Squid Pirates will leave a deeper impression, and you'll receive better treatment than others. Besides, as a regular at the bar, you should know these pirates well. If you both join the Squid Pirates, you should be able to get a pirate captain's position, barring any unforeseen circumstances..."

"Perfect timing! My appearance has brought you an unexpected bonus. Now you can show off your skills. After killing me, your position as a pirate captain will be solidified, and this achievement will shut up all the pirates who disagree with you... Am I right?"

Buggy's words immediately made Redbeard look around uneasy. Sure enough, the other pirates who had joined the Squid Pirates also had their own ideas, standing up and staring at Buggy, seemingly wanting to steal the credit for the first battle.

However, in Redbeard's eyes, Buggy's behavior was incredibly foolish. His boastful analysis not only put him in the spotlight but also exposed his true intentions to everyone. Sensing an opportunity that couldn't be missed, Redbeard didn't hesitate. He wielded his great axe and swung it down directly at Buggy. If he could take the man's head and make it a fait accompli, all further speculation would be meaningless!

Buggy raised his glass with his left hand, casually sipping the ale, while gently lifting his right hand.

Redbeard was overjoyed when he saw his axe swing down and his opponent caught off guard. He could almost see the envious and resentful looks in the eyes of the pirates around him. If he could get this credit, he could rise from an ordinary pirate to a combat squad leader in the Squid Pirates!

Today is the day when Redbeard will strike it rich...

Before his thoughts could fully form, he heard a sound of something breaking, shattering his ideas along with it.

Buggy casually tilted his head back, sipping his ale from his glass, his right hand bent as he placed it on the blade of the axe. Cracks began to appear around his fingers as he gripped the blade, spreading across the entire axe in the blink of an eye!

Bang!!

Instantly, the entire axe was crushed into pieces, the fragments shooting out like darts, embedding themselves in pillars, wine glasses, and the thighs of several unfortunate pirates. At the same time, Buggy placed the empty wine glass on the table, wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth, and slowly withdrew his right hand before standing up.

Redbeard staggered backward and collapsed to the ground. All the pirates in the bar, except for Redbeard, touched the shards of his axe embedded in the ground in disbelief, then stared dumbfounded at Buggy ... These were real metal fragments! Crushing iron with his bare hands—was this guy a monster?!

"My friend, if you join our Squid Pirates, I will inform the captain that with your strength, you are absolutely capable of becoming the Battle Commander-in-Chief!"

The bald man was both shocked and secretly delighted to encounter such a high-level fighter in an ordinary bar. If he could bring the man onto his ship... even Captain Gold would look at him with more respect!

Buggy slowly walked towards the bar entrance, glancing at Gold as he passed him, a cunning smirk playing on his lips. "My name is Buggy. Tell your captain, he'd better not mess with me..."

Gold's pupils gradually dilated. After being stunned for more than ten seconds, he suddenly turned around and looked back. His men who had been blocking the doorway had been knocked to the ground, and Buggy's figure had disappeared.

"Huff..." Gold's back was soaked with cold sweat, and he was panting heavily. He never expected that he would run into Buggy the Clown was even higher than Captain Gold's... There was no mistake, the red nose was that man's mark!

"Buggy the Clown... with that terrifying aura, he truly deserves to be a rising star with a bounty of over 100 million!"

Not only Gold, but also the pirates in the bar saw Buggy's appearance in the sunlight the moment he stepped out, and it immediately overlapped with the background of the wanted poster they had seen before.

"Could that be Buggy the Clown...?"

"That's definitely Buggy the Clown's back... He has a bounty of 48 million in the East Blue, the weakest of the four seas, and is known as the East Blue's Worst!"

"His current bounty is one hundred million... thirty million... six million..."

"What a suffocating bounty! I... I was just sitting right next to Buggy the Clown! This is the most powerful pirate I've ever seen in my entire life... no, probably the only one I've ever actually witnessed..."

The pirates in the bar stared in disbelief, exchanging glances and words in broken sentences. Only then did they realize that Sabaody Archipelago had welcomed another formidable pirate!

After leaving the Sinful Carnival Bar, which didn't actually take much time—just the time it takes to drink a glass of ale— Buggy continued his search for Rayleigh in the reverse order from area 13 to area 1.

It must be said that this method is not easy to find a needle in a haystack, but you can't just use a megaphone to announce to the whole island: Buggy the Clown is looking for Dark King Rayleigh, please Rayleigh to area xx immediately.

Creating Big News Morgans would only benefit the reporters, Buggy doesn't want to court disaster, so for now he can only search step by step.

However, once Rayleigh is found, he will also benefit greatly. Based on the three years of friendship he shared on Roger's ship, Rayleigh would certainly not refuse to guide him in his training if he asked.

Compared to areas 30 to 79, areas 1 to 29 are even more chaotic. As lawless areas, even if a victim is caught in the street with a sack over their head, no one will come to their aid. Who knows if the person being arrested is a pirate? This is a high-risk profession that is not protected by law.

Along the way, Buggy saw many such examples. After passing through four or five areas, he still didn't see Rayleigh. Then he came to a rather grand-looking casino in area 7. As soon as he entered, several young girls dressed as bunny girls greeted him. After exchanging some chips as a token gesture, Buggy shook off the bunny girls who were accompanying him and explaining the various card and dice games, and wandered around on his own.

The casino was filled with all sorts of people: sexy dealers, excited gamblers, pirates just there for the fun, ordinary people with a little money, and thugs and hooligans who routinely extorted money, but I just didn't see the person I was looking for.

"You bastard, were you cheating just now?!"

Not far away, a man with spiky red hair and wearing a purple jacket grabbed another man who looked rather sleazy and roared, "Trying to pull something under my nose? You're asking for trouble!"

The sleazy-looking man, his face flushed, tried to shake off the red-haired man's hands while arguing, "How did I cheat! You bet one million Beli yourself, I won it with my own skill, why are you slandering me!"

The commotion quickly drew a crowd, and Buggy went over to see what was going on.

"Gentlemen, let's talk this out! If you have any objections to this bet, we can pull up the Surveillance Den Den Mushi right here..." The casino manager, dressed in a white shirt and black vest, quickly stepped forward with a smile and tried to persuade him, "Could you please let this customer down? If he makes too much of a scene, it will affect our business."

"Stop your nonsense! I'm Rockstar, with an 88 million bounty on my head. Who do you think you are, daring to point fingers at me like that!" Kuro glared angrily at the casino manager.

"This, this..." The casino manager hurriedly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and swallowed hard. Since they dared to open a casino in a place like this, the managers would keep a close eye on the pirates with high bounties to avoid offending them too much and causing unnecessary trouble and losses. And the one in front of him was none other than Rockstar, known as "Rockstar"... Even he, as the person in charge, didn't have any confidence in the 88 million bounty.

Not only was the casino manager panicked, but even the onlookers who heard about Rockstar's bounty involuntarily stepped back and made room, fearing they might be caught in the crossfire.

"Hmph!" Kuro snorted coldly, continuing to fix her gaze on the man she held in her hand. "You cheating bastard, give me back that million right now, or I'll make you regret it!"

The sleazy-looking man being grabbed was a tough nut to crack. Despite his fear, the lure of a million chips made him defiantly declare, "I... I didn't cheat! This million is what I won gambling, and I'm not giving it back to you!!"

Kuro raised his massive fist and roared, "You dare cheat me out of my money? You're asking for it!"

Just as things were about to escalate, a strong voice rang out from the crowd, "Please wait a moment. I just witnessed your gambling game, and this friend did not cheat."

The casino manager, who was in a state of panic, was overjoyed to see someone step forward, but when he saw the man's appearance, his face instantly fell with worry again, and everyone else's eyes also fell on the man with white hair and round glasses.

Rockstar glared at the white-haired man and roared, "Your acting is terrible! Don't think I don't know you two are trying to scam me, you old man, go to hell!"

After saying that, he flung the lewd man in his hand away, and then threw his right fist at the white-haired man.

Despite the bounty of 88 million on the pirates, the white-haired man showed no sign of nervousness. A glint flashed in his glasses as he slowly raised a hand that had been resting under his robe.

In that instant, a person darted out from the crowd, blocked Rockstar's path, grabbed his wrist, and deflected the attack.

Buggy squinted at Rockstar, whose face was bulging with veins, and a cunning smile appeared on his lips. "Give me some face, okay?"