Boarding the Ship

Leaving aside Mohji's dilemma, in the open battlefield, the battle between Buggy and Boa Hancock was becoming increasingly intense. Buggy had entered a state of exhilarating combat, in which he would no longer show mercy to his opponent, whether he was a man, a woman, or a transvestite!

Boa Hancock suddenly turned around and launched another upward kick at Buggy. Just as it was about to hit, Buggy's figure disappeared again and reappeared in an open space ten meters away.

Boa Hancock didn't pursue. Instead, she lightly touched her lips with her finger, conjuring a huge pink heart-shaped substance, then drew it back like an arrow. "Slave Arrow!!"

Instantly, a dense swarm of pink arrows, like a rain of locusts, shot towards Buggy.

"Life Return. Circus!"

Buggy's body suddenly swelled up, using Life Return enhance his power, instantly entering a fragmentation mode where tens of thousands of fragments throughout his body vibrated continuously. In this mode, he could more closely link his Chop-Chop Awakening abilities with the outside world!

"Gunpowder Blast!"

His gaze became incredibly serious, and his hands, which were clasped at his sides, slowly bent their fingers, then suddenly clenched into a fist and blasted outwards into the air!

A massive, pure white energy seemed to erupt from his fragmented hands, swirling and twisting like a tornado. The air crackled with increasingly rapid bursts of sound. Wherever the white tornado passed, explosions erupted in a chain reaction, escalating rapidly. The countless Slave Arrow aimed at Buggy were either deflected or swallowed by the tornado. In the blink of an eye, the white tornado broke through all resistance, accompanied by deafening explosions, and hurtled towards Boa Hancock, engulfing an area of several dozen meters around her!

In that instant, a flash of silver light appeared in the air, and a sharp blade materialized out of thin air. With a flick of its wrist, the pure white tornado formed by energy abruptly turned ninety degrees, shooting towards the sky. After flying twenty meters, it exploded like a magnificent, giant firework, a circular, pale white ripple spreading outwards from the center of the explosion. Immediately following, a deafening explosion resounded throughout the entire western part of the island!

Both the female warriors of the Kuja Pirates in the distance and Mohji and his companion couldn't help but reach out to shield themselves from the fierce wind generated by the explosion!

"Phew... that was close!"

Rayleigh, clad in white robes, stepped in front of Boa Hancock, slowly sheathing his sword. He wiped non-existent sweat from his brow, a glint in his eyes as he spoke. "Using the power of Devil Fruit, huh... Buggy, looks like your training this time was quite successful..."

After Buggy Awakening his Chop-Chop Fruit ability, he can split inanimate objects in the outside world. By using the vibration of these fragmented particles as a source of kinetic energy, the activated Chop-Chop ability and the outward burst of energy cause various dust particles in the surrounding air to shatter and form high-intensity vibrations. The friction between these particles also generates heat and kinetic energy. Like a viral infection, the collapsing energy after vibration spreads and transmits to the surroundings, causing a chain reaction. The power generated increases with each impact, and when this energy touches something, it instantly produces a terrifying explosion!

Rayleigh delayed the explosion of Buggy's attack using his superior swordsmanship, but the white robe he wore on his back was also grazed by the attack, leaving it with holes of varying sizes.

Buggy deactivated his fragmented state and returned to normal, saying to Rayleigh, "Thanks to Mr. Rayleigh's guidance over this period, I have made great progress!"

Now that Rayleigh has arrived... this battle will inevitably have to be stopped.

"You..."

Boa Hancock, who was blocked behind Rayleigh, was confused for a moment, then said angrily, "Hey, Rayleigh, what are you doing here... What do you mean by this? Even if you didn't make a move, I could easily have taken that Red Nose's attack. Listen to me, I'm not going to accept your favor!"

She paused, then looked at Rayleigh with even greater arrogance. "And... how do you know this Red Nose man! Give me a proper explanation!"

"Don't get angry, getting angry will make you age faster..."

Perhaps accustomed to Boa Hancock's temperament, Rayleigh shrugged and smiled nonchalantly, "This is an old acquaintance of mine, named Buggy. I brought him to this island for training... That's how it is."

"What?! This Red Nose man was brought by you, you old codger! I was wondering why such a strange fellow would appear in the Calm Belt!"

Although Boa Hancock knew about Rayleigh and Buggy's relationship and understood the cause of the incident, she was still somewhat unwilling, simply because Buggy had shown no mercy in his attacks during the battle just now.

As the most beautiful woman in the world, whether recognized by the public or by herself, any man would fall in love with her at first sight and then treat her with utmost respect. But this Red Nose in front of her... wasn't attracted by her "beauty" at all!

In reality, she overestimated Buggy. Even a man like Magellan, before showing any hostility, would be irresistibly drawn to Boa Hancock's beauty. Buggy's advantage lay in knowing beforehand the power of Boa Hancock's Devil Fruit ability, thus allowing him to remain completely focused during the battle. Even though Boa Hancock's cheongsam, with its slits reaching her thighs, had repeatedly exposed her, he hadn't noticed, or rather, dared not notice. However, thinking about it afterwards...

"Sigh, what a pity..." Buggy suddenly sighed inexplicably, which puzzled Rayleigh. Was this kid... dissatisfied with his training results not meeting his expectations?

He then quickly glanced around and tried to smooth things over, saying, "Since no one was injured this time, let's consider this matter closed..."

"What do you mean, let it go? I don't agree!" Boa Hancock's narcissistic and arrogant personality made her very concerned about her reputation, and she would not easily give in, regardless of whether she was in the wrong.

Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold, along with the female warriors of the Kuja Pirates, hurried over. Unlike Boa Hancock, these two sisters were extremely grateful to Rayleigh for saving them years ago. They carefully examined Boa Hancock's body and, seeing that she was unharmed, breathed a sigh of relief. They then turned and greeted Rayleigh in a friendly manner, "Mr. Rayleigh, it's been a long time!"

Rayleigh nodded and smiled, "Yes, it's been a long time!"

Boa Sandersonia asked, "So these people... are they all your friends?"

"Yes."

"I see..."

Boa Sandersonia looked at Boa Hancock, stood to her left, and whispered, "Sister, since she's Mr. Rayleigh's friend, let's just let this go?"

Boa Marigold also walked to Boa Hancock's right side and spoke in a low voice, though her voice was so deep that everyone around could hear her clearly. "Sister, we started this, and Mr. Rayleigh saved us before, we shouldn't make things difficult for him and his friends..."

Boa Hancock is not an unreasonable person. Beneath her proud exterior, she is actually very sensitive. In the original work, after Luffy defeated Boa Sandersonia in the arena, he climbed up behind her to cover up the Celestial Dragons slave mark that was about to be exposed. This touched a very sensitive string in Boa Hancock's heart, making her no longer single-mindedly Luffy kill Luffy.

Hearing her two younger sisters chiming in, she began to hesitate. As they said, Rayleigh had indeed saved her back then, that much was undeniable. Logically and emotionally, she had no reason to make things difficult for Rayleigh...

But would the world's one and only Pirate Empress need a reason to do her things?

Boa Hancock wasn't about to let this go easily, and coldly said, "If you'd like me to let it go, that's not impossible... but make this man kneel at my feet and kowtow three times!"

Faced with this unreasonable demand, Buggy resolutely replied, "I refuse."

"For my sake, Boa, please back down. After all, you're quite a famous person."

Rayleigh remained calm and smiling. He had seen countless storms in his life, and the current conflict was nothing more than a child's tantrum.

"Elder sister..."

Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold also tried to persuade him, partly because of Rayleigh, and partly because Buggy's strength was indeed too great. Moreover, since this man could enter and leave the Calm Belt, he might have a way to find Amazon Lily in the future. Boa Hancock could ignore whether Amazon Lily would perish, but the two of them could not. Creating a powerful enemy for no reason was something they were worried about and did not want to see.

"I understand!"

Boa Hancock was finally persuaded. She tossed her cloak behind her, turned, and left. "I'll let you go today for Rayleigh's sake!"

Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold also breathed a sigh of relief. After bidding farewell to Rayleigh, they followed Boa Hancock with the female warriors of the Kuja Pirates.

"They seem to be getting more and more willful..." Rayleigh SMILE as he watched the Kuja Pirates depart.

Mohji and Shuma moved closer to Buggy, Shuma said, "That pirate crew is really strange... it's all women!"

"You two..." Rayleigh turned to look at Mohji and Shuma, nodding, "You've made considerable progress recently."

Because he had left the deserted island two or three months ago, he naturally noticed that Shuma and Mohji's mental state and condition were much better than before.

"Really! Hahahaha--" Receiving such legendary praise, Mohji's face beamed with a smile as bright as a flower.

Buggy then said to Rayleigh, "Mr. Rayleigh, I think our training should be over for now. I'd like to return to Sabaody."

"Aren't you going to train for a while longer...?" Rayleigh asked. "Although you've made some noticeable progress recently, if you continue training, your strength should be able to improve to an even higher level."

"Rayleigh for your kindness, Mr. Rayleigh, but this... should be fine."

"I understand. I'll lead the way back." Rayleigh nodded, said no more, and led the way towards the shore where the small boat was moored.

"Let's go!" Buggy called out to Mohji and the other two.

"Here I am! Captain Buggy!" Mohji ran over, waving his hand.

"Oh!!"

Shuma looked around reluctantly, but quickly regained his cheerful mood and caught up with the others.

Eight months of training came to an end at this moment.

The northwest coast of Rusukaina.

When Buggy and his companions emerged from the jungle, the Kuja Pirates' tall, magnificent pirate ship was still anchored, with two fierce snakes hissing and flicking their tongues beneath it.

Rayleigh scanned the shore, somewhat puzzled. "When I came here, that small boat was clearly still moored on the beach..."

"I just ordered my men to put that ship out to sea." Boa Hancock stood on the deck of the pirate ship, looking down at the crowd on the beach.

Mohji immediately became angry and roared, "Aren't you going too far, you Shichibukai?!"

Boa Hancock cupped her face in her hands. "No matter what bad things I've done, I'll be forgiven... because I'm just too beautiful!"

"Yeah..." Mohji stared at Boa Hancock's stunning beauty, unable to tear himself away, and subconsciously echoed.

Boa Hancock then pointed at the crowd and said, "However... I can grant you a chance. This ship can now take you wherever you wish to go!"

Boa Hancock's strange actions were clearly ill-intentioned, even Rayleigh sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation, "This is really a headache... Buggy, if you don't want to, let's use what we have and make another raft. It won't take long..."

Boa Hancock said defiantly, "Don't you dare, Red Nose!"

"Oh... why wouldn't I dare?" Buggy tried to calm himself down, avoiding looking up to meet Boa Hancock's beautiful eyes. "Since the Pirate Empress has invited me... I have no reason to refuse."

After saying that, he turned to Rayleigh and said, "Mr. Rayleigh, since we have a ship available, there's no need for us to do anything unnecessary. Let's take that ship and sail back to Sabaody Archipelago with the wind."

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Rayleigh laughed heartily, "You really are trusting!"

Buggy smiled, looked up, and jumped onto the deck. Mohji, Shuma, and the slow-moving Rayleigh followed suit and boarded the Kuja Pirates' ship.

"But no man has ever boarded our ship!"

"Snake Princess definitely has her own plans!"

The female warriors of the Kuja Pirates whispered among themselves, harboring hostility.

At this moment, Boa Sandersonia spoke on behalf of Boa Hancock: "Where are you going?"

"... Sabaody Archipelago."