Negotiation

Amber Village, where Angli Fengbo is located, is situated on slightly lower ground ahead. From afar, one can see the pointed rooftops, which are quite exaggerated in length, almost the same as the length of the flat buildings below. At intervals around the village, torches are placed to prevent the invasion of Cai Rainbow Bug.

Several Rainbow Bug poked their heads out of the holes in the cone-shaped gelatinous nest near the rock, but quickly retreated after finding nothing.

Bypassing the rows of Rainbow Bug nests stretching for hundreds of meters, Buggy and his group, led by Angli Fengbo, chose a secluded path to reach the village entrance.

"Everyone, I'm back!"

Upon seeing Angli Fengbo, a group of villagers dressed in ordinary blue shorts, with their socks pulled up to their knees and colorful feathers tucked into their waistbands, rushed to the village entrance, their faces beaming with joy. "Great! Angli, you're finally back!"

"Are you alright?!"

"Angli, who are they?"

The middle-aged man with five feathers hanging from his waist squinted wearily and looked at the group of people, including Buggy, who were walking towards Angli Fengbo from behind. The villagers also turned their gazes back, looking puzzled.

"Lord Bos," Angli Fengbo said hastily, "They are travelers from abroad..."

"We are pirates." Buggy interrupted Angli Fengbo, stepped forward, and sized up the middle-aged man. "He is our prisoner now. I asked him to bring me here."

Upon hearing this, the villagers immediately drew their weapons and looked at Buggy and its group with wary expressions.

"Stop it, everyone!"

Knowing that Buggy and his group were extremely powerful, Angli Fengbo said in a deep voice, "Don't act rashly... don't anger him."

Clearly, Angli Fengbo held considerable prestige in the village. After he spoke, the villagers hesitated and slightly lowered their weapons, looking at Bos standing in the middle, waiting for his decision.

Bos looked at Buggy with a hint of pity and said, "Foreign pirates, you won't find what you want in the village. You should leave this island... lest you be wiped out by the Rainbow Bug."

"No, this is what I want," Buggy said.

What do you want?

"This entire island."

As soon as he finished speaking, Bos's eyes widened suddenly. He turned around and spun around, his body becoming a blur. In an instant, he leaped into the air and swung the long staff in his right hand fiercely at Buggy.

Buggy wrapped his right hand in Armament Haki, raised it upwards to block the long staff, and then tilted his left hand back before suddenly extending it forward, firing his Shigan like a cannonball.

Bos was sent flying backward, landing on the ground more than ten meters away, his long staff flying out of his hand.

The villagers were stunned by the instantaneous exchange between the two, frozen in place before they could even react.

"Does he even know Armament Haki?" Buggy withdrew his hand, looking at Bos who was staggering to his feet. Bosch was clutching his wounded abdomen with one hand, picking up the long staff with the other, a bead of cold sweat trickling down his forehead. He muttered, "What a powerful guy..."

As he spoke, his tone became much more humble, "If you have that kind of power, I have no objection to your desire to rule this island—if you believe you can do it."

Buggy's eyebrows involuntarily rose at the change in the other party's attitude. He thought to himself, "Was his attack just now a test?" and retorted, "Why not?"

Bos said, "This island is not safe. I think you've already seen these Rainbow Bug on your way here. We're currently facing their attack and are barely able to defend ourselves. Our village is also in danger of being destroyed at any moment... Since you have the guts to want to be the master of this island, come to the village with me. I will provide you with assistance, as well as some information about the Rainbow Bug. If you want to rule, this is a problem you must solve."

"Lord Bos?!"

The villagers stared at Bos in astonishment. They had never imagined that the riot of Rainbow Bug could conceal something that couldn't be made public, but judging from Bos's tone, things weren't that simple...

"Oh?!"

This piqued Buggy's interest, and he strolled towards the village. "I'll listen in..."

Bos's residence was in the very center of the village. He didn't want to make this public, fearing it would cause panic among the villagers, so he brought Buggy to his place.

On the road leading past Bos's residence, in Angli Fengbo's small courtyard, a little girl with dark skin but surprisingly pretty eyes waited anxiously behind the fence. When she saw her father, her anxiety instantly turned into joy, and she rushed over to him.

Angli Fengbo opened his arms, caught the little girl, laughed heartily, and handed his daughter the pancake wrapped in leaves that morning.

The little girl happily took it, chewed it in her mouth, and made "smack smack" sounds.

"Hey, you don't have any designs on this underage girl, do you?"

Lilina glanced at Buggy, who had slowed his pace and was watching Angli Fengbo and his daughter, and subtly whispered in his ear, "What do you mean?"

"I'm not that shameless..." Buggy shrugged. "Let's go."

"Tch..." Lilina chuckled to herself as she watched the other person's retreating figure.

Bos stopped in front of the door of a slightly larger, high-ceilinged room, pushed the door open, and said, "Please come in."

Buggy left the pirates who accompanied him in the village to keep an eye on things, while he and a few crew members went into the house.

The room wasn't as small as it looked from the outside; in fact, it was quite spacious. The floor and table were spotless. Buggy dusted off the chair and sat down.

Lilina, Mohji, Shuma also chose a seat.

Bos poured everyone a cup of tea, took a deep breath, and then explained the story about the Rainbow Bug. Buggy then learned the whole story.

In the center of the island lies a large town called the Ritual Hall, which is ruled by the most esteemed [National Priest]. Beside the Ritual Hall is a mine that has been mined for hundreds of years. Under the orders of the [National Priest], countless miners work day and night to excavate this mine. The mine does not produce ordinary ore, but an energy stone called [M].

This mineral is the island's core energy source. In the past, the mining cycle of M Ore was set at one month every year, and the cycle was repeated. In this way, the island's own regulatory system could keep the island in natural balance.

However, in recent years, the national festival at the Ritual Hall has been increasing the number of miners and frequently mining M Ore, causing a natural phenomenon to rebound on the island. In other words, the Rainbow Bug, which originally did not actively attack humans, have developed a fear of their environment and launched a large-scale attack, wanting to kill the humans who are the culprits.

After this incident, the village sent out sentries to the Ritual Hall to talk to the officials, but the state priests ignored the casualties among the villagers in the surrounding villages and continued to mine the veins.

Even now, the number of Rainbow Bug crawling out of their nests is increasing, and their aggression is growing stronger. Even if the entire village were to relocate, as long as they don't leave this island, no matter where they migrate to, they will ultimately face annihilation.

Bos revealed this to Buggy with his own strong subjective purpose: to stop the state priest's actions.

He knew he couldn't accomplish this on his own. According to the feather classification, he was only level five. Above level five, there were level six, seven, and eight warriors. With these warriors surrounding the national priest, launching a campaign against him would be like ants trying to shake a tree.

However, Buggy's composure and strength gave Bos a glimmer of hope that he could overthrow the rule of the state priest, stop the mining of M Ore, and free the villagers from the scourge of the Rainbow Bug insects. To him, it made no difference who ruled the island.

Buggy thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up slightly. Overthrowing the tyrant and rightfully seizing the throne—wasn't this a golden opportunity?

Donquixote Doflamingo did the same thing back then.

After hearing the story, everyone nodded in understanding, "So that's how it is."

"Lord Bos, more Rainbow Bug have broken in!"

Just then, anxious shouts rang out from outside. Bos quickly gripped his stick and went out, shouting, "I'm coming!"

"Let's do our part too," Buggy said, standing up and looking out the window.

The riot of the Rainbow Bug was quelled with the help of the pirates brought by Buggy. Compared to the previous three or five, this time there were more than ten of them that rushed into the village. Three villagers were injured and rushed to the clinic. One person died on the spot. She was an old woman over sixty years old. She was sitting in her home when a Rainbow Bug broke through her window and bit her to death. Her death was so gruesome that it was hard to look at.

After the old woman's body was quickly cremated, a lingering gloom descended upon the entire village. All the villagers were in low spirits, and many thought that perhaps they would be next.

Bos slammed his fist into the ground with fury and resentment. "You see, the Rainbow Bug are becoming increasingly violent. Even flames are about to be unable to stop their invasion!"

"..."

Buggy sat on the stake, his eyes gleaming. "I saw it."

"Lilina, use the Den Den Mushi to inform everyone to temporarily halt exploration, stay in camp, and have Captains Ryan, Carl, August, Tink, Jass, and Daoer each select some skilled individuals to come to this village. Also, have Dino come; he's got a lot of ideas... We're about to do something big."

"Knew."

Lilina dialed the captains' Den Den Mushi one by one, giving them orders and explaining in detail the route to the village.

Several hours later, the six captains, along with most of the elite Buggy Pirates, gathered in the village.

Seeing the menacing-looking pirates before him, Bos's gloomy expression eased slightly. If such a powerful force existed... it might be able to change the fate of this island!

Bos took out a pen and paper and, based on his memory, drew a topographical map of the various buildings of the Ritual Hall and its surrounding environment, which he then handed to Buggy.

The town is situated on a plain, bordered by a mine to the south and a hill and a natural lake to the north. According to the provided blueprints, the town's size should be similar to that of the previously visited Weilan Royal City. However, this town does not have city walls, but is only surrounded by ordinary fences. In the center of the town stands a rather large main building. From the blueprints drawn by Bos, it is not clear whether it is a castle or some other building, but there is no doubt that the powerful and influential Grand Priest resides here.

Looking at the map, Mohji asked, "Captain Buggy, should we just storm this town?"

"Is now the right time?" Buggy turned to look at Bos.

"I have already spoken with the leaders of the other villages, and those villages are already full of complaints. As for the people living in the Ritual Hall, they are now living in fear and unease. If you are willing to contribute to overthrowing the rule of the state festival, I think everyone on the island will welcome you."

"Hmm..." Buggy pondered for a moment, looking at the ever-cunning Mr. 3, "What do you think?"

Mr. 3 quickly offered his suggestion, "Captain Buggy, since we're aiming to replace the ruler, I think we should first understand the attitudes of everyone in the town. Otherwise, even killing the state priest won't make the islanders submit to you. You'll only be able to resort to oppressive rule, which will easily trigger a backlash... Besides, I don't think the timing is right yet. Wait until the casualties among these islanders continue to rise, until everyone feels hopeless, then you can make your grand entrance as a savior. That way, you'll definitely win their hearts!"

"I think this is inappropriate. While we do need to figure out the timing, we can't just keep delaying."

Daoer suddenly spoke up in rebuttal, "Those Rainbow Bug are extremely poisonous and their numbers are enormous. If the number of Rainbow Bug released is not increasing by a hundred per day, but by two per day, then in a few days, the situation will develop to a point that we cannot control."

"Daoer said makes a lot of sense." Mohji nodded. "Take this village for example. Yesterday, there were only a few Rainbow Bug invading, but today there are more than ten. If this continues, everyone in this village may be killed. Even if this village is spared, we cannot guarantee that the other villages will not be left with nothing but ruins."

"Great things don't concern themselves with trifles." Jass, cigar in mouth and arms crossed, said, "Only after sacrifice do people feel fear and appreciation. Unsolicited help won't earn gratitude; they might just take it for granted. I think we shouldn't rush into action now, but wait and see."

"Ultimately, since we've decided to rule this place, population is also a resource; the larger the population, the stronger the nation," Louis Carl stroked his beard. "Conversely, too many deaths and injuries would be a loss for us... and delays could lead to unforeseen circumstances."

Tink coldly replied, "I second that."

Moses August spoke with an aura of holiness, "They may now be like lost sheep... Only the light of faith in Lord Satan can illuminate their path!"

"What you're saying has nothing to do with this, Moses!" Jody Lane snapped, raising her half-beast right hand. "Just kill all the Rainbow Bug on the island, and then we'll have plenty of time to carry out our plan."

"Even if we have the ability to do it, we can't. Without the threat posed by the Rainbow Bug, we might not become so popular..." Lilina looked at Buggy. "So what should we do?"