Run After Showing Off

"Victor! I can't believe you managed to find this place!!"

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Seeing the black-haired youth standing atop the wall, Luffy pressed his face against the bars of the cage and shouted.

"Hurry up and get this cage open! I want to go out and punch that red nose into the air!"

Zoro arrived shortly afterward, panting heavily.

Seeing Luffy locked in an iron cage like a monkey, the corner of his mouth twitched wildly.

"Hey, Luffy, what new stunt are you pulling this time?"

"Shishishi! I think it's pretty fun." Luffy showed absolutely no remorse.

At that moment, Victor lightly jumped down from the wall and shielded the still-shaken Nami behind him.

He turned around and gave Nami his signature smile.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Nami. I'm Victor, your vice captain."

Nami looked at the youth before her, who had just taken out more than a dozen pirates in one move, and forced herself to calm down.

"Hey! Don't act all familiar!" Nami warily stepped back half a pace. "I never said I'd join you! Don't think I'll agree to become a pirate just because you saved me!"

"Hey!! You red-eyed brat!!"

An angry roar interrupted their conversation.

Buggy stood atop the platform, so furious that even his separated body parts trembled wildly as he pointed at Victor and cursed.

"Who the hell are you?! Don't you know this is the territory of the great 'Clown' Buggy?! You actually dared to blow away my men!"

Victor paid no attention to Buggy's impotent rage.

He maintained his smiling expression as he bent down and picked up the match a pirate had dropped earlier.

Then, under the terrified gazes of all the pirates, he grabbed the barrel of the massive Buggy Cannon with one hand.

"Creak—"

The cannon slowly turned until its pitch-black barrel was aimed directly at Buggy's group on the platform.

"Zoro! Forget the cage. Carry Luffy and this young lady out of here first."

Victor waved a hand at Zoro without turning around.

"I'll be there right after I finish putting on one last show for the audience."

Zoro glanced at the cannon that was ready to fire and instantly understood Victor's plan.

"Tch, what a reckless vice captain."

Without another word, Zoro hoisted the heavy iron cage containing Luffy onto his shoulder, then spoke to Nami.

"Let's go! Run if you don't want to die!"

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?! That's loaded with a special Buggy Ball!!"

As Buggy stared at the dark cannon muzzle pointed at him, cold sweat instantly drenched his back, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

The other pirates raised their hands in terror to stop him.

"Stop!! We'll die! People will really die!"

"Oh? So you people know getting blown up can kill you too?"

Victor struck the match, its flame reflecting in his emotionless eyes.

"I just want you all to experience the weapon you're so proud of. Only... with your roles reversed."

As he spoke, he loosened his fingers, and the burning match drifted down to ignite the fuse.

"Stop itttt!!!" Buggy screamed desperately.

The instant he lit the fuse, chakra burst beneath Victor's feet, and he rapidly retreated backward.

The next second.

"Boom—!!!"

A thunderous explosion even louder than before shook the heavens.

The power of a special Buggy Ball exploding at close range was terrifying.

The entire upper level of the bar was swallowed by crimson fire in an instant, its sturdy bricks and stone reduced to ash like crumbling tofu.

The skull flag representing the might of the Buggy Pirates was instantly vaporized by the shockwave, leaving not even a scrap behind.

A massive mushroom cloud rose into the sky.

Victor, who was in the middle of retreating, looked back at the brilliant "fireworks" and clicked his tongue.

"So this is the power of a Buggy Ball? I kind of want to swipe a few and bring them back."

[ Ding! Used a "Buggy Ball" to heavily damage the Buggy Pirates. ]

[ Battle Rating: A (Using their own methods against them). ]

[ Ninja Way Points Obtained: 200. ]

Hearing the system prompt, Victor smiled in satisfaction and waved toward the ruins.

"Hehe, no need to thank me. Red Nose, Captain Buggy."

With that, he fled the area without looking back.

That Fireball Jutsu had consumed a full quarter of his chakra.

Right now, he was still a "Genin" with a severely lacking chakra pool.

Taking on the entire enraged Buggy Pirates alone would still be rather difficult.

Victor's first rule: run after showing off. What a thrill.

Meanwhile, on the streets of Orange Town.

Zoro carried the enormous iron cage through the streets as though it were a sack of cotton.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

Nami panted as she chased after them from behind. "You're running too fast!"

Hearing that, Zoro slowed down slightly.

"Hey, Luffy." As he ran, Zoro pointed at Nami behind them. "Who is that woman? Is she the companion you were looking for?"

"Shishishi, that's right!" Luffy sat in the bouncing cage, still grinning happily. "She's Nami, the navigator we're looking for!"

At that moment, Nami finally caught up and immediately refuted him upon hearing that.

"Hey! I never said I'd join you... Hey! You moss-head!!"

Nami suddenly pointed at Zoro and shouted.

"Huh? What?" Zoro stopped.

"Why are you going that way? That's a dead end!"

Nami pointed in the opposite direction in despair. "Aren't we trying to escape? It's this way!!"

Zoro, whose terrible sense of direction had been triggered, flushed slightly.

"Tch, the roads in this town are designed too strangely. I was just trying to scout the route."

Nami rolled her eyes and helplessly walked ahead to lead the way. "Stay close and don't get lost!"

After running for a while and confirming there were no pursuers behind them, the three slowed down.

"Hey, that red-eyed man earlier... who exactly was he?" Nami couldn't help asking. "That fire-breathing ability, was that a Devil Fruit too?"

"That bastard is our vice captain, Victor." Zoro snorted.

"Shishishi, Victor is amazing! And he's an interesting magician!" Luffy laughed. "Don't worry, he'll definitely catch up."

"I told you I won't join you! And I wasn't worried about him!"

Not long afterward, the three finally arrived in front of an ordinary-looking pet food store.

At the entrance sat a little white dog, motionlessly guarding the door.

"Whew... We're here. This should be safe for now."

Zoro heavily set the enormous iron cage on the ground. "Let's wait for Victor here."

"Wow! A puppy!"

Even trapped in the cage, Luffy couldn't sit still. He wriggled the cage like a caterpillar and rolled all the way over to the little dog named Chouchou.

"Hey, doggy, I'm hungry. Do you have any meat?"

"Woof!" Chouchou barked fiercely.

Watching the ridiculous scene, Nami sighed helplessly, then seemed to remember something and slapped her forehead.

"Ah, speaking of which, I forgot."

Nami reached into her clothes, pulled out a sparkling key, and waved it before Zoro.

"The cage key. I actually swiped it earlier."

The entire place fell silent.

Zoro stared at the key, black lines filling his forehead as he couldn't help roaring.

"You had the key, so why didn't you say so earlier?! You made me carry this stupid cage halfway across town!!"

"You never asked." Nami spread her hands matter-of-factly. "Besides, the situation was so urgent earlier.

"And don't get the wrong idea. I just don't want to owe Victor a favor. Since he saved me, I'll let your captain out to call us even."

With that, Nami casually tossed the key toward Luffy.

"Catch, Luffy."

"Shishishi! Great! I'm saved..." Luffy excitedly stretched out his arm to catch it.

However, just as the key traced an arc through the air and was about to fall into Luffy's hand.

Chouchou, who had been crouching nearby without moving, suddenly displayed astonishing jumping power.

"Arf!"

Chouchou leaped high into the air and accurately caught the key in his mouth.

Then he landed, still maintaining that expressionless posture as he guarded the door.

"..."

Luffy froze.

Zoro froze.

Nami froze too.

The three stared at the dog, falling into a long daze.

"Did he think anything that hits the ground belongs to him?!" Zoro cried in despair.

"Ah!! Damn it, damn it!!"

Luffy snapped out of it, stretched out his hands, grabbed Chouchou, and shook him desperately.

"That's not dog food! That's my key! Spit it out! Spit it out, you stupid dog!!"

"Woof woof woof!!"

Amid the chaotic commotion of man and dog, a figure descended from the rooftop.

Victor had finally caught up.

Seeing Luffy fighting a dog for the key, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

He had clearly changed so much of the plot. Yet this key... had still been swallowed by this dog?

"Is this what they call... the World Correction Force?"

Victor helplessly shook his head, walked over to the group, and waved.

"Hey, I'm back. Looks like I missed quite a show?"

At the same time.

The former Buggy Pirates' base had now become a field of ruins.

Black smoke billowed everywhere.

Buggy sat on the ground, covered in soot. His once splendid clown outfit had been blasted into tatters, and his red nose was covered in black ash.

Although he had avoided fatal injuries in the explosion thanks to the Chop-Chop Fruit's powers.

The humiliation and miserable state he was in made his entire body tremble.

"Unforgivable... absolutely unforgivable..."

Buggy's face darkened, revenge blazing in his eyes.

"Those brats... they're declaring war on me! They actually dared to blow up my castle!"

Suddenly, a heart-shaking lion's roar came from behind the ruins.

"Roar—!!"

A beast tamer riding a giant lion slowly emerged from the smoke and dust.

"Looks like you've run into some trouble, Captain Buggy."

Mohji, the beast tamer with the strange hairstyle, looked at the devastation around him and spoke calmly.

"You're here, Mohji." Buggy raised his head, his gaze cold.

"May I take those brats' heads, Captain Buggy?" Mohji stroked the mane of the giant lion Richie beneath him. "My Richie is starving."

Buggy picked up a broken throwing knife from the ground and viciously drove it into the earth.

"Go. Tear that Straw Hat brat and that red-eyed bastard... into pieces for me!!"