Luffy, tied up by Nami, was brought before Buggy.
"I've brought the thief, Captain Buggy."
"Glad you brought him back, but how did you get so fast?" Buggy's face was gloomy as he took the log pose.
"My talk with the boss fell apart; I can't stand him anymore. Please let me join Buggy's Crew."
Buggy began to laugh in a low voice, with a murderous aura. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the straw hat on Luffy's head. That was the Captain's straw hat; how could he not recognize it? Is this the person Shanks chose? That coward who was content with the status quo, just handing over his dream to someone else.
"Hahahahaha..." These two must be Crewmates, right? Buggy laughed and laughed... his voice suddenly became comical... he even cried from laughter. No one knew what he was thinking.
"You're killing me... Can't stand him anymore, huh? You woman are really interesting, I like you, I'll let you join us." After saying that, Buggy continued to laugh non-stop.
Nami was still delighted by how easily pirates were fooled, but she didn't notice Buggy's meaningful gaze.
Subsequently, Luffy was locked in a cage.
So, a group of people started a welcome banquet.
"Hahahahahahaha, I'm in such a good mood!" But his voice sounded a bit gnashing.
"My subordinates, prepare the special Buggy Bomb."
Although Buggy didn't know what Nami's 'return of the complete jade' act was meant to convey, he was more interested in whether this cunning woman was worthy of being this boy's Companion.
The loaded cannon was aimed at an open area. The immense danger of the cannonball left Nami dumbfounded, and also alerted Zoro and Orochimaru, who had arrived, to Luffy's location.
After demonstrating the cannonball's power, it was aimed at Luffy.
"Nami, light it!" Buggy threw the match to Nami.
"What's wrong? Your hand is trembling. You haven't fully resolved yourself. Trying to challenge pirates is what makes you like this."
"Resolve, or whatever... Is easily killing others the resolve of a pirate?" Nami clenched her fist.
"No, it's the resolve to stake your own life," Luffy said with a serious smile.
While they were talking, Buggy gestured to a pirate. That pirate quickly snatched the match and lit the fuse.
Nami instinctively pulled out her collapsible staff and assembled it, knocking out that pirate with one blow.
"Hmm?" Buggy threatened, "Nami, are you going against us?"
Nami, who was bowing and apologizing, trying to muddle through, heard Luffy's shout.
"Ah!!! Fire! Fire! It's lit!"
Ignoring the pirates rushing at her, Nami ran directly over and gripped the fuse with her hand, extinguishing the flame. The burning pain in her palm caused beads of sweat to form on Nami's forehead.
"Watch out behind you!!" Luffy looked somewhat worriedly at the group of people slashing at Nami.
Nami closed her eyes in fear, but no pain came.
"Hey, hey..." Zoro's sword hilt struck the faces of the group of people.
"What kind of hero gangs up on a weak woman? I say, what are you playing at again?" Zoro looked at Luffy in the cage, speechless.
"And also, Orochimaru, you arrived long ago, didn't you? What show are you watching there?" Everyone followed Zoro's gaze and saw a person standing on top of Buggy's circus-like tent.
Orochimaru jumped down, walked over to the two, and took Nami's hand, repairing it with Chakra.
Nami was a bit dazed, subconsciously looking at the person... so beautiful. "Thank you..."
"I just saw Luffy and Buggy having a lot of fun, so I didn't disturb them."
"Huh??? Who's playing with them?! That's a Buggy Bomb! People can die!" Buggy looked at the cannonball.
"So, did anyone die?" Orochimaru stared at the red-nosed man, then turned away without looking at him.
Buggy was speechless... "Ah... no, that's not right! I'm a heinous pirate!!! And why are you turning away?! Are you mocking my nose?"
"Oh~ Is that so (ᄑ_ᄑ)"
Buggy stomped his feet in a rage! Looking at that Shanks-like expression of ignoring people, "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you!!! You're definitely doing it on purpose! Did that scoundrel Shanks make you do this?! Even your expression is exactly the same!!!"
Orochimaru looked a bit disgusted, who's like him ah•᷄ࡇ•᷅.
"Hey, hey, Buggy, please don't make personal attacks. Who's like that scoundrel Red Hair who traffics children?"
The other three looked at Orochimaru and Buggy talking, tilting their heads.
"Hey!! Hey!!! Orochimaru!! Are you hiding something from me?! What are you talking about with Buggy? Don't act so familiar!" Luffy had an expression like he was about to throw a tantrum.
Orochimaru sighed.
"My idiotic Captain has caused you trouble. As you can see, he's infected with a disease called Shanks."
"Orochimaru!!! Hurry up and tell me, what's going on?" Luffy couldn't wait and squeezed out of the cage's gaps. It was a joke; the cage had such large gaps, and Luffy was a rubber man, he could just pull himself out. He was just playing out of boredom.
Nami looked at Buggy, then at Luffy, glancing around. Her expression was not good. "Are you familiar with a bloodthirsty pirate like Buggy?"
Orochimaru held Luffy with one hand to prevent him from acting out, and with the other, he stroked Nami's head to calm her down. "Calm down, bloodthirsty? Did you see any corpses? Is there blood in this town?
Zoro and Luffy must have noticed too, otherwise Zoro wouldn't have even drawn his sword. And didn't you also know that all the townspeople are on the mountain? If he were bloodthirsty, they wouldn't be alive and well, and even the food in the houses would still be there."
Nami thought about it and finally realized the strange part. Yes, the houses were just empty, without people, but the streets were clean, and the things in the houses were tidy... except for some empty houses on the edges that were damaged by the Buggy Bomb just now.
Nothing else was missing, and the damage only happened after they arrived. But Buggy had been on this island for a long time. Nami was somewhat shocked. Could pirates be so kind? Having been plundered by Arlong, she knew what truly bloodthirsty pirates were like.
"So, what exactly is going on?" Nami felt her worldview shattering a bit. So not all pirates only plunder?
Orochimaru ignored Buggy's expression and pointed. "Buggy the Clown, a treasure-hunting pirate. Asking him to kill people is less appealing to him than giving him a treasure map. Don't look at them eating and drinking well.
This amount of food isn't even enough for one of Luffy's meals, and the lions in his circus are at the point where they'd try to steal dog food." Orochimaru pointed at the lion he had knocked out earlier, which had been trying to steal dog food when they arrived.
"But, she clearly tried to kill Luffy just now," Nami didn't understand.
"He wouldn't die. Even if you hadn't saved Luffy, he wouldn't have died. He was just trying to test if Luffy was determined to become the Pirate King, and to see if you would abandon Luffy."
Orochimaru mercilessly exposed Buggy, watching the group's faces turn red and then pale.