"Hey, don't you guys see it?! Lord Buggy keeps getting farther and farther away! What if something happened to him?!"
One of the pirates finally noticed something was wrong.
The others immediately shoved his head down and shouted at him.
"Idiot! What are you talking about? Look at Lord Buggy waving his hands! He's obviously saying goodbye to us!"
"He must have something extremely important to do, so he had no choice but to leave!"
"Ohhh, so that's what it is!"
"He could've slipped away without saying a word, but Lord Buggy still cared enough about us, his subordinates, to make such a huge scene just to say goodbye!"
"I'm so touched!"
"SAFE TRAVELS, LORD BUGGY!!!"
Standing near the entrance of the tent, the original members of the Buggy Pirates watched the spectacle alongside Alvida and Galdino—better known as Mr. 3.
They all sighed.
"These guys really are blindly devoted."
"So what now? Our new boss is gone again."
"Guess we disband. Everyone mourn appropriately and start dividing the luggage and treasure, just like we agreed."
Someone muttered the suggestion with remarkable ease.
Apparently, they had either prepared for this exact scenario in advance or had simply become far too experienced with Buggy randomly disappearing.
It happened often enough.
Alvida thought about it for a moment.
"Still, he is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"His status as a legally recognized pirate is pretty useful."
"And with this many people gathered here, the operation seems like it could keep running even without him."
"Exactly!"
Cabaji thought for all of one second before nodding.
"Then we keep it quiet!"
"If he really dies, we just hide it from the entire world for as long as possible."
"And if that bastard gets lucky and survives?"
"He'll probably mysteriously come back again like every other time."
With that settled, several of them grabbed megaphones and shouted toward Buggy's rapidly shrinking figure.
"BOSS!!!"
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT US!!!"
"WE'LL TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR TERRITORY WHILE YOU'RE GONE!!!"
Buggy shut his eyes in despair and clenched his fists.
"Those bastards…!"
Rayleigh had remained silent through the entire spectacle, watching with an amused smile.
He looked down at the cheering Buggy Pirates, then at Buggy's utterly lifeless expression.
Finally, he could not hold back his laughter.
"Little Buggy…"
"Looks like your subordinates care about you quite a lot."
"They're just too stu—"
Buggy instinctively started finishing the sentence for him.
Then he froze halfway through.
His eyes slowly widened as he stared at the white-haired old man beside him.
"R-R-R-RAYLEIGH-SAN?!"
"W-W-W-WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"
"And why are you with this brat?!"
"Well, we needed you for something."
Rayleigh answered casually.
"We were in a hurry and didn't have time to explain everything first, so we simply brought you along."
"Oh!"
Buggy immediately slapped his forehead in understanding.
"If Rayleigh-san is involved, then that's completely different!"
"If you're the one who called for me, just tell me what you need. I'll agree to anything!"
"Huh?"
Cain looked down at him in surprise.
"You agreed that quickly?"
Buggy gave him an irritated glare.
"This has nothing to do with you, brat."
"I'm only letting this kidnapping slide because Rayleigh-san is here."
"But don't think I've forgotten that you grabbed me like this, or what you did before!"
"That shameless personality of yours is just as irritating as Shanks!"
"Ha!"
Rayleigh chuckled.
"You really haven't changed."
"Whenever you get emotional, Shanks' name always comes up."
He smiled at Buggy.
"You two are still as close as ever."
"W-WHO'S CLOSE WITH HIM?!"
Buggy's face instantly turned red.
Rayleigh merely took it as Buggy being stubborn and did not push the matter.
Instead, he finally explained why they had come.
"Well, what we need from you does involve Shanks."
"We'd like you to go see him."
Buggy's face went rigid.
"This…"
His expression shifted several times, from red to white to blue.
His lips moved, but no complete sentence came out.
He lowered his eyes, his thoughts turning into a complete mess.
His feelings toward Shanks had never been something as simple as hatred.
There was old resentment.
Frustration.
And an attachment he could never clearly explain.
Why had Buggy chosen to leave?
Why had he rejected Shanks' invitation?
Why had their relationship deteriorated into what it was today?
It was about far more than accidentally eating a Devil Fruit and losing a treasure map all those years ago.
There were things tangled beneath the surface that even Rayleigh might not fully know.
And Buggy had no intention of telling his old seniors.
Because in Buggy's eyes—
Shanks had been the one who betrayed everything first.
Shanks was supposed to be the king who would lead the next era.
He had been the man best suited to inherit Captain Roger's will and claim the One Piece.
Buggy had genuinely believed that.
He had believed it so completely that he willingly abandoned his own old dream.
And then Shanks betrayed him.
He betrayed the words he himself had once spoken.
He gave up on inheriting Roger's dream.
He gave up on going to Laugh Tale.
More than anything—
he betrayed Buggy's expectations.
Buggy had buried those feelings for far too long.
Yet when he tried to say them aloud, he found himself facing Rayleigh's calm, deep gaze as the old man waited patiently for an answer.
Buggy's lips felt sewn shut.
He could not say any of it.
He did not dare.
He was trapped.
The senior who had once looked after him was standing right there.
Buggy respected Rayleigh too much to reject him lightly.
But he also did not want to betray his own feelings.
He struggled for a long while, fists repeatedly clenching and loosening.
Finally, he steeled himself and gritted his teeth.
"I don't want to go, Rayleigh-san."
"Even if you personally ask me…"
"I absolutely refuse to see that red-haired bastard!"
The moment he finished, Buggy found himself staring directly into Cain's enormous dragon eyes.
Then he looked down at his own body still trapped in Cain's claw.
His confidence immediately wavered.
"W-What's with that look, brat?"
"Don't try to force me now!"
"Otherwise I'll… I'll…"
Cain stared down at him with a strange expression.
He had not been planning to do anything to Buggy.
What the hell was this clown imagining?
Still, Cain followed along.
"You'll what?"
"I'LL BITE MY TONGUE OFF AND KILL MYSELF!"
"You're a Chop-Chop human."
"Biting off your tongue probably wouldn't even work."
Buggy choked.
His entire face turned bright red.
After struggling for something to say, he finally muttered,
"Whatever! I'd rather die than go anywhere that bastard is!"
"Put me down!"
Rayleigh shook his head.
"Why don't you at least hear the rest first?"
Since Rayleigh was the one asking, Buggy reluctantly agreed.
He suppressed his irritation and nodded.
Seeing that he was finally willing to listen, Rayleigh gave a satisfied nod.
Then, very casually—
"Shanks is getting married."
Silence.
Buggy stopped struggling.
His entire body went rigid inside Cain's claw.
Several seconds passed.
Then his head snapped upward so hard that his eyes nearly flew out of their sockets.
"WHAT?!!!"
He flailed so violently that his body nearly split apart and sent his head flying off.
After hurriedly pulling himself back together, he shouted in disbelief,
"That guy has fallen that far?!"
"He's actually settling down and starting a family?!"
"Does he not even know how to be a proper pirate anymore?!"
His voice was overflowing with disgust.
His eyes, however, kept wandering.
Even while insulting Shanks, memories of the Oro Jackson inevitably surfaced in his mind.
Buggy looked at Rayleigh's smiling face.
"Are you going too, Rayleigh-san?"
"Of course."
Rayleigh smiled.
"And I'm not the only old man attending."
"The rest of the Roger Pirates will be there too."
"They won't all be able to come in person, but we'll have everyone connected through Den Den Mushi so they can still talk with us."
"Everyone…?"
Buggy's voice trembled.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
"Mm."
"They've all been saying they'd like to see you."
"After all, having Shanks there without Little Buggy would feel like something was missing."
"I…"
Buggy did not know what to say.
He thought about the years he had spent drifting aimlessly around the East Blue.
The thought of facing those legendary seniors again filled him with shame.
Rayleigh seemed to see straight through him.
"And besides…"
"Everyone heard that you became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"They've all been saying we should properly celebrate."
"The little apprentice who used to sail aboard our ship has grown into a great pirate capable of standing on his own."
Buggy's head shot up.
"Everyone knows?!"
Emotion surged violently through him.
"Of course."
Rayleigh's expression softened.
"We've always been keeping an eye on you."
"And I'm sure that someday, somewhere on this sea…"
"You'll reach heights even us old fossils can only look up at."
"I…"
"I…"
Something lodged in Buggy's throat.
His emotions became impossible to contain.
A Warlord of the Sea.
A pirate officially recognized by the World Government.
Other pirates might mock the title and call Warlords government lapdogs.
Buggy might possess a massive reputation.
But even so, his status could never compare with Shanks becoming one of the Four Emperors.
Buggy had told himself long ago that he did not care anymore.
Everyone aboard Roger's ship had expected greatness from Shanks.
Even Buggy himself had once believed in Shanks more than anyone.
But he had never imagined those same people might also believe in him.
That they could look at him with such high expectations.
Rayleigh's gaze grew even gentler when he saw Buggy's expression.
"Well, well…"
"You're a grown man now."
"Why are you crying?"
Buggy touched the corner of his eye.
There really were tears there.
He instinctively tried to pull his usual fierce expression back into place.
He wanted to carry himself like a proper Warlord in front of Rayleigh.
But every layer of bravado collapsed in front of this old man.
Buggy simply could not maintain it.
Instead, he looked like a helpless child whose hollow bluster had been pierced by a single sentence.
"I just…"
"I never thought everyone would still…"
His voice became muffled, thick with emotion.
"…care about me that much."
Rayleigh shook his head.
"What are you saying?"
"You and Shanks…"
"You'll always be our 'kids.'"
Buggy broke.
Tears poured from his eyes and fell one after another.
Most of his current followers worshiped him because they had no idea what the truth was.
But the people who did know him?
Whenever they discovered the laughable truth about his actual strength and learned that he had once sailed aboard Roger's ship, their expressions were almost always filled with mockery and contempt.
To them, Buggy was an accident aboard a legendary ship.
A stain.
A ridiculous footnote in history.
Yet Rayleigh was telling him that those incredible seniors from his past had always been somewhere out there, watching him from afar.
They remembered him.
They wanted to see him.
They even wanted to celebrate this supposed "stain" on their ship.
They had never forgotten him.
Memories of the Roger Pirates flooded back all at once.
Captain Roger's thunderous laughter.
The older crewmates who always stepped in front of him whenever danger appeared.
The days all of them had spent together aboard that ship.
Those had been the happiest years of Buggy's life.
As for that damn red-haired bastard…
"Hmph."
Buggy sniffed hard through his reddened nose.
'Fine.'
'If that red-haired bastard is getting married, I suppose taking a quick look wouldn't hurt.'
Buggy suddenly raised his head, shook away his tears, and shouted with tremendous force,
"I'M GOING!!!"
Then he immediately added a rapid barrage of disclaimers.
"But let me make one thing perfectly clear!"
"I am NOT going because of that bastard Shanks!"
"I'm going to see everyone from the Roger Pirates!"
"This has absolutely nothing to do with Red-Hair!"
"Nothing!"
"Not even a tiny bit!"
Rayleigh only smiled.
He did not say a word.
Cain looked down at the crying, shouting, impossibly stubborn clown in his claw and could not help feeling something stir inside him.
This was the bond forged aboard the Roger Pirates.
Even after so many years of resentment and prejudice toward Shanks, that bond could still make Buggy swallow his pride and try to face him again.
Cain glanced toward Rayleigh.
Clearly, all of this had been exactly what the Dark King intended.
Though calling it a scheme was not entirely fair.
Everything Rayleigh had said was true.
Buggy no longer struggled as they flew.
Before long, the Sabaody Archipelago came into view.
After picking up Big Sis Shakky, Rayleigh arranged their next leg of the journey.
He climbed aboard the little boat he had once used and had Cain carry the entire vessel through the sky toward the East Blue.
After all—
he could not exactly spend the whole trip dangling from Cain's claw.
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