Chapter 223: The Arrival of the Straw Hat Pirates and the Buggy Pirates

Loguetown Central Square, which is also a famous check-in spot in the Pirate King world; at the end of the square, there is a platform that looks ordinary and crude.

But right now, this check-in spot, usually bustling with people, has no idlers left, with only two pirate crews confronting each other.

"Damn Straw Hat brat!! Lord Buggy will absolutely not forgive you today!"

A pirate dressed like a clown, with a big red nose, is currently waving his scimitar and shouting loudly; he is the "Great Pirate" Buggy the Clown, famous throughout the East Blue.

And Luffy, opposite him, reaches out to pick his nose, a bored expression appearing on his face:

"It's you again, Red Nose!"

"Bastard! You are not allowed to call me Red Nose!"

"Oh, I got it, Red Nose!!"

"Listen to people properly, you damn Straw Hat brat!!"

Even without Nami, the Buggy Pirates still have a grudge against Luffy. To say nothing else, just seeing that straw hat on Luffy's head makes Buggy unable to suppress the anger in his heart; it is only natural for the two to clash.

"So boring! Sanji, I want to eat..."

"Bear with it, I don't think the other side will give us time to cook!"

"Then let Zoro deal with them!"

"Idiot captain, have you forgotten? That moss-head just arrived in Loguetown and has already gotten lost somewhere!"

Luffy and Sanji's conversation, which shows absolutely no regard for Buggy the Clown, immediately makes this "Great Pirate" incredibly annoyed, and he shouts angrily:

"Don't ignore people!! You bunch of arrogant brats!"

As soon as the words fell, his hands suddenly detached, one hand carrying a scimitar and the other clutching a dagger, flying out.

The scimitar slashes directly at the Straw Hat boy, and the dagger stabs at Sanji; such a strange move is enough to make any pirate who has never seen it suffer a huge loss.

However, Monkey D. Luffy has already fought Buggy before and knows he possesses the special Bara Bara no Mi ability. He lowers his head to dodge Buggy's scimitar, then swings his fist at a strange angle, smashing it into the hand Buggy is holding the scimitar with, knocking the scimitar directly to the ground.

And the unlucky Sanji is clearly unprepared; after a moment of slight shock, by the time he reacts, his dodge is a bit late, and the dagger slashes across his shoulder, leaving a bloody cut.

"What the hell is this! Is this guy some kind of devil cyborg? How can his arms split?"

"Idiot, I am not some cyborg; I am a Split-Man who ate the Bara Bara no Mi! I possess the power to split apart!"

"Oh right! You don't even know this, Sanji, you're so lame!"

Luffy tilts his head, showing an expression of "don't make a fuss," and says the same to Sanji.

Sanji: (￣ヘ￣#)

"Idiot captain, you should have told me about this sooner!!"

"Huh!? Didn't I tell you?!"

"Told me my ass!! You damn rubber-head!"

"Damn Straw Hat Pirates! There should be a limit to looking down on people!"

Once again ignored, Buggy is incredibly furious. His two hands return to his arms, and then this pirate takes several small red cannonballs from his chest and throws them violently at the two.

Although Luffy and Sanji are arguing, when Buggy throws his cannonballs, the two, sensing the aura of danger, react immediately.

Sanji kicks out, using a clever technique to kick away the cannonball flying toward him. The cannonball is kicked into mid-air, emitting a loud "Boom—" sound, just like an explosive pack detonating.

And Luffy takes a long breath, his whole body rapidly turning into a big fat ball, blocking in front of the cannonballs.

Those cannonballs hit the spherical Luffy as if they had hit a trampoline, sinking deep into him, and then with a "Whoosh—", they bounce directly back.

"Oh, oh no."

Seeing the cannonballs bouncing back, Buggy's eyes widen, his mouth hangs open, and even his red nose pops out, making a nervous and terrified facial expression. Then, amidst the "Boom—" sounds of the explosion, this unlucky guy is blown into a charred mess, with his arms, legs, and head scattered all over the ground.

"Wow, how pitiful, he was blown into parts!"

Luffy sees the Buggy head that landed in front of him and, with a look of sympathy, picks it up. Then, the charred Buggy head opens its mouth and shouts angrily:

"Bastard, isn't this all because of you?! What are you being hypocritical for?"

"Ah ah ah ah!!! The head, the head is talking!!"

Luffy screams in fright and throws the head in his hand away. Sanji lifts a foot, successfully "catches the ball," and pins Buggy's head directly under his right foot.

"Idiot captain! Did you forget he is a Bara Bara no Mi ability user? Isn't it normal for him to be able to talk even if his head falls off?"

"Oh right! I almost forgot!"

Luffy puts a hand to his palm, as if he had only just remembered this setting.

At this moment, the scattered pieces on Buggy the Clown's body also roll over, gathering under his head, and soon form his body.

"Curly-brow, hurry up and take your stinking foot off!!"

"What are you saying, Red-Nosed idiot, don't you know what manners are?"

Sanji says calmly, and instead of taking his foot off, he presses down even harder, immediately making Buggy the Clown howl.

"Oh no, Captain Buggy has been caught, what do we do? Should we go save him?"

"Don't joke around, even Captain Buggy is no match for them, wouldn't we just be throwing our lives away if we go up there?"

"Then what should we do? How about... we run!"

"Uh... isn't that a bit bad? Abandoning the captain and running away..."

Just as this group is discussing, thick smoke suddenly drifts over, and a moment later, it condenses into a strong man with white hair.

"Straw Hat Pirates, and Buggy Pirates! You are all under arrest!"

As soon as Smoker finishes speaking, rhythmic footsteps come from all around. A large group of Marines has surrounded the entire square, their firearms aimed at the center of the square, at all the members of the two pirate crews.

The Straw Hat Pirates only have Luffy and Sanji present, while the Buggy Pirates are all there. However, seeing themselves surrounded, the members of the Buggy Pirates are one by one in a panic, just short of surrendering directly.

"Oh no, oh no, it's that White Hunter Smoker!!"

"What! Is it that monster who has guarded Loguetown for three years and from whose pursuit no pirate has ever escaped?!"

"It's over, there's no chance of winning!"

On the other side, Luffy glances at the Marines surrounding him and scratches his head:

"Surrounded again, there's no other way! It looks like I'll have to use that move to escape!"

"That move? Captain, whatever way you have to escape, hurry up and use it! Otherwise, I'm afraid it'll be too late."

Sanji glanced around and frowned as well; although his strength was not afraid of ordinary Marine soldiers, he had not reached the level of being impervious to blades and bullets, and those Marine soldiers could still cause him interference.

As for White Hunter Smoker, Sanji also had some understanding; this Devil Fruit Ability user of the natural type was not someone he, a guy who relied on physical attacks to make a living, could deal with.

"Don't worry, leave it to me!"

The moment Luffy's voice fell, he was seen suddenly extending an arm, tightly wrapping it around Sanji.

Not knowing what kind of move this was, Sanji, who was about to ride the "Luffy-brand" roller coaster for the first time, revealed a look of slight curiosity.

Immediately, Luffy's other hand stretched out continuously, grabbing directly onto a clock tower in the distance.

Whoosh!!!

Under the effect of the Straw Hat-brand slingshot, Luffy and Sanji flew out just like Spider-Man, only Luffy in mid-air had an expression of excitement, while Sanji had his mouth wide open, his face skin twitching, completely stunned by this move.

"Perfect landing!"

Luffy did a somersault in mid-air and landed easily on the clock tower, while the unlucky Sanji, in a state of no preparation, slammed his head into the bronze bell inside the clock tower; following a series of clanging sounds, he stuck to the surface of the bronze bell and slowly slid down.

Afterwards, the dizzy Sanji lifted his head, looked at Luffy, and revealed an expression of utter despair:

"You... idiot captain!!!"

On the other side, Smoker in the center of the plaza sneered as he watched Luffy and Sanji escape:

"Do you think you can get away like this? Tashigi, leave these Pirates to you; I'm going to go capture those two guys!"

As soon as his voice fell, Smoker transformed his entire body into a mass of smoke, shot into the sky, and flew toward Luffy and Sanji on the clock tower.

"Understood, Officer! Everyone, move out, capture all these guys!"

Tashigi looked at the Buggy Pirates, who had almost lost the will to resist, and didn't feel the mission was very difficult; she gave the order directly, and a group of Marine soldiers immediately took out Handcuffs and captured all the members of the Buggy Pirates.

When it was Buggy's turn, this guy looked very honest, but his eyeballs were rolling around wildly; seeing this, Tashigi spoke up:

"Don't use ordinary Handcuffs, this guy is a Devil Fruit Ability user, use Seastone Handcuffs on him for me!"

Upon hearing the five words "Seastone Handcuffs," Buggy's complexion changed instantly, and he shouted:

"How could I be captured by you guys so easily! I am the Great Pirate Buggy! Go eat dirt behind me!!"

As soon as his voice fell, Buggy's body twisted, producing a series of strange deformations, and finally turned into the appearance of a racing car, with two hands pushing the front wheels and two feet pedaling the back wheels, and he zoomed away with a whoosh.

"Want to escape? It's not that easy!"

Tashigi didn't say a word and slashed down with her sword; she knew Buggy was a Bara Bara no Mi user, so this slash was not aimed at Buggy's body, but instead cut toward his wheels.

Unexpectedly, Buggy threw out a small bomb with his backhand; following a series of rumbling explosions, the entire plaza was suddenly in chaos; by the time Tashigi took a few steps back and reacted, this cunning and lucky guy had already escaped without a trace.

Not only that, because of the chaos caused by the bomb, the Buggy Pirates, who had already surrendered, seemed to have found an opportunity and scattered in all directions, wanting to take the chance to escape.

A flash of anger crossed Tashigi's eyes, and the Koyuki Shigure in her hand transformed into streaks of blade light; accompanied by a burst of screams, the pitiful members of the Buggy Pirates were slashed to the ground by this female Marine Master Sergeant.

Don't look at Tashigi as being reckless and seemingly lacking in strength; in reality, this girl would be able to cultivate to the point of possessing Two-Color Haki two years later, so it is conceivable that her current foundation is definitely not bad, and her true strength is not inferior even compared to some Great Pirates with bounties of over ten million.

It is only because of her personality and way of doing things that she appears not strong; dealing with this bunch of ordinary Pirates is simply more than enough.

"Capture this bunch of guys for me and lock them in the Marine prison; two fast-running Marine soldiers come over and follow me to chase that damn clown Buggy!"

After giving the instructions, Tashigi took a few Marine soldiers and chased in the direction of the clown Buggy; as for the remaining Marine soldiers, they took these subordinates of Buggy and escorted them to the prison at the Loguetown Marine base.

The originally lively Loguetown execution plaza had now become cold and desolate, with only one lion that looked weak, helpless, and very capable of eating, lying there with its hands clutching its head.

Well, this was the lion left behind by that beast tamer of the Buggy Pirates; because it didn't have much of a Bounty and wasn't a human, the group of Marine soldiers didn't know if they were having a brain spasm, but they didn't pay any attention to this lion lying there at all.

A moment later, the lion lowered the two paws it had placed on its head, poked its head out to look left and right, but discovered that there seemed to be no one left in the plaza, and a human-like joyful expression immediately appeared on its face.

"Tsk tsk tsk, some of the animals in this world really have Soul; they are almost the same as human intelligence!"

Hearing the voice behind it, the lion that had originally revealed a joyful expression stiffened; afterwards, the expression on its face retracted, becoming the same as an ordinary lion, and it even let out two "ah-woo ah-woo" cries.

After crying out, this lion turned its head to look at the person behind it, and again revealed an intimidating expression, looking just like an ordinary beast.

"Hehehe... playing dumb in front of me? An ordinary lion indeed cannot be considered a member of a Pirate crew, but since it appeared in the town, in order to prevent it from hurting the common people, I'll just have to finish you off with one punch! It just so happens I'm still missing a lion-skin rug..."

As soon as this voice fell, the lion didn't say a word, slid to its knees, and immediately performed a dogeza.

"Heeheehee, Feiyu, this guy is so funny!"

A crisp female voice came, and the lion named Liji raised its head sneakily, seeing a pretty young girl with orange hair and a youth who looked quite ordinary; these were Nami and Uchiha Feiyu.

(End of this chapter)