"You can actually split your body into many pieces? I thought your flying hand was fake at first, but you really are a monster."
When Luffy attacked Buggy earlier and saw that Buggy had split his body into several pieces, he immediately said this to him.
"Shut up! You rubber man have no right to say that about me."
Buggy, seeing Luffy completely ignore the fact that he himself was a rubber man and instead righteously call him a monster, could not accept that.
"Straw-hat brat, if you make that woman return the Grand Line navigational chart and hand over the people who opposed me, I'll let you go."
Buggy glanced hatefully toward Tom's direction, gritting his teeth as he spoke to Luffy.
"No way. We're preparing to go to the Grand Line. We won't return the chart to you. We're both pirates. If you want the chart back, use a pirate's way to steal it back."
Luffy swung his arms a few times, stretched his left arm, and punched toward Buggy. "Gum-Gum Pistol!"
"Chop-Chop: Emergency Escape!"
Buggy, seeing Luffy's fist flying over, immediately split his body into several pieces, dodging Luffy's attack. "You're too naive. The Grand Line isn't a place for no-name pirates like you."
"What are you people going to the Grand Line for? Not going on a group sightseeing tour, are you?"
Buggy's upper body floated in the air, speaking sarcastically to Luffy.
"I'm going to become the Pirate King!"
Luffy said this with a completely matter-of-fact expression.
Although Buggy had heard Luffy say it once before, he had only treated Luffy as a joke then.
Who knew Luffy would directly state his goal was to be Pirate King again? Buggy didn't even feel like laughing at Luffy this time. He was immediately shocked, his mouth hanging open, expression dumbfounded, his neck tilted, nearly petrified.
"Don't make me laugh! You want to become the Pirate King? Then I'm a god! Only I can obtain all the treasures in the world!"
Buggy roared at Luffy. He had a skull tattoo in an X-shape on his forehead, extending below the corner of his eye. Paired with his murderous face, it looked even more ferocious and terrifying.
"Say whatever you want. The more I look at you, the more I dislike you. And you say we can't go to the Grand Line? Can a big nose like you go?"
Luffy prepared to attack with his right hand this time. When he punched with his left hand earlier, it still hurt terribly. His current condition was clearly not as good as he looked.
Actually, after exchanging a full-power punch with Tom, although Luffy's injuries weren't as severe as Tom's, he wasn't feeling great either. The wound on his left hand, pierced by the sharp stones, still hadn't stopped bleeding.
Moreover, the many bruises Tom left on Luffy's body ached dully from time to time, indirectly affecting his agility.
Otherwise, given that Buggy had taken a cannonball hit and been punched hard by Tom, if Luffy were in perfect condition, he would have punched Buggy away long ago.
"You mentioned my nose again! You and that kid are both so annoying!"
Buggy, hearing Luffy call him "big nose," immediately became furious. "Die! Chop-Chop: Circus Flying Knives!"
Seeing Buggy's right hand holding several throwing knives, stabbing straight toward him, Luffy jumped back several times, sidestepped to avoid Buggy's attack, and very honestly said to Buggy: "Your nose not only became redder and rounder, but it also turned black."
Luffy was telling the truth. Buggy's swollen red nose did have some black scorch marks on it.
But Buggy, hearing Luffy's words, was nearly driven mad with anger. He didn't care if it was true or not and launched a fierce assault on Luffy. "You brat are really infuriating! And wearing a straw hat... it reminds me of a very cocky red-haired man I met when I was young. I will definitely kill you!"
"Red hair?!"
Luffy, hearing Buggy mention a red-haired man, was startled. His movements unconsciously slowed, nearly getting stabbed by the throwing knives in Buggy's hand.
"The red hair you mentioned... is it Shanks? Do you know him?"
Luffy put distance between himself and Buggy, temporarily stopping his attack, inquiring about the man he had admired since childhood, the man who had entrusted the straw hat to him.
"What? You seem very interested. So what if I know him?"
Buggy snorted coldly. Thinking of Red-Haired Shanks, his expression turned somewhat unpleasant, and he also stopped attacking for now.
"Where is he now?"
Luffy, hearing that Buggy seemed to really know Shanks, urgently pressed for details.
"Where? Well... you could say I know, and also say I don't know..."
Buggy stroked his chin, looking thoughtful. Before he could finish his sentence, Luffy, who completely couldn't understand what he was saying, said to him: "What are you babbling about? You idiot!"
"How dare you! First my nose, now calling me an idiot! I'll deal with you first, then send your companions on their way!"
Buggy was thoroughly provoked by Luffy. He decided to kill Luffy first, then deal with Tom.
While Luffy and Buggy were engaged in fierce battle, Nami and Tom were leisurely searching for the Buggy Pirates' treasure in the bar ruins blasted by the cannonball.
"Look around here. If we find the treasure, I'll give you a share."
Nami saw that Tom's face had regained some color, not as pale as before, and felt slightly relieved. But she was also very puzzled: how could Tom, who earlier looked like he might die at any moment, recover so well after just resting a bit?
If not for this, Nami wouldn't have forcibly dragged Tom to search for treasure with her.
Remembering last time when Tom was injured on his back, he initially seemed badly hurt, but later seemed to get better mysteriously. This made Nami deeply feel that Tom was truly a freak.
A normal person losing that much blood, injured that badly, would be lucky not to die. But Tom just lay on Nami's lap for a while and could stand up and walk on his own. Tom also vaguely felt something was very wrong with his body.
In fact, Tom still felt dizzy, his whole body in pain, lacking strength. But it seemed another kind of power was supporting him, preventing him from falling, allowing him to endure.
But one thing Tom knew clearly: his injuries were definitely not healed.
"Are you listening to what I'm saying?"
Nami scanned the surroundings and quickly, using her rich treasure-hunting experience, found the treasure buried under the rubble. She deftly packed the treasure into a sack, turned her head, and spoke to Tom.
Then Nami stared blankly at the man before her: half of his face covered in blood-red stripes, the other half covered in orange stripes. For a moment, she couldn't say anything.
Seeing the two-colored stripes on the man's face actually moving like living things, crawling wildly on his face, at first glance it looked like a face covered in venomous snakes, making one's hair stand on end.
Especially the man's eyes: one pupil red like a blood moon, the other pupil golden like a blazing sun, appearing exceptionally terrifying.
The startled Nami instinctively took a step back, unconsciously pulled out the nunchaku tied to her right leg, and swung it hard at the person walking toward her. "Don't come closer! Tom, where are you? Come save me!"
Tom had no idea his body had undergone such a bizarre change. He saw Nami looking at him with a terrified expression, as if she'd seen a ghost. He wanted to step forward and ask, but as soon as he stepped forward, he took a hit from Nami's weapon.
"Why did you suddenly hit me? That hurt!"
Tom, who had no guard up against Nami, took a hard blow to the head from her weapon.
His body was already weak; now his head took a heavy hit. Immediately, an unbearable dizziness hit him, and he fell forward.
Nami wasn't doing well either. She forgot that the weapon tied to her right leg was the nunchaku Tom had made last time, while the new three-section staff she prepared was tied to her left leg. In her panic, she tragically grabbed the wrong weapon.
Nunchaku, for those who don't know how to use them, can easily injure oneself. Nami was now in that situation.
Although Nami's nunchaku struck Tom's head hard, she didn't expect the weapon to bounce back. Her head also tragically took a hit.
Nami, her head dazed from the blow, dropped the sack of treasure in her hand and also fell forward.
And so, Tom and Nami fell toward each other. But Tom was a man, taller and heavier than Nami. So finally, Tom, whose head was still spinning badly, quickly ended up on top of Nami.
Buggy, who had been telling Luffy about his grievances with Red-Haired Shanks, happened to see Tom and Nami—who wanted to take his treasure—for some reason lying on the ground, both unable to get up. Feeling pleased, he slowly moved closer to Tom and Nami while continuing to talk to Luffy.
"I will never forgive Red-Hair! It's all because of him. I ate a Devil Fruit worth a hundred million Berries and became unable to swim, making me never able to search for the vast treasures hidden under the sea."
Buggy's expression of hatred when saying this wasn't fake. Back then, if Red-Hair hadn't suddenly appeared and startled him, he wouldn't have swallowed that Devil Fruit he worked so hard to obtain by deceiving his crewmates.
"So after you fell into the sea, Shanks still saved you."
Luffy, hearing Buggy say he jumped into the sea to retrieve a treasure map, and because he had eaten a Devil Fruit, sank to the bottom, and Red-Hair saved him, immediately smiled and said to Buggy.
"No! That's not the point I wanted to make!"
Buggy nearly spat blood from anger at Luffy's words. He had said so much, all just wanting Luffy to deeply understand how despicable Red-Hair was and how he had ruined the first half of his life.
Who knew Luffy instead stated another fact he found hard to accept: that this Red-Hair he had always hated was actually his savior? How could he tolerate that?
"Because of that Red-Hair, my life plan had to be pushed back ten years in one go. I'm furious. Since undersea treasures are not meant for me, I will plunder all the treasures on the sea!"
Buggy's upper body floated up, intentionally or unintentionally glancing toward Tom's direction, then said to Luffy. "So anyone who covets my treasure and opposes me, whether thief or pirate, I will never let them go!"
After shouting this, Buggy's floating upper body flew over Luffy's head, smoothly bypassing Luffy, and dove from the air toward Tom and Nami. "You woman dare to covet my treasure? No matter where you run, I won't let you go. See how I deal with you!"
Nami, now regaining consciousness, pushed Tom off her, sat up, and shook her slightly dizzy head. Before she could think further, she saw Buggy's upper body, face ferocious, holding throwing knives in both hands, flying quickly from the sky toward her, and he threw several knives at her.
If she didn't dodge, those knives would surely take her life. In her panic, Nami couldn't think that much. Acting on instinct, she covered her head and dodged to the side, using her fastest speed to press her body down as much as possible, shouting. "I'm sorry, I..."
Nami's words were cut off because while focused on dodging Buggy's knife attack, covering her head and forcefully pressing her body to the side, she tragically ended up mouth-to-mouth with Tom.
Nami instantly petrified, unable to speak further.
Nami had originally wanted to say to Buggy: "I'm sorry, I really didn't want to steal your treasure."
This was just Nami's subconscious words to Buggy, intended to deceive him. But she didn't finish her sentence. To Tom, who happened to regain consciousness just then, the meaning completely changed.
Originally, after being pushed away by Nami, Tom had also regained awareness. Though his head wasn't entirely clear, he vaguely remembered Nami suddenly attacking him with nunchaku. He wanted to question Nami why she had hit his head so hard. Honestly, being attacked by Nami for no reason, he was truly angry.
But before Tom could properly settle accounts with Nami, he heard Nami say "I'm sorry," followed immediately by this woman kissing him forcefully.
Tom was dumbfounded on the spot.
What the hell, your way of apologizing is really something special.
Alright... I forgive you...
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T/N :
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