Under the strenuous towing of King and Marco, the Glutinous Rice Boat successfully caught up with the bikudōpu.
Seeing the Red Force nearby, Marco finally understood what King meant by "taking it seriously".
"Yo, it's Marco."
Aboard the Red Force, Shanks spotted Marco and greeted him warmly, "Want to come aboard my ship? Actually, our goals are the same..."
"Ah? Sorry, I have an appointment with Captain Buggy," Marco said.
"Tsk, everyone is like this. Why are they all running over there?" Shanks felt a bit sour in his heart.
Seeing their Captain get rejected, the Red Force was suddenly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
"Shanks, you should have added, 'Give me some face," Beckman said.
"That's right, you have to activate the power of the Face-Face Fruit," Lucky Roux laughed loudly.
"That bastard Buggy, spreading rumors recklessly. There's no such thing as a Face-Face Fruit!" Shanks' teeth itched with annoyance, "And you guys are joining in on the fun too."
"You never know. There are all sorts of strange Devil Fruits; a Face-Face Fruit wouldn't be surprising," Yasopp said. "When I joined the ship all those years ago in a daze, was I under the influence of your ability?"
"When have you ever seen a Devil Fruit User who can swim?" Shanks countered.
"If the Face-Face Fruit awakens, it should be able to affect the environment. Maybe the seawater would have to give you some face, too," Beckman mused.
"Give me some face and stop mentioning this from now on, okay?" Shanks said helplessly.
He really wanted to cut down the guy who started the rumor, but unfortunately, he couldn't.
Bursts of laughter echoed from the Red Force.
Stepping onto the bikudōpu, Marco immediately saw Ivankov's large head and then discovered the Revolutionary Army leader Dragon beside him.
King was right; Buggy really did take Blackbeard seriously.
This lineup was enough to attack the Marine Headquarters.
On the deck, the wanted posters of the Blackbeard Pirates were hung, densely covered in marks.
The cleanest one was Aokiji's wanted poster, which had a question mark drawn on it.
On the wanted poster for Shiliew, the Captain of the 2nd Ship, a black blade was drawn.
The wanted poster for Catarina Devon, the Captain of the 6th Ship, was covered in a dense array of marks: hearts, food, big-headed dolls, small dinosaurs, candles, iron bars, a unicycle with an "X" over it, and a beast's paw print.
"What is going on here?" King remembered these things weren't here before he left.
It must be another trick from the Captain...
"They are picking their opponents. There are too many people, and not enough opponents to go around," Buggy said. "But this isn't final yet; we haven't added the officers from the Red Hair Pirates' side."
"This is truly... amazing!"
Marco let out a long breath, unable to hide his excitement.
Almost every one of these guys had the blood of the Whitebeard Pirates on their hands; Marco wanted them to die immediately.
"I'll deal with him. My Devil Fruit Ability happens to counter his." Marco left his mark—a small bird—on the wanted poster of Doc Q, the "Death God" and Captain of the 9th Ship.
Jozu chose Jesus Burgess, the Captain of the 1st Ship, leaving a diamond mark.
"I know this guy. Don't be fooled by him being the Captain of the 1st Ship; he's just trash. I can handle him by myself," Jozu said.
Suddenly, several gazes focused on him.
"Even if he's trash, you can't hog him for yourself. Have you considered others' feelings?"
Crocodile silently wiped away his sandstorm mark; he would find another opponent.
Flower Sword Vista was about to leave a mark on Shiliew's wanted poster when he saw Hawkeye standing next to it with his arms crossed, his eagle-sharp eyes fixed on him.
'Weren't we supposed to not hog the opponents?' Flower Sword Vista grumbled internally.
But being on someone else's ship, he decided to endure it.
He looked around and found that the wanted poster for Sanjuan Wolf, the Captain of the 7th Ship, had few marks—only a single mushroom mark.
This guy was too massive—a 180-meter-tall giant, three times taller than Little Oars Jr. Who would have the confidence to face him alone?
Just as Flower Sword Vista was about to add his mark, Buggy stopped him.
"Leave that guy to me. I like these tall enemies the most."
Flower Sword Vista hadn't expected the mushroom to be Buggy's mark. "Then who will deal with Blackbeard?"
"Me, of course. Sanjuan Wolf can be dealt with easily; it won't take much time," Buggy said confidently.
Such a stationary, massive enemy was rare; it was a good chance to rack up some damage.
There's nothing a single Rett Boy can't solve. If it doesn't work, the yield just wasn't high enough.
"Actually, I can do it too. If you give me some time, I can grow to that height," Smoothie said weakly.
She had initially chosen Sanjuan Wolf as her opponent, but the Captain had forcefully snatched him away, saying there weren't enough crew members for her to absorb power from.
Even when she suggested she could wring out and absorb the power of the ordinary members of the Blackbeard Pirates, the Captain refused, citing that time was too tight.
"Just find a place to slack off."
The Captain's words stung Smoothie's heart. One day, she would make the Captain look at her with respect.
Flower Sword Vista had no choice but to pick Lafitte at random and add his mark behind him.
Katakuri had his eye on Van Augur, the sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates; he felt he could even deal with him without taking any damage.
This time, the strength of the two sides had reversed. I'll show you the meaning of cruelty!
"Evil Governance King Pizarro? That nickname is quite arrogant. I wonder how strong he is?"
King ignored the ivory tusk on the wanted poster and chose Pizarro as his opponent.
"Big Brother King..." Jack was about to say something, but after being glared at by King, he quickly changed his tune, "I think Vasco Shot is pretty good too."
"Sorry, Lucky Roux, let's switch opponents. I hope this guy is relatively strong..."
Marco looked at the marks densely covering the wanted posters, knowing these guys had essentially been sentenced to death.
And this was without the Red Hair Pirates even participating yet.
Had the strength of the Buggy Pirates expanded to such an extent?
In fact, whether they came or not wouldn't affect the overall situation, but Buggy still gave them the chance for revenge.
Marco's heart was filled with gratitude.
"Eh?" Katakuri suddenly felt as if he was being watched. Searching around, he indeed found a small boat in the distance.
"Is that... a Marine ship?"
At this distance, the people on the ship should have been able to spot them.
"I know. Don't worry about them; they are the Marines' 'Suicide Squad'," Buggy said.
Buggy knew his actions had rattled the Marines' nerves, so they kept sending people to investigate.
Knowing that two Four Emperors Crews were here and still daring to come and check—those were Marines who had prepared themselves for certain death.
Even from an opposing standpoint, these people deserved respect.
Besides, the Marines were just making a futile effort. Once the live broadcast started, the whole world would see.
Time was running out for Blackbeard...
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