"So that scream earlier was yours?" Meiser examined Buggy carefully.
Now that he thought about it, the scream did sound like the clown's voice.
"Who are you?"
"He's my crewmate, Meiser," Luffy explained.
"I see." Buggy nodded before admitting, "Yeah, that scream was mine."
"After being spotted by the Visual Den Den Mushi, I've been running from those bastards ever since."
A helpless expression crossed Buggy's face. He'd originally thought he could sneak past all the jailers unnoticed and slip out quietly.
But then...he got caught by the surveillance snails halfway through. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
"So let me get this straight..." Meiser frowned at Buggy. "Because of you, this place is now swarming with jailers, right?"
The jailer he'd controlled earlier mentioned that whenever escaped prisoners were detected, all available guards would be mobilized to recapture them.
At this point...there was probably an entire squad of jailers heading their way. Maybe they should just throw this clown out as bait to divert attention...
Meiser's gaze turned calculating.
Unaware of the dangerous look, Buggy turned to Luffy instead. "Straw Hat Boy, what are you doing here? Did you get captured too?"
A mocking grin spread across his face. "Never thought I'd see the day."
"Of course not," Luffy said. "We came here on purpose."
"Bullshit!" Buggy retorted. "No one in their right mind would willingly walk into this hellhole!"
Impel Down was a living nightmare for pirates. Only a complete idiot would come here voluntarily.
This Straw Hat brat was probably just too proud to admit he'd been captured... Wait a minute!
A sudden realization struck Buggy.
"Straw Hat...don't tell me you heard I got captured and came here to rescue me?!" Tears welled up in his eyes as he was overcome with emotion.
He slapped Luffy's shoulder dramatically. "You bastard! I don't need your pity!"
Meiser: ...
This guy's an absolute moron.
"Shut up, you're making stuff up!" Luffy bared his shark-like teeth. "I'm not here for you! I came to save Ace!"
"Eh?!!"
Buggy froze momentarily before shouting in disbelief, "You're here to rescue Ace?!"
Realizing his volume, he immediately hushed his voice and leaned closer. "Shhh...keep it down."
"You're the one yelling!"
"Details, details." Buggy waved it off. "I never expected you'd come all this way for Ace. Color me surprised."
He'd heard about Fire Fist Ace's imprisonment, but never imagined this Straw Hat kid would attempt a rescue.
"Yeah, the Marines are planning to execute Ace publicly. So I came to break him out."
"An execution broadcast to the world..."
Buggy's expression turned grave as he thought, 'What is the Navy thinking, daring to publicly execute Whitebeard's son...
Don't they fear starting a war?
That old man Whitebeard isn't known for his patience.
Well, this doesn't concern me anyway. I should focus on escaping this place.'
"Let's go, Luffy. Don't mind this guy," Meiser said. "Let him keep wandering around Level 1."
"Oh, coming."
Luffy nodded, then said to Buggy, "See you later, Buggy."
"Ah, see you..." Buggy waved. "Good luck saving Ace. I'm going to steal a warship."
"By the way, you came from outside. Do you know where the warships are docked?"
"I don't know."
Luffy shook his head honestly.
"You don't know?"
Buggy was dumbfounded. "How could you not know?"
Could these guys have entered Impel Down from underwater?
No, that's impossible!
"Meiser brought me in," Luffy said, glancing at Meiser. "Meiser, do you know the situation outside?"
"Yeah, there are ten warships out there."
Buggy:
Hearing the number of warships, Buggy froze.
"Ten ships?"
That's the scale of a Buster Call!
With such terrifying firepower guarding the exit, there's no way he could escape.
Wait... The Navy must have deployed so many forces here to prepare for Whitebeard's arrival.
That means these ships might withdraw after some time.
Thinking this, Buggy decided to slip away and hide for now.
But when he saw several Brugeli charging from the distance, he immediately turned and ran toward Luffy.
"Hey, what are you doing now?"
"Strategic retreat... strategic retreat..."
After glancing at the approaching Brugeli, Meiser said, "Ignore him. Let's hide underground first."
With that, Meiser placed both hands on the ground and activated his Earth Release Technique.
The next moment, the ground beneath their feet twisted, and they began sinking into the earth.
This sight left Buggy utterly stunned.
"What... what kind of strange ability is this?
No, this isn't the time to think about that!
"Take me with you! I know how to find Ace!"
Hearing Buggy's words, Luffy's eyes lit up.
"Meiser!"
"Got it!"
Without wasting words, Meiser quickly softened the ground beneath Buggy, swallowing him down too.
After the three disappeared, a massive axe came flying from afar, landing precisely where Buggy had stood moments before.
"Clang!"
"Guru?"
"Guru guru?"
The Brugeli looked at the now-normal ground in confusion, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
The prisoners had clearly been right there—so why... had they suddenly vanished?
The simple-minded Brugeli couldn't grasp what had occurred.
After some thought, they began smashing the ground with their axes.
But unfortunately, Meiser had already taken the other two far away from there.
"What... what kind of ability is this?!" Buggy exclaimed in shock.
Though he couldn't see anything due to the lack of light, he could still feel the sensation of moving forward.
"Haha, this is Meiser's Earth Release Technique. Pretty amazing, right?"
"Earth... Release Technique?"
Buggy froze for a moment before his face lit up with excitement. "You're actually a ninja?!"
"Ah, yes, I am a ninja."
"You really are a ninja!"
Hearing Meiser admit he was a ninja sent Buggy into a frenzy. He never thought he'd get to see a real, living ninja one day—this was just too cool!!
With that in mind, Buggy asked, "Do you know any other ninjutsu? Like the Clone Technique, or Fire Release, or—"
As Buggy rambled on, Meiser rubbed his temples in exasperation.
Why were these guys always so obsessed with ninjas? Every single one of them got overly excited the moment they found out he was a ninja.
Just then, Buggy abruptly changed the subject.
"If you're a ninja, then you must be from the Land of Wano, right?" Buggy said with a complicated expression. "How... how is Lord Oden doing?"
Ever since Oden had left their ship all those years ago, there had been no news of him. Buggy had no idea how the man was doing now.
"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not from the Land of Wano," Meiser said, shrugging.
"Not from Wano?" Buggy frowned. "But you're a ninja."
He distinctly remembered Lord Oden once mentioning that Wano had ninjas—that was part of why he'd been so eager to meet one. Yet this guy claimed he wasn't from Wano? What did that even mean?
"Who said ninjas have to be from Wano?" Meiser said flatly. "Can't I be from somewhere else?"
Dude was from a village, not some fancy Land of Wano.
"So there are ninjas from other places too..." Buggy muttered, genuinely surprised. This was the first he'd heard of such a thing. He'd always assumed ninjas only existed in Lord Oden's homeland.
"Wait, do you know a lot about Wano?" Meiser asked.
If Buggy actually had insights about Wano, he wouldn't mind hearing them.
"Not really," Buggy admitted, shaking his head. "I only heard some stories from Lord Oden when I was a kid."
"You mean back when you were on Rayleigh's ship, right?"
"WH—?!" Buggy's eyes nearly popped out of his skull, his face twisting in shock. "H-how did you know that?!"
Had his past as a member of the Pirate King's crew been exposed?! Damn it, if this got out, he'd be dead meat!
"We're on good terms with Rayleigh—he told us about it," Luffy chimed in.
"Oh, the vice-captain..."
Hearing Luffy's explanation, Buggy relaxed slightly. If the vice-captain had shared this with them, then these two probably wouldn't go blabbing about it...
Then again, even if they did, there wasn't much he could do about it. After all, he couldn't even beat the Straw Hat Boy, let alone some legendary ninja.
The thought alone made Buggy's head hurt.
"In short... I don't know much either," Buggy said. "Mr. Oden only mentioned a few things."
"For example, the Land of Wano has ninjas and samurai."
"Eh?!"
"There are really ninjas there?" Luffy asked. "What kind of ninjas? The kind who can use Release Techniques?"
"I wouldn't know," Buggy replied. "I've never seen them myself."
After all, he had only heard about these things from Mr. Oden.
"What? So it's fake then?"
"I told you, it's just hearsay! I can't confirm if it's true or not!" Buggy snapped, baring his shark-like teeth.
Then, as if recalling something, Buggy added, "But there is one thing I have seen before."
"What?"
"Mmm... delicious oden."
"Ehhh?!!"
At the mention of food, Luffy's eyes immediately lit up.
"H-how did it taste?"
"Of course it was amazing!" Buggy laughed heartily. "Back on the ship, we ate it plenty of times."
As if reliving the flavor, Buggy unconsciously drooled.
"I really wanna try it..."
Luffy also drooled, his face full of anticipation.
Meiser:
Watching these two idiots, Meiser covered his face with his hand.
It's not like the food is right in front of you—why are you drooling?
Shaking his head, Meiser said, "Alright, enough chit-chat."
"Buggy, you said earlier you knew how to find Ace. You weren't lying to us, were you?"
"Yahahaha, of course not~" Buggy replied, his gaze shifting unnaturally.
Unfortunately for him, even in the pitch-black underground, Meiser could still see his expression.
"Your face tells me otherwise."
"Eh?!!"
Buggy looked shocked. "You can see me in this darkness?"
Meiser didn't respond, simply staring silently at Buggy.
Buggy:
Though he couldn't see anything, he felt an eerie pair of eyes watching him from the shadows... Wait, no—
This wasn't just the shadows—those glowing crimson eyes were way too obvious, damn it!
"Ahem..."
Buggy cleared his throat and straightened up. "Actually, I do know how to get to the lower levels. At least reaching the second underground floor shouldn't be a problem."
After a pause, he added, "As for the floors below that... as long as we find the passage to the next level, we can go down."
"Ahahahaha!"
By the end, Buggy was laughing awkwardly, as if trying to bluff his way through.
"To the second underground floor, huh."
Meiser stroked his chin in thought. "Fine. At least it's better than nothing."
"Right, I—"
Before Buggy could finish, Meiser continued, "If you really knew nothing, I'd have thrown you straight to the jailers, Mr. Clown Buggy~"
"Crack—"
Meiser's words sent a jolt through Buggy's mind, and cold sweat instantly drenched his face.
T-that was close... I almost bit the dust...
Buggy didn't doubt the truth of the other's words. After all... if Meiser wanted to, he could easily throw him out from underground!
At that point, even if he wanted to run, he probably wouldn't be able to.
Thinking this, Buggy immediately rubbed his hands together and said, "Don't worry, this time I'm absolutely telling the truth!!!"
While speaking, Buggy was also considering how to slip away from Meiser's side.
Although this guy was someone Rayleigh knew... staying with them didn't feel safe at all... Buggy thought to himself.
What kind of nonsense is this, threatening to throw people to the jailers at every turn!
"You really aren't someone who can hide their thoughts," Meiser shook his head. "Buggy, you're thinking about running away, aren't you?"
Buggy:
Damn it, I forgot he could read my expressions.
"Fine, I can't be bothered to deal with you," Meiser said seriously. "Though I don't know what plans you've got, trying to leave here by boarding a Marine ship head-on is clearly impossible for you alone."
"So... your only chance to leave here alive is to follow us deeper inside."
"Have me go with you to Level 5?" Buggy frowned. "But we'd run into that terrifying Magellan. That's no joke."
He'd heard others say that guy was a venomous human who ate the Venom-Venom Fruit, his entire body covered in deadly poison.
Against someone like that, his Chop-Chop powers would be completely useless.
"If we really encounter someone like that, you won't need to fight him," Meiser said. "Also,"
"Don't push your luck, kid. If it weren't for Rayleigh's sake, I'd hypnotize you right now—believe me?"
Buggy:
He didn't know if the hypnosis claim was real, but the other's attitude was clearly serious.
So... does that mean he has no choice but to go?
The thought made Buggy feel extremely frustrated.
He was just a "great pirate" with a bounty of over ten million—was he really cut out for a place like that?
Seeing Buggy's expression, Meiser added, "Mr. Buggy... you wouldn't want the Marines to find out you were a crew member of the Pirate King, would you~"
"Crack~"
That simple sentence struck Buggy like lightning, leaving him frozen in place.
This bastard... was actually threatening him with that?
Damn it, damn that ninja bastard!
"Fine, I'll go!" Buggy said with bitter resentment. "You damn ninja, you're definitely going to hell!"
"Hell?" Meiser shook his head. "Sorry to disappoint, but hell can't take me."
With such a powerful pair of Mangekyō Sharingan, Meiser couldn't imagine anyone who could kill him.
After all... right now, he was invincible!
"Hmph, I'll go, but you'd better do everything you can to keep me safe," Buggy said.
"No problem. If we run into Magellan, I'll handle him," Meiser replied.
"Fine then," Buggy nodded. "I'll go with you."
If his safety was guaranteed, going down with them wasn't too bad.
'If we can really rescue Fire Fist Ace, leaving with them would actually be safer,' Buggy thought to himself.
After all... with his current strength, there was no way he could defeat those Marines outside.
The sheer power of a Buster Call was simply beyond his ability to resist.
"Ahahaha! Buggy, it's great that you're willing to help!" Luffy laughed heartily.
Crack!
Hearing Luffy's words, veins immediately bulged on Buggy's forehead before he bared his shark-like teeth and roared: "You damn Rubber bastard!"
"Which part of this sounds like I'm willingly helping you?!"
If it weren't for this idiot threatening him, he would've found a way to escape long ago!
"Huh?"
"But didn't you say you'd come?"
Buggy: ???
Is this moron genuinely not getting it, or is he just trying to piss me off?
Watching Buggy's utterly defeated expression, Meiser couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"HAHAHAHA."
Buggy: ...
Bastards! Every single one of you is a complete bastard!!
-Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LegendaryTL
Thanks!