Buggy's sharp gaze fixed on the village chief, who stood in the rear wearing that eerie, twisted smile.
He had already thought of a way to resolve this.
The villagers possessed something close to immortality—there was no way to deal with them quickly.
But the village chief himself did not share that ability. If Buggy could strike down the source of this power, these villagers would become nothing more than puppets with their strings cut.
The chief noticed Buggy's eyes on him and understood immediately what the boy was thinking: cut off the snake's head to kill the body.
With a cold sneer, the chief raised his hand. A rift tore open in the air around him, and in the blink of an eye, his figure vanished.
Buggy had been ready to use Soru to close in, but the moment he saw that sinister smile, the old man slipped away. He instantly realized—the chief had entered another dimension. Buggy had no technique to break into such a space. For now, there was no way to locate him.
At the same time, the villagers grew even more frenzied. Weapons of strange energy materialized in their hands, and grotesque armor wrapped itself over their bodies. Their speed spiked sharply as they charged, quickly surrounding Buggy's group.
Meanwhile, inside the bizarre, multicolored void of the sacrificial space, the chief watched the battle unfold from within. His face twisted with cruelty as he poured more energy into the spell.
Buggy quickly grasped the situation—the chief was hiding in his little sanctuary, intending to let the strengthened villagers fight to the death while he waited to swoop in like a fisherman taking the prize.
But there was no simple solution. Unless they could drag him out, Buggy's crew would be forced into a desperate fight against these enhanced villagers.
"Everyone, stay sharp! Aim for their heads and use Armament Haki.
Those without Haki, stay back and defend yourselves!"
No matter how terrifying a Devil Fruit power, Armament Haki was its natural counter. And remembering how zombies in his previous life's stories were always weak to decapitation, Buggy reasoned this approach would work—cut off the head, and even these villagers should die.
Those without Haki had no business joining this fight. Against tireless opponents who felt no pain, half measures would only get them killed.
Buggy led the charge himself, with Weevil, Shiryu, and Lafitte at his side. Dadi, though he also possessed Armament Haki, stayed back. His bullets could wound, but not kill outright—his role was to provide overwatch and guard against any sudden ambush by the village chief.
Buggy struck first. He swung his blade, wrapped in Armament, with the fiery power of the Solar Slash. He didn't bother with fancy techniques—this was about efficiency.
The result confirmed his guess. The moment his Haki-infused blade struck, the strange energy coating the villager collapsed. His sword severed the man's neck cleanly. The villager's body instantly reverted to normal, eyes regaining clarity for a fleeting moment before blood gushed in a final spray, and he collapsed, dead, with disbelief frozen on his face.
Shiryu's attacks yielded the same result. His mastery as a swordsman, combined with Armament, let him bisect his opponents with ease. One clean cut, and the villagers fell without resistance.
Weevil, though lacking Shiryu's finesse, relied on raw, monstrous strength. With his massive naginata, he hacked through necks as though chopping saplings. The destruction he caused was overwhelming.
Lafitte struggled more. His first strike only half-severed a villager's neck. The strange energy worked to heal the wound, but Lafitte reacted swiftly, slashing again to finish the job, finally dropping his foe.
From within the sacrificial space, the chief snarled.
"Damn it… where did these brats crawl out from? Not only has that runt from Roger's crew mastered all three types of Haki, but even his subordinates wield Armament! What cursed luck…"
He watched villager after villager fall. His old, wrinkled face twisted with rage, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
He had already considered Buggy and his crew dangerous, but the reality exceeded all expectations. For such young pirates to have so many users of Armament Haki was simply absurd. Against such opponents, his tricks with the villagers were reduced to little more than stalling tactics.
This battle had become a loss—no gains, heavy costs. The sacrificial space consumed vast amounts of energy to sustain. To expend it here for nothing was infuriating.
The chief's expression flickered with hesitation. He weighed his options furiously, then finally turned his gaze from the battlefield. His decision was made.
There were only two paths left:
Hide within the sacrificial space and avoid further confrontation. Buggy's group was simply too strong. Even if the chief risked everything, at best, he would achieve a pyrrhic victory, burning away years of hard-won gains. That outcome was unacceptable.
Fight to the death if Buggy somehow found a way inside. Within his domain, the chief's power was overwhelming. If the enemy dared to enter, he was confident he could kill them all.
Back outside, the battle ended under Buggy's leadership.
The villagers collapsed into headless corpses, utterly destroyed.
Buggy felt no guilt.
These people had already committed countless crimes under the chief's command. And in a life-or-death struggle, hesitation was suicide. Controlled or not, they had become enemies—and enemies had to be slain.
Once the last villager fell, Buggy activated his Observation Haki, scanning the air around them for any hint of the chief. But there was nothing. The man had vanished completely.