Buggy and his crew swaggered into the town center, only to find it completely empty.
His face immediately soured.
"Straw Hat!" he yelled, "This is all your fault! I wanted to buy supplies for the Grand Line, but you scared everyone off! Who am I supposed to buy from now?"
Luffy just looked annoyed.
"I didn't know I was this famous!" he pouted.
But then he remembered his new bounty and burst out laughing.
Buggy just rolled his eyes and looked at Ray.
"Your captain's an idiot. Seriously, why not just team up with me?"
That set Luffy off, and he started yelling that he wanted to fight Buggy.
Buggy, of course, yelled right back.
Before they could start, Ray knocked both of them out with one punch each, sending them crashing into the ground and creating two perfectly round craters.
"Too noisy," Ray said flatly.
Chouchou growled at Buggy's crew.
In his eyes, these clowns were bad news—they were the ones who had tried to steal his previous owner's pet food.
Seeing Chouchou's reaction made Ray feel weirdly uncomfortable.
…
A little while later, after the two captains woke up, it was just the two crews left in the empty square.
Buggy was still ticked off at Luffy about the straw hat, but he had to admit, he respected what Luffy did on the execution platform.
At least he hadn't disgraced their captain's hat.
After a bit of back-and-forth, Buggy got serious.
"Look," he said to the Straw Hats, "you shouldn't get mixed up in my business. Tomorrow is going to be a mess. You should leave. With Ray here, Smoker won't be able to stop you."
The crew just looked confused.
Ray sighed and had Buggy explain his whole plan.
When Luffy heard that Buggy was going to openly challenge the Marines for Roger's sake, his blood started pumping.
"Hahaha, Buggy! I never knew you were so loyal!" Luffy cheered.
Sanji was also pretty impressed.
"I still think leaving is the smart move," he muttered, "but looking at our captain's face... yeah, we're not leaving."
Luffy's expression made it obvious: he was going to help.
Nami felt desperate.
'Why can't we ever just leave a place peacefully?'
Usopp's teeth were chattering.
"Luffy," he stammered, "do we really have to get involved? Fighting the Marines head-on sounds like a really bad idea!"
Luffy didn't answer.
He was lost in a memory...
7 years ago...
Luffy was standing by the seaside, looking up at a young, dazed Ace on the cliff.
"Ace, let's go catch rabbits in the forest together!"
Ace was quiet for a long time before he turned and asked Luffy a question.
"Luffy... do you think Roger... was a good person?"
Little Luffy just tilted his head, thought for a moment, and replied, "I don't know, but he must have been really cool and free."
"Cool and free~ Haha, that's so like you, Luffy." Ace looked at Luffy with deep affection and spoke his true thoughts.
"But he definitely wasn't a good father! I don't acknowledge him as my father."
…
The memory faded.
Luffy looked at his arguing crew.
"I have a brother," he said, "named Ace. His father was the Pirate King, Gold Roger."
As soon as he said it, everyone except Ray was stunned.
Sanji, Usopp, and Nami stared, their brains short-circuiting.
'Luffy's brother's father is Roger? That means... Luffy's father is Roger?!'
Usopp immediately stopped complaining.
"For your father's sake? Well, in that case, we have to help!"
Nami's heart ached for her captain... but then she did the math.
'Wait. Luffy is 17. Roger died 22 years ago. ...My brain is overheating.'
Buggy's reaction was even crazier.
"HOLY SHIT!" he yelled. "You're the captain's son? No wonder! No wonder Shanks gave you the hat! It all makes sense now!"
At this moment, Buggy was looking at Luffy like he was his long-lost little brother, his eyes filled with affection.
(Though to everyone else, it just looked greasy.)
Luffy ignored everyone's reactions and kept talking.
"But Ace never met his father, 'cause Roger died here before he was born."
Hearing this, the Straw Hats pretty much guessed what Luffy was thinking.
It seemed they wouldn't be avoiding this fight after all.
"Although Ace always said he hated Roger," Luffy continued, "I could feel that he also wanted to meet his father, no matter what his motives were. Tomorrow marks 22 years since Roger's passing. I must help Ace accompany his father through this day."
Coincidentally, Zoro had just gotten his new swords, gotten lost for half a day, and finally circled back to find them.
He hadn't heard any of the conversation, only catching the final sentence.
"Since you've made your decision," Zoro grinned, looking like a battle-hungry green rice dumpling,
"I guess we'll have to fight the Marines."
Though she was reluctant, Nami felt a surge of security, remembering they had Ray on their side.
Usopp, moved by the father-son story, cast aside his cowardice and decided to support his captain.
(Of course, by now, all the other Straw Hats had done the math and realized Luffy's father wasn't Roger.)
On Buggy's side, only Buggy himself remained confused.
His mind was completely occupied with one thought.
'Straw Hat Kid is Captain Roger's son! I absolutely can't let anything happen to him!'
At this moment, Buggy shouted out loud.
"Luffy, leave the matter of avenging Captain Roger to me! You're still young and you have to become the Pirate King and inherit his will! Ray, please take them away by force! Tomorrow will be truly dangerous!"
Buggy was completely serious, with none of his usual comical behavior.
Ray was honestly impressed by Buggy's thought process.
'Can this guy not do simple addition and subtraction?'
Just as Ray couldn't stand it anymore and was about to break his usual silent habit, Luffy exclaimed with admiration.
"I really want to see what the Pirate King looks like! He must be really handsome!"
Hearing this, Buggy became extremely excited.
"Kahahaha! Luffy, I apologize for hitting you before! You have great taste! In my eyes, Captain Roger is the most handsome man in the world! Hahaha!"
Luffy's eyes also sparkled as he nodded in agreement.
Zoro facepalmed. "How did their relationship suddenly get so good?" he muttered.
"Don't these two seem like star-chasing fans?"
Sanji and Nami nodded in agreement.
"Friends of the Straw Hat Pirates!" Buggy's first mate announced. "Buggy-sama is happy today, so I'll take you all to see Captain Roger's handsome figure!"
'Take us to see Roger? Is he still alive?'
Seeing everyone's confusion, Ray explained the situation about the statues.
This got everyone excited.
It was a statue of the Pirate King after all.
And so, under Buggy's leadership, the group set off toward the west coast.
Ray glanced at Buggy and roughly guessed his intentions.
'First, he genuinely wants Luffy—who he thinks is Roger's son—to see his "father."
'Second, he wants to lead us to the coast and find a way to make us leave.'
'Third, he's putting on a show for the Marines, moving the battlefield.'
'He won't want to damage Roger's hometown.'
This was Buggy's way of telling the Marines: 'The battle location has changed. I'll be waiting for you at the west coast.'
Thinking this, Ray said to Chouchou.
"Go bring the Going Merry near the west coast."
Chouchou immediately ran off, heading toward the east coast to get the ship.
…
Inside a building near the square.
Smoker and Tashigi watched as the two major pirate groups headed toward the west coast, feeling somewhat relieved.
After composing herself, Tashigi speak.
"Fortunately they didn't cause trouble now, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to stop them."
Though Smoker was displeased, he knew he couldn't have stopped both crews, even if he'd staked his life on it.
"I never expected that strange ninja in the tavern to be Straw Hat Luffy, and the handsome man sitting in the corner to be Ray," Smoker grumbled, taking deep drags from his cigars.
"What exactly are these guys after?"
'But tomorrow, she will arrive,' he thought. 'No matter how strong you are, you can't escape the judgment of justice.'
"Tashigi, let's move out. Keep watching them."
"Understood, Captain Smoker!"
Note : Buggy is aura farming on this fic.