"Captain Buggy——"
Seeing their captain unharmed after that strike, the pirates immediately shouted.
"Who did it? Who dared attack the great Captain Buggy, utterly unforgivable!" Buggy roared, one hand separating from his body, flying to the nearest pirate, yanking him by the collar.
"..... the Wind-Sword Knight." The pirate pointed behind him at Arthur, who held an invisible blade, and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Hmph!" Buggy released the man's collar, the hand stitching back to his body, and fixed a cold gaze on Arthur.
His pupils contracted slightly at the deep gouge in the ground.
As a trainee on the Pirate King's ship, Buggy had seen every kind of storm. His eye was sharp enough to recognize a swordsman's flying slash.
Not every first- or second-rate swordsman is truly skilled.
A swordsman who can unleash a flying slash is no longer merely a swordsman but a great swordsman.
When did such a strong man appear in the East Blue?
"Hey, kid, are you that Wind-Sword Knight?" Buggy jabbed a finger at Arthur. "That slash just now cut up the place, right. To attack the great Captain Buggy, you'll be put to the ultimate punishment."
He knew the other was a great swordsman, yet Buggy showed no fear. The Chop-Chop Fruit was a swordsman's nemesis.
Arthur saw the confidence and understood that it had some basis.
The Chop-Chop Fruit was indeed a very powerful Paramecia-type Devil Fruit.
It ignores all sword slashes, fears not even flying slashes, the kind of ability that is hard to counter.
Unless he used the Hammer of the Wind King.
But releasing that Noble Phantasm would consume a great deal of mana, and Arthur did not intend to use it.
As for a True Name Release, even less so. Buggy wasn't worthy.
With a thought, Arthur drew Excalibur back into his body.
"Hahahaha..... a swordsman putting his sword away. Now you know how mighty Lord Buggy is." Seeing the invisible blade vanish, Buggy burst into laughter.
"As expected of the great Captain Buggy!!" The pirates around him, cowed earlier by Arthur, shouted their agreement.
Watching Buggy's preening, Arthur was nearly certain the man had no real substance.
If not for being a transmigrator, it would be hard to believe someone so clownish could stand so tall.
"Twenty years, and you still haven't awakened your fruit. Truly mediocre." Arthur sighed inwardly. The next instant, his feet kicked off, his figure blurring from sight.
Whoosh——bang!!
Almost in a blink, Arthur appeared before Buggy. His right hand clenched, his fist coated in black, wreathed in a golden flare, and he smashed it into Buggy's face.
In an instant, Buggy looked like he had been hit by a truck, his whole body shooting away like a beam of light.
He crashed through walls in succession, punched holes through three buildings, and finally stopped.
"....."
Staring at the absurd scene, the Buggy Pirates froze mid-cheer, faces blank.
"That idiot. No wonder he was so confident. Such overwhelming power!!"
Not only they. Nami, who had been secretly trailing Arthur, hiding in a corner of a house and watching him, was stunned by his strength.
"The East Blue offers me no challenge anymore." Arthur flexed his hand and watched Armament Haki fade, thinking quietly.
That punch carried Strength E+, Armament Haki E, Mana D−, and Mana Burst A. Melding the four for the first time gave him a new understanding of his power.
"You have won this battle. Total victories: 26."
The emotionless prompt rang in Arthur's mind.
Startled, he glanced at the smoke-filled buildings, then stepped forward.
Passing through the houses he had blown open like doorways, Arthur found Buggy lying in the ruins, already unconscious.
Buggy was a pitiful sight, face covered in blood, and beside the round red nose there was a fist-shaped dent.
Arthur's mouth twitched. Truly unable to withstand a single blow.
Grabbing Buggy by the collar, Arthur dragged him back the way he came.
When he reached the second house, the smoke had cleared, and a heap of objects caught his eye.
A small mountain of gold coins, treasures, and jewelry.
By the looks of it, converted to beli it would be no less than ten million.
"As expected of money-loving Buggy." Arthur could only sigh. Buggy lacked Shanks's Haki, yet his obsession with treasure matched Luffy's resolve to become Pirate King.
Normally cowardly and afraid of death, he would still risk his life for treasure.
Looking at the bruised and battered Buggy, Arthur's eyes showed a trace of pity.
With such seniority, with a Devil Fruit of vast potential, if he had worked to awaken the Chop-Chop Fruit, his strength would have soared.
What a pity. What a lament.
Of course, it was only a passing sigh.
He had little interest in treasure. As a bounty hunter, with enough strength in this Great Pirate Era, beli was everywhere, which was why he could casually hand Nami ten million.
Arthur didn't care for money, but there was no reason to refuse what lay before him.
With that much piled up, he naturally wouldn't pretend not to see it.