Chapter 17: King vs. King, General vs. General
Ralph's figure moved like a phantom among the Buggy Pirates' underlings, yet he ultimately refrained from attacking Buggy himself.
Thud! Thump! Bang!
"Ouch!"
"My hand!"
A series of dull impacts and pained cries rang out as several Buggy Pirates members were instantly knocked off their feet by Ralph's high-speed Soru, combined with precise kicks and dagger-hilt strikes, rendered completely incapacitated.
"You bastard! What do you think you're doing?!" Buggy roared furiously at Ralph, having just reattached his upper body to his lower half in time to witness his subordinates being beaten.
Ralph came to a halt, standing not far in front of Luffy with one hand gripping his dagger in a reverse hold and the other already drawing the flintlock pistol from his waist.
"What am I doing?" Ralph's voice was calm, yet carried a suppressed fury that seemed to simmer at its limit. "I simply can't stand by and watch any longer."
He paused, his gaze shifting to Luffy, who was clutching her wounds but whose eyes still burned with intensity.
"But I cannot interfere with the captain's fight."
His voice rose, clear and carrying across the entire rooftop: "Then let's follow the rules of the sea! King against king, general against general!"
The dagger in his hand shot up, pointing precisely at two distinctive figures in the crowd—a beast tamer riding a tall, imposing lion, and a stunt performer balancing on a unicycle with a long sword at his waist.
"You two—you're officers of the Buggy Pirates, aren't you?"
A provocative smirk curled at the corner of Ralph's lips. "Come on, entertain me! Let's see what you're capable of!"
The beast tamer Mohji and the stunt master Cabaji instantly flew into a rage. One was the vice-captain, the other the chief of staff—both were notable figures in the East Blue. When had they ever been treated with such contempt?
"Arrogant brat, you're overestimating yourself!" Mohji, seated atop the lion Richie, brandished his whip. "Richie, show him what we're made of!"
Cabaji fixed a cold stare on Ralph, his unicycle beginning to slowly rotate. "You'll pay for your insolence."
Yet after issuing his challenge, Ralph seemed to ignore them entirely, turning back to Luffy instead. His expression was deadly serious.
"Lufia, I'll say it again. I can't bear to see you hurt like this. My patience has reached its limit."
His voice was low, each word striking deep into Luffy's heart.
"If you let scum of this caliber wound you with such underhanded methods again... I'll start to question whether you truly respect your dream, whether... you truly respect me—a comrade who's giving his all to support and protect you!"
The words "dream" and "respect" hit Luffy like a sledgehammer.
She looked into Ralph's eyes, slightly reddened from suppressed rage, and through them, she seemed to feel directly the intensity of his burning, anxious emotions.
After a moment of silence, a brilliant, understanding, and resolute smile bloomed across her face.
"Is this your resolve as a crewmate?" Her voice was clear and firm. "As your captain, I accept it!"
In that brief exchange, without lengthy explanations, it was as if their hearts had communicated directly. Luffy fully understood Ralph's anger, his boundaries, and the profound care and protection underlying it all.
Meanwhile, the members of the Buggy Pirates present were completely ignored by these two.
This was nothing short of blatant humiliation!
"Get them! Kill that brat with the dagger!" Buggy shouted furiously.
The battle erupted once more!
After Ralph's reminder, Luffy's gaze sharpened further. She no longer focused solely on attacking Buggy, instead diverting part of her attention to guard against potential ambushes from all directions. Her fighting style became more steady and cautious.
As for Ralph, he had to face the two top officers of the Buggy Pirates alone!
"Richie!"
"ROAR—!"
At the command of the beast tamer Mohji, the giant lion Richie beneath him opened its bloody maw and let out an ear-splitting roar! The sound waves spread out like a physical force, carrying the oppressive aura of the king of beasts, enough to shatter the courage of ordinary people.
A smug smile spread across Mohji's face. He anticipated seeing Ralph stunned by this terrifying lion's roar—even a momentary lapse would be enough for him and Richie to launch a fatal attack!
However, just as the lion's roar reached its peak, Ralph's figure—vanished once again!
"Ah!"
In the next moment, an invisible, blade-laden whirlwind seemed to sweep through the ranks of the Buggy Pirates' members!
Pushing the speed of Soru to its limits and combining it with the foresight of his basic Observation Haki, Ralph weaved through the crowd. The dagger in his hand became a blur of afterimages.
In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, and screams rose one after another as seven or eight more pirates wailed and collapsed, losing their ability to fight. The entire process was as swift as lightning, too fast for anyone to react.
When Mohji snapped out of the lingering effects of the lion's roar and shockingly realized that his companions had fallen all around him, an icy chill shot up his spine!
Before he could even comprehend what had happened, he heard a pained roar beside him! He whipped his head around to see several bone-deep wounds appear out of nowhere on his trusted giant lion Richie, blood gushing profusely!
"Richie!" Mohji cried out in anguish.
However, the intense pain fully ignited Richie's ferocity as a wild beast! In its agony, it instinctively flailed its massive claws wildly, trying to crush the "thing" that had hurt it! And Mohji happened to be right within its chaotic attack range!
"Thud!"
"Gah—!"
Caught completely off guard, Mohji was struck squarely in the chest by Richie's claw. He was sent flying backward like a kite with its string cut, slammed into the wall behind him, and slid down limply, knocked out cold.
All of this—from Ralph's disappearance to Mohji being sent flying—had actually occurred in an extremely brief period.
On the other side, Cabaji the acrobatic master had only just steadied himself on his unicycle, his long sword barely half-drawn. His proudest skill was the high-speed slashes he executed while riding his unicycle—bizarre, unpredictable, and impossible to guard against.
Yet, after witnessing Ralph's terrifying, teleportation-like speed as he rampaged through the crowd leaving wounded in his wake, a cold despair instantly enveloped him.
We both rely on speed... and I even have a wheel under my feet... yet... I can't even compare to him?!
By the time he reacted and tried to locate Ralph's figure, a cold voice had already sounded behind him:
"Don't move."
At the same time, a cold dagger had already been silently pressed against his neck. Ralph's other hand held a flintlock pistol, its barrel steadily aimed at Mohji who had just slid down the wall, unconscious.
Ralph's voice remained calm and steady, "You've lost."
Just as Ralph dealt with the two top officers, the battle on the other side reached its climax!
"Bara Bara Carnival!!"
Buggy roared, pushing the power of the Bara Bara no Mi to its limit!
His body instantly separated into dozens of fragments—limbs, torso, head... like ignited fireworks or dense shotgun pellets, they shot toward Luffy from all directions at high speed!
Luffy's eyes narrowed, her rubber body displaying incredible flexibility and reflexes as she twisted and dodged desperately among the flying Buggy fragments.
The super elasticity granted by the Gomu Gomu no Mi allowed her to evade fatal attacks at impossible angles, but the fragments were too numerous and dense—several daggers still managed to cut her arms and thighs, adding fresh bloodstains.
Ralph, who had been keeping an eye on this side while distracted, felt his heart tighten at the sight of the new wounds, his grip on the dagger tightening slightly. But he forced himself to restrain his concern because he knew the outcome was already decided!
After a dazzling round of offense and defense, Buggy's fragments began converging toward a central point like weary birds returning to their nest, preparing to reassemble.
"Shahahaha! See how powerful I am, Straw Hat brat!" Buggy's reassembled head laughed triumphantly, but the laughter abruptly cut off.
He looked down at his body, blinked hard several times, and his expression shifted from pride to confusion, then from confusion to sheer terror!
"My... my body?! How... how did it shrink?!!"
The reassembled Buggy now stood less than a meter tall—a dwarf! His limbs were stubby, his torso comically shrunken, with only his large red nose and head remaining unchanged, creating an utterly bizarre appearance!
Meanwhile, Luffy stood there grinning, having used her hands, feet, and even her mouth to intercept all of Buggy's body fragments.
"Gomu Gomu no Baku Baku!"
Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, including Ralph whose eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, Luffy stretched her mouth to an exaggerated size and swallowed all the fragments in one gulp.
Wiiin!
Ralph's eyeballs nearly leaped from their sockets!
"Waaah! My body!!"
The clown Buggy stared at his dwarfed form and let out a piercing scream. He tried to control the fragments still being held and stepped on by Lufia but felt only a faint connection. "Spit them out! Spit my body out! If they get digested, I'll die! I'll really die!!"
The remaining members of the Buggy Pirates completely panicked, gathering around their dwarfed captain in frantic helplessness.
But Ralph was even more frantic than them!
Lufia, you can't just swallow anything! That thing is filthy!
He rushed over in a flash, grabbed the dwarfed Buggy by the collar, lifted him up, and roared almost directly in his face: "Surrender! Make her spit it out now! Or you'll remain a dwarf for the rest of your life!"
"I surrender! I surrender! Waaah... I'll give you everything! Just make her give my body back!"
Buggy was so terrified that tears and snot streamed down his face, completely broken. "Young people these days... are too frightening!"
Under the nearly tearful pleas from Ralph and Buggy, along with his crew, a confused Lufia reached into her own stomach, rummaged around, and pulled out Buggy's body fragments.
"Ptooey! Not tasty at all!" Luffy wiped her mouth disdainfully.
As if granted amnesty, Buggy quickly controlled the fragments to return to his main body, finally restoring his original form. But he still had lingering fear, slumping to the ground while gasping for air.
"Alright, red nose, a bet's a bet—hand over the sea chart!" Luffy walked up to him and extended her hand.
Buggy looked utterly miserable.
"The sea chart... I really don't have it!"
"What?" Luffy's eyebrows furrowed.
Seemingly terrified that this frightening rubber girl might eat him like a snack again, Buggy quickly spilled everything in detail:
"The sea chart was stolen! By an orange-haired female thief who's very nimble! It happened just before you arrived! I swear I'm telling the truth!"
"An orange-haired female thief?" Luffy tilted her head in thought, completely failing to connect this description with Nami, who had just parted ways with them. She just felt extremely disappointed about not getting the sea chart, her little face falling. "How could this be..."
Ralph walked over to Lufia, looking at her dejected expression, then at Buggy who was like a startled bird on the ground, a glint flashing in his eyes.
"Captain Buggy, as pirates, we never return empty-handed, right?"
His words sounded like a discussion but were actually non-negotiable. "Since you can't produce the sea chart, let's compensate in another way. Buying your life with money, how about that? Use your treasure to purchase safety for yourself and your crew."
"What?! You want my treasure?!" The mention of treasure made Buggy react more intensely than when his body was being swallowed. He jumped up abruptly, forgetting his fear, his face red and neck thick as he shouted:
"Then just kill me instead!!"
This miserly attitude of valuing money over life!
That's our Captain Buggy for you!