Chapter 74 Luffy orders Buggy to take Ace to RayleighBuggy's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints. How could he not know? That was Captain Roger's wife's surname.
"What are you up to?"
Buggy's brows furrowed deeply, staring intently at Luffy, trying to see through his intentions.
Knowing full well that he was once an apprentice on Roger's ship, he still dared to entrust Ace to his escort. Wasn't he afraid that Luffy would release him halfway?
"This is giving you a chance to save Ace. You should have a good idea of Teach's strength."
Luffy grinned like a sly fox.
Upon hearing that name, Buggy's face turned deathly pale. Back then, he and Shanks had barely managed to fight that guy to a draw; the psychological trauma was immense.
"What does this have to do with Teach?"
Buggy's mind was a complete mess, utterly unable to grasp the intricacies of the situation.
Luffy glanced at Buggy casually, his tone chillingly calm: "This idiot's planning to take down Teach all by himself!"
Buggy paused for a second, then slapped his thigh and burst into laughter: "Hahaha! You think you can take down Teach? He's a monster who can go toe-to-toe with me!"
Luffy rolled his eyes without hesitation: "Come on, stop patting yourself on the back. All you've got is a big nose and no ambition. Look at Shanks, how successful he is! Even he got three scars on his face from Teach."
Buggy's smile froze instantly, his jaw nearly dropping in shock. He was indeed crippled, but Shanks, a Yonko, had actually been defeated by Blackbeard. Just how strong must Blackbeard be now?
Luffy pointed at Ace on the ground, his tone leaving no room for argument: "I want you to take him to Sabaody Archipelago! Find an old acquaintance of yours and hand him over to him!"
Buggy's mind was still reeling. He instinctively asked, "My old acquaintance? Who?"
Luffy enunciated each word like a hammer blow to Buggy's heart: "The Pirate King's right hand! Pluton! Silvers Rayleigh!"
"The first mate!?"
Buggy was so frightened that snot bubbles appeared on his nose, and his voice trembled: "That old monster is in Sabaody?"
Luffy calmly nodded: "He's just an ordinary coating craftsman now. He sells himself for alcohol when he's bored. I don't remember which island he's on, but as long as you land there, someone will definitely come looking for you. After all, Shakky runs a shady establishment called 'Extortion Bar' there. If all else fails, you can try your luck there."
"That old hag Shakky..."
Buggy seemed to recall some unpleasant past, his face turning ashen as if he'd swallowed a fly. He knew that woman was the progenitor of intelligence gathering; no one had yet figured out the depths of her network.
"Why did you have to hand Ace over to Vice-Captain Rayleigh? With your current status, if you handed Ace over to the Marines, wouldn't that be a major achievement?"
Buggy frowned, staring at Luffy with suspicion.
Luffy gave Buggy a look that suggested he was an idiot. "Do you think I'm tired of living, waiting for that old man to kill me? And don't pry into my mess with the World Government; it won't do you any good. Just tell Rayleigh that if he wants Ace to live, he absolutely cannot be released before Teach becomes a Shichibukai."
"That Teach guy wants to be a Shichibukai?"
Buggy's eyes darted around, his face full of disbelief. "How could such an ambitious guy be content to be a Marine watchdog?"
Although they hadn't interacted much, in Buggy's memory, Teach's fierce face didn't seem like someone willing to be subservient.
"Speaking of which, didn't you say you'd help me get that Shichibukai spot?"
Buggy rubbed his hands together, leaning closer and asking with a fawning expression.
"Keep dreaming. Just be a legitimate merchant ship owner. That old man Sengoku is incredibly stingy and won't approve it no matter what. It's really bad luck."
Luffy was still unaware that the Seven Warlords of the Sea were actually under the direct control of the World Government, and Sengoku couldn't make decisions entirely according to his own wishes.
Upon hearing this, Buggy's face instantly fell. A Seven Warlord of the Sea! Although their reputation was terrible in both the legitimate and underworld circles, the title was undeniably prestigious, a powerful tool for showing off.
Moreover, if he had the title of Seven Warlord, his courier business would definitely save a lot on tolls.
Ace, still writhing on the ground like a caterpillar, cried out, "Let go of me, Luffy! I'm not going to see Rayleigh, I'm going to clean house!"
Buggy, without hesitation, swung his fist and slammed it into Ace's forehead, smugly reprimanding him, "Hmph! You brat! I was a full-fledged crew member on your dad's ship back in the day, you should call me uncle!"
He was met with Ace's murderous glare, which made Buggy shrink back several steps.
"Stop embarrassing yourself here! Get lost! The permanent Pose I gave you at Marine Headquarters pointed directly to the island near Sabaody Archipelago. Go there, don't wander off. If you lose Ace, I'll throw you into Impel Down to pick up the soap!"
Luffy glared fiercely at Buggy, his tone full of threat.
Buggy shuddered, cursing as he dragged Ace along, directing his crew to flee towards Sabaody Archipelago at full speed.
At this very moment, on the distant Jaya Island.
Blackbeard and his crew were huddled together, studying the wanted posters they had just received from the Navy, the atmosphere heavy with unease.
"We just need to kill one more pirate with a bounty over 100 million, and that'll be enough for our pledge of allegiance. I heard the World Government is planning to recruit new Shichibukai. Laffitte, go negotiate with those guys in suits. Tell them we've prepared a generous gift for them! Zhehahahaha!"
"Ah—the weather on Spring Island is so comfortable it makes me want to commit a crime."
Luffy lay sprawled on the deck, groaning contentedly, while Robin, using her Flower Flower Fruit, conjured countless tiny hands on either side of him, giving him a full massage.
With Ace, a major threat, eliminated, Luffy finally felt a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. After all, his backing within the Navy was incredibly strong, and as the top dog on the high seas, the Navy had far more capable fighters than the ragtag bunches of pirates.
The so-called Straw Hat Grand Fleet was nothing more than a rabble in the eyes of the regular army; a few Vice Admirals from Marine Headquarters could easily wipe them out.
Not to mention the likes of Vice Admiral Tsuru and Zephyr, these hidden monsters. As long as Sengoku and Garp, the two pillars of the navy, remained standing, the World Government wouldn't dare to completely break ties with him.
After all, this was just a parallel world of pirates, full of variables. Even the protagonist, Luffy, could starve to death at sea. What if those shameless Celestial Dragons suddenly abandoned all martial ethics and sent their top-tier fighters to wipe him out? There would be no recourse.
While it would be difficult for him to die now, being captured and used as a guinea pig in a cage would be worse than death.
Therefore, Luffy made up his mind that he had to protect his grandfather and Sengoku's positions.
The key to all this lay in the spark that ignited the Marineford War—Ace.
As long as it wasn't Ace kneeling on the execution platform, even if the Marineford War proceeded as planned,
with Garp not holding back, let alone an elderly Whitebeard covered in tubes, even a Whitebeard in his prime leading his entire family to storm Marine Headquarters would be nothing short of suicide.