Speaking of which, Buggy was quite an interesting fellow.
Despite finding numerous treasure maps, they always turned out to be either fakes or treasures that had already been snatched up by someone else. In short, after all these years, he had failed to find a single genuine treasure.
As a result, if someone offered him a mere million Belly, he would scurry over without a second thought.
He couldn't help it; he was broke!
After venting his frustrations, Buggy composed himself. He had been through this kind of situation many times before, and over the years, he had gained some experience in dealing with it.
"Everyone, get ready! We set sail for the Marine 16th Branch in three days!"
"Yes, Captain Buggy!"
'''
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
Under the cover of midnight, a large merchant ship sped across the sea, pursued closely by a pirate ship that fired its cannons at irregular intervals. At this moment, they were only a few nautical miles away from the circular defensive walls of the 16th Branch fortress.
Alert Marines immediately reported the situation to the central island.
"Commodore, according to reports from the Marines on the defensive wall, the pirates pursuing the merchant ship appear to be Buggy the Clown," Lucci reported.
Inside the office, Sean frowned slightly upon hearing the report.
Twice in a short period, pirates had chased someone right to his doorstep. Such a coincidence? Furthermore, this didn't fit Buggy's personality. The man was usually very low-profile.
Buggy needed to keep his exposure low; while the Marines in the East Blue might not recognize him, the moment he did something notable and his photo was circulated among the higher-ups at Headquarters... there were actually quite a few people who could identify him.
But his current behavior had nothing to do with being low-profile.
Unless...
"Who is on the merchant ship?"
"Unclear. It's too dark to identify them accurately."
"Then how were you able to identify the Buggy Pirates, who are further away than the merchant ship?"
"According to the Marines on the wall, the Buggy Pirates' ship has many torches lit, allowing them to clearly see the emblem on the sails."
'So that's it.'
They were practically begging to be recognized.
Sean began to understand. At the same time, he remembered something else.
"Lucci, I recall Kalifa and the others mentioned a piece of intel when they returned, right?"
"Yes. According to Kalifa, someone used the underground network to find a pirate crew in the East Blue to handle a job. We heard the agreed payment was one million. Because the amount was so small, we analyzed that it probably wasn't a major incident. Additionally, since our focus has been on Doflamingo recently, we didn't investigate further," Lucci nodded.
As he said, what kind of major incident could be settled for a mere million Belly? Moreover, the entire branch was preparing for a potential clash with Doflamingo, so such a trivial matter was naturally overlooked.
However, Sean thought of another possibility.
"Notify old man Sanders. Have him station all the new recruits on the defensive walls and have them take over the various fortress firepower points on the main island."
"Simultaneously, have all combat-ready personnel board two medium-sized warships and deploy them on both sides behind the fortress gates."
"Once everything is ready, fire upon the Buggy Pirates to force them to retreat, and open the fortress gates to let the merchant ship in!"
Hearing Sean's orders, Lucci immediately realized the plan.
With a deployment like this, the Commodore's target wasn't the Buggy Pirates at all—it was that merchant ship.
Once it entered the fortress, the searchlights would lock onto it. Then, the fortress cannons on the walls and the artillery on the main island would open fire. At a distance of only one or two hundred meters, their accuracy would be absolute.
Even if the initial barrage didn't finish them off, the combat units waiting on both sides could immediately pull alongside and board the ship to clean up.
So, the situation outside the fortress was just a play? A performance coordinated with the Buggy Pirates to lure the enemy straight into the 16th Branch?
"Commodore..."
"If I'm not mistaken, the people on that merchant ship should be Doflamingo's Diamond Division!" Sean said with a smile before Lucci could finish.
"I see. I'll arrange it immediately!"
"Good."
'''
Ten minutes later.
All the new recruits were in position on the defensive walls. The veterans who had originally been stationed there had all been withdrawn.
After all, the number of official Marines in the branch's combat sequence was small—only a hundred in total. The twenty men previously on duty on the walls were naturally recalled for other deployments.
"What are you all panicking for?! It's not like you haven't learned how to operate the cannons! Look at yourselves!"
On the wall, Sanders was already furious.
Cannon operation was a mandatory course for Marines. All the recruits here had passed the subject assessment and had undergone numerous practical exercises. Yet now, in a real-world scenario, they were fumbling around in a chaotic mess.
This scene wasn't just happening under Sanders; it was the same at the other firepower points commanded by the four other instructors. Fortunately, under the roaring shouts of the instructors, the panic didn't last long.
"Report, Instructor Sanders! We are ready! Current distance is approximately 1.5 nautical miles!"
"Fire!"
"But... Instructor Sanders, the distance is too far! We'll never hit them!" a recruit cried out, his face pale.
While the fortress cannons had a significantly longer range than ordinary cannons, hitting a target at 1.5 nautical miles was difficult even for veterans, let alone them. The recruits had zero confidence.
"I told you to fire, so fire!"
"The Commodore said we just need to force them back. Those pirates aren't the main guests tonight!" Sanders snapped, annoyed by the cowardice of his subordinates.
As expected, no matter how good a recruit's grades were in training, it meant nothing without actual combat experience.
"Yes, Instructor Sanders!"
'Boom! Boom!'
In the next instant, two fortress cannons roared, sending massive shells screaming toward the distant pirate ship.
As expected, the result was a disaster; the shots were wildly off-target. The closest shell landed more than 300 meters away from the pirate ship.
"Why are you standing there? I didn't tell you to stop! Keep firing!"
"Yes... Yes, Instructor Sanders!"
Soon, the fortress cannons were booming again. After three waves of bombardment, the pirate ship began to turn away, seemingly abandoning the chase.
"Open the fortress gates! Let that merchant ship in!"
"Yes, sir!"
The heavy gates slowly groaned open. A few minutes later, the merchant ship sailed slowly into the fortress.
'''
"I didn't expect it to be this easy. This is going much smoother than anticipated!"
"Marines are just Marines—nothing but fools!"
"What's the plan now? Do we strike as soon as we dock at the port?"
"Wait... do you guys hear something?"
Suddenly, someone cried out. Hearing the noise behind them, the pirates whipped their heads around to look.
However, the night was far too dark to make out anything.
It wasn't until ten seconds later, when a heavy, resounding crash echoed through the air, that they realized what had happened.
The sound had come from the fortress gate—and the gate was now closed.
'The Buggy Pirates have already made their getaway. Do these Marines really need to be this paranoid to slam the gates shut already?' the pirates grumbled to themselves.
But in the next heartbeat, the atmosphere shifted.
Dozens of searchlights atop the circular defense wall and the main island of the 16th Branch flared to life simultaneously, their beams converging on the merchant ship.
The sudden, blinding glare struck them all at once, leaving them squinting, unable to keep their eyes open.