Pirate: I, Buggy, am the Emperor, the Emperor of the Clown King!

Pirates wearing headscarves, pirates with scars on their faces, pirates in vests, pirates with tattooed arms, pirates with bare chests... these pirates ran noisily toward the execution square.

On the second floor of a closed fruit shop across the square, a pair of eyes were watching these people from behind the window.

Those eyes belonged to a young woman wearing glasses, who held a drawn knife in her hand, the blade gleaming coldly in the darkness.

It was none other than the bespectacled girl, Tashigi.

During this period, due to the problems with the Buggy Pirates, Tashigi, as one of the top fighters in Loguetown, was also sent out by Smoker.

The task is simple: keep an eye on areas where pirates gather in large numbers.

Smoker knew, of course, that there were pirates in the town, but he also knew that there were no way to catch them all.

Even these bars and taverns that cater to pirates have the shadow of special departments of the World Government behind them.

Smoker was well aware that the Navy's capabilities had their limits, so he usually kept an eye on slightly stronger pirates and those who had committed many obviously bad deeds.

...The only other solutions are to gradually improve the situation by addressing public security issues.

For example, thanks to Smoker's efforts, many industries that served pirates lost their business.

Since there's no business and I don't want to go to sea, the only option is to change careers, right?

Sword and knife shops, due to insufficient business, have begun to merge with each other.

Blacksmith shops and the like now mainly produce various agricultural tools.

Just like many people in Loguetown have remarked, the safety situation here has been steadily improving since Smoker arrived.

He couldn't solve all the problems at once, but he kept trying to change the status quo.

Loguetown is short-staffed. Normally, it wouldn't be a big problem, but Smoker can wander around everywhere.

But during this time, Smoker was held back by Bucky... The era ruled by this world government was too bad; far too many people were forced to go to sea because they couldn't survive.

Due to the World Government's deliberate actions, too many [demons] have appeared in this world.

The World Government is deliberately turning people into demons and deliberately creating pirates.

How to turn the ghosts of this world into humans and restore peace and justice to the world... Smoker had thought about this question, but he couldn't figure it out at all.

In fact, there are many righteous people in this world, but they lack the knowledge and ability to solve problems.

...After all, the higher-ups are bad, how could they possibly implement things well?

...The greatest evil reigns over the world in the name of justice, which is why this distorted world has been created.

Pirates are a large, dark group, and not all pirates define themselves solely as pirates.

Merchant ships, bounty hunters, kingdom armies, and even parts of the navy... could all become pirates without anyone knowing.

This is an extremely frustrating fact.

Tashigi shifted her gaze from the pirates to something further away.

There is a clock tower there, and below the clock tower is a square, with a high platform in the center of the square.

This is the platform where Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King, was executed.

That platform has been empty for 22 years, and today someone will stand on it again.

"I absolutely will not allow... I absolutely will not allow you to destroy the peace that Mr. Smoker has worked so hard to maintain." Tashigi's fingers gripped the hilt of her knife tightly, her knuckles turning white.

As Smoker's longtime right-hand woman, only Tashigi knows exactly how much effort Smoker has put in.

Smoker's justice was not served, and he was even exiled from Marine Headquarters to Loguetown.

But it was only in Loguetown, where there were no constraints, that Smoker was able to gradually realize his sense of justice.

On another street.

A green-haired man rushed out of a knife shop, clutching a flyer he had just snatched from the shop owner in his right hand.

The flyer had a row of crooked words written in red pen: "Bugsy the Clown King is executing Monkey D. Luffy on the execution platform."

Damn it.

Zoro, his face ashen, squeezed out two words through gritted teeth, then stomped his foot and shot off like an arrow.

There were too many people on the street.

Zoro dodged left and right, squeezing through the crowd.

He quickened his pace, almost running, and nearly bumped into someone as he turned a corner in an alley.

"Sanji." Zoro spotted his companion immediately.

The blond, curly-browed man, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, had one hand in his pocket and the other clutching a flyer that looked similar to the others.

Although the handwriting on the leaflet Sanji gave was different from Zoro's, it conveyed the same meaning.

The minions of the Buggy Pirates are quite enthusiastic when obeying Buggy's orders.

On one hand, it was because of Bucky's impressive strength, and on the other hand, it was because Bucky treated him very well.

With such a capable boss, his subordinates naturally have to work hard too.

I earn 2 yuan a month; I'm the boss's dad.

I earn 2 yuan a month, and my boss is my dad.

With a monthly salary of 20 yuan, the company's direction is the meaning of my life.

Although there are indeed many greedy and ungrateful people in this world, the vast majority of people are actually quite grateful.

The same applies to pirates—they do things for money, risk their lives for money, it's their right and their only right.

Sanji took the cigarette out of his mouth and exhaled a long puff of white smoke: "I just bought some groceries, and I left them by the roadside."

Zoro glanced at him.

Sanji didn't look at him; his gaze went past Zoro's head and landed on the gray-white clock tower in the distance.

The two people started walking at the same time, one in front of the other, in the same direction.

No one speaks.

The execution platform was located at the edge of the square.

The whole structure is made up of many connected iron frames, with a large wooden platform on top.

22 years ago, the Pirate King Roger was publicly executed here.

At this moment, Luffy's neck and wrist were stuck in a wooden lock, with three holes fitting perfectly.

Generally speaking, these wooden shackles would not be able to restrain Luffy.

Unfortunately, Luffy is currently under the influence of too much anesthetic.

So even though he's twisting like a maggot now, he still can't break free.

Bucky pinned the straw hat to Luffy's head, the brim tilted, covering half of his face.

Now Luffy is not only wearing the hat of the Pirate King, but he is also being held down at the place where the Pirate King Roger was executed, and even the wooden shackles he is wearing are the same style.

Clearly, Buggy kept his word and gave you a departure ceremony like that of Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King.

The only problem is that Luffy couldn't get a matching outfit.

Luffy's eyes were wide open, staring at the person standing in front of him.

The Pakistani base stood in front of him.

The atmosphere between the two sides was somewhat unusual.

Even the sky seemed to be affected by this, and began to darken.

The sky cleared up, then became partly cloudy.

Buggy tilted his head, looking at Luffy with a slight smile on his lips—the bait was ready, and now he was just waiting for the fish to take the bait, and no one would guess that his real target was Alvida.

"Hey! Can you let me go?" Luffy struggled, but the wooden shackles didn't budge.

His neck was trapped, so he could only look up at Bucky. Looking up from below, the mask seemed higher, bigger, and farther away.

"I won't let go~" Bucky actually found it quite amusing.

"You attacked me by sneak attack and poison! You're despicable!" Luffy struggled again, but no matter how hard he struggled, it was no use.

"Despicable?" Bucky's voice carried a hint of amusement. "Lord Clown has always been ruthless in his methods, whether it's a sneak attack or drugging—as long as he wins, that's all that matters."

Luffy, who was trained by Garp from a young age, is incredibly resilient.

It would be quite troublesome to completely subdue him, so drugging him is definitely the easiest solution.

As for using a sword, although it could easily knock Luffy down, given Luffy's personality, he would resist stubbornly, so after the sword strike, he would definitely be half-dead.

Buggy needs Luffy to be full of energy, so he really can't move.

Only in this way will Luffy have the energy to shout loudly.

Buggy's plan: Step 1 is to capture Luffy, and Step 2 is for Luffy to shout loudly on the execution platform.

"You—" Luffy was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged. His straw hat slipped off his forehead and hung on the back of his head.

With his eyes wide open, staring at Buggy, Luffy looked truly comical.

"Eeya ya!"

"I'm so angry!"

"I want to fight you head-on!"

Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice booming across the square and attracting the attention of even more onlookers in the distance.

Many of the pirates gathered here are actually quite afraid of Buggy the Clown.

If Bucky showed even the slightest sign of malice, these guys would scatter and run away.

But the Pakistani Circus's attitude has been so overly friendly these days that they dared to come and watch the spectacle.

The circus performances some time ago also spread goodwill and showed that they were harmless.

Everything was planned; it was all preparation.

"Hehehe~" Buggy looked at Luffy with a mocking smile, the laughter coming from deep in his throat, low and hoarse, with a strange echo.

"front?"

Bucky tilted his head, took a step back, and crossed his arms. "Why the front?"

"Because—because—" Luffy stammered.

He thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a reason, yet something just felt off: "Because battles should be fought head-on!"

"Oh?" Bucky's voice became even more cheerful. "Who told you that?"

Luffy got stuck again. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Buggy interrupted him once more.

Bucky's smile widened as he looked at him.

"Straw Hat Boy ~ His power can solve 90% of the world's problems, but not all of them ~"

"Not to mention you don't even have that much power."

"I can already see your painful future because of your recklessness and helplessness."

Bucky's words were loaded with meaning, his voice carrying an unreadable undertone... probably a spoiler.

However, this is even more of a riddle than the riddle itself. Luffy, without a god's-eye view, obviously wouldn't know what Buggy meant.

"Hmph, at least I'm not like you who only knows how to ambush and poison." Luffy shouted again. He really disliked Buggy's fighting style, so he was quite annoyed. The only way to retaliate was to raise his voice.

"Hehehe~ I call this efficiency~" Bucky's voice was unhurried. "What is needed to achieve victory is not only strength, but also wisdom."

Buggy isn't just talking about Luffy.

Because Buggy doesn't know where Alvida is hiding, he deliberately tries to lure Luffy into believing that he was defeated because he was poisoned.

As Luffy himself said, he was not defeated by Buggy in a direct confrontation, but by poisoning, which was enough to give Alvida plenty of confidence.

After obtaining the Devil Fruit, Alvida was unaware of her own combat strength in this world... Misjudgment caused by information gaps can be fatal.

This is the third step in Bucky's three-step fishing plan.

Let Luffy, acting as bait, tell Alvida Buggy that he is "not strong enough".

Anticipating Luffy's thoughts and ideas, and then making Luffy say what I want him to say... This is the whole picture of Buggy's plan.

To ensure the plan could be implemented more effectively, Bucky didn't send spies into the houses around the square.

We need to give Alvida a chance to get close, without scaring her away or acting too strangely.

We cannot say that this plan is perfect, comprehensive, or guaranteed to succeed.

However, considering the available resources in Pakistan and the information gaps between the parties, this is already the most cost-effective plan.

...And if the plan fails, then we'll have to start preparing to arrest people everywhere.

...All I can say is that I hope the plan won't fail.

When Bucky smiled and squinted, he kept looking at the crowd below the platform, but he still couldn't find Alvida.

"I know that without you telling me!" Luffy's eyes lit up for a moment and then dimmed again. "I'm not alone, I have crewmates."

"Comrades?" Bucky laughed. "Hahahaha!"

"You're about to die!" The laughter grew even louder than before. "Where are your companions?"

"They're coming right away!" Luffy roared, his eyes wide.

"What are you doing here?" Bucky tilted his head. "Here to rescue you? Or to die?"

Luffy was quite indignant, his jaw clenched and veins bulging on his forehead. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break free of the wooden shackles binding him.

"Look at you," Buggy said, reaching out and tapping Luffy's forehead with his finger. "The mighty Monkey D. Luffy, grandson of a Marine hero, son of the Revolutionary Army leader, and a great pirate with a bounty of 30 million, is now stuck by a piece of wood around his neck and can't move at all."

"Do you want to become the Pirate King through your own strength, or by relying on the power of your grandfather and father?"

Buggy is curious to see what Luffy will do in the future after he verbally belittles Luffy.

My own actions have begun to cause a butterfly effect.

How much will the Marineford War change?

Will we see a scene where Ace is killed by Akainu while protecting Luffy?

If back then... Akainu had killed Luffy instead... how much would the world have changed?

Bucky was contemplating his own interests and the potential changes in the world.

Bucky's system logs require him to maintain a portion of the world's storyline.

However, Baji's actions will seriously disrupt the plot of this world.

This is conflicting and troublesome.

"Let me go!" Luffy's face turned red.

Although he heard it, he really had no interest in thinking about Bucky's problem.

At that moment, Luffy truly felt a sense of powerlessness.

If Zoro and Sanji come, will they be able to defeat Buggy?

Wouldn't that be like walking into a trap?

"I won't let go," Bucky said, his voice still unhurried.

"open!"

"I won't let go."

"open!"

"I won't let go."

"Aaaaaah! You're so mean!" Luffy trembled with rage, his face turning bright red.

He desperately tried to pull himself back, attempting to free the back of his head from the wooden shackles. The Gum-Gum Fruit could do that, but he wasn't strong enough on his own right now.

Bucky just stood there, watching him...it was really interesting.

"Did you know?" Buggy suddenly spoke, the laughter in his voice fading, replaced by something indescribable, "Twenty-two years ago, the Pirate King Roger was in your current position."

Luffy's struggle paused for a moment.

"He was standing here, just like you, with wooden shackles around his neck and hands," Bucky recalled.

"What makes him different from you is that he didn't struggle or make a fuss. He just smiled, said one sentence, and then he died."

"Contrary to what the World Government has claimed, Roger was not captured, but surrendered himself."

"Do you know what he said?" Bucky recounted what he had witnessed.

Luffy stopped struggling. He looked up at Buggy with a strange light in his eyes.

"He said—" Bucky paused, "Want my treasure? You can have it all. Go find it, I've left all my treasure there."

The wind blew from the sea, ruffling Buggy's clothes, Luffy's straw hat, and the densely packed heads below the execution platform.

Some people in the crowd gasped, some clenched their fists, and some pulled their hat brims down even further.

Although it wasn't Roger who was being executed, nor was it Roger speaking, the pirates who had come to join the fun still felt a sense of shock.

"..." Luffy stopped struggling at this moment and began to look at Buggy very seriously.

"I promised him I'd become a great pirate and then give him back his hat!"

"I promised my brother I would live the freest life imaginable!"

"I want to create a world where everyone can laugh freely, eat freely, and adventure freely!"

At this moment, Luffy wasn't his usual comedic self.

He's serious.

Luffy's understanding of "One Piece" is completely different from others.

Others: wealth, power, status, rule, great treasure.

Luffy: Freedom, finding a group of friends I can entrust my life to, exploring the Grand Line to my heart's content, and challenging powerful enemies.

For him, the treasure of One Piece is not the end, but proof of freedom.

At least that's what Luffy thinks right now... As for what he'll think after he's possessed by the Nika Fruit... no one really knows what's going on in that abstract mind.