On the way to the west coast, Buggy took out the brand-new wanted posters for the Straw Hat Pirates.
Luffy, of course, was the most interested and rushed right over.
The others weren't far behind.
When Nami saw Ray's poster, she immediately started gushing.
"Wow, Ray is amazing! 65 million already!"
Zoro glanced at his own 30 million poster and just nodded.
"Not bad."
Luffy, seeing his own 50 million bounty with his own eyes, just laughed his head off.
Sanji had walked over full of confidence, but his expression got worse and worse.
"No way... Why don't I have a bounty?!"
Disappointed, his curly eyebrow drooped.
Naturally, Zoro seized the opportunity to mock him, telling him to keep working hard, though he'd obviously never catch up.
Predictably, the two of them started fighting again.
Usopp was a little bummed not to find his own poster... until he saw Nami's.
"Nami?! How is this fair?! You even got 3 million!"
Nami instantly froze.
"Impossible!" she yelled.
Then she saw the photo on the poster.
It was the picture of her lifting her shirt and shaking out the villagers' wallets as they were leaving Cocoyashi Village.
"...Ray!" she shrieked, "It's all your fault for that terrible idea making me play the villain!"
She raised her little fists and started hammering on his chest.
Ray had to suppress a laugh as he calmly dodged her flurry of attacks.
But when everyone saw the last poster, they all got restless.
"Buggy?! 200 million!"
This time, even Ray felt a little annoyed.
His gaze toward Buggy had a faint hint of killing intent, which made Buggy shiver uncontrollably.
But Ray calmed down just as quickly.
'If the government gave Buggy 200 million, then our bounties shouldn't be this low. There must have been an information gap when they were assessing our strength. Could someone be helping us? Who?'
The answer wasn't super important.
Since the Marines had misjudged them so badly, tomorrow's battle might actually be a bit easier.
…
On the way to the coast, Sanji's bad mood didn't improve.
Luffy was in high spirits, but then he suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Hey, where's Zoro? Where did Zoro go?"
Everyone looked confused.
The green-leaf-wrapped Zoro was even more baffled.
"Damn it! I've been walking right behind you this whole time! You didn't notice?!"
Hearing the green bundle's angry shout, Luffy finally took a closer look.
"Huh? Three swords? No, Zoro only has one sword now. Who are you? Don't think wrapping yourself up like a rice dumpling makes you Zoro. I know Zoro very well."
Finally, in a fit of rage, Zoro sliced off all the leaves covering him.
Only then did Luffy recognize him.
Everyone else was speechless.
'How does he even identify his own crewmates?!'
…
As dusk fell, the group arrived at the west coast.
While they were still far away, the Straw Hats were drawn to the massive statue of Roger.
Luffy excitedly used a Gomu Gomu no Rocket to launch himself onto it, jumping around like a monkey.
Seeing this, Buggy felt a strange warmth in his heart.
He muttered to himself, "Captain, your son Luffy really likes you. You raised me... so I'll protect your son like he's my own little brother."
(As for Ace, Buggy knew he was with Whitebeard and wasn't worried about him at all.)
Ray and the others overheard Buggy's muttering and struggled to hold back their laughter.
But, with perfect understanding, none of them said a word to shatter his illusion.
Even Ray was a little curious to see how shocked Buggy would be when he finally learned the truth.
While everyone was marveling at the Roger statue, Buggy kept waiting.
A few minutes later, everyone had mostly calmed down.
At this moment, Buggy sensed something was wrong and asked.
"Hey, don't you guys think the statue next to Captain Roger looks really handsome?"
Everyone just shook their heads.
They couldn't see it.
Buggy: ...
…
Night fell.
Buggy spent hours trying to convince Luffy to leave, but Luffy firmly refused.
Buggy finally ran out of options.
The two pirate crews anchored their ships far away from the coast, just in case tomorrow's battle went badly and they needed a quick escape.
Buggy had made up his mind: he would protect Luffy even if it cost him his life.
Plus, with Ray here, it should be fine.
Ever since getting his butt handed to him by Ray, Buggy had complete confidence in his strength.
Now that Ray was also (sort of) helping him fight the Marines tomorrow because of Luffy, Buggy felt his plan to keep the Roger statue standing all day for the anniversary would be a piece of cake.
After that, he could take some photos and fabricate some news stories.
'Like: ["Roger Statue Erected in Loguetown on Execution Anniversary, Marines Do Nothing?!"] or ["Marines Helpless Against Buggy's Power! How Terrifying is Buggy!?"] or maybe ["Warlord Buggy's Statue Revealed, Possibly the Handsomest in the World!"]'
He grinned, believing Morgans would definitely print headlines that juicy.
Thinking this, he looked over at Ray, feeling so grateful that he'd dragged this powerhouse into his mess, and gave him a weird, lewd grin.
Naturally, he almost got cut down for it.
"Damn it, what's your problem, Ray?!" Buggy yelled, narrowly dodging the Haki-coated blade.
"You even used Armament Haki!" He was so angry he was about to fight back.
Just then, an explosion suddenly rocked the shoreline.
Everyone turned to look.
A large ship with a black dog skull pirate flag was firing cannons at the statues.
"Where did these two shitty statues come from, blocking our Mad Dog Pirates' way?! Blow 'em up for me!"
Seeing someone attack the Roger statue, Luffy immediately wanted to jump in, but Buggy stopped him with one hand.
"Leave this to your big brother."
With that, Buggy flew up and planted himself in front of the ship, shielding the statue.
"What's this guy saying? He wants to be my brother? I'm not having it," Luffy said, making a disgusted face.
At those words, Zoro, Sanji, and Nami suddenly burst into laughter, leaving Luffy even more confused.
Ahead in the darkness, the "Mad Dog" Pirates couldn't see who had just shown up.
Assuming he was just some random nobody, they all started mocking him and released their large attack dogs.
The outcome was... miserable.
Buggy split their ship in half and knocked them all out with a few simple slaps.
The screams of the pirates and the whimpers of their dogs were extremely piercing.
Ten minutes later, all the members of the "Mad Dog" Pirates were tied up on the beach.
When they finally saw under the campfire's light who it was that had captured them...
"It's... it's Buggy-sama! We were wrong, please forgive us!"
Knowing they'd just offended one of the most notorious pirates in the East Blue, they all begged for mercy.
But Buggy just said one thing.
"If you want to live, then stay here until tomorrow night at midnight. You're lucky—you'll get to witness a historic moment. Kahahaha!"
Ray frowned at Buggy's actions.
'He's quite clever. If there are spectators watching the battle tomorrow, it'll be harder for the Marines to completely cover up what happens.'
'But he wouldn't stoop to kidnapping civilians... these 'Mad Dog' Pirates really just walked right into the lion's den. Always has to make a spectacle.''
After complaining internally, Ray headed off alone toward a nearby hilltop and began to regulate his breathing.
The Straw Hat Pirates glanced at him and also began to settle down to rest.
...
Except for Luffy, who was still yelling about having a banquet.
In the end, everyone ganged up to knock him out so he'd finally go to sleep.
Zoro's expression was grave. "Tomorrow is going to be a tough battle."
Sanji lit a cigarette and nodded.
"Even Ray is taking it this seriously. I really wonder what kind of opponents we'll face tomorrow."
…
Late at night, in the East Blue, only about a hundred kilometers from Loguetown...
A massive warship from the Grand Line sailed steadily through the sea.
At the bow stood a pink-haired female captain in a full red jacket, a cigarette in her mouth.
Beside her was a female Vice Admiral, nearly three meters tall, with incredibly long legs and a spider tattoo on her left thigh.
Hina looked at Gion.
"Momousagi-sensei, we're expected to arrive at Loguetown around 8 a.m. tomorrow."
Momousagi Gion smiled slightly and patted Hina's head.
"Feeling nervous?"
Hina responded with a huff. "From the photos HQ sent, that Buggy does seem a bit terrifying."
Momousagi didn't deny it. "Don't worry, Hina, your teacher is here. I'm not worried about Buggy—he's too flashy, and I've already seen through his strength. But regarding the Straw Hat Pirates... especially that Ray. I'm still unclear about him."
Hina was very puzzled.
'Based on the info we have, Ray shouldn't be as big a threat as Buggy. Why would Momousagi-sensei say that?'
Gion noticed Hina's confusion and comforted her in a gentle voice.
"Don't worry, Hina. It's just my intuition."
Hina took a drag of her cigarette, her face still showing some worry.
'Before we arrive... Smoker-kun, please don't get into any trouble.'