West Coast of Loguetown.
A massive Marine warship cut through the water.
Vice Admiral Momousagi Gion stood at the bow, looking completely in charge.
Behind her were Hina, Prince Gruss, Smoker, and Tashigi, backed by over a thousand elite Marines.
Hina took a drag from her cigarette.
"Gion-sensei," she said, "Smoker-kun told me about the statues, but... seeing them in person is just... too much."
Smoker, standing nearby, was practically vibrating with anger.
"That guy Buggy is just trying to humiliate us! If we don't destroy that statue today, the Marines will lose all face!"
Prince Gruss looked just as indignant. "These pirates are way too arrogant. I'll let my immortal clay soldiers teach them a lesson later."
Tashigi, meanwhile, was frowning, remembering the leaf-wrapped man she'd met.
'Roronoa Zoro... as a pirate, you don't deserve to wield those two famous swords.'
Gion glanced at her officers and gave them a comforting, confident smile.
"With your teacher here, they won't be arrogant for much longer."
Thinking of her immense strength, the Marines all nodded.
'So what if Buggy is awakened devil fruit users? So what if Ray is mysterious? Our teacher is a Vice Admiral candidate, practically an Admiral herself!'
They were all fired up.
Today, these pirates were going down.
Gion took a deep breath. "Everyone, get ready. Final mission briefing."
"Smoker, Tashigi, you two lead 500 elites. Your primary mission is to destroy that statue of Roger."
They both snapped to attention.
"Hina, you lead the other 500. Capture all the pirates except the main officers."
Hina saluted.
"Prince Gruss, you and the other Devil Fruit users will stall or defeat their officers. Keep them busy."
"Understood," Gruss replied.
"As for the strongest fighters on their side," Gion said, her eyes gleaming, "I'll handle them myself. Is that clear?"
The Marines roared, "YES, VICE ADMIRAL GION!"
Gion gazed at the approaching Roger statue with a charming, confident smile.
"Perhaps we won't even need the rest of the plan."
With those words, she gripped her long sword, her legs coiled with power.
"Soru!"
She vanished, then reappeared high in the sky, kicking off the air itself.
"Geppo!"
In moments, she was a kilometer above them.
"This might be over very quickly," she murmured.
Her blade instantly turned black with Armament Haki.
She swung, unleashing a massive hundred-meter sword slash, matching the statue's height, aimed right at Roger's head.
The attack came so fast, the pirates were stunned.
Luffy, on top of the statue, felt a surge of anxiety.
He coated his fists in Haki, ready to stretch back and block it.
But just then, a flamboyant figure appeared right in front of him.
Buggy had started moving the second Momousagi leaped.
With a wave of his hands, a massive, hundred-meter cube of land tore free from the island below and shot up, colliding squarely with the sword slash.
CRASH!
In an instant, the land-chunk shattered, but the slash, though weaker, was still a full forty meters long and heading right for them.
Buggy just grinned.
"That's enough," he muttered.
He thrust his right hand forward—detached from his arm and coated in Armament Haki.
His ability activated.
"Awakening Technique—Split!"
As he yelled, the enormous sword slash just... broke.
It shattered into countless tiny fragments that scattered in the wind.
Floating high in the air, Buggy looked at the stunning Vice Admiral and flashed what he thought was a dashing smile.
"Not bad for an old hag! With Buggy-sama here, no one's touching Captain Roger's statue!"
…
It all happened in just a few seconds.
Luffy thanked Buggy.
Zoro's expression was grave; he could feel the newcomer's immense strength.
'This is... the same suffocating pressure I felt from Hawkeye.' He suddenly thought of Kuina.
'If you had lived to see this, maybe you wouldn't have cursed being born a woman.'
Meanwhile, the moment Sanji laid eyes on Gion, he was lost.
"What a... formidable beauty~!" he cooed, his body wiggling awkwardly, looking like he might switch sides.
Nami and Usopp were so terrified they were clinging to each other in a heap, though they relaxed a little, remembering Ray and Buggy were there.
Buggy's crew went wild, cheering and echoing their captain, calling Gion an old hag (even though she looked pretty young).
The captured "Mad Dog" pirates were just shaking, their hearts pounding.
They'd never seen anything like this outside of a comic book.
Ray watched the exchange, his expression unreadable.
He wouldn't step in yet.
Instead, he was breaking down the entire battle.
'Okay, so this is a tower defense battle. Our mission: Protect the "Roger Statue" base until midnight. The enemy's mission: Destroy the statue and capture all of us.'
'King vs. King: We have two kings, me and Buggy. They have one, Momousagi Gion. But she's an Admiral Candidate, so she's probably stronger than she looks. It's better to let Buggy go first, test her strength, and wear her down. I can observe and make a better plan.'
He then scanned the warship.
'Now, the generals... Smoker, Hina, and this Gruss guy. They all seem strong. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji have only had a few weeks of Haki training. They're at a huge disadvantage, especially against two tricky Devil Fruit users like Smoker and Hina. Our execs are in trouble.'
'So,' he concluded, 'as the defenders, our best bet is a war of attrition, or ganging up on them. Buggy's crew and Chouchou can handle the Marine grunts. Which means... I'll be the jungler. I'll wait, and strike where I'm needed most.'
Thus, the temporary matchups were set:
Buggy VS. Admiral Candidate Momousagi.
Luffy and Zoro VS. Smoker and Tashigi.
Sanji and Gin VS. Prince Gruss.
Alvida, Cabaji, Nami, and Usopp VS. "Black Cage" Hina.
Ray would be on standby, ready to jump in anywhere.
The great battle was about to begin.
And just then, a few hundred meters away from the beach, a group of gangster-looking guys led by a green-haired, fanged boss was stealthily approaching, holding recording Den Den Mushi.