"Finally crawled out, huh?"
"I thought you were going to play dead in there."
Kai glanced indifferently at Buggy.
Hearing this, cold sweat poured down Buggy's forehead.
Truth be told, he really had thought about it just now—
hiding under the rubble and pretending to be dead, hoping to somehow scrape by.
But after weighing it over and over, he still dragged himself out.
Seeing Buggy's miserable state, Kai couldn't help but chuckle.
"If you had really chosen to stay under there and play dead, I would've just sent you on your way permanently!"
The words made Buggy's throat dry up, his face paling in sheer panic.
He had almost lost his life just now!
After a long silence, he forced down the fear in his heart and asked hoarsely,
"Why? Why are you so intent on taking me down?"
He simply couldn't understand.
Why was this Kai so dead set on capturing him?
"Why?"
Kai narrowed his eyes slightly.
The thought of his foolish kid brother Luffy, who in the future would be led astray by Buggy's best buddy Red-Haired Shanks, made Kai's anger flare all over again.
Since he couldn't find Red-Hair…
then Buggy would have to do it as a substitute!
And sure enough, after beating Buggy half to death, Kai's mood was much better.
"Simply because I don't like the sight of you. That's all."
"Is that reason good enough for you?"
Kai smiled.
"Just because you don't like me?!"
Buggy cursed inwardly.
What kind of damned reason is that?!
Just because you don't like the look of me, you beat me within an inch of my life?
How ridiculous was that?
Who's the real pirate here?!
Why did it feel like this monster in front of him was even more like a pirate than himself?
Brazen, ruthless, acting without a care, relying on his overwhelming strength!
"Enough. If you're not dead yet, then you're coming with me to the Marine Branch prison."
"That's the most suitable place for you."
Kai patted Buggy's head meaningfully.
"I warned you long ago. If I have to take action personally, the result for you will be very, very tragic."
"Luckily…"
"Your life force is surprisingly tenacious—you barely clung to life."
"Honestly, I didn't want to kill you."
"But, who told you to force me to act?"
Under Kai's watchful eyes, Buggy's body wracked with pain, gritted his teeth and forced himself to rise from the rubble.
Under the sunlight, he stood atop the mountain of shattered stone, his body covered in scars, bloodstains smeared everywhere. His clothes were shredded, hair disheveled, face ghostly pale, his eyes bloodshot like a dying patient.
"Cough—cough!"
Another spasm wracked him, blood gushing from his mouth. His breathing was ragged, his aura weak.
"You lot."
Kai's gaze shifted toward the trembling pirates nearby.
"D-don't kill us!"
"We surrender!"
"We're willing to be locked up in a Marine prison!"
Terrified, the pirates begged for mercy all at once.
"Your subordinates don't seem to have much backbone," Kai said to the battered Buggy with faint amusement.
Buggy had no words.
He could only sigh inwardly.
This day marked the total annihilation of the Buggy Pirates.
Wiped out completely by a four-year-old monster relying solely on his own strength!
Even he, the captain of the Buggy Pirates, had ended up gravely wounded and half-dead.
Buggy could already picture it—
He was about to be locked away in Marine prison.
Barring some miracle, he might spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The thought filled him with despair.
"How the hell…"
"Why did I have to provoke this monster?!"
"Whose bright idea was it to bring him back to our base?!"
Buggy nearly wanted to cry.
And then it hit him—
that blue-haired fool, Jack, who had dragged this monster Kai back to the Buggy Pirates' lair!
Serves him right for dying!
"That bastard… If he hadn't died already, I'd kill him myself!"
"Of all the things to do when you're bored, you just had to bring home a terrifying monster!"
"And thanks to that, my entire crew got annihilated by a single person!"
Buggy's chest burned with resentment and fury.
Naturally, all of it was directed at that blue-haired man.
If not for him, how could things have turned out this way?
But no amount of cursing could change the situation.
It was already too late.
"You lot, come here."
"Bind your hands and feet with rope yourselves."
"And don't try to be clever… or you know the consequences."
Kai's calm glance swept over the trembling pirates.
Given how terrified they were, Kai knew they wouldn't dare make trouble.
Sure enough, the moment his words fell, the pirates scrambled to tie themselves up tight, knots secure and unshakable.
Satisfied, Kai shifted his gaze back to Buggy.
"Let's go. Time to pay the Marine a visit. You should know which way the Loguetown Branch is, right?"
Buggy's face turned white.
Forcing down his fear, he whispered weakly,
"I can give you a fortune. Let me go. A fortune large enough for you to live lavishly for the rest of your life! It's everything I've saved over my entire career!"
Kai laughed softly.
Trying to bribe me?
How pitiful.
As for Buggy's so-called fortune…
he couldn't care less.
"Move."
Pushing Buggy forward with one hand, Kai's face remained calm and unmoved.
Seeing his expressionless demeanor, Buggy's heart sank into despair.
Under Kai's command, Buggy had no choice but to comply.
Dragging his battered body, he staggered step by step toward the tavern doors.
Every step was agony.
His wounds were too severe.
Forcing him to walk kilometers in this condition was almost equivalent to a death sentence.
Each step sent waves of excruciating pain through him, cold sweat pouring, his body trembling uncontrollably.
This was, without a doubt, the worst injury Buggy had suffered in his entire life.
Never had any wound come close to this one punch from Kai.
"Th-this brat…"
"Just what kind of monster is he?"
"And who in the world could have raised such a terrifying existence?!"
Even now, Buggy couldn't make sense of it.
Kai's identity was a mystery that gnawed at him.
Soon after, Kai dragged Buggy out through the tavern entrance, heading toward Loguetown's Marine Branch.
Of course, before leaving, Kai had knocked out the remaining trembling pirates—
preventing them from escaping while he was gone.
The tavern was left filled with what looked like cold corpses: over a hundred pirates strewn across the floor, unconscious, felled by Conqueror's Haki.
Without half a day's rest, none of them would wake anytime soon.
With the tavern dealt with, Kai escorted Buggy for several kilometers.
Buggy's body grew numb from the pain, every nerve screaming.
At last—
He saw it.
In the distance loomed the Marine Branch building, towering and oppressive, radiating authority.
At that moment, Buggy actually felt relief.
He had never wanted to see the Marine this badly in his life!
At least this nightmare march was finally over.
If he had to walk one more kilometer…
he might really have dropped dead on the road.
"We're here."
"Finally."
Buggy's legs gave out, and he half-knelt on the ground, trembling.
Beside him, Kai gave him only a cursory glance, indifferent to his pitiful state.
He grabbed Buggy by the neck and dragged him forward, step by step, toward the Marine Branch gates.
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