"Not a single reliable one among them."
Beckmann shook his head. He'd thought the oddballs on his own crew were bad enough, but the Buggy Pirates' bunch of clowns easily rivaled them.
That Mink, Inuarashi, had seemed so dignified at first glance. But it didn't take more than a couple of sentences before his true nature came out, and he was rolling around on the ground wrestling with the other dog.
Thankfully, Enel was comparatively level-headed.
"So what are your plans going forward? Originally, you had no part in any of this, but now that you've drawn the attention of the BIG MOM Pirates, things will get complicated once you reach the New World."
Enel said, legs crossed casually.
He wasn't afraid of Big Mom personally, but he had a clear understanding of the overall combat strength of her crew.
This was a pirate crew capable of contending with Wano for territory in the New World. How could they possibly be short on heavy hitters?
Someone like Charlotte Daifuku was merely one of her many ministers — and there were dozens of them.
Of course, Daifuku's combat power ranked among the upper tier of the ministers. The ones further down the chain might not be individually impressive, but collectively, they represented an enormous force.
Besides, their victory over Daifuku had relied on a four-on-one numerical advantage.
Not to mention all the years Big Mom had been marrying off her daughters. Those sons-in-law were all notable pirate rookies from years past, and every last one of them had become part of her military.
And above all else, the most terrifying thing was Big Mom herself. She was a monster, pure and simple — born that way.
"We'll take it one step at a time."
Beckmann, truthfully, didn't yet have a clear picture of the BIG MOM Pirates' full strength.
It was like a poor person hearing the figure "one hundred million" — they knew it was a lot of money, but they couldn't quite fathom what that money could actually buy.
Enel glanced over at Buggy, who was still hanging off Shanks' shoulders, and thought for a moment.
"How about this? Our captains seem to get along well enough. And your captain doesn't exactly strike me as the type to stay out of trouble, so how about we form an alliance?"
Enel was actually quite impressed by Shanks' potential.
Back in Paradise, this red-haired kid had already demonstrated Haki. His strength was nearly on par with Enel and Buggy.
Barring any surprises, he could very well become a major player in the future.
And Enel's group had been planning to overthrow Big Mom after returning to the New World anyway. So why not forge an alliance with this pirate crew?
Beckmann also thought it was a sound proposal, but he didn't make the call himself. Decisions like this naturally fell to the captain.
"I'll discuss it with our captain."
"Of course. I'll speak with mine as well."
Enel said through gritted teeth.
Just the mention of his captain was enough to irritate him. His own strength wasn't far below Buggy's, and he'd originally had no intention of yielding the captain's seat.
But then Buggy had pointed out that Enel lacked the Conqueror's Haki, which meant he could only be the vice captain. Enel had no choice but to accept it.
It was the truth, after all.
"Hey, Buggy..."
He walked over and briefed Buggy on the proposal.
Buggy, thoroughly drunk at this point, didn't really catch a word of what Enel was saying. He just threw his head back and laughed, slurring his agreement.
Shanks' side went smoothly too. A pirate alliance wasn't exactly a novel concept. Every year, the waves of rookie pirates entering the New World tried the same thing.
The results rarely ended well. They thought that by banding together they could challenge the great pirate veterans, only to be taught a harsh lesson by the legends of a bygone era.
"Excellent! From this moment forward, the Buggy Pirates and the Red Hair Pirates are officially allied!"
Buggy jumped to his feet and downed an entire bowl of sake in one gulp.
After the banquet wound down, Shanks and his crew departed first.
The more clear-headed members of each crew — Beckmann and Enel — hammered out the specific terms of cooperation.
The broad agreement was straightforward: unite against BIG MOM, and otherwise stay out of each other's way.
Once the Red Hair Pirates entered the New World, they were to keep a low profile and wait for Buggy's return before teaming up to challenge Big Mom.
A thoroughly intoxicated Shanks mentioned that he'd probably be able to recruit another strong fighter by then.
The next morning, a hungover Buggy groggily pulled himself up from the deck, clutching his head.
"Ow, ow, ow. Drank way too much."
"Got a killer hangover... My head is pounding..."
Still not fully awake, Buggy struggled to piece things together.
"What even happened last night?"
Then, suddenly, something clicked.
"Wait — did I actually drape my arm around that annoying red-haired bastard's shoulders?"
He stared at his own hands in horror.
"And form a pirate alliance with him? No way!"
"What are you yelling about? You agreed to this yourself."
Enel, who had woken up earlier, was already jamming a finger in his ear.
"There's no way I'd ally with a guy like that!"
Buggy roared, flatly denying his drunken actions.
"Besides, Big Mom is nothing special. I could handle her all by myself!"
"But you were so happy about the alliance last night."
Inuarashi pushed his sunglasses up his nose and drove the knife in without mercy.
"And you also said you wanted to become sworn brothers with Shanks..."
Kawamatsu added quietly.
Buggy: ???
"Really?"
Buggy asked, his face a portrait of shock. He looked around and found that aside from the still-snoozing Nekomamushi, every single person was nodding silently.
His expression crumpled into one of absolute disgust.
"Damn it! My legendary reputation... to think it's been..."
"It's not that bad, is it? That guy called Shanks seems pretty strong."
Phelix, hanging upside down from the mast, chimed in casually.
"It's not about that! I just can't stand the sight of him!"
Buggy fumed.
"Frankly, you can't stand the sight of anyone. A dog could glance at you on the street and you'd bite its head off for it."
In the end, it was Enel who understood Buggy best.
After all, Buggy had always played second fiddle to Lord Ren, and it was hard to imagine him ever genuinely liking any other pirate.
"Nobody asked you. Keep your mouth shut and nobody'll think you're a mute."
Buggy grabbed Enel's earlobe and twisted it into a knot. Enel retaliated by jabbing his finger straight into Buggy's most precious nostril.
The two of them immediately rolled around wrestling, and in the chaos, accidentally stepped on the sleeping Nekomamushi's tail...
It took several more days before Shichigatsu finally got a lead on Moria and his crew.
"Those guys really have a death wish. First they provoked us, and now they're going after the Marines too."
The newspaper reported that Marine Base G-1 had been attacked just one day prior, with Gecko Moria identified as the prime culprit.
Marine Base G-1 was the very same branch that would eventually become the new Marine Headquarters following the Paramount War.
[
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