r18novel Chapter 38 Bucky is shocked; the reunion after breaking through layers of blockade.
Chapter 38 Bucky is shocked; the reunion after breaking through layers of blockade.
On the roof of a relatively tall clock tower near the town's central square.
"Hahahaha! Straw Hat Boy! I've finally waited for you! This time, I'll make you pay for offending me!"
Buggy the Clown was smugly watching the plaza entrance through his binoculars, fantasizing about how to tear Luffy to pieces.
His subordinates, including Mochi and Kabaji, were also eager to get started.
However, when the telescope lens captured the figure next to Luffy wearing a straw hat and smiling magnanimously, Buggy's sinister grin froze instantly.
Clang!
The telescope slipped from his hand and hit the roof tiles with a crisp sound.
"The ship...the ship...the ship...the ship...the ship...the ship captain?!" Bucky's voice suddenly rose, becoming sharp and distorted, filled with disbelief.
His eyes were so wide they almost popped out of their sockets, and his red nose twitched violently from extreme shock and confusion.
"That so-called Heroic Spirit... it's actually real. No... impossible! Absolutely impossible!!" Buggy shook his head violently, his eyes gradually welling up with tears.
"I saw him die with my own eyes! Right there on that platform! It was an illusion! Yes! It was a Devil Fruit ability! Some kind of illusion!" He tried to convince himself incoherently, but his body trembled uncontrollably.
But when he saw that familiar figure and that familiar smile again...
His expression was completely contorted. Tears almost soaked his clown makeup.
Mochi and Kabaji exchanged bewildered glances: "Captain Bucky? What's wrong? What did you see?"
Alvida, who had just allied with him, looked on with disdain.
"It's all over the news; he summoned the Pirate King Roger. You didn't react much then, but now you're pulling this stunt? Fine, I'd like to see who's stronger between me and Roger."
"Shut up! You ignorant woman!" Bucky turned around abruptly, his face a mixture of memories and sorrow.
"That's...it really is Captain Roger! The one walking with the Straw Hat Boy...it really is Gol D. Roger!" He finally shouted, his voice trembling with tears.
"What?! Pirate King Roger?! Didn't the captain say it was fake news...?" Mochi and Kabaji were also stunned, their jaws dropping to the ground.
Bucky slumped on the roof, his huge red nose twitching, his eyes staring blankly at the familiar yet terrifying figure in the distance.
The man he once admired, followed, and ultimately witnessed dying.
The man was now standing there alive, chatting and laughing with the straw-hatted boy who had made him lose face.
"Why...why was the captain summoned by the Straw Hat Pirates? Why don't I even qualify to participate...?"
Buggy's worldview was shattered at this moment, and his desire for revenge against Luffy was replaced by despair.
He felt a chill run through his body and just wanted to escape from this place immediately.
"No...no! This is too terrible! We can't stay here! Quick! We have to get out of Loguetown!"
He practically scrambled to his feet, abandoning his binoculars, wanting nothing more than to escape this place that had made his soul scream.
Bucky fled the clock tower in a panic, running wildly through the alleys of Loguetown.
He left his men's shouts far behind, his mind filled only with that figure—Gol D. Roger!
A living, breathing Captain Roger! Together with the Straw Hat Phantom!
"Hallucination! It must be a hallucination!" he muttered nervously as he ran, trying to dispel the deep-seated resentment with this thought.
"The captain is dead! I saw it with my own eyes! Yes! That's it!"
However, no matter how much he tried to hypnotize himself, those bold eyes and that familiar smile remained etched in his mind.
That was the sun he once looked up to, the legend that led him into the Grand Line!
But now, the sun has risen again, and it shines on the enemy he hates most!
A profound sense of loss and resentment gripped his heart, almost suffocating him.
He turned a corner and suddenly crashed into a cold "wall".
No, that's not a wall, but a dense array of naval soldiers lined up near the plaza!
Further away, several figures draped in cloaks of justice and exuding powerful auras could be vaguely seen directing operations.
Bucky froze on the spot, as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water.
"Garp... Aokiji... and so many troops..." Buggy's red nose twitched violently.
"It's over...it's all over...the captain probably...has no idea this place is surrounded like an iron barrel! Straw Hat Boy is dead! The captain...he'll be..."
A horrifying image flashed through his mind: Captain Roger, just like he had been years before, being led to that execution platform.
This time, Bucky could only hide in the crowd again, watching helplessly like a coward...
"No!"
Bucky let out a low growl, startling even himself.
He thought back to his time on Roger's ship. Although it wasn't so perfect in retrospect.
But... that was the most dazzling time of Buggy's life! He witnessed the legend of the Pirate King!
Despite his cowardice, greed, and incompetence—a universally acknowledged loser and good-for-nothing—this time…
For the man who once made his blood boil and who made him so proud...
"I...I absolutely will not run away again!"
An unprecedented surge of courage ignited within him.
This courage was so unfamiliar, yet it made him feel good.
"Mochi! Kabaji!" Buggy whirled around and yelled at his men who were catching up.
"You! Take everyone! Leave Loguetown immediately! Go to the usual spot and wait for me! Don't come back without my orders!"
"Captain Bucky? And you?" Mochi asked in surprise.
"Enough nonsense! I have more important things to do!" Bucky took a deep breath and straightened his body, even though it made him look even more ridiculous.
"Remember! This is an order! Get out of here!" He turned abruptly to face the steel defense line.
"Tear to pieces - Emergency Escape!" Bucky's body instantly split into dozens of pieces, which flew towards the gaps in the naval defenses and even between the legs of soldiers!
"An enemy has broken through! It's Bucky the Clown! Stop him!" The Marines instantly stirred, trying to catch the high-speed flying debris.
"Trying to catch me? Dream on!" Bucky used the mobility of his split ability to dash left and right through the soldiers' interception.
He used the wall to bounce off, squeezed into narrow ventilation shafts, and even flew close to the soldiers' heads, desperately rushing towards the center of the square.
He had only one thought in his mind: warn the captain! Escape!
However, his good luck ended there.
A thick plume of white smoke instantly blocked all his paths! The smoke billowed and transformed into Smoker, a cigar in his mouth!
"Bucky the Clown! Stop right there!" Smoker's voice was filled with disgust.
Armament Haki wrapped around his jitte, and he stabbed with absolute precision at Buggy's core torso as he flew through the air!
This strike was swift and ruthless, carrying a clear killing intent! It was a strike designed to kill instantly!
Bucky's core was entangled and bound by smoke, leaving him with no way to escape!
As the ten-handed spikes, gleaming with a cold light and radiating a deadly aura, rapidly enlarged before his eyes, Bucky's eyes were filled with despair.
Time seemed to stretch out, and he seemed to see his own body, torn to pieces, completely shattered and beyond repair.
"Captain... I'm so sorry..." The thought of despair had just arisen.
Om-! ! !
At this critical moment!
An indescribable, terrifying pressure erupted from the execution platform in the center of the square!
It swept through the entire town of Rogue in an instant!
The air freezes.
The sound disappeared.
Time seemed to stand still.
The naval soldiers who had been densely packed around the square and were on high alert were struck by an invisible giant hammer. Their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed unconscious in droves, like stalks of wheat being cut down!
The weapons in his hands clattered and fell to the ground!
Even a powerhouse like Smoker felt as if his brain had been struck by a heavy hammer, his heart had been gripped by an invisible giant hand, and even breathing had become extremely difficult!
The white smoke that had been swirling around Pakistan instantly loosened and dissipated!
Bucky felt the restraints on his body loosen, and he looked in shock toward the source of the oppressive force.
Gol D. Roger stood proudly beneath the execution platform!
He didn't look in Bucky's direction, but calmly stared in Smoker's direction. That invisible kingly aura came from him!
Roger spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but clearly penetrating the deathly silent square, each word striking Smoker's heart.
"Hey, kid."
"You laid a hand on my former comrade...did you even ask me?"