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Trafalgar Law: "This Conqueror's Haki is truly unfair..."
Capone Bege: "Facing someone with Conqueror's Haki, numerical superiority no longer holds any meaning."
Eustass Kid: "Damn it! How can his Conqueror's Haki even crack ships apart???"
Donquixote Doflamingo: "Fufufu... With enough mastery, Conqueror's Haki can be converted into a physical attack! However... achieving that is as difficult as reaching the heavens!"
Eustass Kid: "You also possess Conqueror's Haki. Can you do something like that?"
Donquixote Doflamingo: "Are you kidding me? If we don't count simple things like Haki infusion, there's only one person known to have achieved such a feat of turning intimidation into a physical attack—Red-Haired Shanks."
Eustass Kid: "What?! It's that difficult???"
Trafalgar Law: "If that's the case, then there are two people on that side who can achieve this level!"
Basil Hawkins: "Straw Hat's potential is truly terrifying..."
Monkey D. Garp: "No way... The more I watch that Luffy over there, the more I feel like my grandson is wasting his life!"
Monkey D. Luffy: "..."
[On the deck of the Buggy Pirates' ship...]
[Buggy is still frozen in the pose of pointing at Luffy while giving orders...]
[A cold sweat breaks out on his forehead...]
"This... This is Conqueror's Haki!!!"
"And not just that—it's Conqueror's Haki turned into a tangible attack!!!"
[In East Blue, ordinary pirates might not even know what Conqueror's Haki is...]
[But Buggy has seen the world!]
[Back when he was part of Roger's crew, both Roger, Rayleigh, and Kozuki Oden possessed Conqueror's Haki. At that time, Shanks hadn't awakened his yet.]
[Growing up in that environment, how could Buggy not understand what Conqueror's Haki represents???]
[And converting it into a physical attack? That goes without saying!!!]
[A powerful individual!!!]
[An absolute powerhouse...!!!]
[With just one glance, all thoughts of resistance vanished from Buggy's mind...]
[In front of such a powerhouse, resistance would be nothing but a joke!!!]
[Just as Buggy was struggling for words, his pupils suddenly contracted!!!]
[His gaze immediately shifted to the straw hat atop Luffy's head...]
"Huh? That straw hat... Why does it look so familiar???"
[Soon, the image of a man fond of wearing white shirts surfaced in Buggy's mind...]
"Shanks' straw hat?"
"No... Impossible!"
"Shanks' straw hat was given to him by Captain Roger. There's no way he'd give it to someone else!"
"Impossible... Absolutely—impossible!!"
[Buggy instantly dismissed this "absurd" thought...]
["Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Monkey D. Luffy." At this moment, Luffy spoke up.]
[Buggy didn't dare make any rash moves and introduced himself as well.]
"I am the captain of the Buggy Pirates, Buggy!"
"Alright, Buggy, do you know navigation?" Luffy asked again.
[Hearing this, Buggy perked up!!!]
[A proud expression spread across his face:]
"Hahaha! You've asked the right person! I used to sail through the second half of the Grand Line back in the day! After our captain disbanded the crew, I moved from the Grand Line to the East Blue. When it comes to navigation, I dare say no one in the East Blue knows more than I do!!!"
SLAP!
[Luffy smacked his thigh!]
[Isn't this perfect? This is exactly the kind of talent I need!!!]
[He wants to grow stronger by fighting powerful opponents, which means heading to the Grand Line. And here's someone who's sailed through the Grand Line before—what better guide could there be???]
[Of course, Luffy has no intention of recruiting Buggy as a permanent companion.]
[He saw everything the Buggy Pirates did earlier and doesn't like them.]
[For now, he simply needs a guide to lead them to the Grand Line. His plan is... to "borrow" the captain of the Buggy Pirates for a while. Once he finds a suitable navigator, he'll let him go.]
[With that in mind, Luffy grinned widely: "That's great! I happen to need a guide. Please stay on my ship for a while and help me navigate to the Grand Line."]
[(O_o)??]
[Buggy's proud expression froze instantly...]
"Hey, hey, hey, don't joke around! Look at this huge operation I've got going on! If I go off to be your guide, what will happen to all these underlings of mine?"
[Buggy gestured around at the pirates who had been knocked unconscious by Luffy's Conqueror's Haki...]
[Luffy didn't respond but casually revealed his eighteen-pack abs...]
[Abs covered in an overwhelmingly dense Armament Haki...]
[-_-||]
[Three beads of sweat rolled down Buggy's temples...]
[Luffy calmly looked at Buggy: "So, what do you say? Do you feel like changing your mind?"]
[Buggy's face darkened...]
[Damn it!!!]
[With you like this, do I even have the option to refuse???]
[Buggy wasn't stupid—he knew very well that refusing would result in unimaginable consequences!!!]
["If you put it that way... I guess I've suddenly changed my mind! The Grand Line... it was the dream destination of my youth. After all these years, maybe it's time to revisit it~"]
[Buggy gave himself an excuse to save face.]
[And so, Buggy grabbed his sea chart and followed Luffy onto the small boat...]
The scene faded here...
The red-framed screen gradually dimmed...
[On the Marine warship at Impel Down...]
Luffy looked astonished: "Huh? So you and that version of me went sailing together, Buggy?"
Buggy retorted: "I've got eyes too, you know—I can see!"
"Straw Hat Luffy, Captain Buggy must've had some deep intentions toward that version of you!"
"Captain Buggy must've recognized the straw hat you were wearing and decided to change his mind, wanting to guide you into the Grand Line!"
"The Grand Line! It's the dream destination of every pirate! For Captain Buggy to personally become your guide just to lead you there is truly touching!!!"
"That straw hat was given to Shanks by Pirate King Roger. Seeing it, Captain Buggy must've been reminded of his old captain, Roger!"
"And now that the hat is on the head of a young boy, Captain Buggy has humbled himself to protect and guide him!!!"
[...]
[Listening to the prisoners chatter back and forth, Luffy alternated between looking bewildered and nodding repeatedly.]
Finally, he turned to Buggy: "Buggy, I never expected you to be such a good guy..."
"..."
[Buggy's mouth twitched uncontrollably...]