Chapter 27: Refusing the Recruitment
♂』It took Buggy a moment to finally figure out what was going on: since this hat belonged to the kid in front of him, it meant that Bartholomew Kuma, the tyrant, wasn’t here.
This immediately made Buggy breathe a huge sigh of relief. If a major pirate with a bounty of nearly 300 million Berries were to appear in the East Blue, every pirate in the East Blue would likely be in trouble. The reason was simple: generally speaking, the amount on a wanted poster not only reflected a pirate’s strength but also represented the level of threat they posed to the World Government. A pirate with a bounty of nearly 300 million Berries would at least be pursued by a Marine Vice Admiral. If a Vice Admiral came to the East Blue, they could wipe out all the pirates there!
Even though Bartholomew Kuma was already a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and the Marines might not necessarily pursue him, whether he showed up or the Marines did, it was all the same.
Still, Buggy was a bit puzzled and asked Ian, “Kid, why do you have this hat? What’s your relationship with Bartholomew Kuma?”
Ian rolled his eyes at him, reached out his hand, and said, “What’s it to you? Give me back my hat and clothes!”
Buggy tilted his head, thought for a moment, and actually tossed Ian’s clothes, pants, and hat back to him.
Ian didn’t stand on ceremony. He caught them and checked them over, finding that the Den Den Mushi inside the hat was still fine, though the little creature seemed frightened. When it saw Ian, its big eyes were brimming with tears.
Ian patted it to calm it down, then placed it back on his head and put on the Bear Ear Hat. Den Den Mushi usually sleep, so even though it was dark inside the hat, it didn’t bother them—they would just retreat into their shells.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Ian began to get dressed. Honestly, no one wanted to fight naked under the gaze of a bunch of grown men. Without any beautiful women around, showing off one’s physique was completely pointless.
So once he had his clothes and pants on, Ian finally felt at ease, no longer having that breezy, exposed sensation.
While he was dressing, Mohji also shuffled over to Buggy’s side. The sight of Ian cutting down Cabaji with a single slash had scared him, so now that the fighting had paused, he hurried to Buggy’s side and warned him, “Captain, be careful—this kid is also a Devil Fruit user!”
Buggy was stunned: “He is, too?”
Mohji nodded and said, “Most likely. When he boarded the ship, he only had an ordinary sword, but after Richie bit it in half, he suddenly pulled that big red blade out of his hand…”
Before he could finish, Buggy suddenly grabbed him by the collar and roared, “Who are you calling a big red nose!?”
“No, no!” Mohji realized he had accidentally touched on the captain’s taboo and quickly defended himself, “I was talking about the blade, the blade!”
Buggy let him go, rubbed his chin, and mused, “You’re saying his blade suddenly appeared out of nowhere?”
Mohji confirmed, “Yes, he was naked before, so there’s no way he could have hidden that blade! Cabaji and I attacked him together, and we were no match for him.”
“A Devil Fruit user, huh?” Buggy snickered. “I wonder what kind of Devil Fruit it is?”
They had no idea about Ian’s true situation and assumed he was a Devil Fruit user. While the two of them were whispering to each other, Ian finished dressing. Seeing this, Buggy immediately spoke to Ian, “Hey, kid! Interested in joining my Buggy Pirates? If you do, the position of combat commander is yours!”
It turned out that after all that scheming, Buggy had this in mind. Even though Cabaji and a bunch of pirate lackeys were lying on the deck, their fates unknown, he chose to ignore it and directly extended the invitation. [Love Go to Little Say Small Say Net wqu]
Buggy knew Cabaji’s combat ability, but this kid had cut him down with one slash, proving his strength was no joke!
What really caught Buggy’s attention, though, was that Bear Ear Hat. Even though Ian hadn’t told him when asked, Buggy’s intuition suggested that this kid might really have some connection to Bartholomew Kuma.
Buggy and his pirate crew had always kept a low profile, and there were two reasons for this.
Ever since Pirate King Roger was executed, Buggy had gone solo but had always hidden the fact that he had been a cabin boy on the Pirate King’s ship, not even telling his own subordinates. The logic was simple: if this ever came to light, it was predictable how many big-name Marines would come after him. That was the first reason for Buggy’s low profile.
The second reason was that Buggy was more passionate about treasure. His dream as a pirate was to one day plunder all the treasure in the world, which led him to avoid conflict with the Marines and steer clear of major trouble.
For him now, Bartholomew Kuma was trouble—big trouble. He didn’t know the exact relationship between this kid and Kuma, but to avoid that trouble and give his subordinates an explanation, recruiting him into the crew was the best option!
This way, he’d gain a fighter and avoid the possibility of going up against a Warlord-level figure—a win-win.
However, just as he confidently extended the invitation, Ian flatly refused: “No! I’m not becoming a pirate!”
Before setting sail, Ian had already figured it out. For him personally, being a pirate had no future. Sure, pirates seemed to live freely, never short of money, and often associated with treasure, but in reality, where did most pirates’ money come from? It came from plunder! Pirates who truly got rich through treasure hunting were pitifully rare!
Ian was desperately short of money. Ever since he got this troublesome system, his strength growth had been tied to how much money he had. If he became a pirate, who knew when he’d become wealthy?
Moreover, Ian had his own moral code. He didn’t want money gained through murder and robbery.
Bullying weak civilians wasn’t the mindset of a true strong person.
So Ian had never considered becoming a pirate. On the contrary, he realized that as long as his strength kept up, the high-bounty pirates wanted by the World Government would become his best targets for making money!
Yes, a pirate hunter, or rather a bounty hunter—that was Ian’s goal for now.
He wasn’t going to join any pirate crew, let alone one like the Buggy Pirates, which seemed born for comedy.
When Buggy heard this, he widened his eyes in disbelief: “You… you dare to refuse the great Captain Buggy!?”
Ian shook his head and said, “I don’t see where you’re great, you big red nose!”
Buggy flew into a rage: “How many times do I have to say it—don’t call me red nose!”
As he spoke, Buggy pulled out many daggers from both sides of his waist, wedged between his fingers. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Ian through the gaps between the daggers, saying, “In that case, you’ll stay here! I’ll hang you up and let you taste my special Buggy Cannon!”
With that, Buggy charged at Ian, daggers in hand.
Ian gripped his sword with both hands and calmly watched Buggy approach. When Buggy reached him, he swung his dagger-clad fists like claws at Ian. Ian wasn’t surprised. Just as the daggers were about to strike him, he instantly activated True Flash Slash!
He flashed past Buggy, swinging his Sword Saint Longsword horizontally and slashing across Buggy’s waist.
Buggy’s body split in two, falling to the deck with a thud.
The Buggy Pirates’ lackeys watched this scene, smirking inwardly. They wanted to see Ian’s shocked expression.
But to their surprise, Ian suddenly spun around, swinging his longsword at a spot to his right. As his blade struck out, it hit something solid.
It was one of Buggy’s detached wrists, still holding a sharp dagger. That hand had been silently trying to ambush Ian.
However, neither Buggy nor his lackeys expected that Ian hadn’t let his guard down after cutting Buggy in two. He had long anticipated Buggy’s possible sneak attack!
After slicing Buggy’s detached wrist in two again, Ian pointed his sword at Buggy, who was lying on the deck, and said, “Stop playing dead. I know you’re fine!”
Buggy was quite surprised, floating his upper body in midair, and asked, “How did you know?”
“The Chop-Chop Fruit, right?” Ian laughed. “So you really can’t be cut!”
Even as he laughed, Ian was actually a bit surprised inside. He had known about the effects of Buggy’s Chop-Chop Fruit for a long time and logically shouldn’t have tried to cut him again, but he couldn’t resist testing it.
He wanted to see if the Nen he wrapped around his blade could harm Buggy.
But the experiment proved it didn’t work. He could sense that when his blade struck Buggy’s body, it met no resistance. Buggy’s body seemed to separate on its own at the touch of the sharp edge, and the Nen wrapped around the blade felt like it never touched Buggy’s body at all.
No wonder even Haki-infused slashes were ineffective against him, and even Hawk-Eye Mihawk couldn’t cut him down. This guy’s fruit ability was indeed the bane of many swordsmen.
Buggy was also taken aback. He hadn’t expected to fail to ambush Ian. Had this kid heard of his reputation somewhere and come prepared?
Thinking this, Buggy cackled and said, “You know, I love fighting swordsmen like you the most. After you go to hell, you can regret going against the great Captain Buggy!”
With that, Buggy suddenly twisted his upper body, then his head and chest separated. His arms spun like windmills, the dagger blades flying toward Ian!
“Chop-Chop Guillotine!”