Chapter 28: If You Can't Win, Run
♂Seeing the whirlwind-like blades that Buggy threw out, Ian could only raise his longsword vertically in front of him, and then he heard a series of clanging collisions against the blade.
Sparks even flew off the sword's surface!
However, just as Ian blocked the upper half of Buggy's thrown body, the next second Buggy threw his legs as well. The tips of his shoes also concealed sharp blades, spinning in the same manner toward Ian's legs. This meant that while Ian had just blocked the attack from above, he couldn't change his sword's angle in time to block below, so he could only jump straight up to dodge the ground-hugging attack.
As he jumped, Ian was naturally in midair. Buggy's first thrown upper body suddenly stopped, and a wrist holding a dagger shot out like a cannonball toward Ian in the air.
Ian couldn't dodge this time, so he gritted his teeth and swung his sword horizontally at the wrist.
It was just an instinctive move, but he forgot that Buggy's body could separate at any time. Ian did split the wrist in half, but the two halves of the wrist kept flying, carrying the sharp blade past both sides of Ian's face, leaving two cuts on his cheeks.
After landing, Ian wiped his face, and his hand was covered in blood.
This was his first battle against a Devil Fruit user, and it felt incredibly bizarre. A fighting style that worked on normal people was completely useless against a Devil Fruit user.
"Hahaha!" Buggy laughed loudly. "Now you've seen the power of Captain Buggy, haven't you?"
Ian didn't say a word. He pressed his hat down tighter, held his sword with both hands, and charged toward where Buggy's head was.
"Heh! Didn't I tell you? Slashing attacks don't work on me!" Buggy sneered.
Ian couldn't be bothered to argue. When he got in front of Buggy, he swung both hands, aiming the Sword Saint Longsword at Buggy's face.
"Still not giving up?" Buggy said, seeing his move. "Fine, let me show you what an immortal body really means!"
He thought Ian was attacking his head to try hitting a vital spot, but he didn't expect that just as the Sword Saint Longsword was about to slash Buggy, Ian suddenly twisted his wrist. The blade heading straight for Buggy turned into the flat of the sword!
The body of the Sword Saint Longsword was different from an ordinary katana; the flat side was much wider. This unexpected twist caught Buggy completely off guard, and Ian struck him across the face!
At that moment, a tremendous force transmitted. Buggy's entire face deformed, and his whole head was sent flying like a cannonball out of a cannon. With a crash, it blasted a large hole in the cabin's wooden wall.
How strong was Ian now? Equipped with the Sword Saint Longsword, even with just a 30% stat boost, his strength exceeded 100 points. That was enough to match Lion Richie's power, so it was no surprise he could produce such an effect.
If slashing didn't work, then use blunt force! This time, Buggy's body didn't split apart.
Seeing this, Ian realized that Buggy's Chop-Chop Fruit might be related to pressure. The sharper the blade, the greater the pressure, which would force Buggy's body to split. But conversely, the less pressure, the less it would split—unless he did it intentionally.
The lackeys on the pirate ship stared dumbfounded at the big hole in the cabin, then at Ian, then at the hole, then back at Ian. They didn't know what to say.
This was a battle between monsters, not something they could interfere with. Even their supposedly invincible Captain Buggy had been sent flying. What were they supposed to do now?
If they could, they'd probably just lie down and play dead...
A crash of wood splinters sounded, and Buggy's head floated in midair, wobbling out from the door hole. But this time, half of Buggy's face was swollen. It seemed Ian's sword-flat slap had been effective.
"You hurt me!" Buggy gritted his teeth at Ian. "Kid, you've successfully pissed me off!"
Ian was surprised again that this guy was still fine. It seemed Buggy's durability wasn't as pathetic as he'd imagined.
Like Luffy, Buggy had a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, but they were different. Luffy felt no pain from ordinary attacks and wasn't afraid of bullets because he was a rubber man—his body's substance had changed. Buggy, on the other hand, didn't seem to have his substance altered. While he wasn't afraid of slashing and could reassemble from being cut into pieces, his body was still his original body. When it wasn't separated, he still felt pain from attacks!
The strength of a Devil Fruit depended on the user's training. Buggy probably knew his own weakness and might have done targeted training. Otherwise, Ian's slap to his face with such force should have at least knocked out a couple of teeth, right? But Buggy's face was just a little swollen...
Tsk! Ian found it troublesome. Buggy's ability was not only bizarre but also a real headache. Unless he used Seastone or overwhelming force to knock him out, this guy was like sticky candy—no matter how you hit him, he wouldn't die, just kept clinging to you. There was really no good way to deal with him.
At that moment, Buggy's wrist floated in midair again and stabbed toward Ian. Ian planned to use the same trick, swinging the Sword Saint Longsword like a baseball bat to knock Buggy's wrist away. But unexpectedly, Mochi moved at that moment! He controlled Lion Richie, who suddenly pounced from the side. Instead of attacking with claws, he pressed his whole body onto Ian, knocking him to the ground!
Then Richie's front paws pinned Ian's shoulders, making it impossible for him to move.
Buggy laughed loudly. "Good job, Mochi! Keep him pinned!"
As he spoke, he controlled his detached wrist, gripping the dagger, and stabbed forcefully toward Ian's face!
Just as the dagger was about to hit his eye, in the crisis, Ian suddenly exploded. The Nen control he'd mastered over the years came into play. Though he didn't use Flash Slash, he could channel Nen into his body. This sudden burst of power flipped Lion Richie off him!
Then Ian desperately twisted his head. Buggy's dagger stabbed into the ground beside his ear...
That was close! Ian rolled over and stood up. He hadn't expected Mochi to sneak-attack and help Buggy. He'd thought Mochi and his stupid lion were no threat, and his carelessness had almost cost him.
Looking at the scheming Mochi and Buggy, Ian grew even more frustrated. Buggy, that bastard, couldn't be beaten to death no matter how hard he hit him, and now with Mochi and Richie helping, it was even harder.
But then, Ian suddenly froze. He slapped his forehead. Damn it, had he been fighting too hard to think straight?
Why was he so dead-set on fighting Buggy? His goal was just to get back his clothes, hat, and Den Den Mushi. Now that he had them, why was he still here!?
Buggy was a pirate with a bounty of over ten million. Wasn't it normal that he couldn't deal with him easily? Did he really think he could take down this entire pirate crew just after setting sail?
Realizing he'd fallen into a mental trap, Ian suddenly saw clearly. Taking an opening, he jumped out of the fight, grabbed the lying Cabaji, and then suddenly rushed to the top of the cabin, where Buggy's ship's helm was. Ian charged over and slashed the helm down with one blow!
Buggy and Mochi hadn't expected Ian to suddenly stop fighting, so in their moment of shock, Ian had already completed this series of moves.
"Bye-bye! I'm done playing with you!" Ian smiled at the Buggy Pirates' crew. "See you next time!"
With that, Ian grabbed Cabaji by the back of his collar and jumped over the ship's railing.
"Get him!!!" Buggy finally realized what was happening and roared, "Get him!! Don't let him escape!"
The pirate lackeys hurriedly rushed to the railing and looked down. They saw Ian had already jumped onto his small boat and even casually slashed Buggy's small boat in half with one stroke.
"What are you staring at? Jump into the sea and chase him!" Buggy kicked a pirate lackey into the sea and shouted.
So the pirates on the ship jumped into the water like dumplings being boiled.
But Ian didn't care. His boat was so small that anyone who tried to climb on would get slashed down. He didn't believe those pirate lackeys had the guts to board his ship.
As for trying to sink his boat, that was even more ridiculous. Ian didn't think their swimming speed could match his rowing speed. If they couldn't catch up, how could they sink it?
The pirate lackeys probably knew this too. Though they jumped into the sea, they just made a lot of noise without actually putting in any real effort to chase.
But what surprised Ian was that Buggy floated his upper body out, hovering in midair, and threw a dagger at him.
Ian tilted his head to dodge, grinning as he waved at Buggy. He knew Buggy could float his upper body as long as his feet were on the ground, but the range was only 200 meters. Any farther, and he couldn't reach, so Ian wasn't worried at all.
"Kid! Tell me your name! I'll kill you one day!" Buggy shouted from midair.
He didn't dare chase too far because the sea was below. If a Devil Fruit user fell into the water, even though their ability remained, they'd become weak and couldn't swim, leading to drowning. Buggy was afraid that if he got too close, Ian would slap him into the sea with his sword, and that would be bad.
"My name is Ian. Remember it!" Ian pressed his index and middle fingers together and gave a Patton-style salute to his forehead, smiling as he said it. Then he rowed the oars and sped away.
Leaving Buggy alone in midair, grinding his teeth so hard they might shatter...