When Lily was cleansing Wano Country, several major events simultaneously unfolded at sea.
The foremost...
was the actions following the abolition of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Kale Bali Island.
The former base of Buggy, the "Star Clown" of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, was now surrounded by the Navy.
"Why is the Navy here? Aren't we on the same side!"
On the second floor of the tall, tent-like building, Buggy faced the sea and shouted out, completely unable to understand the situation.
"Not anymore!"
Inside one of the warships, Navy Vice Admiral Stainless held a microphone and shouted loudly, "The World Conference has made a decision after extended discussions. The Seven Warlords system is completely abolished. Therefore, the Seven Warlords of the Sea have automatically been stripped of all powers, which means..."
Stainless yelled, "Buggy! You're now just a regular pirate!"
"Hey! You're truly despicable!"
A vein popped on Buggy's forehead, "How can you just cancel it without discussing with us first? A group that doesn't even talk about justice!"
"We're pirates, Captain Buggy."
Mohji whispered from behind, "When it comes to being despicable, we should be the ones more despicable..."
"Shut up!"
Buggy glared at Mohji, then looked at the Navy that had surrounded most of the coastline, took a deep breath, turned around, and opened the massive cloak draped over him. His silhouette loomed over most of the sky, making the gathered pirates instinctively look up.
"Guys, it's just a bunch of navy. I was personally invited by the World Government as a Seven Warlord! They think they can disobey the agreement and take me down? They underestimate me!"
Buggy spread his hands and shouted loudly, "It's impossible for the Navy to come over and think we'll surrender. Let me see your spirit!"
"Oh!! Lord Buggy!!"
The pirates raised their weapons and shouted, each one excitedly running outside to fight the Navy.
However...
"Can't hold on, Buggy!"
Mr. 3 returned within minutes and shouted, "Their firepower is too fierce and they outnumber us!"
The warship cannons weren't just for show, even if they could hold off a small part, the other side also had more people. They could barely manage initially, but as soon as a breach opened, they couldn't handle it anymore.
"Damn! There are too few of us, most were dispatched elsewhere!" Buggy gritted his teeth.
His underling pirates were actually quite good, not the kind to collapse at a touch, willing to risk their lives to fight.
Just that their firepower and numbers weren't as fierce as the enemy's.
"Retreat!"
Buggy had been planning to retreat all along, with nothing to hide from his people, "Go grab Alvida and the others, we'll head out first."
"Can't leave."
Mr. 3 said, "Our men outside have surrounded the area too, expecting you to charge and lead them to victory."
Buggy pointed at himself, then glanced at the massive warships bombing outside, blinked, and the snot drooped from his red nose, "Me?"
What could he do?
He was great at treasure hunting.
As for fighting… Well, it was alright, but taking down so many warships was utterly impossible.
Yet now he couldn't flee...
Boom!
A cannonball blasted into the second-floor building, the intense roar and shockwave ruffling their hair and clothes.
"No matter!"
Buggy shouted, "Survival comes first, we can deal with everything else later!"
He flew off the second floor, intending to switch directions. But just then, the surrounding warships suddenly stirred up a sandstorm, dispersing them all.
Among the sandstorm was a man with a gold hook on his left hand, clad in a plaid shirt and coat, elegant and poised, sporting a slicked-back hairstyle, biting a cigar and looking smugly over.
"Crocodile!"
"It's Crocodile coming up!"
"Of course! I heard Crocodile has ties with Lord Buggy, now he's here, maybe throwing in his lot!"
The pirates one by one had eyes that gleamed brightly.
"Croc, Crocodile..." Buggy was startled, and his face instantly turned grim.
"Buggy."
Crocodile glanced around, motioned for him to go back inside, and then transformed into a mass of sand, floating into the building.
Behind him, Mr. 1, Daz Bonez, hurried over.
"Where's my money, Buggy."
As soon as he entered the second floor, Crocodile reformed his figure and said, "It's time to repay."
Of course...
Coming here surely isn't for anything good.
"Where's the money now? We expanded too much before, funds were spent on buying weapons and recruiting, the meal costs are ridiculously high. You know, our Giant Race main force has joined Calamity Sage, it's a tight period now." Buggy quickly said.
Upon hearing Sage's name, Crocodile's eye twitched slightly.
He raised the gold hook, "If there's no money, then I'll sell you. With your reputation now, it should fetch several billion Belly."
"We broke out from prison together and are great partners, don't say such frightening things, give me some grace, once the funds return, there'll definitely be money." Buggy said.
"That's precisely why I loaned you the money, you know, I was in Sa... Forget it, anyway, I need that money to establish a new company. If you don't repay, let's resolve this now!" Crocodile's face turned ominous.
He still owed Sage a debt!
This was inherently embarrassing, the major portion of this money was invested in Buggy, thinking he could make a profit seeing how things were heating up.
If he couldn't retrieve funds from here, once Sage learned, even thinking with his knees, he knew how Sage would mock him.