Orochimaru flashed away, completely disregarding Buggy. Seeing Luffy bounce out, he subconsciously pressed the hat on his head and sped up his departure. Really... what did he have to be guilty about?
Buggy, who had just come down from the wall, and Luffy, who had jumped down, collided head-on. The two squatted on the ground, glaring at each other.
"You... who are you again?" Luffy looked at Buggy, feeling a bit familiar but unable to recall.
"Buggy!! It's me, Buggy! Ah!"
Buggy roared at Luffy. These guys took so many of his things and didn't even remember him. It was infuriating!
Seeing that red nose, Luffy suddenly realized it was this unlucky fellow.
Then Luffy frowned, sniffed the air, and then took a deep breath.
"You smell like Orochimaru! Tell me! Did you run into that cunning snake?! (〝▼dish▼)"
Buggy was a bit confused. He sniffed himself, but there was no smell at all... "What are you talking about...?"
"Orochimaru!!! Did you just encounter that guy?!" Luffy leaned close to Buggy, staring straight into his eyes.
Cold sweat ran down Buggy's back. Thinking of Orochimaru's words, he quickly shook his head and whistled while looking at the sky.
"No, no, no... I'm not familiar with him, really. I swear, if I've ever seen him, may that Red-Haired Shanks go bald!"
Looking at the person swearing by Shanks, Luffy was still somewhat skeptical, staring intently into his eyes.
"Strange... then why do you smell like Orochimaru?"
"I don't know what smell you're talking about... Maybe the prison uniforms are washed with the same brand of shampoo that Orochimaru uses... Ah ha ha ha."
Buggy scratched his head, giving an awkward fake laugh... The two walked side by side in silence when suddenly a group of strangely dressed people appeared, axes flying in their hands.
Buggy was instantly chopped into several pieces, running and dodging, screaming and contorting into various shapes... Although he was a tiny bit stronger now, and a tiny bit more reliable,
his timid nature was still there... So scary... Luffy looked at Buggy, who was screaming and still running alongside him even at a fork in the road, and suddenly spoke up.
"Hey... Buggy... what did Orochimaru tell you?"
"Ah... he told me to help you escape... and to tell you that I hadn't seen him..."
The air suddenly froze for a moment. Buggy's eyes flew out in shock, looking incredulously at the gloomy-faced Luffy.
"Shimatta!!! I actually said it!!!"
Unbelievable, did this thing actually have a brain?
"I knew it!!!! We didn't even attract the guards' attention! How could we suddenly be discovered?! It must be that insidious snake!
I had clearly made an agreement with Hancock not to cause a commotion!"
Luffy suddenly slammed on the brakes, turned around, and charged at the chasing Masira, kicking one down and accelerating back in the direction he came from, howling.
ヽ(#`Д´)ノ┌┛〃 "Orochimaru!!!!!"
A row of surveillance transponder snail above the prison had question marks on their faces??? Looking at the person who inexplicably blamed others and then ran away, they had an expression that said, 'Do you think we're blind?'
"Hey! Straw Hat! Do you still want to go rescue Ace or not?! That's the most important thing!" Buggy saw the knocked-down people and quickly pulled Luffy aside.
Luffy finally came to his senses, realizing this was the most important thing.
"Do you know where Ace is?"
"Yes, Orochimaru told me he's on Level 6. We need to hurry. If we can't make it in time, we'll have to find a way to escape and then get to Marineford... But I don't understand why that snake would make it so complicated... Wouldn't it be better to just rescue him directly? Also, why are you here?"
Buggy looked bewildered. What kind of new game were these brothers playing?
"Ah... Orochimaru isn't rescuing him probably because he's petty and has a way to rescue him... so there's no rush. And if nothing goes wrong, he's planning something.
I'm here because that snake didn't tell me at all! He definitely didn't want me to participate! It was Granny Dadan who told me!!
But there are only 6 days left. By rights, I wouldn't have time to arrive. Hancock was kind enough to bring me in. Oh, I can't tell anyone about this.
So! I'm going to rescue Ace myself!! And then beat that snake to death! Let him know who the older brother is!!!!"
To speed up their progress, Luffy grabbed Buggy's feet, and his entire body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow. Buggy, meanwhile, floated in front of Luffy, guiding him with a helpless expression.
"Isn't it good that someone is helping you? Are you stupid, you have to come here and suffer..." Buggy couldn't help but complain, crossing his arms.
"None of your business! Where are we going now?"
And so, Luffy followed Buggy on a thrilling "parkour" adventure through Level 1 of Impel Down.
"Listen carefully, Straw Hat. I'll take you to the entrance of the second floor. This Impel Down, they call the first basement floor Level 1, and it goes down sequentially to Level 2, Level 3. You have to go down one level at a time.
The deeper you go, the more brutal the criminals confined there are. I went to the fourth floor before to train my Haki, enduring that scorching torture, so I'm quite familiar with that area.
And Level 5 holds only the most ruthless characters, each with a bounty of at least 100 million.
As for Level 6, that's where the legendary guys are. I have an old friend there whom I need to get out.
If nothing unexpected happened to Ace, he should be there. But, as payment for guiding you, I want that armband on your arm. That's a map to Captain John's treasure."
Buggy flew in mid-air, explaining the situation in detail to Luffy.
Luffy heard this and handed the armband to Buggy without hesitation.
Buggy was a bit stunned, "You're just giving it to me? This is Captain John's treasure."
"It's yours. Compared to something like this, I want to rescue Ace faster." Luffy threw the armband to him, smiling brightly.
Buggy's face was a bit contorted, and tears welled up in his eyes... Really, why do these two brothers trust him so much? He really wasn't an upright person.
Soon, Buggy led Luffy through a tunnel and jumped down to the second level.
Orochimaru also hitched a ride on Hancock's elevator, descending on the chains at the top of the elevator. The elevator had already reached the fifth floor.
He needed to find Ivankov to relay the news of Sabo's arrival... Wait... since Luffy was here, did he not need to go...? Luffy would go... how could he forget such an important thing? It must be Luffy's fault.
A miscalculation... Maybe I should still go find Whitebeard. First, I'll meet up with Sabo on Whitebeard's ship. I sent a letter through Kuma earlier, telling Sabo to hitch a ride with Whitebeard.
(*´・ｖ・) But before I go, I'll go see the little unlucky Ace again... He's so thoughtful.
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