Chapter 18: Rescue!
On the seas of the Grand Line, near the Red Line, two men, one tall and one short, were standing at the bow of a ship.
"Boss, we should be able to make a huge profit this time, right? I heard that Saint Kros offered a price of two hundred million Beri long ago to buy slaves from Kuja Castle in the Land of Female Warriors. We waited a whole year to find this opportunity, and we caught three of them, sisters at that! Do you think Saint Kros will be so happy he'll give us a little extra?" The shorter man was very excited at this moment.
"I'm not sure if we can get more, but we can't mention it directly. Everyone knows the temper of the Celestial Dragons; they don't even treat money as money. It's normal for them to give more if they're happy. But if we say something extra and spoil his mood, it's questionable whether we can even leave the Holy Land safely. And compared to money, I'd rather get an opportunity to follow them," the taller man replied, his face calm.
"Boss, why don't we just send them to the auction house instead? That would save a lot of trouble," the shorter man said, now a little worried.
"Do you think I'm willing to take this kind of risk? Isn't it all for the hope of finding an opportunity in the Holy Land? As for the auction house, let's not even talk about how high their commission is. We waited a year just to get this chance to approach a Celestial Dragon. Are you willing to let the auction house people benefit for nothing?"
"That's true. As long as we can gain the recognition of a Celestial Dragon, even doing menial tasks would be a hundred times better than our current situation." Having lived on the Sabaody Archipelago for many years, the shorter man had a clear understanding of the Celestial Dragons' power.
"It's good that you understand. Get ready; we're almost there."
After hearing the taller man's words, the shorter man turned around only to see a figure land on the deck not far in front of him.
"Um... I'm looking for three little girls. Have you seen them?" The figure straightened up and then asked unhurriedly.
"Who are you?" The shorter man was clearly startled by the figure that had suddenly appeared on the ship.
"My name is Buggy. My profession is pirate. I was once an apprentice crew member on the Roger Pirates' ship." As he spoke, Buggy took a light step forward and came directly in front of the shorter man.
"Roger Pirates?!" The taller man looked at the red-nosed young man before him with an astonished tone.
"That's right. Of course, that's not important right now. What's important is that you haven't answered my question. I'm looking for three little girls, around ten years old. Have you seen them?" With a warm smile, Buggy asked while taking out his compass to look at it.
Glancing at the constantly spinning compass, although the shorter man didn't understand why this red-nosed young man would take out a compass that was completely useless in the Grand Line, he was unwilling to confess truthfully.
"Little Bro Buggy, we haven't seen the people you're looking for. Although I don't know why you found your way onto our ship, you've clearly come to the wrong place. The people you're looking for aren't on our ship."
"Baro, cut the crap. He's already tracked us down. Do you think you can send him away with just a few words? I'd like to see what's so extraordinary about a member of the Roger Pirates." Compared to the shorter man, the taller man was much more direct. As he spoke, he drew the short gun tucked into his belt and fired several shots directly at Buggy.
"Courting death!" Without moving his lower body, Buggy's upper body instantly split into several segments, easily dodging the incoming bullets.
"Boss, this guy is an ability user!" Baro shouted loudly.
"Nonsense, you think I didn't see? Don't be afraid, it's not an offensive ability. Call everyone out and riddle him with bullets!" The taller man was quite a fearless character in a crisis.
Hearing this, Buggy felt somewhat relieved. As long as this taller man didn't plan to use the Hancock sisters to threaten him, there was no need to rush things. As for being surrounded, would Buggy, who knew Conqueror's Haki, be afraid of that?
About ten seconds after the gunshots rang out, Buggy heard many hurried footsteps coming from the ship's cabin.
Half a minute later, about ten men had completely surrounded Buggy.
"Fire!" Upon seeing the encirclement formed, the taller man immediately gave the order.
The moment everyone raised their pistols and aimed at Buggy, Buggy's eyes instantly sharpened, and an invisible wave immediately spread out from his body.
In an instant, the men surrounding Buggy felt an inexplicable chill shoot up from their tailbones straight to their heads. Then, there was no then. There were only eyes rolling back as they fell, and the dull thuds of their bodies hitting the deck.
Looking at the result he had caused, Buggy didn't feel particularly satisfied or dissatisfied, only a little disappointed. He had originally thought that the leading taller man should have been able to withstand his Haki, allowing him to show off a bit more.
Shrugging, Buggy then walked towards the ship's cabin. Relying on the perception of his Observation Haki, Buggy went directly to the outside of the room where the people were being held.
He reached out and touched the locked door. As his Chop-Chop ability emanated, the door in front of Buggy instantly shattered into several large pieces.
Muffled whimpering sounds immediately rang out!
"No need to shout, and no need to be afraid. The people who captured you have already been defeated by me. You three are quite lucky; otherwise, your lives would have been completely ruined. If you were really sold to the Holy Land as slaves, apart from being thrown out after death, you probably would have spent your entire lives in hell," Buggy said unhurriedly after looking and confirming that the three before him were indeed the Hancock sisters.
After speaking, Buggy walked behind the three sisters and then touched each of their ropes.
After the initial terror, Hancock, finally freed, stood up at the first opportunity and protectively shielded her two younger sisters behind her. She said nothing, merely watching the red-nosed man before her with eyes still full of unease and vigilance.
"Follow me first," Buggy said. Seeing the wariness towards him in the three sisters' eyes, he wasn't the least bit anxious. After all, it was normal for anyone to be vigilant when first meeting a stranger.
After speaking, Buggy walked outside.
When they all arrived on deck again, Buggy didn't say anything more, just stood aside and watched calmly.
And Hancock and her two younger sisters, after seeing the group of human traffickers collapsed on the deck, surprisingly showed no hesitation. They walked directly over to them, picked up their dropped weapons, and then the three girls, as if by common consent, pulled the triggers on the fallen men.
After a series of "bang, bang, bang" sounds, the deck instantly fell silent.
To be honest, Buggy hadn't planned to let this group of human traffickers off either. After all, he had already told them his identity, and since he didn't want to be exposed yet, silencing them was a certainty. The reason he hadn't acted earlier was to see how the Hancock sisters would react to this scene.
And the scene before him now, Buggy had considered it, but in his estimation, the probability of this scene occurring should have been relatively low. Of course, it didn't surprise Buggy too much either. One had to know, the tough women from the Land of Female Warriors were no joke. In their eyes, killing men was probably not much different from killing wild beasts.
"You shouldn't be so angry now, right?" Only at this moment did Buggy speak to the three girls again.
"Thank you!" the still young Hancock said in a low voice.
"No need to thank me. Everyone, lend a hand. Let's first sail the ship to a nearby island, and then I'll figure out a way to send you home!"
After seeing the Hancock sisters nod, Buggy began to give directions. Then, the four of them worked together and sailed the traffickers' ship towards the nearest Sabaody Archipelago.
(End of this chapter)