The sea had become a battlefield of splintered decks and burning wreckage.
With Rosward Saint dead and the broadcast cut, CP0 no longer bothered with restraint.
There was no hostage to protect.
No image to maintain.
Only execution.
"Kill him!"
Rob Lucci's voice cut through the chaos like a blade. "Clown Buggy must not escape!"
The masked agents of CP0 moved in perfect coordination, their footwork silent, their killing intent unmasked. Whatever hesitation had existed while a Celestial Dragon lived was gone.
On the other side, the Revolutionary Army surged forward to intercept.
Dragon's commanders clashed with the white-clad assassins in midair and across floating debris. Sabo's flames ignited against cold killing techniques, the heat distorting the air itself.
Lucci had already transformed.
His body expanded into his human-beast form, muscles swelling beneath spotted fur. Fangs gleamed between clenched jaws. His eyes were bloodshot with fury.
He launched himself at Sabo with savage speed.
In the midst of the exchange, Lucci glanced sideways—and saw Admiral Fujitora still lifting Marines from the sinking wreckage.
He wasn't attacking.
He was rescuing.
"Why bother with those useless Marines?!" Lucci snarled. "Abandon them! Clown Buggy must not escape, or your Marines will answer for it!"
Fujitora's cane sword glowed faintly violet as gravity fields stabilized drifting planks beneath wounded soldiers.
"How we answer," Fujitora replied evenly, "is not for you to concern yourself with."
More Marines were lifted from the sea and placed upon floating fragments.
"This old man will bear today's responsibility alone."
Lucci's jaw tightened.
"If Buggy escapes, these weaklings will be blamed! Think carefully, Admiral!"
Fujitora turned his blind eyes toward Lucci.
"This old man has heard of you, Rob Lucci."
His grip on his blade tightened.
"The man who called the weak 'sinful'… and slaughtered five hundred soldiers to preserve a mission."
The air grew heavier.
"It is because of men like you," Fujitora said quietly, "that I am grateful for my blindness."
A tremor of restrained fury passed through his voice.
"Otherwise, seeing someone so filthy, this old man would find it difficult not to draw his sword."
The gravity around him pulsed.
"If you dare lay a hand on my subordinates, you will learn how deep your 'justice' truly sinks."
Lucci's lips peeled back in a snarl—
But before he could retort, another voice cut in.
"You won't get the chance."
Buggy stepped forward.
"Let's finish this quickly," he said lightly. "If we stall any longer, the real monsters will arrive."
His tone was casual.
His eyes were not.
Sabo grimaced. "Sorry, Captain. He's troublesome."
"It's Rob Lucci," Buggy replied. "Eight hundred years' greatest CP9 genius, or whatever ridiculous title they gave him. Of course, he's troublesome."
Lucci's eyes locked onto Buggy.
"Clown Buggy."
His muscles contracted sharply.
"You committed god-slaying."
His aura sharpened into killing intent.
"You are unforgivable!"
He vanished in a blur of speed.
"Six Styles Secret Art—"
Both palms thrust forward.
"Six King Gun!"
A compressed shockwave erupted from his fists, tearing through the air toward Buggy's chest.
Buggy did not move.
He disappeared.
"Magnetic Field Rotation—Ten Thousand Horsepower."
A faint crackle sounded—
"Shunpo."
The shockwave blasted through space as Buggy reappeared ten meters away.
Lucci's pupils constricted.
Teleportation?
No.
Movement within range.
Buggy had already mapped it out.
The Chop-Chop Fruit's splitting radius is roughly two hundred meters.
Within that domain, his body could exist in fragments anywhere he wished.
Before, it had required physical propulsion.
Now—
With microscopic cellular separation and electromagnetic propulsion—
He simply appeared.
Lucci's body shrank instantly.
"Life Return—Paper Art Martial Body!"
His muscles compressed, sacrificing brute power for speed. His silhouette thinned, movements sharpening.
"Flying Finger Pistol: Pull!"
Ten compressed air bullets shot forward in a tight spread.
Buggy flickered again—
Shunpo.
He reappeared behind Lucci.
"Chop-Chop."
An invisible splitting force struck toward Lucci's torso.
For a fraction of a second—
It worked.
A shallow tear opened across Lucci's back.
Then resistance surged.
Armament Haki.
Or perhaps Zoan resilience is reinforced by Haki.
Either way, the splitting failed to fully divide him.
Buggy's eyes narrowed.
So it couldn't directly dismantle a hardened opponent.
Not without overwhelming force.
Good.
Otherwise, this fruit would be absurd.
Lucci spun violently.
"Tempest Kick—Leopard Tail!"
A spiraling slash ripped backward like a spinning blade.
"You're too slow."
Buggy vanished again and reappeared directly before him.
"Magnetic Field Rotation—Twenty Thousand Horsepower."
He raised his hand.
"White Lightning."
A jagged bolt of greenish-white electricity shot forward.
Lucci's Observation Haki triggered.
He twisted sharply—
But the lightning curved midair.
It struck the wound on his back.
Lucci staggered.
"What did you do?"
Buggy smiled faintly.
"I can't reveal trade secrets."
Earlier—
During that brief splitting attempt—
Buggy had left behind something nearly invisible.
A fragment of fingernail.
Microscopic.
Embedded in Lucci's flesh.
Now—
It functioned as a magnetic anchor.
"Magnetic Field Rotation—Thirty Thousand Horsepower."
Buggy spread five fingers.
"Five Consecutive White Lightnings."
Five bolts crashed down in succession.
Lucci dodged desperately.
But each bolt bent toward the same location.
Again.
And again.
Armament Haki hardened over the impact zone as he endured the barrage.
Then his eyes sharpened.
The pattern.
The wound.
Without hesitation, his claws extended and tore into his own back.
Flesh ripped free.
In his grip—
A tiny fragment.
"So that's it."
Lucci sneered despite blood running down his side.
"You attach a 'guide' and pretend your attacks are unavoidable."
Buggy shrugged.
"You figured it out."
He snapped his fingers.
"Here's your prize."
The fingernail fragment in Lucci's hand glowed red.
Energy built within it—
Unstable.
Violent.
Lucci's instincts screamed.
He tried to fling it away—
Too late.
"Critical Fission—Special Buggy Bomb."
The fragment detonated.
An explosion engulfed Lucci in fire and a shockwave.
Flames roared skyward.
Nearby combatants instinctively shielded their faces from the heat.
Sabo whistled low.
"That's impressive."
Buggy exhaled slowly.
"Not even close."
Smoke cleared.
Lucci emerged from the blaze, fur scorched, skin blackened in patches, blood trickling from his mouth.
But he was standing.
Zoan endurance.
Armament reinforcement.
And sheer will.
Buggy studied him carefully.
Good durability.
But not enough.
"This level isn't enough to overturn an era," Buggy muttered.
Sabo glanced sideways.
"Captain?"
"This guy's small fry."
His gaze shifted briefly toward the horizon.
"The real power of the World Government lies deeper."
Lucci's breathing was ragged.
Small fry?
Veins pulsed at his temples.
"You dare…"
His aura exploded outward.
"You dare look down on me?!"
He launched forward with murderous speed.
Buggy's lips curled.
Good.
Anger.
Emotion.
The stronger the frenzy—
The faster the magnetic field rotated.
Inside Buggy's body, countless microscopic separations spun at terrifying speed.
His heart and brain pulsed under electromagnetic reinforcement.
The Chop-Chop Fruit was not just about disassembly.
It was about control.
Division.
Acceleration.
And reassembly under absolute authority.
Buggy's eyes gleamed.
"Come on then."
Lightning crackled faintly across his skin.
"Let's see how long you last."
---
Support: patreon.com/Narrator_San