( A week earlier, Hannabal Island )
"Damn it!"
Hitting a table, Buggy then tore off the meat that was planted at the end of his fork.
"Lately all of the treasures we collect are being spent fixing our ship, which keeps getting damaged by Navy ships! If this continues, we'll soon be penniless."
"It's okay for the Navy to attack us," Kuro retorted, sipping a glass of wine. "With a captain as lousy as you in charge, they must think capturing us would be a snap."
"Tsss! Besides, your power is useless in combat," Morgan snapped, while finishing a mug of beer. "If the little one wasn't there to blow up enemy ships, it would have been a long time since we've been captured because of your incompetence."
"All in all, it's only fitting that the Navy thinks Megumin is our captain," Alvida said.
"HAHAHA!" The child chuckled, putting a foot on the table where they was eating. "You are absolutely right! The Navy is fearful of me and that is why the reward for my capture is almost 40 million berrys! Soon I will be officially the captain of this ship."
"In your dreams!" Buggy roared, parting his head and arms from the rest of his body, before bringing them closer to Megumin's face.
Starting to twist her cheeks, pinching them, the clown roared.
"I am the terrible Captain Buggy! A feared pirate in East Blue ! And I am also the man who knew how to bring together other powerful captains of this sea! Even today, if our crew is also known and feared, it's thanks to me. "
"Shut up!" Alvida ordered him, seeing several people watching the duo.
Finding themselves in a bar, the small group of pirates had decided to eat here, while the rest of the crew had scattered all over the island where Buggy had decided to dock.
Seeming to be quite disingenuous, the bar clientele seemed to be almost entirely made up of pirates. However, noticing the greedy gaze of certain, looking at Buggy and Megumin's face, the young woman suspected that there must also be some pirate hunters.
"Let's be quiet!" She ordered, while Buggy sat down in his place. "It wouldn't surprise me if some guys already know who we are and are hoping to wait for the right time to kill us."
"Who's coming?" Morgan growled. "I'd let off steam by slicing them with my ax."
"Still, it's true what I'm saying." Buggy assured. "It is me, who is at the origin of our alliance."
"Technically, Mugiwara is behind this alliance." Zala retorted.
Since Crocodile's loss to Luffy, the last members of Baroque Works had managed to leave Alabasta. Then, by the greatest of luck, they had crossed paths with the Buggy crew. At the start, neither crew knew if attacking the other was a good idea. However, in the end, after a long discussion started by Buggy, who wanted at all costs to avoid a fight, the remaining members of Baroque Works had decided to team up with his crew.
And among them were Zala (Miss Doublefinger - 35 million berrys -), Babe (Mr 4 - 3.2 million berrys) and Drophy (Miss Merry Christmas - 14 million berrys.)
"Yes! If we have allied with you, it is only to kill Mugiwara," Drophy assured. "And above all to take revenge on that damn long-nosed man."
Flaunting a mocking smile, Kuro said.
"Losing to Usopp? What a shame! In the end, Baroque Works was just a bunch of incompetent people."
"What did you say?"
For her part, Zala didn't care whether or not to take revenge on the crew that defeated Crocodile. In the end, as long as she was in a crew that could help prevent my Navy from capturing her, it suited her perfectly. Nonetheless, like the rest of the crew, she questioned Buggy's leadership abilities.
"If we can hold a vote, I stand as a candidate." Morgan asserted. "With me, I promise you that the Navy ships would be so massacred that they will stop chasing us."
Reluctant to accept this plan, Alvida turned to Kuro.
"What about you? Your point of view as a former captain?"
"I'll pass." Kuro replied simply, drinking another glass of wine. "The responsibilities of being the captain, I don't want them anymore! As long as I stay alive and don't try to give me orders, I don't care who the captain is."
"Me, I want! Me, I want!" Assured Megumin, waving her cloak. "I was born to lead a group."
Having remained silent until now, Magi eyed Megumim suspiciously, before retorting.
"Learn to stand after launching an attack! Then we'll see."
"Hey, one of my fabulous attacks is capable of destroying a Navy ship with no problem! It is thanks to my powerful explosive magic that we are still alive."
"Sure, she's a lot more useful than the idiot who serves as our captain." Zala agreed.
"I approve." Alvida and Drophy assert.
"HEY! I hear you." Buggy roared.
"For now, let's put this issue aside," Magi advised. "And let's focus on the most important thing: finding the money."
"You just have to ask the bartender," Kuro announced quietly, watching the man talking with a pirate, who had just shown him two 100 berry coins.
"Huh?" Buggy wondered.
"This is the third guy who shows him two 100 berry coins." Zala remarked, while the pirate sans went to another room. "And each time, he direct them to another place! Which means ..."
"Underground games, especially for pirates," the duo announced, showing serious faces, showing that these kinds of games were not to be taken lightly.
"You seem to be familiar with it." Alvida remarked.
"That jerk Jango loved spending his money on these kinds of underground games," Kuro growled. "Every time it pissed me off."
"As for me, I organized these kinds of games in my bar, in order to strip all the pirates dumb enough to want to play them."
Smiling upon hearing this, Buggy left his seat, before heading to the bar.
"Perfect! In that case, I'll ask the bartender to take us to his playroom."
"Do you want to participate?" Morgan wondered. "And what do we do if we lose the little money we have?"
"No worries." The clown assured. "With my legendary luck, there's no way we can lose."
Seeing him leave, the rest of his group blinked several times, before wondering.
" Since when this idiot is lucky? "
Arriving at the bar, Buggy took a seat on a stool before ordering.
"Bartender! A rum!"
Barely giving him a look, the man ends up filling a glass, before putting it down in front of Buggy. Starting to smile at him, the clown declared.
"My pals and I are gambling lovers and we want to bet on the fabulous treasures we just got! Hey, bartender, you wouldn't have any idea where I could bet my money?"
Looking at him, the bartender was silent. Then, finally, he declared.
"Yes, I know that ! However, this is certainly not a place for an amateur pirate like you! Who are you ?"
Feeling a vein of anger appear in his forehead, Buggy rummaged under his clothes and pulled out his wanted poster.
"I am Buggy, the clown! The terrible pirate who is worth 15 million berrys! And I refuse to be called amateurs."
Just shrugging, the bartender asserted.
"For gambling, we only tolerate pirates with a minimum bounty of 20 million berries! Children like you have no place here."
"WHAT?"
"20 million? That's perfect."
Turning around, Buggy was surprised to see Zala and Kuro behind him.
"Kuro, 37 million Berrys." Announced the former pirate captain, while pushing up his glasses with the palm of his hand.
"Zala, 35 million berrys." The former mercenary said, making an exaggerated movement of the hip.
Staring at the two people who pushed Buggy aside, the bartender looked intently at their faces, before asking them.
"Who tells me you're as tough as you say you are?"
In response, Kuro leaned an elbow on the bar, before displaying a cruel smile.
"Do you want to see what I'm capable of? It will only take two seconds to kill you ! Do you want to bet money on this?"
Fixing his gaze, the bartender showed he wasn't intimidated. However, eventually heaving a sigh, he ended up pointing to a door.
"What you are looking for is behind this door."
"Perfect!" Zala assured, starting to walk towards the door.
Next, the rest of the group stopped, when the bartender asserted.
"Nevertheless, I prefer to warn you: today, the game in which you are going to participate causes the disappearance of a lot of pirate crews."
"Disappear?" Morgan repeated. "Do you mean they were slaughtered?"
"We can sum it up this way," the bartender agreed. "Either way, you are old enough to decide whether you want to put your life on the line or not."
Looking at each other, the pirates finally shrug their shoulders, before heading for the door. Seeing them do this, the bartender noticed that Buggy had remained still, not knowing whether to howl in rage at being ignored, or just lament that his head was worth less than those of his comrades.
"Hey!" The bartender called out. "Aren't you joining your captain?"
"I'm the captain." Buggy roared, before joining the others.
Passing the door, he soon noticed that he found himself at the entrance of a dark tunnel.
"What is that ? "
Shining the tip of his staff with a scarlet color, Megumin allowed the others to see around them.
"I don't know why, but it doesn't sound like a playroom."
"I'm sure that stupid bartender is lying to us," Drophy roared. "That idiot, if he ever lied to me, I'll blow his face off him."
Lighting a cigarette, Magi retorted.
"It's normal that the path to the underground games looks like this ! If ever Navy soldiers come to search this bar for illegal activities, I doubt they will decide to use this sinister passage. "
"Anyway, if any guys are waiting in this tunnel to kill us, we can easily slaughter them," Morgan stated.
As a result, not really afraid of the darkness of the tunnel, the group of pirates again left Buggy behind, who ended up running to catch up with them.
"Hey! Wait for me."
Walking for a few minutes, the pirates saw only darkness around them. Nonetheless, Megumin's light ended up illuminating what looked like a door at the end of the tunnel.
"Huh? I think we've arrived."
Hearing this, Buggy immediately parted his upper body at the level of his pelvis, before flying towards the door.
"Great! Let's see what the casino on this island looks like."
"Buggy, wait." Alvida wanted to stop him.
Too late. As he was about to grab the doorknob, Buggy couldn't react in time as a man fell from the ceiling and attempted to kill him with a saber. Decapitating the head of the clown, the man was surprised to see it floating in the air as Buggy screamed in fear.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I thought I was going to die! What is that moron psychopath."
Seeing the stranger point his saber at them, Morgan took a step forward, still groaning.
"What? Do you want to fight?"
"Hold on! " Zala stopped him, placing her arm in front of him to stop him.
"Huh ? Leave that guy to me ! I'll disembowel him in two seconds."
Ignorant Zala approached the man and proceeded to show him two 100 berry coins.
"Can we pass ? "
Just looking at the coins, the man was silent. However, he eventually put his sword away and stood to the side to allow the pirates to enter the door.
"Violence is not always the solution to all problems." Zala assured, towards Morgan.
Simply growling, the man walked towards the door, imitated by the others. Following them, while hiding behind Magi, Buggy stared at the man in concern. Of course, he wanted to yell at the man, but he was too afraid of the repercussions. So he preferred to shut up and make sure to close the door behind him.
Then heaving a sigh of relief, he was finally dazzled by an intense light. Immediately he saw a huge room in front of him where hundreds of pirates were gathered, feasting or having fun. The place seemed to be a pirate's paradise.
"Is this the casino?" Alvida wanted to know. "I feel like I'm at another hostel."
Trying to figure out where the underground games were, Kuro saw pirates standing near them staring at them before speaking in low voices.
"What do they want from us ? " The former pirate captain wondered.
Suddenly, other pirates, who were eating at a table, started screaming.
"Hey! Look who just arrived."
"That crew! I admit it! It's the one that brought together several East Blue captains."
"I heard about it ! This crew is getting more and more famous! It seems that the total bounty of this crew exceeds 200 million."
Hearing this, Buggy smirked conceitedly, repeatedly repeating that he was the one who was at the origin of this alliance.
"By the way, who's the captain of this crew ?" A pirate wanted to know.
"Nobody really knows ! But I believe it's Kuro."
"Fool! Obviously it's Megumin, their captain."
"I heard it was a clown ! A certain Buggy ! Or Barry !"
"Buggy ? I've never heard of him ! You must be wrong."
Hearing this, several Buggy pirates found it hard not to laugh, while Magi was restraining his captain, who wanted to hit the pirates who spoke to him.
Ignoring him, Alvida walked over to the pirates' heads and asked.
"Any question? Is there a place where we could bet money?"
"Huh? Of course! It's the only point of being here! If you want to see the bookie, he's upstairs."
"Finally, we are in the right place." Kuro assured.
"In that case, let's hurry!" Drophy stated, already starting to make his way up to the floors leading up to the upper floor. "Come on, Mr 4! Faster! Faster!"
"I GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The man said slowly, trying to follow her.
For his part, watching the pirates partying around him, Morgan couldn't help but rub his ax with his hand.
"Even though I have become a pirate, it still disgusts me to see so many pirates! I want to gut them."
"Don't attract boredom, moron ! " Kuro ordered him. "Otherwise, I would have to kill you."
"What did you say, asshole?"
"What ? " Kuro questioned, wearing an arrogant smile. "Seriously, if we fight, do you really think you can kill me ? "
"Don't piss me off ! You'll regret it."
"Why are you fighting over who's stronger ? " Megumin asked them. "In the crew, I am the most powerful."
"She's not wrong." Alvida asserted.
"In your dreams ! " Roared the two men.
Looking at the pirates around her, Zala finally declares.
"I've heard of this island."
"Hmm ? " Magi wondered. " What do you mean ? "
"Hannabal ... this is the island where an underground race begins."
"An underground race ? " Buggy wondered. "What is it ? A horse race ?"
"Not at all ! " Dead End "is a ruthless race, which takes place once a year! The participants are crews of pirates who have to race their boats! The goal is to get out of here and to arrive at an island which represents the finish of the race! The first boat to finish the race is declared the winner and pockets the prize. "
Understanding the rules, Kuro said.
"And since the participants are pirates, I'm guessing that getting rid of your opponents is not prohibited by the rules."
"You understood everything! One rule sums up this race: only the strongest will be able to triumph! In fact, from what I have heard, on average, more than half of the crews, who participate in this race, perish. . "
"Now I understand the bartender's words," Morgan stated.
"So what?" Drophy asked. "All we have to do is win this race and slaughter anyone who tries to overtake us."
For his part, much less confident, Buggy felt snot trickling from his nose as he began to swallow his saliva.
"Huh… is it really a good idea to participate in such a dangerous race? Maybe we can find another way to make some money."
"Tsss! And you say you're a captain?" Morgan asked him. "Sometimes, to make money, you have to know how to put your life in danger."
"Maybe, but are we powerful enough to participate in this race?"
Lifting Megumin up by grabbing him by the back of his collar, Alvida declared.
"To win, it's simple! As soon as a lot of boats are gathered in one place, the kid will just have to pulverize them in one fell swoop."
"Don't think winning will be that easy," Zala retorted, looking at the pirates in the room. "A lot of those guys have high bounties."
Nodding in the direction of two giants, she asserted.
"The two giants over there are Bobby and Pogo, the shipwreckers! Anyone who has the bad idea of getting in their way gets ruthlessly crushed."
Immediately, Megumin's eyes sparkled, when she caught sight of the giants.
"They are huge ! I have never seen people no taller than them."
"It's true that being in front of giants is enough to remove all traces of motivation." Morgan admitted. "And besides them, who else is hoping to win this race?"
"Him!" Zala asserted, looking at an obese fishman. "Willy, a former rival of Arlong."
"Arlong ? The terror of East Blue ? " Buggy panicked, " Do you want us to face that kind of guy ?"
"Giants and Fishmen!" Kuro repeated. "Personally, facing them here does not scare me! Nevertheless, I must admit that at sea, it will be something else! I really hope that the reward of this race is worth it."
To answer her question, Morgan suddenly grabbed a pirate's head and lifted him above.
"AHHHHHHH ? What do you want from me ? I have nothing !"
"Do I have a question for you? If we win the race, what will our reward be?"
"The Dead End ? The winner's reward is 300 milliosn berrys ! Please don't kill me."
At that moment, Morgan let go, before turning back to Zala.
"Violence can be as effective as politeness."
"Yes! Especially for morons!"
"300 million ? " Buggy wondered.
"You have to win this race." Drophy asserted. "With this money, I could finally have professional masseurs who can give better massages than that stupid Mr. 4! Every time, he crushes my vertebrae."
"SOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
"With 300 million, we can almost afford a real battleship, with hundreds of cannons."
"Yeah!" Buggy asserted, already imagining himself captain of such a powerful boat. "With this, nothing will be easier than to rule Grad Line."
"So, is it decided ? " Magi wanted to know, noticed that they had arrived at the registration desk. " We sign up ? "
"Yosh!" Megumin and Buggy asserted, before running to register.
"Hey, is the captain back to being a man?" Morgan wondered.
"I think money makes him even dumber," Zala asserted.
Also advancing towards the registration desk, Alvida pushed the duo aside and preferred to take care of signing the papers. In front of her, smiling greedily, the bookmaker declared.
"Hey, doll! If you want, I could pay you to become mine."
"And I could use my club to blow your mouth right away! I'm not interested."
Laughing, the bookmaker ends up throwing him an Eternal Pose. Managing to catch it, Buggy began to inspect it.
"Partia ? Wait ! Is the finish over there ? "
"Do you know this island ? "
"Yes ! It is an island which is surrounded by cyclones ! To go there is death."
"That's the goal of this race." Assured the bookmaker. "Only the strongest will have a chance to win. Besides, if you are interested, you can also bet on the winner of the race! That way, even if you fail to finish the race, you will have a chance. to win by betting on the favorite. "
"The favorite? What's his name?"
"It's Gasparde! Gasparde," the general "!"
"Gasparde?" The former members of Baroque Works wondered. "The former Navy member?"
"I can not stand it anymore. "
"It's too hot in this room."
Holding shovels in their hands, Jessie and James finally stopped. Wearing chains on their hands and feet, they were now Gasparde's prisoners and were responsible for supplying the boiler of his boat with coal.
"How did we lose to this man?" Jessie wanted to know.
"What can we do about it?" James asked him. "All of Mareanie and Mimikyu's attacks went through him, without doing him any damage."
"And against Wobbeffut, he covered him with this strange green material that makes up his body, to prevent him from interfering in the fight!" Meowth remarked, who was also a prisoner.
Sighing, Team Rocket summed up the miserable situation they found themselves in. Their fight against Gasparde ended in defeat and the pirate used his powers to capture their pokemons, which were now nowhere to be found.
"Without Mimikyu and the others impossible to escape from here." Jessie grumbled.
"My poor Mareanie." James cried. "If they ever mistreated her, I would never forgive them."
"Instead of complaining, let's just keep playing slaves." Meowth advised. "This bad situation will not last! And you will see that, in a few days, Gasparde will regret having treated us as a slave."
"Grandpa! Grandpa!" A sudden voice shouted.
Turning around, the trio saw a little boy kneeling beside an old man, who seemed to be in pain.
"I beg you, Grandpa! Hold on! Why doesn't your fever go away?"
"Idiot! Don't worry about me! A little cold won't kill me!"
Then, getting to his feet, he walked over to the boiler, asserting himself.
"I have to inspect the boiler."
"Grandfather."
Who will join Luffy's crew?
Before Shells Town: Raynare - 38 million - (Highschool DxD) / Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail)
Arc Shells Town: Roronoa Zoro - 60 million -
Kuro Arc: Usopp
Arc Baratie: Sanji / Gin - 32 million -
Arlong Arc: Nami / Johnny / Yosaku
Bow Drum: Chopper
Alabasta Arc: Nico Robin / Eevee (Pokemon) / Bruno - 52 million - (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) / Nefertari Vivi - 25 million - / Menma (Anohana)
Skypiea Arc :?
Arc Enies Lobby: Franky
Arc Post Enies-Lobby:?
Thriller Bark Arc: Brook
Punk Hazard Arc :?
Tesoro Arc :?
Dressrosa Arc:? /?
Wano Kuni Arc: Jinbei /?
Post Wano Kuni Arc :? /?
Arc Battle Teach:?
With other characters:
Buggy: Alvida - 21 million-, Magi - 29 million (OC), Bull (OC), Kuro - 37 million -, Morgan - 17 million -, Megumim - 39 million- (Konosuba), Zala ( Miss Doublefinger ) -35 million , Babe ( Mr 4 ) - 3,2 million, Drophy ( Miss Merry Christmas ) - 14 million
Arlong: Syra (OC)
Milhawk: Alice (OC)
Wapol: Musshuru
Crocodile: Noscula (OC), Mr 6 (OC), Miss Halloween (OC)
Garp: Sakura (Zombieland Saga); Jin (My hero academia); Emma (The promised neverland)
Im: Light Yagami (Death Note)
Cobra: Neni (Mr 9)
Sengoku: Shinichi Kudo (Detective Conan)
Shanks: Nana Shimura - 840 million - (My hero academia), Utsuro - 970 million - (Gintama)
Individual: Reiner ( Shingeki no kyojin ), Garou (One Punch Man), Pit (Kid Icarus), Babidi (DBZ), Orochimaru (Naruto); Mirko (My hero Academia), Samus (metroid), Team Rocket (Pokemon)
Gold D. Roger (formerly): Igneel - 1.380 billion - (Fairy Tail), Acacia (Toriko), Bardock (Dragon ball Z), Hiruzen Sarutobi (Naruto), Utsuro - 970 million (Gintama), Nana Shimura - 840 million ( My hero Academia)
Xerec (formerly): Aizen (Bleach)