Chapter 97: Jaya Island – Takumi’s Only Option

Takumi was now certain—the phenomenon the drunk described earlier in the day was exactly what he had been waiting for: Emperor Clouds.

In his memory, the Upstream Current usually appeared the day after Emperor Clouds. Now all he had to do was prepare a boat, and then have Cricket calculate the time and location of tomorrow's current based on the appearance of the clouds.

But first, he needed a boat.

As Takumi was deep in thought, a loud explosion echoed from nearby, shattering a row of houses. It didn't take long for him to figure out what had happened—Mohji, one of Buggy's lackeys, had fired Buggy's special cannon at the town.

Even though Buggy had once been an apprentice alongside Shanks on the Pirate King's ship, their paths had diverged in more ways than one. While Shanks had vision and strength, Buggy's ambitions were petty, and his crew, well... let's just say they left much to be desired.

If Buggy really stirred up the entire pirate population of Mock Town, he'd be in big trouble. His luck would be the only thing to save him—unless, of course, the pirates in town were even more incompetent than his crew.

The sounds of battle quickly spread from the docks. It seemed Buggy's men had indeed engaged in a full-on fight with the town's pirates.

Takumi calmly headed for the docks. He didn't care how chaotic things became, as long as they didn't interfere with his plans to secure a ship.

When he reached the large wooden planks that stretched across the dock, he saw Mohji directing Buggy's crew to fire another cannonball toward the town. Before they could light the fuse, a local pirate stormed forward and, using brute strength, redirected the cannon's barrel.

With a loud "boom," the cannonball fired into a row of docked pirate ships, blowing holes through both the local and pirate vessels.

Now, aside from Buggy's large ship and a few tiny rowboats, every ship at the docks had been destroyed.

"Eh?" The onlookers, including the pirates, stared in disbelief.

Mohji, however, burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Serves you right! Let's see how you're all going to leave without your precious ships! Hahaha…"

The pirates who had just lost their vessels quickly recovered from their shock, anger burning on their faces.

Another riotous battle broke out between Buggy's crew and the furious pirates of the town.

Takumi surveyed the area with mild frustration. The only usable large ship remaining was Buggy's. Was fate pushing him in that direction?

Shaking his head in exasperation, Takumi couldn't help but wonder why everyone had chosen to line their ships up in one row. Did they have some kind of obsession with neatness?

Now it seemed like he had no choice but to take Buggy's ship.

Just then, a shout came from one of the pirates onshore: "Let's destroy Buggy's ship too! If we can't leave, neither can they!"

The remaining pirates rallied together, redirecting their assault toward Buggy's vessel. Mohji, sensing danger, ordered his crew to defend the ship.

One pirate armed with a rocket launcher fired several rounds toward Buggy's ship.

Takumi moved in a blur, flash-stepping with his Soru technique. In a single motion, he drew his sword, the Sandai Kitetsu, and slashed through the incoming rockets, cutting them into pieces before they could hit their target. The fragments fell harmlessly to the ground.

Silence fell over the docks as everyone stared at Takumi, eyes wide in shock.

Without a word, Takumi sheathed his sword.

"No way… That's impossible!" The pirate with the rocket launcher refused to believe what had just happened. He aimed the weapon directly at Takumi's head and fired.

Takumi sighed, watching the rocket approach. As it neared, he lifted his leg and kicked it right back toward the attacker.

The gathered pirates scrambled in panic, diving out of the way.

The man who had fired the rocket stood frozen, unable to react in time. The rocket struck the wooden dock at his feet, creating a small explosion that sent him flying into the air.

Takumi leapt onto Buggy's ship with ease.

Mohji stood there, jaw dropped in terror. Even Richie, his lion, cowered behind him.

Most of Buggy's crew, who hadn't witnessed Takumi's earlier actions, seemed impressed.

"Who is this kid? He's incredible! Did you see how he sliced those rockets like they were nothing?"

"He's probably a friend of Captain Buggy! Why else would he help us?"

"Mohji, what's wrong? You look pale…"

Mohji stammered, stepping back in fear. "That… that's because it's him! The bounty poster was real! Who are you, and what do you want with our ship?"

"Bounty poster? What bounty poster? Is he a pirate too?"

"Wait, now that you mention it… Didn't we just get some new bounties yesterday? One of them was for a kid with a bounty of one hundred million Berries. Captain Buggy thought it was a mistake…"

"A hundred-million-Berry bounty for a kid? Now that you say it, this kid does look familiar…"

The crew quickly pulled out the bounty poster and compared it to Takumi. Sure enough, it was a match.

The entire crew went silent, just like Richie the lion, and hid behind Mohji in fear.

Takumi, unfazed, walked toward them.

Mohji and the others backed away, trembling.

"W-what are you going to do? I'm warning you, Captain Buggy will be back soon! If you hurt us, he won't let you off!" Mohji pleaded.

Takumi ignored him, stopping in front of the pirate holding the bounty poster and extending his hand.

The pirate, trembling, quickly handed it over.

Takumi glanced at it. The poster featured a photo taken of him back in Alabasta, during Akainu's ambush as he left Yuba…

At that moment, Buggy and Cabaji returned.

Seeing that his ship was the only one left intact and that the other pirates seemed to avoid attacking him, Buggy's mood brightened.

"Ahahaha! Well done, Mohji!" Buggy laughed, stepping onto the deck.

But when he saw Takumi standing on his ship and his crew cowering, his anger flared once more. "You little brat! What did you do to my men?!"

Without waiting for a reply, Buggy launched his attack. A blade extended from the tip of his boot, and his lower half spun wildly like a saw blade, hurtling toward Takumi at high speed.