【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"No problem, Captain!" Zoro sheathed his sword and then stood behind Luffy, waiting for his captain's orders.

"You said you were pirates?" Buggy asked.

"That's right, hand over the chart of the Grand Line now." Luffy replied.

“So this is your purpose. What would a nobody like you do in the Grand Line? Are you going there for sightseeing?” Buggy laughed.

"I want to be the Pirate King!" Luffy said calmly, as if it was a matter of course.

“Huh?” Buggy tilted his head comically, then shouted angrily, “This is so funny! You can be the Pirate King?! Then I’d be a god! The one who’s going to be the Pirate King and get all the treasures in the world is me! Stop dreaming!!”

"Stop talking nonsense and get on with it!" Luffy clenched his fists and took a fighting stance, smiling and saying, "You're so long-winded."

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t be so presumptuous, kid!” Buggy showed off the daggers in his hand and said gloomily, “Looking at your straw hat reminds me of an extremely annoying guy, a red-haired boy who is so arrogant that it makes people angry…”

"Red Hair!?" Luffy asked in confusion, then put his hand down and asked anxiously, "Do you know Shanks!?"

"Hmm?" Buggy looked at Luffy's anxious expression. This kid seemed to want to know. He said casually, "I know. What's the matter?"

"Where is he?" Luffy asked. This was the first person he met who knew Shanks since Shanks left. He had gone out to sea and he could see Shanks. He wanted to know news about Shanks.

“Where is it? Well, if I say I know, I know, and if I say I don’t know, I don’t know either.” Bucky said, touching his chin.

"What are you talking about! Are you an idiot?" Luffy complained.

"Who's an idiot, you little brat!" Bucky shouted angrily, "Who would be so kind as to tell the enemy the information they want to know?"

"Then I will use violence to pry your mouth open!" Luffy grinned and assumed a fighting stance.

"Before that, I will kill you first. Rubber can't stop a sharp blade." Bucky kicked his toes to show the sharp knife on his toes.

"Well, that's not possible." Luffy responded without hesitation.

Zoro was leaning against the wall watching their fight, and upon hearing Luffy's response he couldn't help but yell "Don't tell him that, idiot!"

"Torn into pieces..." Buggy jumped up, separated his lower body in the air, and spun towards Luffy with "Flying Blade!".

As Buggy's legs approached Luffy, he jumped over them.

"You can't move in the air!" Buggy separated his hands and stabbed Luffy in the air.

"Of course!" Luffy grinned, stretched out his right hand to grab the pillar next to him and avoided Buggy's attack unharmed.

“There’s also this trick, interesting.” Bucky praised.

"Same to you." Luffy said with a smile, then stretched his right hand back and attacked Buggy's face, but he dodged it.

"What an interesting ability." Buggy smiled evilly as he looked at his hand that continued to stretch out as he passed by, "But it's full of flaws." He then raised his knife and slashed at Luffy's outstretched arm, "I'm going to cut off your hand!"

Luffy attacked his head with his other hand before he could cut him. Buggy saw Luffy's other hand flying towards him, and he quickly separated his body to avoid Luffy's attack, letting Luffy's body fly along his arm towards the ruins behind him.

Luffy pushed the rocks off his body and stood up, putting his hat back on his head with a thump. "Damn it, it's broken down everywhere."

"Shatter Cannon!" Buggy shouted, detaching his arm and shooting at Luffy with a sharp knife.

Luffy quickly grabbed the arm that was flying towards him, but the arm suddenly separated from the wrist and continued to shoot towards his face. The distance was too short for him to stop it from moving forward. He could only turn his head a little to avoid it, but Luffy's cheek was still cut by the dagger and flew out with his hat.

Luffy's cheek was bleeding, but he didn't care. He just looked down at the hat in his hand. A corner of his hat and the rope that Ace had tied to prevent it from falling off were cut.

"Asshole!" Luffy turned around and stared at Buggy angrily.

"What's wrong? Are you upset that I hurt your face?" Bucky scoffed.

"How dare you tear this hat!!" Luffy looked at the hat without a string and with a torn corner and shouted angrily, "This is my treasure! I will never forgive the person who tore it!"

"I thought he was a person who didn't care about anything, but I didn't expect him to be so angry." Nami hid in the corner and looked at Luffy's back. She couldn't help but think of what Luffy said to her when they first met. She knew how protective he was of this hat.

“…Is this hat so important?” Bucky said curiously. While distracting him, he controlled his other severed hand to attack at any time.

"That's right!" Luffy shouted angrily. Suddenly, a hand holding a sharp knife attacked him from behind, and Luffy quickly turned sideways to barely avoid it.

"If it's so important, then you must protect it well!" Buggy said proudly, and then controlled his other hand to quickly shoot towards the straw hat in Luffy's hand.

"W...what?" Luffy looked in horror as a hand holding a sharp knife was approaching the straw hat in his hand. When the straw hat was about to be pierced, a cigarette pipe suddenly appeared and knocked the sharp knife away.

"Hey, this is our captain's treasure, how can we let you destroy it?" The man looked at Buggy and walked slowly towards him, spinning the pipe in his hand. Although he said it with a smile, his eyes were cold. "Luffy will be sad."

"Odd!" Luffy shouted happily.

Zoro put down the sword he was about to draw and looked at the man who suddenly appeared. He seemed to be another crew member that Luffy had been mentioning, the vice captain? He looked very strong. He had black hair like Luffy, and a dark blue forehead band with a white sun pattern on his forehead. His brown-red eyes flashed with a sharp light. The man wore a black hoodie on his upper body and black trousers on his lower body, giving people the feeling of a ghost hidden in the dark.

"Who are you?" Buggy looked at the man slowly walking towards him and felt a little scared for no reason, but he calmed himself and acted confidently, "It's just a fight between me and the Straw Hat Boy. I advise you not to meddle in other people's business."

"That's right, Qi, this is my battle." Luffy called Qi, then put the hat on his head, grinned at Buggy angrily, "I will beat that bastard to death!"

Qi touched the straw hat that Luffy put on his head and smiled, his eyes softened again. "Okay, Luffy, beat that guy up."

"Of course!" Luffy looked at Buggy and said angrily, "You actually wanted to destroy the hat I made a vow to Shanks with!"

"What? So... this is Shanks' hat, no wonder it looks so familiar." Buggy said in surprise, then touched his chin and said with disdain, "I used to be on the same ship with that guy, which means that he and I were brothers when I was a trainee pirate."

"Shanks is a great man! You actually said you are his brother!" Luffy said angrily, and then he waved his fist and rushed towards Buggy, "You don't deserve it!"