A Father Worth 4.5 Billion Beli!

"F-f-f-f-four and a half billion!?" Buggy’s tongue tied itself into frantic knots, his red round nose twitching with every sharp breath.

He suddenly turned and seized Mochi by the collar, shaking him wildly. "Tell me this is a printing error! Say the World Government’s hand slipped and they added three extra zeroes!"

Mochi was shaken so hard that stars swam before his eyes. He had not even noticed the Wanted Poster on the ground or why his Joker Captain had suddenly gone insane. Spotting Carrot munching on a radish near the edge of the deck, he reflexively pulled out a Ring of Fire. "Richie! Perform a fire-hoop jump to cheer up the Captain!"

The named lion had just lifted a hind leg to lick its fur when it jolted in fright and knocked over the rack of drying fish.

"Clatter—"

The crash of the metal rack hitting the deck made Buggy leap onto the gun platform with a howl. His legs clamped around the cannon barrel as he trembled, wildly waving his daggers. "Don’t! Don’t come any closer!"

Vivi had been bending down to pick up the fish rack, but instinctively straightened at the sound.

That movement made Buggy instantly clutch his head and curl into a ball. "Don’t hit my face! This lord’s treasure is all hidden in—" He suddenly froze when he realized she was merely picking up a salted fish.

"Hehe." Perona floated into the air beneath her parasol, deliberately letting a Negative Hollow drift past Buggy’s ear. "A useless loser like you, whose legs go weak at the sight of pirates, should donate that red nose to a circus as a lightbulb."

"You’re right!" Buggy dropped to his knees with a thud, weeping bitterly. "Trash like me should be picking seashells in the East Blue—wait!"

He abruptly jumped to his feet and pointed at Perona. "Y-you-you! What did you do to me!?"

"Let me introduce myself. Former Shichibukai’s assistant, Hollow-Hollow Fruit User, bounty: thirty-eight million Beli."

The entire sea fell into an eerie silence.

Fang Yu slowly propped himself up from his lounge chair, still with the "I’m an idiot" sticker Perona had secretly stuck on his head. Scratching the sun-reddened marks on his stomach, he said, "Ah, right, right. She used to work for Gecko Moria. After I defeated Moria, she became my personal servant."

"A thirty-eight-million-Beli bounty is just… just a servant?" Buggy repeated mechanically, then suddenly spun around and ran for the rail. "Mochi! Turn the helm! Turn the helm! This lord just remembered there’s Red Bean Soup simmering on the stove."

Buggy turned to flee, only to slam right into the grill!

"Hot, hot, hot!" Buggy hopped in place, flinging his hands about. The burning Wanted Poster drifted in the wind toward the Ammunition Depot of Buggy’s pirate ship. His face turned deathly pale as he lunged over to beat out the sparks with his cape, only to step on a banana peel he had carelessly tossed aside that morning.

"Thud!"

As the back of the head struck a wooden barrel with a tremendous bang, Buggy let out a rooster-like shriek, his pupils shaking. "Split! Hurry and let me split up and escape!"

Yet his body was wedged in the crack between the barrels, and only his head and limbs popped off with little puffs, rolling across the deck and leaving five charred trails.

"That guy’s body is talking!" Carrot cried, hugging her radish!

"Ahhh!" Buggy’s head screamed from atop the mast, while the remaining pieces of his body scattered in every direction. Without his head, they plunged straight into the sea!

"Splash!"

Buggy fell into the water, and everyone on both ships wore the expression of people who had just watched a clown show.

"Th-that red nose is a lunatic, isn’t he?" Perona could not help commenting. Nami laughed twice, then turned away, clenching her fists as she cursed Buggy.

"What a useless fool!"

Mochi, who had boarded with Buggy, thought Buggy had accidentally fallen overboard and hurried to save him. Seeing this, Brook gently pushed the wooden board Mochi had climbed onto back into the sea, then gave Vivi a look. Vivi nodded and immediately cranked the helm hard!

In the sea, Mochi desperately flailed through the water. He finally grabbed one of Buggy’s arms, only to see the fat sheep in his grasp—Fang Yu’s ship—about to sail away. Panicking, he hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs, "Don’t run! Once our captain gets aboard, we’ll shark all of you! Don’t run, stop—"

Before he could finish shouting, Buggy, lying on the wooden board, somehow found the strength to roll over and clamp a hand tightly over Mochi’s mouth. His face was filled with terror, his eyes brimming with despair.

Mochi struggled fiercely, making muffled "mmph, mmph" sounds as he said indistinctly, "Captain, why are you covering my mouth?!"

Buggy looked half-dead as he shot Mochi a vicious glare and cursed in a low voice, "Do you have a death wish?!" He looked around, and only after confirming there was no danger nearby did he cautiously remove his hand. Then he leaned close to Mochi’s ear and told him about Fang Yu’s bounty of four and a half billion Beli.

Upon hearing it, Mochi’s eyes went round, and his mouth fell so wide open that it could have fit a basketball. The expression on his face instantly froze!

The next second, as if he had been electrocuted, he jumped straight out of the sea surface in terror. His whole body traced an arc through the air before crashing heavily back into the water, sending up a huge spray.

He stared at Buggy in horror, his voice trembling. "C-Captain, th-that’s four and a half billion! H-how could we possibly be his match…"

Buggy pulled a miserable face and nodded helplessly. "So don’t provoke them again. Just pretend we didn’t see anything today and get back to our territory. Don’t go looking for trouble."

Still shaken, Mochi glanced at Fang Yu’s ship as it gradually sailed away. He swallowed and silently nodded, then swam back toward their own ship with Buggy in utter disgrace.

At that moment, Richie, the lion being watched by everyone aboard the Ghost Radish, let out a heart-wrenching cry. "Awoo! Awoo! Awooooo!"

At sea, aside from sleeping, eating, and using the toilet, there was only staring blankly into space while waiting for the next meal.

Going to sea was nowhere near as easy and pleasant as people imagined.

Most of the time, everyone was seasick, and one careless moment could leave them vomiting all over the deck.

There were few forms of entertainment aboard ship. Other than the traditional pirate pastimes of murder, plunder, and women, all that remained were cards and chatting.

Under the guise of chatting, Nami spent three days getting a fairly thorough grasp of everything happening aboard the ship.

In the end, Nami came to a conclusion.

This is bad! I can’t stay on this ship! I have to run!

Defeating two Shichibukai and facing an Admiral Candidate sounded like minor matters.

Fighting the Marine Hero, Fleet Admiral, Marine Admiral, Marine Strategist, Admiral Candidate, and an entire fleet alone—that was the truly fucking terrifying part!

If Brook had been the one saying it, Nami might have been able to endure it.

But it had come from Carrot, that honest little rabbit who had no guard whatsoever!

That left only two possibilities!

Either Carrot was deeply scheming and had been pretending to be an idiot since the first day.

Or—

Nami did not dare think any further.

Under the cover of night, Nami packed a bundle and came to the bow, preparing to lower a lifeboat and flee.

Just then, a sinister voice muttered behind Nami, "You think you can come whenever you want and leave whenever you want? Didn’t you see that lion still mopping the deck with his body?"