Garp of course sensed the malicious intent coming from all directions. He immediately furrowed his brow and snapped: "I want to see who dares touch my student!"
The strong pressure from the Marine Hero instantly exploded; terrifying air waves swept in all directions. The ground beneath his feet cracked into pieces; large cracks spread rapidly, making surrounding people hurry to move away.
Most people unconsciously turned their faces away, not daring to directly stare at this great figure whose name shook the world. Not daring to provoke trouble, truly not daring.
This man was the one who once chased the Pirate King. If they wanted to touch his student, they had to ask themselves whether their heads were hard enough to withstand his Iron Fist or not.
As if sensing the situation below, the Gold List in the sky again emitted golden light and announced new rules.
[Those who enter the Hidden Expert List receive a Protection Period for one month. During this period, they cannot be killed, and Gold List rewards obtained cannot be plundered.]
Everyone became noisy instantly.
Shanks held his sword handle while thinking: "This is protection for newcomers on the list. Kaido, your desire seems to have to be dashed!"
Kaido snorted angrily, feeling very displeased.
Items he had already targeted turned out couldn't be obtained; if later Koby fled, where should he look for him?
Koby himself sighed in relief; honestly earlier he was very frightened. If not for Garp's protection at his side, someone might have been unable to resist attacking him earlier.
He also realized that after that rule was announced, his skin surface seemed coated with gold dust emitting dim light, indicating he was currently in "invincible" status.
"Truly magical Gold List!" everyone muttered in their hearts.
The Gold List also continued announcing the next ranking.
[Rank 99: Buggy the Clown]
[World of Origin: One Piece World]
[Description: Once was crew of Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Became unable to swim because he accidentally ate a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, the Chop-Chop Fruit due to Shanks's actions. Returned to East Blue after Pirate King Roger's death and founded the Buggy Pirates as captain. Currently being held hostage by Gold List's Third Rank and involved in the chaos incident at Holy Land Mary Geoise.]
[Abilities: Chop-Chop Fruit ability, Busoshoku Haki (Basic Level)]
[Potential Value: 18,793]
[List Reward: Super Cell Regeneration (Your cell activity is very amazing, very compatible with Chop-Chop Fruit ability. Even if chopped into thousands of pieces you won't die. Each cell will become a foothold to rise again. Additionally, each time cells divide, cell activity will increase and your strength will grow. The more and finer the divisions, the faster strength grows. Weakness: cell aging cannot be stopped.)]
Beside the Gold List appeared an image of a ridiculous man wearing excessively flashy captain clothes, dressed like a clown with a distinctive red nose.
Golden light from the sky fell toward a small island not far from the battlefield.
Buggy who had been crouching dejectedly drawing circles in the sand immediately jumped excitedly. He grabbed that golden light and stood with arms akimbo while laughing loudly: "Gyahahahaha! Unexpectedly this Buggy the Clown can finally rise! Now let's see how you can torture me again!"
While saying so, he squeezed that golden light, and invisible power directly seeped into his body.
Feeling the extraordinary vitality in his body, as if he could never be killed, Buggy's face brightened. He finally dared show his fangs to Saitama and the others.
"You bastards, daring to hold me hostage for so long! Finally the time has come for me to rise. Hit me! Come hit me if you dare!"
His expression was very arrogant. He now had an unkillable body, and the more often "killed" he'd actually become stronger. Where else could one find such logic? Most importantly, an ability like this seemingly couldn't be plundered.
However the next second, his entire body was directly slammed to the ground by a fist, sticking straight up like an onion in a sand hole.
"Red nose, you're starting to get cocky," Saitama said while swinging his fist. He grabbed Buggy's ankle and pulled him out, then crouched and asked: "A request like this is the first I've encountered. Not bad, your body is just right to be my training punching bag."
Buggy's face instantly turned blue. He screamed miserably and immediately knelt begging for mercy: "Master Saitama, I was wrong! Please don't hit me anymore!"
He just realized that although the Gold List reward said he was hard to kill and had one month of protection, that didn't mean he couldn't die. Most importantly, the pain was real!
Increased cell activity actually made his nerve sensitivity increase many times over. Being hit or "killed" would actually feel far more painful, even worse than the effect of Teach's Dark-Dark Fruit. The higher his strength, the more painful it would feel. That was this reward's side effect.
"Already know you're wrong?" Saitama asked while smiling kindly.
"Wrong, I'm totally wrong! I won't dare again!" Buggy nodded like a chicken pecking rice.
He felt like slapping his own mouth.
Who was this person before him?
This was Third Rank on the Strongest List!
Why did he have to seek death by showing off before this person?
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
"Buggy the Clown?" Shanks was stunned. He immediately turned toward where the golden light fell and laughed: "So he's also here, even entered the Hidden Expert List. Truly unexpected!"
Roger asked curiously: "That red nose who was always with you?"
Shanks nodded while smiling, his eyes radiating longing: "Correct, him! I heard he went to East Blue and for years there's been no news. Truly beautiful memories—"
Whitebeard was also slightly surprised: "The Gold List mentioned he's being held hostage by Third Rank, that man named Saitama, to mess up Mary Geoise?"
They looked at each other and realized something.
No wonder the Gorosei hadn't appeared; it turned out Third Rank had already come here before.
They somewhat knew about this bald Third Rank; he was a battle maniac who had even sought First Rank's traces to challenge him to fight.
"I wonder if Imu ever fought with him," Whitebeard guessed.
Shanks shook his head: "Seems not. If the two of them fought, this island might have already vanished by now. The Gorosei might also not be dead yet; otherwise the Gold List would surely have announced it, because if five positions became vacant simultaneously, there would surely be new people entering the list."
The fact that these two people who entered the list weren't originally strong gave hope to many people in the three realms. Turns out you didn't have to be strong to enter the list? Meaning they also had a chance!
Along with the list's announcement, unfamiliar newcomer faces began appearing one by one before everyone, showing their great potential in the Gold List's eyes. Quickly, the list had already reached the top 50 potential newcomers.