Chapter 39 Crushing the Weaklings in the East China Sea"Kill!" The pirates, who had been itching to fight, brandished their weapons and roared as they charged at Luffy!
Seven or eight pirates surrounded him from different directions, their swords and blades flashing, sealing off all avenues for escape.
The civilians watching from a distance gasped in shock, some closing their eyes in despair.
In their eyes, this arrogant straw-hatted boy was about to be torn to pieces.
Luffy stood still, not even assuming a defensive stance.
His right leg, like a boneless whip, traced a bizarre arc upwards with a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye—Gum-Gum Whip!
Bang!
The kick landed with lightning speed!
It struck the pirate on his left with perfect precision in the face!
The pirate didn't even have time to scream before he was sent flying sideways like a rag doll struck by a giant hammer, knocking over his two companions behind him.
The three rolled in a heap, their facial bones shattered, blood gushing out.
Almost simultaneously, Luffy's body contorted at an incredible angle, dodging two spears thrusting from the front and an axe slashing from the right.
His left hand braced against the ground, his right leg springing out again, his toe striking the chest of a pirate wielding an axe.
Thud!
A soft thud.
The pirate's chest visibly caved in, his eyes bulging, blood and entrails gushing from his mouth, before he collapsed limply to the ground.
Luffy used the momentum to flip, his body spinning in the air, his legs like a rapidly spinning windmill—Gum-Gum Tomahawk!
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
A series of teeth-grinding cracking sounds and screams!
The remaining four pirates who had surrounded him were thrown in all directions like bowling pins, twisted and contorted in various ways.
Slamming against walls and the ground, bones broken and tendons snapped, instantly incapacitated.
From the moment the pirates pounced until they all collapsed, the entire process took less than three seconds.
A deathly silence fell over the scene, broken only by the faint groans of the wounded pirates and the suppressed gasps of the civilians in the distance.
Bugsy stood atop the cannon, his initial rage replaced by astonishment.
His men, while not top-tier, were seasoned veterans who had followed him in years of plunder and pillaging. Before this straw-hatted kid, they were like paper?
Luffy slowly straightened up, brushing non-existent dust off his trousers: "Now it's your turn, the future Pirate King?"
Bugsy felt a chill run down his spine from that gaze, but even more so by a furious rage at the humiliation.
He leaped from the cannon, glaring fiercely at Luffy:
"Kid! You've got some skills! But don't get cocky!
I'm a superhuman who ate a Devil Fruit! The Chop-Chop Fruit user! I'm immortal!"
With that, Buggy let out a scream, and his body suddenly split apart!
His torso and limbs separated instantly, hovering in the air!
Only his feet remained on the ground.
Buggy's head flew through the air, emitting a triumphant laugh:
"Hahaha! See that? This is my power!
No matter how you attack, I can split apart, you can't hit me at all! Scared yet?"
This bizarre scene caused some civilians watching from afar to gasp in fear. That was a Devil Fruit user!
Luffy watched the flying parts of Buggy, a look of disappointment on his face.
"The Chop-Chop Fruit? So you're just a toy that you take apart and play with?" Luffy tilted his head.
Buggy's laughter abruptly stopped, his face instantly turning crimson with rage: "You bastard! How dare you insult my ability! Die!"
Floating in mid-air, Buggy clenched his fists and swung them at Luffy from a distance!
"Chop-Chop Pancake!"
Buggy's two fists shot out like cannonballs, whistling through the air, aiming for Luffy's face!
At the same time, he slammed his feet into the ground, his remaining torso and head flying backward, seemingly trying to create distance.
Faced with this bizarre long-range punch, Luffy didn't even move his feet.
He simply raised his right hand, palm facing the two incoming fists, and gently clenched it.
Snap! Snap!
Two soft sounds.
Buggy's two powerful fists, capable of shattering stone slabs, were easily caught in Luffy's palms.
Like an adult catching a baby's toy hammer.
Buggy's fists struggled futilely in Luffy's hands, unable to break free even an inch; Luffy's fingers were like iron clamps.
"How is this possible?!" Buggy's head screamed in mid-air.
His fists were incredibly powerful, and because they were split bodies, their trajectories were unpredictable!
Luffy weighed the two fists in his hand, shaking his head: "Soft and limp, didn't you eat?"
With that, Luffy casually flicked his wrists.
Whoosh—! Bang!
The two fists were thrown back like trash, even faster than they came, slamming precisely into Buggy's backward-flying torso!
The immense force sent Buggy's body tumbling several times in the air, nearly hitting his own head.
"Ugh!" Buggy groaned. Although his split form wouldn't be injured, the impact still made him uncomfortable.
Luffy didn't give him another chance to perform.
He lowered his left hand, which had been in his pocket, and simultaneously stretched his arms into rubber, like two giant black pythons, shooting towards Buggy's head and torso in mid-air with astonishing speed!
Buggy was shocked and tried to control his split form to dodge, but Luffy's arms were too fast and their trajectory too tricky, completely predicting his evasive intentions!
*Snap! Snap!*
The rubber arms precisely grabbed Buggy's head and torso, then slammed them together!
"Wait! What are you doing?!" Buggy screamed in terror.
Luffy ignored him, retracting his arms and slamming Buggy's head and torso together violently!
*Thud! !!*
A dull, resounding crash, like two ripe watermelons colliding.
Buggy's head and torso collided so violently that he saw stars, was completely disoriented, and could barely maintain his split state.
Luffy pressed Buggy's head and torso against the ground, simultaneously raising his right foot, which was covered in a faint layer of Armament Haki.
Then, to Buggy's utter horror, Luffy grabbed his head and torso and slammed them down into the ground like nails!
At the same time, his Armament Haki-covered right foot landed on Buggy's chest.
BOOM—!!!
The ground trembled violently! Centered on Buggy, the hard stone street cracked in a spiderweb pattern, sending debris flying!
A shallow crater appeared beneath Luffy's feet.
Buggy's head and torso were forcibly pressed back into their connected state, his entire body embedded in the crater in a "T" shape.
His eyes rolled back, foam came out of his mouth, his red nose lolled comically to one side, and his body convulsed.
He had clearly suffered severe injuries and a violent shock; though not dead, he was temporarily unconscious and unable to move.
Buggy's feet, clad in clown shoes, were still twitching in the distance.
The entire area fell silent once more.
The remnants of the previously ferocious Buggy Pirates now sat like ducks with their necks choked, staring blankly as their supposedly immortal captain was trampled into the crater like a dead dog, offering no resistance.
Someone let out a terrified scream, dropped their weapon, and ran.
Like a chain reaction, the remaining pirates instantly collapsed, scrambling and fleeing in all directions, not daring to look at Luffy again, much less their unconscious captain and crew.
Luffy released his grip, withdrew his foot, and didn't even glance at the unconscious Buggy in the crater.
He walked to the side, picked up his two enormous meat buns again, and inspected them.
Luffy turned to leave, as if he had merely swatted away a few annoying flies and crushed a noisy cockroach.
"Wait! Hero!" The blood-covered shopkeeper struggled to his feet.
Ignoring his injuries, the shopkeeper staggered to Luffy, knelt down with a thud, and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Thank you! Thank you for saving me and my family! Thank you for driving away those villains! You are our great benefactor!"
The shopkeeper's wife, pulling her terrified child, also ran out and knelt beside her husband, tears streaming down her face, expressing her gratitude.
Some of the bolder civilians slowly gathered around, their eyes filled with awe as they looked at Luffy.
They whispered amongst themselves:
"My god, he defeated Buggy!"
"So strong! He must be a powerful fighter from the Grand Line!"
"That straw hat... I feel like I've heard of it somewhere before?"
Luffy stopped, looking down at the shopkeeper and his family kneeling and kowtowing before him, then at the complex and eager gazes around him.
He felt no emotion, only a slight annoyance.
Saving someone?
He hadn't intended to save anyone; that clown had just been an eyesore, so he'd dealt with him casually.
"Get out of my way." Luffy's voice was calm, yet it made the kowtowing shopkeeper stiffen.
After speaking, Luffy ignored the stunned crowd behind him, picked up his meat bun, and quickly disappeared around the street corner.
Only after he left did the crowd erupt in commotion.
Discussions arose; some said he had an eccentric personality, others said he was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, but most were shocked by his terrifying strength.
The general store owner knelt there, stunned, for a long while before finally standing up with his wife's help. Gazing in the direction Luffy had disappeared, he murmured, "Anyway... thank you, Straw Hat."
In the distance, in the crater, Buggy moved his fingers with difficulty, his eyelids trembling, seemingly showing signs of waking.
But no one paid him any attention anymore.
A few bolder civilians even spat at him.
Luffy walked towards the port, taking out a fresh piece of roasted meat from a paper bag, taking a large bite, and chewing with satisfaction.
Buggy?
A minor incident, not even an appetizer.
The real feast awaited him at the Marine base.
Luffy licked the grease from his lips; crushing weaklings in the East Blue was incredibly satisfying!