East Blue, Orange Town.
This once-bustling port town was now shrouded in choking smoke and dead silence.
In the town square, a group of pirates in bizarre circus costumes were looting wildly, their raucous laughter echoing through the ruins.
“Report, Captain Buggy!
The town’s vault has been completely emptied!” A pirate minion riding a unicycle reported loudly.
In the center of the square, a man with a conspicuous Red Nose and a heavy Captain’s coat sat on a luxurious chair, tossing a few gold coins in his hand.
“Well done!
Move everything valuable onto my ship!” The clown Buggy grinned triumphantly, preparing to order a retreat.
“Thump…
thump…” Just then, steady and highly oppressive footsteps resounded without warning from the ruined streets at the edge of the square.
Buggy’s movements paused slightly; as a pirate who had once ventured into the Grand Line, his intuition for danger was exceptionally sharp.
He turned his head abruptly to look toward the end of the street.
Amidst the billowing smoke, two tall, imposing black silhouettes walked out slowly.
Walking in front was a terrifying man, two and a half meters tall.
He wore a dark red trench coat, and his extremely broad shoulders and explosive, sturdy muscles gave him a suffocating sense of oppression.
His deep, cold black eyes were calmly looking down at Buggy, who was sitting on the chair.
Beside him was Sabo, also two point four meters tall, wearing a dark blue tailcoat and holding an alloy long staff.
“Who are you?!
How dare you meddle in the affairs of our Buggy Pirates!” The Buggy Pirates’ staff officer Buggy drew his long sword and shouted sharply.
Beside him, the beast tamer Moji also patted the giant lion Richie, which was as big as a house, making it emit a threatening low growl.
“Fire!
Turn these two reckless guys into a beehive!” Dozens of musketeers around immediately raised their flintlock guns, preparing to pull the triggers.
Facing the encirclement of dozens of people, Ace did not even draw his sword, nor did he even pause his footsteps.
He just scanned the square extremely casually, and a flash of dark gold light suddenly streaked through his deep black eyes.
There was no sound, no strong wind.
But in that instant, a terrifying pressure like a physical substance, as if it could crush the entire sky, centered on Ace and swept across the entire square like a tidal wave!
Conqueror’s Haki!
After two years of honing, Ace’s aura as a natural-born king had long reached a terrifying realm where it could be controlled freely and even form physical pressure.
“Thump!
Thump!
Thump!” As if grabbed tightly by an invisible giant hand, the dozens of pirate minions holding guns around him didn’t even have time to let out a cry before they all rolled their eyes and fainted with foam at the mouth.
Immediately after, along with the staff officer Buggy, the beast tamer Moji, and even the giant lion Richie, which weighed several tons, all let out a wail under this irresistible pressure, their huge bodies crashing to the ground, completely losing consciousness.
Just two short seconds.
On the large square of Orange Town, the pirate crew of over a hundred people was wiped out.
Except for Ace and Sabo, only one red-nosed clown remained on the entire square, barely sitting on his chair, his legs shaking like chaff.
“Haoshoku?” Buggy widened his eyes in horror, his eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets.
As an apprentice who had once been on the Pirate King’s ship, he was too familiar with this power!
But in the East Blue, known as the weakest sea, how could a monster with this king’s aptitude, one in a million, appear?!
“Hey, Red Nose.” Ace walked in front of Buggy with his hands in his pockets; his massive body was like a high wall, completely blocking the sunlight above Buggy.
“My ship just happens to lack a steward for odd jobs.
From today on, you are requisitioned by me.” “What kind of joke is this!
This Great Man is the man who is going to find Captain John’s treasure!
Chop-Chop —” Extreme fear made Buggy desperate.
His body instantly split apart, and his hands gripped several sharp daggers, attempting to stab at Ace’s neck from a blind spot.
But Ace just tilted his head slightly.
His innate Observation Haki had long since locked onto Buggy’s main body.