Hiss.
Hearing that, Buggy couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.
What a vicious idea.
If his identity as a former Roger Pirates crew member ever got out, he could see his future going completely dark.
The Marines would never leave a former Roger Pirates member alone.
He wasn’t Shanks.
He didn’t have the strength to stand up against the Marines.
If the Marines set their sights on him, he was finished.
Just thinking about it made Buggy’s whole body shake.
His voice came out trembling.
“Sir…
sir, what exactly is it you want from me?
I, Buggy the Clown, will give everything I have to serve you!!”
Rocks swirled his wine glass, unhurried.
“You’ll find out when the time comes.
I’d suggest being cooperative.
You know what happens if you aren’t…”
“I…
I understand!”
Buggy had no choice but to accept it.
He couldn’t fight his way out.
And Rocks had him by the throat with that secret.
He felt like his life was over.
“Good.”
Rocks nodded, satisfied, then snapped his fingers.
A Cero cut clean through the ropes binding Buggy.
As though he were the Buggy Pirates’ captain, Rocks gave the order.
“Wake up your crew.
Have them cook something.
I’m a little hungry.”
“Yes, sir!”
Buggy answered with a face like a man walking to his own funeral.
Pushing through the pain in his chest and shoulder, he went around slapping his crew awake one by one, the lot of them knocked out by the Conqueror’s Haki.
He got them on their feet and moving.
The Buggy Pirates crew had no idea what had happened.
But they could see the damage on their ship, and they could see the young man seated in the center of the deck like he owned the place.
They got the picture.
Their captain had clearly been put through something severe and wasn’t about to argue with this person’s orders.
What were they supposed to do?
If their captain had surrendered, they weren’t about to push their luck.
They didn’t even know how they’d gone unconscious in the first place.
Kuina moved closer to Rocks and lowered her voice, eyebrows drawn together.
“Are you recruiting them?”
“Of course not.
They’re just useful for now.”
Rocks waved a hand.
“I don’t want to deal with the Marines right now.
I need someone to run interference and take the fall.
The Buggy Pirates fit the bill.”
Recruit the Buggy Pirates?
But they still had their uses.
The Arlong Pirates had a notorious reputation in the East Blue and had dealings with a Marine branch.
Once that crew was taken out, it would draw Marine attention.
So Rocks planned to use the Buggy Pirates as cover.
Let them take the heat.
Kuina frowned.
“You don’t want to deal with the Marines?
Why?
We’re not pirates.”
“Because of my name.”
The topic made Rocks quietly resigned.
“You might not know what the name Rocks means, but to certain people it sets off every alarm they have.”
“The Marines and the World Government especially.
If they hear that name, they will dig until they find the bottom of it.
That’s a complication I don’t need right now.”
“What’s so special about the name Rocks?”
Kuina still didn’t follow.
She genuinely didn’t know what it meant.
“You know who Pirate King Roger is, I assume?”
Rocks cracked his knuckles.
“Put the name Rocks in the same category as Roger.
Anything connected to Roger, the Marines and the World Government pursue without exception.
The name Rocks is the same.
That name means trouble, plain and simple.”
Carrying the name Rocks, Rocks was quietly resigned to it.
But he wasn’t going to change it.
The name had been given to him by his foster father Dick.
He cared about the old man’s feelings.
He wasn’t going to discard a name he had carried for years just because it brought complications.
What would that even mean?
Was he afraid?
He wasn’t afraid of carrying it, and he had made his peace with what it meant long ago.
It was just that his strength wasn’t where it needed to be yet.
Dealing with the Marines now wasn’t a fight worth picking.
As a transmigrator, Rocks knew exactly what the Marines were like.
Shoot first, ask questions later.
And in his case it wasn’t even unfounded suspicion.
His foster father Dick genuinely had been a member of the Rocks Pirates.
Even if all he did was mop floors.
“The name Rocks is really that dangerous?”
Having heard Rocks out, Kuina had a clearer picture now.
She raised an eyebrow.
“So I’ve gotten myself onto quite a ship, haven’t I.”
Rocks nodded with complete honesty.
“That’s a fair way to put it.
Once the name Rocks makes waves again, the Marines and the World Government will absolutely come looking.”
“You’ve gotten on my ship.
If you want to back out, now’s your chance.”
“Whatever comes, I’ll face it head-on.”
Kuina tightened her grip on the Wado Ichimonji at her hip.
Her voice was even but full of iron.
That’s all there is to it.”
“Besides.
Didn’t you promise to protect me?”
“…”
“I said that to get Koushirou to let you leave.
You actually believed it?”
Rocks couldn’t help but smile.
“You’ve still got a lot to learn, Kuina.”
Kuina stared at him.
Was it really that hard for him to say something decent?
“I’m a year older than you!”
“Which means you’ve wasted a year I haven’t.
If you can’t see through something that obvious, you’ve still got a lot to learn.”
“I’m done talking to you.
I’m going to practice my swordsmanship.”
Kuina shot him a look, couldn’t be bothered with another word, and turned to leave.
“Heh.”
Rocks watched her go, still smiling.
Kuina was the same as Zoro in that way.
A training obsessive.
Any free moment and she was at her sword work, focused and relentless.
With that kind of drive and conviction, she would go far on the path of the sword.
“Better not to make too much noise in the East Blue.
Getting other people caught up in this would be a problem.”
“The Marines’ intelligence network is nothing to take lightly.
Having the Buggy Pirates take the fall is the smart move…”
Rocks cracked his knuckles, turning it over in his mind.
The Marines’ intelligence capabilities didn’t need elaborating.
Leave even a faint trail and they might follow it back to him.
The odds of that weren’t high.
But it was still a loose end he didn’t need.
He had no interest in dragging other people into trouble because of who he was or what name he carried.
Even if the chances were small.
So keeping a low profile and finding someone to run cover and take the fall was the right call.
The Buggy Pirates were hardly innocent people.
Using them as a fall guy and dropping a problem in their laps wasn’t going to cost Rocks any sleep.
If he wanted to push it further, he could always leak Buggy’s hidden identity, point the Marines at Buggy, and draw their fire entirely.
Call it making use of what was available.
It would even be doing the East Blue a small favor.
Making the place a little more stable for everyone living in it.
Rocks found himself genuinely impressed with his own generosity.
If Buggy still had uses, he should be used properly.
Killing him for the bounty was the worse deal by far.
Ten million Berries.
Less than what he had already taken from the ship.
“Well.
That’s settled then.”
The corner of his mouth curved up.
“I’ll be making you famous ahead of schedule, Buggy the Clown.
Don’t mention it.
What can I say, I’m just a good person.
Heh heh heh…”