One Piece: Marine to Warlord to Conqueror

Chapter 88: Chapter 88

Mock didn’t understand. One moment he saw a man rowing a tiny boat, and the next, his boss was yelling at him to run. But Mock was good at one thing: following orders without question.

If the boss said it, he did it.

At his command, he had his men swing the ship around to flee. Then, just as instructed, he had the captured Buggy hauled back onto the deck. He unlocked the Seastone shackles from Buggy’s wrists, but then severed his feet at the ankles and pinned them to the deckboards. Before the bewildered clown could even process what was happening, Mock propped him up on the ship’s stern, a human shield facing the approaching boat.

’What in the hell is this guy trying to do?’ Buggy wondered, his mind reeling.

A heartbeat later, a flying slash of compressed air sliced through the water just off their port side, and Buggy understood everything. A stream of unbelievably foul curses erupted from his mouth. He was frozen in place, one wrong move and he’d tumble straight into the sea.

His eyes fell on the small boat and the giant black sword resting on it, and a horrifying realization dawned on him. His face turned a sickly green. He glared at Mock, who was casually picking his nose.

”You bastard,” Buggy seethed. ”I’m going to kill you!”

”Buggy, it’s for the honor of all East Blue pirates, we appreciate your sacrifice.” Mock said, his voice shaking a little as he cowered behind him, eyes fixed on the approaching swordsman. He had no idea who the man was, but if his boss said to run on sight, that was all he needed to know. This was someone they couldn’t possibly handle. ”We’re counting on you.”

”Count on my ass! Do you even know who that is?” Buggy shrieked, watching Mock cower without even taking his foot off his severed ones. ’How did this coward become the Overlord of the East Blue? Was he propped up by the Marines?’

”That’s Dracule Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!” Buggy yelled. ”They call him the World’s Strongest Swordsman! Aren’t you the guy who beat Crocodile and fought off Kuma? Get up there and do something!”

”Shouldn’t the World’s Strongest Swordsman be my boss?” Mock asked blankly.

”Who cares about your boss?!” Buggy roared, seeing another slash fly their way. He was out of time. ”How did you even get your title? Dumb luck? Stop him now, or we’re both dead!”

He was starting to think this guy really did just buy his reputation.

”At least let me go!” Buggy pleaded. ”My ability is the bane of swordsmen! If we fight together, we might actually be able to beat him!”

’Fight together? Not a chance,’ Buggy thought. The second this idiot released him, he was gone. He had to get out of the East Blue. This sea wasn’t safe anymore. First some tyrant from the South Blue, and now the world’s greatest swordsman. What was going on? Why were so many monsters flocking to the weakest of the four seas? Was there some kind of treasure here?

”Seriously, I won’t run!” he shouted desperately. ”Hanging me out here is useless!”

Mock, however, seemed completely untroubled. He puffed out his chest with a sudden burst of confidence. ”It’s fine. I’ve already got a plan.”

”A plan? What plan?”

As Buggy stared in confusion, Mock took a Megaphone Den Den Mushi from one of his crewmen. He took a deep breath and roared into the snail, his voice booming across the water. ”Hey, on the boat! I know you’re close with one of the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks! Well, do you know who this is?”

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On his boat, Mihawk paused, his small knife still in hand.

’Shanks’s brother is... this weak?’ he thought, frowning at the garish clown hanging from the stern. He recognized the flag, of course, the mark of the so-called East Blue Overlord. As a Warlord, he’d heard of the upstart pirate.

He wasn’t here for this man. He was just trying to avoid the World Government’s mandatory summons, a tedious assignment to hunt for the master scientist, Vegapunk. To avoid the hassle, he’d decided to take a quiet trip through the East Blue. The rest of the world was in chaos, only this sea was relatively peaceful. After all, no one in the weakest of the blues would have the power to snatch Vegapunk from right under the government’s nose.

But just after crossing the Calm Belt, he had run into this infamous pirate. Seeing the man’s ship, Mihawk had felt a flicker of boredom and decided to test his strength. He’d heard this rookie had defeated his fellow Warlord, Crocodile, and even fought Bartholomew Kuma to a standstill.

He never expected the man to turn and run without even a hint of a fight. And now he was using a clown as a human shield?

Mihawk watched the flailing, shouting figure on the stern, silent for a long moment. Then, he let out a cold snort. To the horror of everyone on the pirate ship, he sheathed his small knife and drew the massive black sword from his back.

’A brother of Shanks, let’s see what you’re made of.’

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”He stopped! He actually stopped! The plan worked!” one of the pirates shouted.

”Of course it did! I’m the great Captain Buggy,” Buggy’s panic instantly flipped to arrogance, but then he caught himself, looking at Mock with suspicion. ”Wait a minute. How did you know who I am? Who told you?”

”Know who you are?”

”Stop playing dumb, you bastard!” Buggy fumed. ”Since you know, then let me down! You should know that I-”

”Captain!” a crewman suddenly yelled. ”It looks like he switched swords!”

Mock and Buggy froze. They looked up to see Mihawk pointing not a small knife, but a colossal black blade in their direction.

”Dammit, your plan backfired! He looks even more excited now!” Buggy panicked again, staring at the sword. ”Hurry, let me down! If we fight together, we might have a chance to take him!” He started trembling. ”I’ll do it! I agree to restore the honor of the East Blue pirates with you!”

Mock ignored him completely. Watching Mihawk raise his sword, he remembered his boss’s teachings and shouted to his crew, ”Get this ship moving! Run!”

If the plan didn’t work, all they could do was flee. Besides, the boss said he’d be back soon.

But as he looked at their battered ship, Mock scratched his head and blinked. ’This time,’ he muttered to himself, ’I might really not make it back to see the boss.’

Just then, another crewman’s voice cut through the chaos. ”Captain, there’s another ship ahead! It looks like a Marine battleship!”

”A Marine battleship?” Mock was stunned. He leaned over the rail and saw a unique warship emerging from the Calm Belt, its figurehead carved into a giant dog’s head.

His eyes lit up. He remembered another one of his boss’s lessons: when in trouble, turn yourself in.

He waved a hand at his crew. ”Head for that ship! We’re surrendering!”

As his men shouted, ”Yes, sir!” and began steering toward the battleship, Buggy could only stare.

’The Overlord of the East Blue... is surrendering?’

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Aboard the dog-headed Marine ship, a man in beach shorts stood on the forecastle deck.

”What’s all this racket?” Garp asked, squinting into the distance. ”Well, look at that. It’s that Mock brat. Looks like he’s in a bit of trouble, eh?”

”It’s not just the East Blue Overlord,” said a man named Bogard, leaning against the rail with his hat tipped low. ”The Warlord, Mihawk, is also there. It appears he is pursuing them.”

”Hah, the kid’s smart enough to come to us,” Garp chuckled, crossing his arms as the pirate ship approached. ”Ah, what the hell. He’s not so bad. Bought me a round at Romance Dawn last time! Let him come aboard!”

”Vice Admiral Garp,” Bogard said flatly. ”We are the Marines.”

”Oh, oh, right. I take that back.” Garp picked his nose, not seeming to care in the slightest about his subordinate’s weary tone. ”We are the Marines! Let’s hurry over there and capture those pirates! Bwahahaha! I can’t wait to see the look on Dante’s face when he has to thank me for this.”

’Vice Admiral Garp, could you at least try to be a little more subtle?’ Bogard sighed internally, but he waved his hand anyway, signaling for the helmsman to move the ship forward.

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