63. Tashigi, be my secretary!

"You're... Red-Nosed Buggy? You brat, what are you doing in Loguetown?!"

Roger was slightly stunned for a moment before finally recognizing Buggy. After all, not everyone possessed that iconic red nose.

"C-Captain Roger, save me! It's me, Buggy the Clown, that red-nosed brat from back then!!!"

Buggy wailed tearfully, throwing his arms around Roger's leg the very next second.

Buggy the Clown had originally been an apprentice on the Roger Pirates and an old friend of the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks. He was a pirate who took pleasure in tormenting the weak, embodying selfishness and ruthlessness. Once, driven by a momentary fit of anger, he had used 'Buggy Balls' to indiscriminately bombard a town. When Luffy bounced his 'Buggy Ball' back at him using a 'Rubber Balloon,' Buggy had even used two of his own subordinates as human shields to protect himself. Yet, his luck was absurdly miraculous; he even had the sheer audacity to curse out Whitebeard to his face during the Summit War, and remarkably went so far as to start a live broadcast...

Just looking at Red-Haired Shanks, who was also an apprentice back then, showed how utterly spineless Buggy was. One was an Emperor of the Sea, a man standing at the pinnacle of the New World. The other was still loitering in the weakest sea in the world, the East Blue, and had even gotten beaten black and blue by a newly set-sail Straw Hat Luffy.

Overlord Chu held zero affection for Buggy the Clown, who lacked any real strength yet constantly put on dramatic shows. If it weren't for the fact that Buggy had once been an apprentice on the Roger Pirates, he might have just taken it upon himself to rid the world of this pest...

"O-Overlord, look... could you perhaps show some mercy and spare this subordinate of mine just this once?"

Roger scratched the back of his head, looking quite helpless. What kind of madness was this? He had just climbed out of his grave only to be met with such a wretched mess?! Yet, he couldn't just let him die. As the dignified King of the Pirates, lowering himself to plead for someone over such a trivial matter was utterly humiliating.

It wasn't that Roger didn't want to save Buggy directly from Overlord Chu. Having just been resurrected, he was far from his prime; all his strength and physical condition were currently in a weakened state. Picking a fight with Overlord Chu, who was suspected of being a Great Swordsman, would be an extremely unwise move at the moment. Besides, Overlord Chu was the very benefactor who had just resurrected him. For Roger to commit such an ungrateful act of biting the hand that fed him would ruin his reputation in the underworld for good...

Just as Overlord Chu began contemplating whether or not to give Roger some face, a slightly anxious and sweet voice rang out, momentarily diverting his attention.

"Quick, organize the ninth squad for rescue operations! Carry the wounded soldiers to the infirmary."

"Colonel Smoker, are you alright?!"

Tashigi, arriving later at the execution platform, stared in absolute shock at the Loguetown plaza, which had been reduced to a wasteland of ruins. What on earth had happened here? Could the battle really have been that intense, tearing the ground apart for thousands of meters?

"I'm fine... Fortunately, the White Devil, Over... Overlord, hasn't yet mastered a way to counter elementalization, otherwise even I wouldn't have escaped with my life."

Smoker's expression was grim to the extreme. That slash, powerful enough to split the earth and cleave mountains, left lingering fear deep within his heart. If he hadn't relied on the Smoke-Smoke Fruit to turn his body into smoke and immunize himself against physical attacks, he would have been nothing more than a corpse by now.

Glancing back at his heavily injured subordinates, Smoker clenched his fists until they cracked. This was the first time he had ever felt so utterly aggrieved, wishing he could kill Overlord Chu on the spot for hurting his men.

Tashigi likewise glared daggers at Overlord Chu, drawing her weapon, Shigure, as she maintained a highly defensive stance.

"O-Overlord, your actions are simply atrocious! To think I once regarded you as a kindred spirit who shared my hobby of collecting famous swords, never imagining that you would actually dare to murder a high-ranking Marine leader!"

"The Wazamono grade sword Yubashiri and the Devil Blade Edge are suffering utter humiliation in your hands!"

"I swear, one day! I will make you face the judgment of justice!"

When Tashigi had first crossed paths with Overlord Chu at a certain weapon shop, they had even engaged in a lively and pleasant conversation about various interesting trivia regarding the world's famous swords. Yet, never in her wildest dreams had Tashigi imagined that Overlord Chu was actually the notorious villain known as the White Devil!

Though the corrupt actions of Captain Mouse in aiding and abetting确实 disgusted her to her core, even so, that punishment should have been meted out by Marine headquarters, not by some outsider taking it upon themselves to decide matters of life and death!!

Overlord Chu casually tossed the Devil Blade Edge to his maid, Xiao Qing, giving a noncommittal, gentle shake of his head. Perhaps in Tashigi's eyes, Marine headquarters was the most righteous place in the world. But in Overlord Chu's heart, the justice of Marine headquarters was merely a distorted form of justice!! It was a justice that served only the Celestial Dragons, not the common people!

To prevent the century lost to history from resurfacing and threatening their rule, the World Government had frantically launched the ' Buster Call,' annihilating every single historical researcher on the island of Ohira in one fell swoop. Even the evacuation ships meant to carry innocent civilians had not been spared from that slaughter! The high-ranking officers who carried out that mission back then were none of other than Admirals Akainu and Aokiji!

These two Marine generals had since climbed even higher to become full Admirals of Marine headquarters! Could such a warped, twisted, and sanctimonious brand of justice truly be called justice?!

Kicking Buggy aside like a piece of trash, Overlord Chu smiled calmly:

"Tashigi, I hear your reporting and summarizing skills are quite impressive. Would you care to become the personal secretary of the White Devil?!"

Tashigi raged, "You are insulting me! Even if I die, I will never become your lackey!"

The corners of Overlord Chu's mouth curled into a playful smirk. Tashigi was, after all, still brainwashed by the so-called justice preached by the Marines. If this somewhat airheaded young girl were to ever learn the truth about the World Government's ruthless slaughter of civilians during the Buster Call on Ohira Island, her faith would probably shatter completely, wouldn't it?

"Damn it! That accursed O-Overlord! To be so utterly brazen, trying to poach right in front of me!"

A raging fire ignited within Smoker's heart. This sensation of being virtually 'robbed' filled him with furious rage! Tashigi was an exceptionally talented subordinate whom he had personally cultivated with immense care. If even his own subordinate could be poached right out from under him, how could he ever hold his head high in the underworld?! Wherever he went, people would mock him, and he would never be able to look anyone in the eye again!!!

Furthermore, though he was entirely unwilling to admit it out loud, Smoker actually held a tiny, minuscule sliver of wicked romantic interest toward Tashigi as well~~ He was basically playing a real-life raising sim with a little girl!! Right now, the age gap between him and Tashigi was simply too vast; if he were to confess his feelings directly, he'd be completely finished. But as long as he continued to mentor Tashigi and train her into his right-hand woman, he was confident that someday, Tashigi would fall for his personal charm!!

Yet now, just as his little girl-raising plan was officially starting to take effect, someone was trying to cut in and hijack her halfway! How could Smoker possibly accept this?!