Two full salvos of ammunition.
Only after a full hour did the bombardment finally come to a halt.
This tiny island—barely a square kilometer in size—had been completely razed to the ground.
The dozens of deep pits previously dug by Buggy and his crew?
Now, every single one had been filled with soil.
There was no trace of life left—no movement, no sound, just scorched earth.
Yet two nautical miles away, inside the bridge of a steel warship, Captain Hina wore a look of surprise.
According to her Observation Haki radar, there had indeed been only a single life signal on the island earlier.
But now?
Suddenly, more than ten separate signals had appeared, scattered across different parts of the island.
What the hell?
Could this guy's so-called "Lucky Haki" actually be real?
And after the bombardment, did he actually split himself into over a dozen pieces?
If it weren't for the Observation Haki radar—and the detailed intel Luo Lan had provided—he might have actually fooled her.
After all, once you set foot on the island and find no living soul, even seeing scattered severed limbs wouldn't be surprising. You'd just assume they were blown apart during the shelling.
"Move in. Prepare all hands for landing!"
"Yes, Commander!"
The warship sprang into action, accelerating with a speed unimaginable for this era, heading straight for the devastated island.
Two nautical miles was nothing—less than ten minutes later, they reached a hundred meters from shore.
Three rubber boats were lowered, ferrying dozens of marines to land.
The moment they stepped ashore, everyone collectively gasped.
The sight before them was... horrifying.
The ground across the entire island was pitch-black, and from beneath the charred soil, wisps of green smoke curled upward.
As for the pirates' bodies?
Forget it.
Perhaps a few who had initially taken refuge in the pits and were buried alive left behind intact corpses...
But the rest—those who hadn't made it to cover in time?
Not even limbs could be found.
"Commander! I found a strange severed hand!"
A marine rushed over holding what looked like a dismembered hand.
And indeed, it was strange.
Because—there was no blood.
Even at the point of amputation, there was no bone, no flesh—nothing but a clean, surreal cut. It was unnerving.
"Dig up the entire island. Turn over every inch. Gather every fragment like this. I want him pieced back together—limb by limb—until we have a complete body!"
The others may not know, but Hina had seen the intel.
She knew this severed hand belonged to Buggy.
And from her Observation Haki radar, she had already confirmed—after the shelling ended, Buggy had split himself into dozens of parts, spreading them across the island to avoid detection.
No way she was letting him get away with that.
"Yes, Commander!"
At her command, dozens of marines launched into action.
Meanwhile, not far away—just twenty meters or so—under a pile of blackened soil, only his nose and one eye exposed, Buggy lay motionless.
But the moment he heard Hina's order, he nearly lost it.
What the hell kind of order is that?!
You're trying to kill me here!!
He needed to think. Fast. Or he was done for.
Just then, the light over his face dimmed.
Someone was standing over him.
He rolled his one visible eye—and saw...
The Marine woman—Commander Hina—was already standing right in front of him.
Then—
Thunk.
She stepped on his head.
"So this is the head... Lucky me."
With a slight kick, Buggy's head rolled out from under the dirt.
Seeing it was the head, Hina's mood visibly improved.
After all, no matter how Buggy split himself, the head was always the dominant part.
From a certain standpoint, controlling the head was the same as controlling Buggy himself.
Truly lucky.
"You damn woman! You kicked me in the nose!!"
After rolling several meters, Buggy screamed in fury.
That kick had landed squarely on his nose—his most sensitive and sacred spot—and that was unforgivable.
But unfortunately, all he had now was his head. He could scream all he wanted—there was nothing else he could do.
Hina didn't respond. She simply raised her boot again and—
Stomp.
Right on the nose.
This time, she even twisted her foot a little.
Buggy howled in indignation.
---
Half an hour later.
The marines had thoroughly searched the island, overturning every patch of earth.
They recovered over thirty separate body parts belonging to Buggy and reassembled them.
Except for his head—which still lay under Hina's foot—they had everything.
"Is the special seawater containment ready for Devil Fruit users?"
"All set, Captain!"
A few marines rolled over a metal barrel—not particularly large, but just enough to hold one person.
It was delivered from the ship during the search.
On the surface, this iron barrel didn't look special.
The materials were cheap and thin—an average adult could easily tear it apart.
But for a Devil Fruit user...
It was a nightmare.
Because it was filled to the brim—with seawater.
Immediately, the marines opened the lid and began tossing Buggy's limbs into the barrel.
At once, Buggy's head—which was still underfoot—visibly deflated.
Though his parts were separated, the effect of seawater (or Seastone) would still transmit to his main body.
Soon, the head was secured as well—not submerged, but fixed to the inside of the lid, allowing him to breathe but nullifying his power.
Ten minutes later, everyone returned to the warship.
"Set sail!"
"Yes, Captain!"
---
"What?! You caught Buggy?!"
Luo Lan's eyes bulged as he listened to the den den mushi.
He had poured so much effort into capturing Buggy last time—and failed.
He even had to admit to himself that this guy's "Lucky Haki" might be real!
Yet here was Hina, just casually taking the warship on a test run—and she just happened to run into the Buggy Pirates? In a barren sea zone, no less?
Seriously? His Lucky Haki failed the moment he ran into Hina?
Still, catching Buggy put Luo Lan in a pretty good mood.
After all, that Devil Fruit of his—
If paired with knowledge and creativity—might actually become one of the strongest fruits out there.
The truth was, Buggy's real shortcoming was just... ignorance.
Otherwise, the guy might already be walking around as a living nuke.
"Sister Hina, send him directly to Impel Down. Tell them to use R3-level containment standards!"
"Is that really necessary?"
Hina was confused. They already had him locked up. The capture wasn't even that difficult.
He was just lucky to have survived the bombardment. Nothing more.
"It is necessary. Absolutely!"
Luo Lan's voice was firm and left no room for argument.
If he had Seastone chains, he'd have bound every inch of Buggy's body with it.
---
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