In Rob Lucci's mind, he had long since crossed the boundary that separated men from monsters.
As the leader of CP0, he possessed strength approaching that of an Admiral. His authority carried the weight of the Fleet Admiral's own commands. Nations trembled at his arrival. Kings bowed. Enemies vanished.
Yet on this shattered battlefield—
He had been called a small fry.
The insult burned hotter than the wounds searing across his body.
"I think he's fairly strong," Sabo remarked honestly from the side, flames flickering along his arm. "At the very least, stronger than most Vice Admirals."
Buggy's expression did not change.
"Strength isn't what separates the top from the insignificant," he replied calmly.
His voice carried clearly over the crashing waves and distant explosions.
"What defines a true powerhouse is conviction. Breadth. The scale of their will."
His eyes locked onto Lucci.
"And the conviction you cling to? 'Dark Justice'?"
He scoffed.
"That's just self-brainwashing."
Lucci's veins bulged.
"Don't look down on me!" he roared, forcing his battered body upright. His muscles twisted violently as Life Return surged once more through his frame.
"We also have things we protect with our lives!"
"Maximum Ring—Six King Gun!"
He compressed every ounce of power into a single devastating shockwave.
The air shattered.
Buggy vanished.
"Shunpo."
He reappeared above Lucci, untouched.
"What exactly are you protecting?" Buggy asked lightly.
"The Celestial Dragons?"
His voice sharpened.
"Or Guanhao Island?"
Lucci froze mid-step.
"How do you know that name?"
Even Sabo glanced sideways in surprise.
"That facility that traffics children worldwide," Buggy continued coldly. "Collecting talented orphans. Raising them in brutality. Forging them into obedient blades for the Celestial Dragons."
He tilted his head.
"That's your 'hometown'?"
Lucci's breath hitched.
"You grow up as victims," Buggy continued, "only to become the next generation of traffickers. Turning tragedy into tradition."
He stepped forward.
"You worship the ones who chained you."
A magnetic surge wrapped around his leg.
Lucci barely saw the kick before it struck.
The impact hurled him across broken planks and splintered beams, smashing him into floating wreckage.
"That conviction," Buggy said flatly, "is worthless."
Lucci coughed blood, forcing himself upright again.
"That's not true!"
His eyes burned red.
"If pirates didn't burn, kill, and plunder, the world wouldn't be this chaotic! There wouldn't be so many orphans!"
His claws dug into wood.
"Our actions are justice!"
Buggy stared at him without blinking.
"Who made the world chaotic?"
The question struck harder than any blow.
"As CP0," Buggy continued, "you know exactly how many died because they couldn't pay the tenryuubito tribute."
His voice turned ice-cold.
"Tell me. Have pirates killed more?"
Lucci's jaw clenched.
"The Celestial Dragons are the gods who created this world—"
Buggy was already there.
Another kick.
Another thunderous impact.
Lucci's body skidded across the deck.
"I half suspect the World Government owns a Brainwashing Fruit," Buggy muttered.
He glanced toward Sabo briefly.
"If the Wash-Wash Fruit can cleanse thoughts, why not something that replaces them?"
Lucci forced himself upright again.
"You don't understand the Celestial Dragons' power," he rasped. "Resistance is futile. If you submit, there would be no conflict."
Buggy laughed once.
Short.
Cold.
"I know perfectly well they have a trump card."
His gaze drifted upward for a moment—as if peering beyond the sky itself.
"They ruled for eight hundred years. They didn't survive by stupidity alone."
His eyes returned to Lucci.
"But if you kneel simply because the enemy is strong—"
His magnetic field flared.
"Then you're livestock."
The air crackled faintly.
"This ocean has never lacked men with courage."
Sabo stepped forward, flames surging.
"Countries collapse because of Celestial Dragons," he added. "That's why the Revolutionary Army grows. If death is inevitable, we choose to fight."
Lucci spat blood.
"When you see their true power… you'll know despair."
His voice lowered.
"They can extinguish the Lamp of History."
Buggy did not flinch.
"You don't need to worry about that."
The magnetic field around him intensified.
"It's time to go, Rob Lucci."
Lightning gathered along his fingertips.
"Before you die, ask yourself one question."
His voice softened.
"What meaningful thing did you ever do?"
"Magnetic Field Rotation—Forty Thousand Horsepower."
His right hand split apart.
Five fingers detached and hovered.
"White Lightning Bind."
Five arcs of electricity shot outward, forming luminous chains that sealed every escape vector around Lucci.
He was trapped.
"Magnetic Field Rotation—Fifty Thousand Horsepower."
Buggy's left hand glowed.
Five spheres of lightning formed at his fingertips—
Then compressed—
Merged—
Condensed into a single black bead of concentrated force.
"Thunder Roar Cannon."
Shunpo.
Buggy's palm appeared against Lucci's chest.
The black sphere pressed over his heart.
Lucci's body seized.
Muscles locked.
Vision dimmed.
Oddly—
There was little pain.
Instead—
Memories surfaced.
A small town.
Saint Poplar.
After his defeat by Straw Hat Luffy, Spandam labeled them traitors and sent Marines to hunt them.
He had been broken.
Unable to walk.
His comrades had carried him.
Later—
They defended the town from pirates.
Their methods were bloody.
The townspeople were terrified.
Yet—
As they prepared to leave—
A small girl approached.
"Thank you for saving us," she had said.
"You're heroes."
She offered a bouquet of wildflowers.
Kalifa had smiled.
"It feels nice to be called a hero," she had said softly.
A hero.
Lucci, feared and hated—
Called a hero.
Why did that memory remain?
Why, of all things, that trivial scene?
His consciousness drifted further.
He remembered something else.
The medical fees.
His treatment.
Kaku is working menial jobs.
Kalifa cleaning.
Coins gathered one by one.
Sweat-soaked.
All to keep him alive.
Perhaps—
That was the only meaning he could claim.
Life Return surged.
But not as before.
This time—
It burned everything.
His vitality.
His reserves.
His very soul.
"Captain Buggy…" Lucci forced the words through paralyzed lips.
"Grant me… one request."
Buggy's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Let Kaku join you."
The long-nosed man froze mid-fight.
"Boss Lucci…?"
"If we all die," Lucci whispered, "Spandine will target Kalifa and the others."
His voice cracked.
"For their sake… let Kaku live."
Kaku stared in disbelief.
"Why join him?!"
"Because," Lucci coughed blood, "your mind is too sharp to remain in CP0."
He stepped closer to Buggy, barely standing.
"I have leverage against the World Government."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Kaku knows where it's hidden."
Buggy considered him for a moment.
"I don't care much about leverage," he replied honestly.
"But Kaku is useful."
He shrugged lightly.
"I'll take him."
Lucci's breathing slowed.
"Thank you… Captain Buggy."
His vision blurred.
"You'll become… Joy Boy?"
Buggy shook his head.
"No."
His expression was calm.
"Joy Boy brings laughter and freedom."
A faint crackle of lightning flickered around him.
"I can't do that."
His voice turned colder.
"I'm Rett Boy."
"Little Boy."
"I send enemies to meet their ancestors."
A faint, broken laugh escaped Lucci's lips.
"Rett… Boy…"
His eyes dimmed.
"I hope… you change this world…"
The lightning surged.
Then—
Silence.
Rob Lucci collapsed.
Leader of CP0.
Dead upon the deck.
The sea wind carried away the last breath of Dark Justice.
---
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