60. Enemy's Pursuit

The Clown pirates get ready for a battle against Ley's group. They prepare their cannons and also their weapons. Buggy orders Dina & Robin to hide inside, or their whereabouts will be exposed.

"Why don't you cut their masts again, Captain?" asks Jude.

"If we keep running away from them, they will think that we are just cowards. It will also be a warning to them that we will fight back and won't just running away," says Buggy.

"Did you have some information about that Ley?" asks Mantis.

"Yeah, I know a little about him," says Buggy.

Ley is a high-rank officer in Happo Navy and Chinjao's nephew. He is a strong candidate to be the next Don. But Chinjao is still strong, so he won't pass down the Don title soon. Besides, Chinjao will most likely pass the title to his own descendant.

Ley is quite strong too, although not at Chinjao's level. It is proved by his bounty, which is 95 million belly. Even in Grandline, that bounty is quite high.

As a Happo Navy officer, Ley must've learned Hasshoken, and most likely can use haki. He also has some strong men like his right-hand man who have 30 million and his Helmsman who have 15 million. So the Clowns need to get very serious in this battle.

Buggy orders Cricket to fight Ley's right-hand man, Hanji. Mantis will take care of the helmsman, Yoko. Jude will take care of the normal troops using her devil fruit power that can cover a wide area. As for Ley, Buggy will take care of him.

Soon, Ley's ship is getting closer to them. The Clown Pirates are waiting on the deck and ready for battle. Ley also stands to look at them while smirking arrogantly.

"You don't want to run away again?" asks Ley haughtily.

"Why should we run from some people that we can defeat?" Buggy smirks at Ley.

Ley's smile disappears when he hears Buggy. It is clear that Buggy has insulted him and thinks that he is weaker. Ley orders his men to move their ship closer to Little Hunter. They will fight directly instead of shooting their cannons on each other's ship.

Buggy is more than happy to hear this because he doesn't need to waste his ship's ammunition. Buggy lets them get closer, then when they get very close, the Clowns jump to the enemy's ship. There's no way they will fight on Little Hunter and break it.

The 4 Clown pirates are facing Ley's unit that has 43 men including Ley. They look at each other and take out their weapons. No one move because their leaders haven't given command.

"I will make you feel the consequences for looking down at me," says Ley with a low voice.

"Isn't it you who underestimating us? I never underestimate you, I'm just looking down on you. After all, you're a lot weaker than your uncle. You will never become the Don," Buggy smirks.

Ley fume in anger because Buggy knows his ambition to become a Don. Well, it's not hard for Buggy to guess it because Ley came here just with his unit. It's like he wants to prove that he is better than Chinjao. So it's clear that he wants to get the Don title.

"MEN, ATTACK!" Ley orders his men.

"Attack!" Buggy also orders his crew.

Ley's men rush to the Clown Pirates together. Only Ley, Hanzi, & Yoko stay behind to watch first. They have many troops, so they can let their troops tire out the enemies.

The Clowns don't have that privilege, so they attack together. Buggy rushes first and attacks the enemies with his twin swords. Cricket uses his flintlocks to shoot at the enemies. Mantis uses her steel bat to fight, and Jude uses her ash power.

Buggy & co fight with the normal troops and defeat them easily. These people are on the level of normal pirates, so it's not hard to defeat them. The only difference with normal pirates is just the quality of their weapons which are quite high.

Even so, Buggy & co can reduce their number from 40 to 20 in a short time. Their weapons might be good, but their skills are still very low. They're just bottom feeders that only have numbers as an advantage, after all.

Ley watch as his men get defeated easily, so he sends Hanji & Yoko to attack too. Hanji & Yoko try to attack Buggy. Hanji uses a long staff, while Yoko uses a straight double-blade sword.

They jump together at Buggy and attack him from above. But Cricket & Mantis block them while they're mid-air. Mantis blocks Yoko's sword with her bat, while Cricket grabs Hanji's staff with his hand.

"Our Captain doesn't have time to fight with small fries like you," says Cricket while smirking.

"Montblanc 'Chestnut' Cricket, you have 19 million bounty on your head. Quite impressive for a rookie," says Hanji with a serious expression.

"Of course. It's better than you, a veteran who only has 30 million on your head. You should be ashamed," Cricket smirks at Hanji while sending a punch.

Hanji doesn't say anything else and jumps away to avoid Cricket's punch. Yoko & Mantis doesn't have any talk and just gets away from there. Buggy looks at them and nod, now Ley is alone behind.

"Jude, I leave these cockroaches to you," says Buggy to Jude.

"Yes, Captain. Leave them to me!" answers Jude.

Buggy nods and move to Ley while slashing down some enemies. Now there are only 13 from 40 men that Jude needs to defeat. She can use them as his guinea pigs to try her devil fruit techniques.

Buggy is facing Ley now. They look at each other with a strong gaze and try to judge each other's strength. They don't make any move and just assessing each other.

"I must admit, you're quite impressive to embarrass uncle Chinjao 2 times," says Ley.

"2 times?" asks Buggy while raising an eyebrow.

"The mountain climbing and the masts destruction. Giving Hasshoken to outsiders is a violation of Kano Country's law. But he has promised, so he needs to fulfill it even if the King will scold him.

"However for my uncle, the price of Hasshoken is nothing compared to the humiliation that you gave him when you cut his ship's masts. Now he is putting you on his top hated people list. You're placed right below Garp, so you should feel honored," says Ley while smirking.

"He has hated people list? Is he a kid?" Buggy sweatdrop at this news.

"Well, he is a bit childish sometimes, but it doesn't matter now. After I defeat you, I will get a lot of merit points and will be closer to that Don title. So you should be honored to get defeated by this future Don," says Ley while still smirking.

"Future Don, huh? That won't happen unless you can defeat me," Buggy smirks while holding his twin swords, he's ready to fight.

"That's easy," Ley also smirks and gets into a fighting stance with bare fists.

Buggy covers his swords with haki, and Ley also covers his fists with haki. There's a silence between them for a moment. Then suddenly they jump to each other and clash.

______________________________________________________________

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