When Buggy was less than one meter away from the iron gate of the prison, a silent recitation echoed in his heart for freedom.
Suddenly, a white light enveloped him, causing the iron bars in front of him to transform into countless small square iron fragments with a diameter of some tens of centimeters. They fell to the ground with a clattering sound.
Ding Ding Dang Dang— The sound of metal clanging with the floor echoed through the empty dungeon alley.
Buggy nonchalantly strolled out of the prison, picking up a strip of torn prison uniform from his sleeve. He casually tied his long blue hair into a ponytail.
After removing the cross-skull mark from his forehead, all that remained on Buggy's face was the hideous clown makeup. With a round red nose and a big scarlet mouth smiling upwards, coupled with his increased height of 258 centimeters, Buggy emanated a strange sense of oppression.
"Can changing the plot make me stronger? If that's the case, let's find the little guy, Luffy, first! I guess I should consider myself his old friend if we're counting on him. Hahahahaha," a smile formed on the corner of Buggy's mouth, accentuating his insolence under the clown makeup.
"Oi Luffy, your old friend Buggy is here!"
In the next moment, Buggy's haki honed in on Luffy's location, and he swiftly made his way down the stone path, leaving the bewildered prisoners in their cages.
It took a moment for the surrounding prisoners to react, and then a burst of exclamations and commotion erupted from the prison cells on both sides.
"I can't believe it! Is that Buggy?"
"He does look like Buggy, but why does he appear taller and different from the Buggy I know? Am I mistaken?"
"It must be Buggy, no doubt about it! As for the growth, maybe it's a late growth spurt? Who knows?"
"I almost doubted my own eyes earlier. How did this guy escape?"
"I can't believe it! I almost fell for it. Regardless of how he got out, he should let us out too, that bastard!"
"Yes, Lord Buggy, please free us! Please!"
"Master Buggy, save us!"
However, regardless of their pleas, Buggy continued his departure without the slightest concern. He had no intention of releasing these scoundrels.
Observing this scene, the prisoners' initial begging quickly transformed into insults. Buggy paid no attention to their words.
He held no attachment to this world, unaffected by the havoc and destruction they would cause once set free. For this Buggy, there was no sense of belonging.
It didn't matter if they disturbed the seas and disrupted the peace; his current goal was to alter the plot, reap the rewards of the panel system, and become stronger. In this chaotic world, he needed to prioritize saving his own life before anything else.
Of course, one of the main reasons he chose not to release these people was their weakness. Their freedom would have no impact and would only hinder his plans.
Beep beep— However, Buggy had only moved about a hundred meters when a red alarm from a phone bug sounded throughout the entire deep-sea prison, indicating that someone had escaped.
"Hahaha! Serves you right! I told you to let us out!"
"Damn you, Buggy! Do you think you can escape from the deep-sea prison? Dream on!"
"Go to hell, you clown bastard! Hahahaha!"
Upon Buggy's escape being discovered, all the prisoners in the rear prison burst into laughter. However, Buggy had vanished from their sight.
On the other side of the deep-sea prison, Luffy, who had been hiding on the ceiling like an ape and leaping around, heard the alarm below. He couldn't help but mutter in surprise, "Hey! Have I been discovered?"
"You guess," a playful voice sounded behind Luffy.
Startled by the voice, Luffy let out a loud "Ah!" and fell from the ceiling, creating a dent in the ground upon impact. However, being a rubber human, it had no effect on him.
Looking up, Luffy saw a figure floating in the air and was momentarily stunned. Several images flashed through his mind, and he exclaimed, "Ahh! You're Buggy!?"
Whoosh
Buggy descended from the ceiling, grabbed Luffy by the collar, and lifted him up to the second-floor intersection, saying, "You guessed it, and there's a reward!"
"Damn it! Let me go! Wait, what reward?"
Luffy, still struggling against Buggy's grip, brightened up upon hearing the mention of a reward and looked at Buggy expectantly.
...
Even though Buggy knew Luffy was an easily excitable person, he couldn't help but be speechless for a few seconds. Here he was, trying to save Luffy's brother to change the plot, and yet Luffy was more concerned about the reward at a time like this.
Suppressing his desire to complain, Buggy shook his head and said, "Don't you want to save Ace? I'll take you there as a reward."
"Hey! You're taking me to Ace, Buggy? You're such a great guy!"
With a moved expression, Luffy held onto the arm that held his collar.
Buggy: ...
Truly, the one-tracked mind of the Monkey family! Perhaps that's why Dragon chose to make the Revolutionary Army dump Luffy on Garp.
As for why he was helping Luffy, it was because Ace was Roger's son. He was one of the crew members of the Roger Pirates. And Luffy is Ace's brother So, in the Marineford arc Ace will die if he can save Ace from execution...
It was only logical for a Roger Crew member to save his captain's son, right?
Whoosh!
With this thought in mind, Buggy accelerated even more, bringing Luffy to the edge of the first floor of Crimson Hell.
Pointing towards the large hole below, Buggy opened his mouth and said, "See that big hole down there, Luffy?"
"I see."
"That's the entrance to the second floor. Hurry up don't make any noise down there. I need to pick up someone!"