"Buggy the Clown... That b*stard Nezumi actually colluded with pirates!"
Inside the temporary operations base in the mine, Genzo slammed the table in front of him in anger. They all knew Nezumi was extremely greedy, but they never expected that he would actually choose to collude with pirates.
As for how they found out—after discovering the gold mine, they still paid taxes. Cocoyasi Village wasn't an island occupied by pirates; it was a settlement under the jurisdiction of the East Blue's kingdom.
After being attacked by pirates, they had contacted the Marines, but their messages never received a response, and the Marines made no moves at all. No matter how they looked at it, something was off.
Marine communication channels were all the same. Unless someone had the personal contact information of a branch officer, the only option was to contact the nearest branch. Trying to bypass Nezumi to contact higher-ranking Marines was extremely difficult for them.
"Belle-mère, do you really think your report worked?"
"I got in touch with an old friend of mine. He owes me his life, so he shouldn't lie to me. Maybe the evidence isn't solid enough yet, or the investigator is still on their way..."
To ordinary people, the Marines were a trustworthy force. Even though Nezumi was a Marine scum, no one thought that his superior had also taken bribes from him.
"But the fact that he actually teamed up with pirates—this crime should be big enough, right? As long as we can find evidence of his collusion with the pirates, we should be able to root out this scumbag..."
Boom! Boom!
Before Belle-mère could finish speaking, several explosions rang out—the Buggy Pirates had launched another attack.
"Let's talk about this later. We need to deal with those b*stards first."
As a former Marine, Belle-mère had contributed significantly to the training of the mine defense force. Preparing for a counterattack wasn't an issue for her.
...
"Captain Buggy, aren't you going to make a move?"
"A bunch of ordinary people, and you expect me to step in personally?! This is your chance—if I get involved, you won't have any opportunity to show off."
Buggy spoke with an air of seriousness, but in reality, it was because he had been ganged up on by two beetles in yesterday's battle. The Chop-Chop Fruit made him immune to slashing attacks, but it did nothing against Heracross' tackles.
Relying on his specially-made Buggy Ball, Buggy managed to drive away the two Heracross. However, he didn't know if there were other terrifying creatures lurking around, so he ultimately decided to send his underlings to take the risk.
Nezumi didn't send anyone to participate in Buggy's operation, but he did provide him with some decommissioned military weapons. The standard-issue Marine equipment was much better than what pirates could typically get their hands on, which added significant pressure on the gold mine's defenders.
Even though night had fallen, the battle had not stopped. Swarms of Heracross flew out together.
Their bodies couldn't withstand cannon fire or bullets, so they chose to fight at night.
The mining area was filled with countless discarded rocks. One by one, the Heracross carried giant boulders into the sky and launched a special kind of aerial attack on Buggy's camp.
The falling boulders from the sky temporarily forced the pirates to retreat, but they couldn't eliminate the threat to the mine at its root. Buggy, having distanced himself from the mountains, set up camp again in an open field, seemingly plotting something.
Meanwhile, Nami and Nojiko quietly slipped out of the mining area along a hidden path. They wanted to gather evidence of Nezumi and Buggy's collusion.
After all, the one truly coveting the mine was Nezumi, not anyone else. Even if they defeated Buggy, other pirates might come as long as Nezumi remained in power.
...
"Hey, hey, I just remembered—I have a disease where I'll die if I get too close to a Marine base, so..."
On the Going Merry, Usopp trembled as he clung to the ship's mast, making up all sorts of bizarre illnesses.
"Don't joke around! There's no such disease!"
"But it's the Marines! The Marines! Just the few of us—are we really planning to barge into a Marine branch?!"
"No, we're just going in to rescue Hercules."
Luffy adjusted his hat and spoke with a serious expression.
They had followed a group of Heracross to get here and didn't fully understand what had happened. On the way, the two Heracross with them had encountered another Heracross, who informed them that several Heracross had been captured by the Marine branch.
Nezumi wasn't stupid. He knew there were two particularly troublesome beetles in that mine, so he captured some of the Heracross heading there, intending to use them to force the others into surrender.
Unaware of the full details, Luffy mistakenly assumed that Hercules was among the captured Heracross, leading him to decide on Hercules rescue mission.
"Usopp, you're already on a pirate ship—sooner or later, you'll have to fight against the Marines."
"Yeah! If you're that scared, you might as well just go home."
"Aren't you two going to try to talk some sense into him? There has to be a better way!"
Seeing Sanji and Zoro eager to jump into action, Usopp couldn't understand what was going through their heads.
"Hmm? What are you talking about? He's the captain. Since we're on this ship, we have to follow the captain's orders. I wonder what's different about this branch compared to the previous one."
Tying his bandana around his head, Zoro spoke with a serious expression. Sanji didn't say anything, simply lighting a cigarette in silence.
Even though he was afraid, in the end, Usopp still grabbed his slingshot and joined them.
However, instead of finding Hercules, they ran into Nami and Nojiko who had been exposed.
The two had sneaked into the Marine base and found evidence of Nezumi's crimes, but they were discovered at the last moment.
In the end, by working together, they successfully rescued the captured Heracross in the base and followed Nami and Nojiko back to their gathering place.
...
"Hercules! Damn it, you're hurt?!"
Inside the mine, Luffy spotted an injured Heracross and immediately cried out, rushing over to it.
"Huh?"
"Ah, you're not Hercules... Wait, there are so many Hercules here!"
The dim lighting in the mine, combined with the fact that Heracross looked very similar to one another, Luffy couldn't tell which one was his Hercules, so he started checking each Heracross one by one.
Watching this bizarre two-legged creature, the patience of the Heracross was rapidly wearing thin. Just then, the Heracross that had gone out to fight returned.
Seeing Luffy, Hercules was shocked. After a few seconds of hesitation, it launched a flying kick straight at Luffy's waist.
"Hercules? That's great! You're okay after all!"
"Heraaacross~?!"
Hercules' tone was complicated—on one hand, it was surprised that Luffy had come after it, but on the other, it was furious. Its thoughts could be roughly summarized as: [How dare you set sail without me?! Weren't you afraid of getting lost at sea?!]
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