Chapter 47: A Call from Red-Hair!
"Then, Brother Buggy, can you still find that place now? I'd love to go and see it," Hancock asked Buggy, blinking her eyes.
"To stumble upon such a hidden place once is already incredibly lucky. I doubt I'll be lucky enough to find it again." Shaking his head, there was not a trace of falsehood in Buggy's expression at that moment.
Of course, it couldn't be false. The place was entirely fabricated in the first place; it would be a real ghost story if he could actually find it.
"That's a real pity," Hancock said slowly with a look of regret.
Watching Buggy and Hancock's double act, Mihawk found it somewhat amusing, infuriating, and also helpless.
As a swordsman, no matter how much Mihawk doubted Buggy's words, he firmly believed the content about the first three of the five great realms of swordsmanship.
For him, who was originally at a bottleneck, hearing about these three major concepts—even without any corresponding substance and merely pointing out a direction—was endlessly beneficial.
The Sharp Sword Realm, this must be the realm I'm currently in.
Unconsciously, he touched the black blade on his back, and Mihawk became lost in thought for a moment.
Looking at the dazed Mihawk, Buggy sighed.
"Hancock, let's go. It seems this is a lost cause." Buggy wasn't just putting on a show when he said this; he genuinely felt that he couldn't invite Mihawk.
To come up with a topic that could attract Mihawk, Buggy had thought for a long time before deciding to use the story of Dugu Qiubai from Mr. Jin Yong's novels. But looking at Mihawk's reaction, aside from a slight daze, there was no excitement at all.
To Buggy, this expression meant all hope was lost.
It looked like he would have to find someone else for the vice-captain position.
Turning around, Buggy led Hancock on a leisurely walk towards the port.
However, after only a few steps, a sound suddenly rang out: "Buru buru buru, buru buru buru!"
Coming back to his senses, Mihawk took a Den Den Mushi out of his pocket. Picking up the receiver, the name Mihawk spoke made Buggy stop in his tracks.
"What is it, Red-Hair!"
"Hahahaha, Mihawk! It's like this, I've returned from the East Blue, but I probably can't have our scheduled duel anytime soon," Shanks's voice came through the Den Den Mushi.
"Why?" Mihawk asked with a deadpan expression.
"Hahahaha, well, when I was in the East Blue earlier, I carelessly let a fish take my left arm. But as payment, I managed to snatch a treasure in return!"
Hearing Shanks's carefree reply, Mihawk was instantly stunned.
His left arm was gone? The left-handed Shanks lost his left arm? Damn it, isn't that the same as being crippled?
"You bastard, what kind of treasure is worth you crippling yourself to get!"
From a distance, Buggy saw for the first time the world's greatest swordsman, who was usually so calm and composed, get this angry.
Sigh, if only I had a camera to take a picture.
Alright, compared to the reason for Mihawk's anger, Buggy was currently more concerned about not having a camera to record this scene that would likely never happen again.
"Now, now, don't be so angry. So what if my left arm is gone, don't I still have my right? And even if I lost both hands, I'd still think it was worth it. That little guy is a lot like the captain. It was worth it for him." The carefree tone suddenly became deep and profound.
People who didn't know Shanks would find it hard to adapt to such a rapid change.
Turning around, Buggy walked quickly to Mihawk, held out his hand, and looked at Mihawk, making his intention clear: he wanted to talk to Shanks.
Mihawk handed the Den Den Mushi over directly. Hearing that his rare rival was now crippled, meaning he might not have a swordsmanship opponent for a long time, Mihawk's mind was in turmoil.
"Shanks? This is Buggy." Buggy took the receiver and first stated his name.
"Buggy? Hahahaha, it's great to hear your voice! By the way, how are you with Mihawk? Did he accept your invitation?" Upon hearing Buggy's voice, the carefree and gossipy Shanks was back.
"No, the invitation failed. I was just about to leave, but I happened to catch you calling," Buggy replied honestly in a disappointed tone.
"That's a real shame. I invited that guy too, but he didn't agree either. By the way, how have you been lately? I haven't heard from you in years, what have you been up to? My pirate crew has been established for a long time, just waiting to compete with your crew," Shanks said with a laugh.
"Idiot, don't you know my ability? I'm practically the bane of swordsmen. Plus, I've awakened my Haki. Even Mihawk is unwilling to fight me. What are you going to fight me with, having lost an arm?" Buggy was speechless at Shanks's thoughtless words.
"Uh, I forgot about that. But it's fine, I still have my right hand, right? Just wait a few more years, it should be fine in a few years," Shanks replied breezily.
"Alright, we'll talk about this later. My pirate crew isn't even established yet," Buggy genuinely had no temper for this kind of豁达 (huòdá - open-minded/philosophical) talk.
"What? Buggy, how have you not formed a pirate crew yet? Don't tell me you've been waiting for this guy Mihawk all this time," Shanks immediately exclaimed.
"Of course not. The preparations just aren't done yet. I don't plan on having many people in my crew anyway. It's already in the countdown phase. I won't say more, who knows if this Den Den Mushi is being bugged. That's all." With that, Buggy hung up, handed the Den Den Mushi back to Mihawk, and then turned to leave with Hancock.
"Wait, I have something to say!" Just as Buggy was about to leave, Mihawk's voice rang out unexpectedly.
"Is there something else?" Buggy asked faintly as he turned around.
"Let's change the condition for boarding the ship. I wonder if you can do it?" To Buggy's surprise, Mihawk took the initiative to propose a new condition.
"Name it!" Buggy said, looking at Mihawk as if he had guessed something.
"Red-Hair's arm. That man is not a man who should be crippled in the East Blue. If you can find a way to restore his arm, I will accept your invitation."
Buggy had roughly guessed Mihawk's condition before he even said it, but even so, Buggy was very curious about Mihawk's motive for proposing it.
"Why? I really want to know why."
Buggy's two "whys" were not a repetition. One was asking, why are you proposing this condition to me, and not someone else? The other was asking, why is Shanks worth you making such a decision?
(End of Chapter)