Chapter 135: So That Was Robin’s Plan All Along (Please Subscribe, Recommend, and Vote Monthly)

Bufon turned back toward the balcony and said to the still-hesitant Straw Hat crew, “Go back now, gather everyone on the island, and follow me toward the Gates of Justice. If the Marines’ warships arrive and refuse to stand down, we’ll sink every one of them together.”

Hearing this, the Straw Hats, who moments ago had been at a loss, seemed to find their backbone again.

“All right, Captain Bufon. Then let’s join forces once more and escape from the Marines.”

Bufon turned around again. He picked up the receiver of the broadcast den-den mushi, cleared his throat, and spoke solemnly.

“I believe you all heard Spandam’s conversation just now. Everyone on this island—pirates, civilians, and Marines alike—are you really willing to let the Buster Call erase your lives like this?

“If you still wish to go on living, then put down your weapons. Stop slaughtering one another, and follow me to the other side of the Gates of Justice. Perhaps we can escape this disaster.”

Even Bufon found his own words somewhat awkward. Suddenly, he thought of someone and silently muttered to himself, “If only Betty were here. With one wave of that great flag and a few words using the power of her Encouragement Fruit, she could probably persuade this whole crowd to rise up in rebellion.”

After hearing Bufon’s speech, everyone on the island fell into deep thought.

A moment later, a Marine soldier lowered his flintlock and shouted, “I don’t want to die without even knowing why! If we want to live, then let’s call a truce, brothers!”

With that, he stepped forward and freed a pirate who had already been bound.

Some Marines immediately objected. “We can leave on our own! Why should we bother with these pirates?”

At that moment, a figure descended from the sky. Drawing the sword at his waist, he threatened the Marine, “No one will stop you if you want to stay here and wait for death. But if you want to survive, then do as Captain Bufon says!”

Having said this, Zoro began freeing the pirates who had been captured.

Thus, the two groups that should have been enemies set off together toward the Bridge of Hesitation in an atmosphere so strange it was almost surreal.

Franky, who had been standing there in a daze, finally came to his senses. Wiping away his tears, he spoke with exaggerated emotion. “Your actions have truly moved me, Captain Bufon! Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Hearing this, Bufon pulled the bloodstained photograph from his coat and handed it to him. Then, imitating Tom’s manner of speaking, he said, “A man should live boldly and proudly. If there are still people who haven’t managed to evacuate when the Marine warships arrive, I’ll leave them to the Franky Family.”

Franky took the photograph. Hearing that familiar tone, he stared at Bufon in disbelief and demanded loudly, “You knew my master Tom?”

Only then did Bufon remember that there was a prison beneath Enies Lobby. He said to Franky, “Your master didn’t die back then. He was imprisoned in the underground prison beneath Enies Lobby. I rescued him earlier.”

Though Bufon spoke with absolute certainty, Franky still could not believe his ears. His voice trembling, he asked, “What proof do you have?”

Bufon took out a vivre card and handed it to him. “This is your master’s vivre card.”

Before leaving, Tom had entrusted Bufon with making the card and had instructed him to give it to Franky. He had also asked Bufon to tell Franky, “A man should live boldly and proudly, and have the courage to face his past.”

Bufon repeated Tom’s words exactly. The moment Franky heard them, tears poured down his face once more.

He opened the mechanism in his chest, took out a stack of blueprints, and handed them to Bufon. “Then please return these to my master for me.”

Bufon did not even need to look to guess that they were the genuine blueprints for Pluton.

After seeing the ancient writing on them, Robin said to Bufon, “These are the real Pluton blueprints.”

Bufon waved his hand and refused to take them. Instead, he said indifferently, “Since your master left them to you, what you do with them is your decision. As he said, a man must learn to make his own choices.”

Franky stood frozen for a moment. Then he lifted the blueprints above his head and spewed a ball of flame from his mouth, burning them to ashes.

“It’s better not to let something like this continue to exist in the world!”

Seeing what he had done, Bufon revealed a faint smile that was nearly impossible to notice.

He then stitched the five CP9 agents lying on the ground together and said to Robin, “I’ll leave the two below to you.”

“Yes. It seems Captain Bufon will never break that habit of his.”

After saying this, Robin hurried downstairs, with Franky following close behind.

Once the two had left, Bufon took Spandam’s sword, Funkfreed, and the chest containing the Devil Fruit that had been placed on the table.

Then, carrying the five people sewn together, he headed toward the Bridge of Hesitation. As for the scum Spandam, he had no desire to look at him even once more.

Bufon stepped onto the bridge. Bon Clay and Robin, having completed their tasks, soon joined him.

“Nico Robin! I never thought we’d be comrades again! I’ll be counting on your kindness from now on, darling!”

Robin had already recovered her spirits. Pointing at Bufon beside her, she began teasing Bon Clay. “Everything is up to Captain Bufon. With him here, even if we’re facing a Buster Call, I…”

Before she could finish, Bufon interrupted her. “By the way, what did CP9 use to threaten you?”

“They said that if I didn’t do as they ordered, they would issue an extermination order against you and the Straw Hat crew. They were all going to leave anyway. I didn’t want them to lose their lives because of me.”

She gave Bufon a sweet smile.

“Then weren’t you afraid I wouldn’t show up to rescue you?” Bufon asked, unusually playful.

Robin smiled as well. “Then I would have disappeared just like this, just as I said before. My enemies are the unseen darkness of this world. But I don’t think the Straw Hats are strong enough to face it alongside me yet.”

Her words sounded somewhat sarcastic, almost as though she were deliberately setting Bufon up. In truth, however, they were an acknowledgment of his strength.

Regardless of Luffy and the Straw Hats’ background, they still had no reason to wage a life-or-death war against the World Government.

Bufon, on the other hand, had killed a Celestial Dragon. The World Government would never let him go, and Bufon himself would never compromise with them.

Therefore, Robin’s best destination was to remain at Bufon’s side.

“That’s certainly a unique way to say goodbye to them,” Bufon remarked.

After that, he said nothing more.

He drew the sword from his waist and transformed it into its complete beast form. Then he tossed the seven CP9 agents onto its back and slowly made his way toward the Gates of Justice.

Meanwhile, on Enies Lobby, the large force composed of pirates and Marines had already begun passing through the Court of Justice and surging toward the Bridge of Hesitation.

Normally, when prisoners were transported through the Gates of Justice, the gates were opened only a narrow crack. This time, however, they had been opened completely. Even those who had lived on the island for many years were seeing it for the first time.

Everyone was astonished by the sight, and uneasy about the unknown future that awaited them.

The two giants, Oimo and Kashii, walked at the very rear. Usopp stood on Oimo’s shoulder and continued boasting. “The person who called out to everyone over the broadcast just now is my friend. When we meet him later, I can have him tell you about the time he fought your two leaders.”

The two giants hesitated. “But can we really withstand a Buster Call?”

“Don’t worry! With the Straw Hat crew, plus Captain Bufon, ten warships and five vice admirals are nothing! Captain Bufon has even fought a Marine admiral!”

Hearing Usopp’s boasts, the people walking ahead of the giants turned around and asked, “Is this Captain Bufon really that powerful? If he can fight a Marine admiral, why have we never seen his name on a wanted poster?”

Faced with the question, Usopp could only continue embellishing the story.

“Captain Bufon has always kept a very low profile. In Alabasta, he was the one who secretly held back the rebel army, allowing our captain, Luffy, to defeat Crocodile. Besides, how could the World Government possibly admit that a pirate was capable of defeating an admiral?”

There was, admittedly, some truth in Usopp’s words. Whether they were heard by Marines or pirates, everyone felt that they sounded at least somewhat believable.

Of course, a few intelligence agents from CP1 through CP8 were also among the crowd. Some of them knew the truth. Hearing Usopp’s claims, they could only shake their heads.

“He’s making the whole thing up.”

But Usopp grew more and more enthusiastic.

“Captain Bufon is not only a warrior of the sea, just like me—he’s also kindhearted and a superb doctor. Back in Alabasta, whether he encountered injured civilians, pirates, or Marines, he treated them all equally.”

“He’s a doctor too?” one of the injured members of the Franky Family asked in disbelief.

Before Usopp could answer, Barry, who was covered in blood himself, nodded. “Yes. When Mr. Iceburg was attacked for the second time, Captain Bufon rescued us from the office building. He even stitched up the wounds on both me and Mr. Iceburg perfectly in just a few minutes. If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I’d think it was nothing but an outrageous boast.”

With Barry’s testimony, Usopp’s words seemed far more credible, and he became even more impossible to stop.

…

The three of them—Bufon, Robin, and Bon Clay—passed through the Gates of Justice. They did not see the legendary fleet of Buster Call warships. Instead, they saw a single warship sitting alone on the surface of the sea, with two of Bufon’s “acquaintances” standing at the bow: Garp and Onigumo.

One was the hero Garp, who had once done everything in his power to persuade Bufon to join the Marines. The other was Onigumo, a defeated enemy.

Seeing the two of them standing together at the bow, Bufon could basically confirm that the warship was transporting Moria.

Before Bufon could speak, Garp threw a cannonball at him, evidently intending to test his skills. Bufon leapt lightly into the air and kicked the cannonball straight back. At the same time, he shot forward toward the warship.

Since the warship transporting Moria had already arrived while the Buster Call fleet had yet to appear, Bufon decided to rescue Moria first.

As for whether he could defeat Garp, he would find out after the fight began.

After all, the last time Garp had fought seriously in the original story had been decades earlier. Bufon could not determine Garp’s current combat strength based solely on those old records.