The 1.5-second silence effect added by Decisive Strike hadn't shown anything unusual when Garen previously fought Steel Blade. However, against Buggy, a Devil Fruit user, it became a truly lethal strike.
His Devil Fruit ability was instantly sealed, and his mental control over his split-apart body was forcibly interrupted.
Unlike the feeling of complete powerlessness brought by seawater or Sea-Prism Stone, this sword's effect felt as if Buggy's Devil Fruit power had vanished into thin air. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't regain the ability.
This strange phenomenon plunged Buggy into a fear far more intense than anything he had felt before. He lost all dignity, putting on a comically pitiful face and begging for mercy in front of Garen.
But before Garen could respond, Buggy suddenly realized—his Devil Fruit powers were back! He immediately manipulated his dismembered body parts to fly into the air, escaping a good ten meters away.
It wasn't until he confirmed that he was out of range of that massive sword that Buggy stopped in midair.
Still dripping with cold sweat, his face pale with fear, Buggy—who had just been begging moments ago—suddenly turned around and flashed a forced, exaggerated smile at Garen.
"Hahaha!"
"You freaky brat! Let's see how you'll hit me now!"
"…Hmph."
Garen looked at Buggy's contorted, pancake-shaped face and silently raised his left hand—the one not holding his sword.
"You flew too far. I really can't slash you from here."
"But… you left something behind in your haste."
"Nani?!"
Buggy's face changed drastically.
In Garen's raised left hand was a twitching human foot—Buggy's foot.
The Chop-Chop Fruit had a fatal flaw: the separated body parts couldn't move more than 200 meters away from Buggy's feet. And his feet were the only part of his body that couldn't float or fly.
Garen knew this. So, when Buggy collapsed after his powers were sealed, Garen had quietly seized one of his feet.
"Ugh…"
Buggy's arrogant expression froze again, and sweat began pouring from his forehead at an even more ridiculous rate.
Garen calmly stood his ground, gripping the foot in one hand, the other hand ready with his greatsword.
As soon as the skill cooldown ended, Garen lifted his sword:
"Decisive Strike!"
His greatsword burst into a brilliant light of justice.
Then, Garen lightly tapped the foot in his hand with the glowing blade. Instantly, all of Buggy's body parts fell from the sky like hail, crashing heavily onto the deck.
"Damn it!"
Once again scattered in pieces across the deck, Buggy finally understood the severity of his situation. His weakness was literally in Garen's grip—he couldn't escape, couldn't return to his normal form. And Garen had some mysterious technique, like Sea-Prism Stone, that could seal his powers at will. Buggy had no hope of winning, only death awaited him.
The 1.5 seconds of silence quickly passed. Though Buggy regained control of his body, he no longer dared to move.
Most of Buggy's crew had already been wiped out. The few remaining minions were huddled at the edge of the deck, trembling in fear.
One of the two elite subordinates was hugging his pet lion and shivering, while the other stood frozen, gripping the hilt of his sword—but no matter how hard he pulled, the blade wouldn't come out.
The Buggy Pirates were completely annihilated.
Garen stood relaxed, gripping Buggy's foot with one hand, while his other held the sword ready to strike again at any time.
Wallace, who had been filming from the edge of the battlefield, finally gathered enough courage to approach, capturing a dramatic close-up of the righteous knight Garen defeating the infamous pirate Buggy.
Nami, beaming with excitement, walked up beside Garen and stared at Buggy's disembodied head with glowing eyes.
"This red-nosed guy is worth 15 million?"
To Nami, the great Captain Buggy had turned into a thick stack of cash.
"That's right," Garen said, picking up the calculation.
"With this red nose, we'll be able to claim 25 million Berries when we get to Loguetown."
Buggy's face immediately darkened.
They were openly discussing bounty collection, clearly bounty hunters of unknown origin—but definitely strong ones.
To pirates, being caught by a bounty hunter was far worse than being arrested by the Marines.
Unless you were unlucky enough to get caught by someone like Admiral Akainu himself, getting arrested by the Marines usually meant your life was spared—you'd get food, shelter, and clothing.
But if you were caught by bounty hunters out to trade your head for money, 99% of the time, it was a death sentence.
"…"
Nami read the change in Buggy's expression.
She rubbed her smooth, slender chin thoughtfully, and her eyes gleamed with cunning.
"Garen, if we're going to Loguetown to collect the bounty…"
"Should we take just the head—or the whole pirate?"
"Huh?" Garen blinked.
Buggy, on the other hand, broke into a cold sweat again and hurriedly floated his head in front of Nami, smiling obsequiously.
"Beautiful lady! Bring me along! Bring the whole person!"
"My bounty poster says Dead or Alive, right? I'm still alive—you can turn me in like this!"
"Oh?"
Nami's amber eyes turned sharp and dangerous.
"Escorting a living pirate for a bounty is very risky."
"So… who's going to compensate us for that potential loss?"
Her cold, greedy voice echoed in Buggy's ears, and he suddenly felt like he was being crushed in the palm of a demon.
His big red nose twitched nervously. After a long struggle, Buggy shouted out as if making the most painful decision of his life:
"I've got treasure worth one million Berries hidden on my ship!"
"Just one million?"
Nami, who had spent years robbing pirates and was intimately familiar with their net worth, gave a cold and mocking smile.
"Garen, let's just take the head."
"Got it!"
Garen understood the signal and immediately raised his sword toward the foot he was holding.
"Wait!!"
Buggy was scared out of his wits and hurriedly shouted,
"Five million! I have treasure worth five million Berries!"
"Five million Berries?"
Nami narrowed her eyes and said in an even more dissatisfied tone,
"Do you think that's enough, Garen?"
"Only five million?" Garen replied with a disdainful look.
"That's barely enough to buy a toilet, and you wouldn't even have enough left to decorate it!"
After helping Doge pay for his brothel tab, covering meals, and buying supplies at the market, Garen had roughly figured out the purchasing power of Berries. By comparing various prices, he realized Berries were basically equivalent to Japanese yen.
Of course, due to different market demands, prices for the same items could be wildly different between worlds.
For example, a sailing ship—only affordable for the rich on Earth—was as common as a bicycle in this pirate world.
On the other hand, property here was dirt cheap. Things that wouldn't sell at all in this world would cost you thirty years of mortgage labor on Earth.
So, Buggy's 5 million Berries really was just enough to buy a toilet.
Even Buggy's 15 million bounty was only enough to buy a bedroom.
Someone in a big city on Earth could sell a single apartment and afford the Pirate Empress, with enough left over to buy a dozen Rayleighs as extras at the Sabaody slave auction.
"Pah!"
Buggy turned pale with anger.
"Only five million Berries and I can't even buy a toilet?!"
"What are you, a Celestial Dragon living in Mary Geoise?!"
Nami shot Garen a scolding glance.
Even if you were bluffing to scare Buggy, saying that five million Berries couldn't buy a toilet was a little too much.
If housing really cost that much, the whole population would have no choice but to become pirates!
"A Celestial Dragon, huh? That's not far off," Garen muttered with a grin.
"I am the descendant of the Great Dragon of the Heavenly Empire, after all."
(TN: Not gonna remove it.)
"Eh?!"
Wallace's eyes sparkled.
"Lord Garen, you have such a noble background?!"
"Hey, hey—"
Garen hurriedly waved his hands.
"I was joking! Don't you dare write that down!"
"Stop trying to make a news out of everything!"
(End of Chapter)