The Buggy Pirates and Red Hair Pirates clashed—but not really.
Or rather than "clashed," it was more like a sparring session. Both sides genuinely went all out, but neither went for the kill.
Buggy's crew was slightly smaller than Shanks', but of higher quality. The weakest among them—the cat, dog, and fish-man—now had combat power on par with Drought Jack.
These three were different from the original timeline. Instead of learning swordsmanship, they'd trained in pure martial arts. In truth, blades weren't the best fit for them anyway.
Nekomamushi and Inuarashi, being members of the Mink Tribe, had their own fighting style that could use electrostatic shock to disrupt enemies. Sure, swords conducted electricity, but metal still had resistance—direct contact was far more efficient.
Kawamatsu had gone even further, learning Fish-Man Karate. His combat power was comparable to Jinbei, the man who'd once dismissed the Four Emperors as "nothing special."
With this level of combat strength, yet only having a 5,000-Berry bounty because of his meek personality…
Buggy and Enel went king-to-king and general-to-general, facing off against Shanks and Beckman directly. Over the years, Beckman had improved significantly and could now hold his own against Enel to a degree.
Furaese, whose strength rivaled the three All-Stars, took on multiple opponents at once. Together with Kawamatsu, they evened out the numerical disadvantage.
Neither side fought for long before finding an island and settling in for drinks. Shanks held the Devil Fruit, and both he and Buggy circled around it, examining it closely.
As for the earlier conflict—that was long forgotten.
Along with those unpleasant memories, they'd also forgotten an agent named Fukuro…
That's right—this guy hadn't died. Normally, Buggy didn't show mercy to defeated enemies. After becoming a Four Emperor, he'd taken to cutting off one arm instead.
But this time, thanks to Shanks' distraction, Buggy had completely forgotten about him.
When Fukuro came to and saw both crews battling in a cataclysmic clash, he was so terrified he didn't even dare grab the fruit before fleeing, terrified one side might chase after him.
But though he was a coward, Fukuro harbored deep hatred for both Buggy and Shanks. He planned to return to the World Government immediately and report that these two pirate crews were fighting in the East Blue, hoping the Five Elders would send people to arrest both of them.
The Five Elders did send someone—though what Fukuro hadn't expected was that the person arrested was himself…
Of course. Why would the Five Elders pick a fight with Shanks and Buggy? Letting the two sides fight was perfect—they could watch the show. And if they sent people, these two dangerous individuals might team up instead.
The Four Emperors not getting along was exactly what the Five Elders wanted to see.
If they united, wouldn't they become the next Rocks Pirates?
As for the Gum-Gum Fruit…
They didn't dare snatch it when it was just Shanks' crew alone. Now with two crews?
So—we know this fruit is important. We know it must not be lost. But we'll just send a guy like Fukuro to transport it. If it gets lost, we'll say we didn't care anyway.
…
"That's it?"
"The World Government's treasure is… that?"
"A Gum-Gum Fruit?" Buggy racked his brain and still couldn't figure out what was so special about it.
"This isn't just a Gum-Gum Fruit. Its true name should be the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan Model: Nika." Shanks was being completely forthcoming, acting as if Buggy were his dear brother.
But Buggy wasn't buying it.
"Pfft—my Devil Fruit is actually called the Atomic Fission Fruit."
"That's right—mine is the Nuclear Detonation Fruit." Enel chimed in.
"You don't believe me? Are you not giving me face?" Shanks was getting flustered. These days, was everyone not giving him face?
"I wouldn't give face to anyone, least of all you. I just can't stand the sight of you." Buggy picked his nose. "So—what's your plan? Eat this what's-it-called—Mud Fruit?"
"Nika! It's Nika—the legendary Sun God!" Shanks shouted.
"Fine, fine, Nika, Nika—whatever you say."
Shanks: …
"Like our captain, I don't plan to eat a Devil Fruit. So I'm thinking of giving this fruit to Ann or Ace." Shanks chose to skip over the previous topic. "Ann, Ace—does either of you want to eat this Devil Fruit?"
"I'm not eating it!" Ann rejected it immediately. "I heard this thing tastes worse than literal poop. How can a girl eat poop?"
Buggy: "Is there a chance that boys also don't eat poop?"
"Indeed—only dogs do." Nekomamushi said.
Inuarashi: ???
I feel slightly offended.
"So, Ace—do you want it?" Shanks turned to Ace.
Now it was Ace's turn to be speechless.
He was truly exasperated.
Actually, after hearing Shanks' introduction and witnessing Buggy and Shanks' fight, he'd been quite interested in Devil Fruits. But after this whole conversation, how could he possibly bring himself to eat it?
So he said stubbornly: "I'm not eating it either!"
Buggy: "Looks like even dogs don't want it."
Ace: ???
He genuinely wanted to kill this despicable red-nosed freak right now!
Unfortunately, Ace didn't get the chance—because Buggy had already been dragged away by Inuarashi…
"Fine, since nobody wants it, I'll head to the Sabaody Archipelago and sell it." Shanks shook his head, as if he'd suddenly lost all interest in the fruit.
And in truth, that was exactly how he felt. Which the Gum-Gum Fruit ended up with was all the same to him. Everyone said the fruit had its own will—if nobody wanted to eat it, that was the fruit's choice too.
But he'd overlooked the fact that having a will didn't mean having the right to choose. Every civilian butchered by pirates in the New World had consciousness too, but that didn't change their fate.
"So, Captain—are we heading back to the Grand Line now?" the crew asked.
"No. It's rare to come to the East Blue. I want to look around the Four Blues—maybe find some interesting people." Shanks said.
Though the Four Blues had lower average strength, there were still plenty of good prospects. His crew was thin, and he was looking to expand.
"What about you, Buggy?"
"Me? I've already got my target in mind." Buggy grinned.
When he'd first set sail, he'd wanted to build an interesting pirate crew. He already had a clown on board—so why not add an animal tamer, a unicycle acrobat?
A circus pirate crew without a tamer or acrobat was incomplete!
"Well then—farewell!" Buggy waved gracefully and sailed off.
On the ship.
"Buggy—Shanks is planning to sell that Devil Fruit. Why don't we buy it?" Nekomamushi asked, as if something had occurred to him.
[
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