Pirate: I, Buggy, am the Emperor, the Emperor of the Clown King!

"..."

Bucky was quite speechless about the 1% completion rate.

But there's nothing we can do about it.

When this system was in operation, its initial design was inspired by the Servants in FGO.

The Servants summoned in the Holy Grail War are only one aspect of the Heroic Spirits on the Throne of Heroes.

After all, it's a pay-to-win mobile game; you need to leave room for growth in the later stages so that people can spend money on it.

However, it's obviously impossible to completely copy the Spirit Origin Ascension of Servants in FGO.

So they created an empty shell that synchronized the game's information, and then filled it with game resources.

But 1% is fine.

1% doesn't mean it's very weak.

For the ultimate form of the battle type, Piedmon, even 1% of its power is enough to defeat an ordinary Champion-level being... and it should even be able to take on a weak Perfect-level being without any problem.

The strength of the Clown King needs to be clarified in this regard.

Piedmon, one of the Dark Masters, is very strong.

If it were the Clown King at his full strength, he could start sweeping through the entire One Piece world right now.

After all, MetalGreymon is already at the level of a nuclear attack.

As the ultimate form of Piedmon, he can even withstand a nuclear bomb without his hairstyle getting messed up.

Bucky took a deep breath and closed the system interface.

The crew members on deck were still cheering and chanting Bucky's name.

Bucky looked at these people again, his gaze now holding something he hadn't seen before.

"All eyes are on me!"

When Bucky said this, everyone shuddered involuntarily.

This is a long-standing deterrent.

To many pirates, the red-nosed captain stood under a huge cloak, sunlight shining from behind him, obscuring his face in shadow.

"Starting now."

"I want you to live, so you must live."

"If I want you dead, you must die!"

As he said this, Bucky began to loosen his robes.

And just as his clothes fell off, Bucky, dressed as the Clown King, appeared.

"From now on, you must address me loudly!"

"Buggy, the Clown King!"

After Buggy finished speaking, I looked at the pirate henchmen around me.

The pirates looked at each other, then began to shout excitedly:

"Buggy, the Clown King!"

"Buggy, the Clown King!"

"Buggy, the Clown King!"

...I have no objection to Buggy's statement that he wants to control their lives, because that's just how pirates are.

Bucky nodded, quite satisfied.

Back in his cabin, Bucky let out a long sigh of relief as he closed the door.

"Not bad," he muttered to himself.

The biggest pressure for Bucky was actually the somewhat embarrassing, cringeworthy feeling of saying those things.

But it felt really good to say it out loud.

The cheers outside continued, but they were clearly not as enthusiastic anymore. The pirates began to disperse in twos and threes, going about their business.

Bucky finally relaxed completely as the footsteps faded into the distance.

Then he closed his eyes and let his consciousness sink into his mind and body.

After the system was activated, the [Character Card - Clown King] was used.

The feeling after using it is hard to describe.

It was as if something was surging from the depths of my soul, or as if some instinct that had been dormant in my body had suddenly been awakened.

Bucky felt his consciousness expanding and spreading, like a black tide spreading in all directions.

The previously blurry details in the cabin suddenly became clear: the direction of every grain in the wooden planks, the dust clinging to the spider webs in the corners, every ripple on the sea outside the porthole, and even the rise and fall of his own chest as he breathed...

Everything was within his perception.

It even gives one the illusion of being in control of everything.

Then comes an extreme calmness.

That calmness wasn't emotional tranquility, but rather a cold-blooded clarity.

Bucky found himself thinking faster, so fast that before a thought could fully form, the next one would already be upon him.

At the same time, all thoughts were neatly organized, as if categorized and placed in different compartments by an invisible hand.

...Is this perhaps a characteristic of Digimon data life forms?

The most wonderful thing is that feeling.

That feeling of "I am the center".

It's not arrogance or conceit, but rather an innate and self-evident understanding.

It's as if the whole world should revolve around you, and you feel no guilt, no doubt, and are even too lazy to think about whether it's right or wrong.

Bucky opened his eyes and walked to the mirror.

The person in the mirror had changed their clothes.

Red shirt, green pants, yellow shoes, white gloves, adjusted to fit the body shape.

And the mask on his face had already become a real thing.

The right half is pure black, the left half is pure white, and a bright red heart is drawn above the white half.

Bucky's lips curled up slightly, as if he were smiling, or perhaps mocking something.

He carried a sword sheath and magic box on his back.

Four swords are inserted into a magic box consisting of four scabbards, with the hilts shaped like spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds, respectively.

The biggest difference between Bucky the Clown and the Joker is probably their hair.

The Clown King's original hair was yellow.

Bucky the Clown has blue hair.

Bucky raised his hand and looked at his palm.

He gently clenched his fist, feeling a strange power within his body.

"Is this... what it feels like to be the Clown King?"

He muttered to himself and noticed that his voice had changed slightly.

It's still the same voice, but with an added, indescribable quality.

It's like the echo of metal vibrating softly, or the gentle touch of silk against the skin.

It sounds like it carries a subtle malice, yet it exudes a strong sense of oppression.

Bucky's mind raced, and a sword silently unsheathed itself behind him, hovering at his shoulder.

The Ace Throwing Knife: The Spade Sword.

Bucky didn't need to look back to clearly perceive every detail of the sword.

The length, weight, and center of gravity of the sword, even the tiny, invisible notches on the blade.

That perception was neither visual nor tactile, but rather a more direct, almost instinctive connection.

"return."

The throwing knife returned to its sheath without a sound.

Bucky then tried to lift his body off the ground, a capability he possessed naturally.

With her feet gently off the ground, she floated slowly into the air as if suspended by invisible threads.

He controlled himself to walk around the cabin, from the ceiling to the walls, and then from the walls to the doorway, the whole process as quiet as a ghost.

"It did float a bit slowly." Bucky landed on the bed, feeling the strain of flying. "But the advantage was that it was silent and made no noise."

With a completion rate of 1%, the only skill unlocked is [Ace Throwing Knife].

Unfortunately, the system didn't directly pull Piedmon from another world.

The system merely detected the existence of Piedmon, then fabricated an empty shell and filled it with power.

But with just this one skill, combined with this new way of sensing, Bucky already felt that he was more than a level stronger than before.

Bucky sat on the edge of the bed, letting his consciousness remain immersed in this dark and calm state.

To be honest, it felt really good.

That kind of extreme self-centeredness, that sense that the whole world should make way for you.

Bucky knew that this kind of mentality would be considered pathological in a normal person, but to be fair, it was really comfortable when he was in it.

People with this mindset will never become depressed.

It's really fun to act crazy when you're feeling chuunibyou (middle school syndrome).

There was no hesitation, no entanglement, and no unnecessary moral burden.

Do what you want, take what you want; the only criterion for all choices is: I'm happy.

"No wonder those villains all live such comfortable lives." Bucky couldn't help but laugh. "If you can maintain this mindset, then really nothing can bother you."

He looked out the porthole through his mask; the crew members were still walking around on the deck, and he could occasionally hear them talking in hushed tones.

"Captain Bucky seems a bit different today..."

"Of course! Didn't you see his new outfit? He looks incredibly handsome!"

"I do think the way he speaks has changed. He was fierce before, but never like this... this..."

"What is this?"

"I can't really explain it, but after hearing what he said, I actually felt like crying. I felt like following a captain like him would make my life worthwhile."

"Haha, you're so easy to fool!"

"What did you say?!"

Bucky looked away, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards a little more.

This feeling of observing and controlling everything from the shadows is indeed very much in line with the character of the Clown King.

Well, since these crew members behaved fairly well just now, let's let them off this time.

If there is another internal conflict...

With a thought, he silently drew his trump card throwing knife for a moment, then silently returned it to its sheath.

...Then let's use them to test the knife.

As pirates, they naturally use cruelty, violence, and terror to suppress their enemies.

On deck, the crew's discussion continued.

"What do you think Captain Buggy has been doing these past few days, locking himself in his cabin?" a tall, thin pirate asked, wiping his knife.

"Of course!" A fat pirate next to him rolled his eyes. "Didn't you see what he was wearing when he came out? He must have changed his gear."

"It takes three days to change equipment?"

"What do you know? That's called a sense of ritual. Look at that outfit, the black and white mask, and that box, those knives—they're definitely not ordinary stuff. They must be secret weapons specially prepared by the captain."

"That's true..." the tall, thin pirate nodded. "But have you noticed that the captain seems like a completely different person after he came out?"

"What's different?"

"It's just... I can't really explain it, but when I look at him, I feel a little uneasy."

The fat pirate scoffed, "Nonsense, that's the captain! It's normal for him to get creeped out of you. It would be strange if you didn't feel creeped out of your skin when he looked at you."

In the corner, the animal trainer Mochi sat on a wooden barrel, with his lion Liki lying beside him.

His gaze occasionally swept towards Kabaji, who was standing not far away, but it no longer carried the same tension as before.

Kabaji was also looking at him.

Their eyes met, they each snorted, and then looked away.

But no one made a move.

"Leaky..." Mochi said, looking down at the lion, "Do you think what the captain said is true?"

The lion, of course, didn't answer; it simply yawned.

—Lion Leakey: I don't know!

—Leaky the Lion: I'm hungry!

"The Pirate King..." Mochi muttered to himself, "That must be a huge title."

Although he could communicate with animals, he didn't really expect Leakey the lion to answer anything.

On the other side, Kabaji leaned against the ship's railing, fiddling with his knife.

"The ambition to devour the world, the lust to dominate the world..." He repeated Bucky's words in a low voice, "The captain did say something interesting this time."

In the days that followed, Bucky had been hiding in the cabin and refusing to come out, and Kabaji had indeed been having some thoughts.

He was the chief of staff, and he thought he was smarter than all the brutes on the ship. Why should he always be subordinate to others?

Is it because Buggy the Clown has a Devil Fruit?

But after Bucky came out today, those thoughts suddenly faded away.

It's not that I don't want to, it's that I don't dare.

Kabaji couldn't explain why, but when Kabaji stood on the deck and swept his eyes over him, he felt like he was being watched by something.

The feeling was indescribable, but it was enough to make him temporarily put those thoughts aside.

"Let's see," he said to himself.

In the middle of the deck, several soldiers continued their discussion.

"Follow the captain, and you'll eat meat to your heart's content, and drink wine from large bowls!"

"The captain is brilliant!"

"Captain Bucky is the best!"

The chaotic cheers rang out again for a while, but quickly subsided.

The pirate ship continued its journey, heading towards Orange Town.

……

a few days later.

When Buggy emerged from the cabin again, the pirate ship was already docked at the pier in Orange Town.

He had been familiarizing himself with the Clown King's abilities over the past few days.

The completion rate is still 1%, but the use of the [Ace Throwing Knife] has become much more proficient.

The only problem is that although all four knives can be drawn and used, you can only control one if you want to throw knives.

The low completion rate resulted in a low skill level.

Its flight speed also increased a bit. Although it was still floating, at least it didn't look so much like a balloon anymore.

Baji stood on the deck, looking towards Orange Town on the shore.

The town is small, with low buildings and winding streets.

At this moment, the streets are filled with pirate ships.

Mochi and Kabaji have led their large force and successfully captured the area.

You could hear some sporadic screams and shouts from afar, but overall it was relatively calm.

Most people had already fled when they discovered the pirate attack.

In other words, what remains is a semi-empty city.

When Buggy came out of the cabin, the pirates guarding the cabin door immediately stood up straight.

"captain!"

Bucky nodded, his gaze continuing to sweep across the town.

"Where are Mochi and Kabaji?"

"Reporting, Captain! The Chief of Staff and the Beastmaster have led some men to town, saying they're going to rob some good stuff for you!"

"Stealing..." Bucky paused thoughtfully for a moment, then said, "Go tell them."

The pirate immediately perked up his ears.

"Robbing money is fine, robbing things is fine too," Bucky said calmly, "but tell them—"

"A little leniency is permissible; it is my mercy towards you."

"But don't engage in too much unnecessary killing; population is also a treasure."

"Now that I'm here, this town is my treasure."

"I may give you some of my treasures, but I will not allow you to deliberately damage them."

Everything in this world belongs to me.

Following his heart, Bucky the Clown uttered his most classic Gian-esque statement, much like a certain Gilgamesh.

The pirate was stunned for a moment.

"What are you standing there for? Didn't you understand?" Bucky narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Yes, I understand!" the pirate nodded quickly.

Bucky glanced at him, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"You have some talent~ Go ahead~" Bucky said casually.

The pirate took off running and charged towards the town.

Bucky watched him leave, then turned his head slightly to look in a certain direction on the other side of the ship.

There, a girl with orange hair had just slipped past the side of the boat, her movements as nimble as a cat's.

Nami the Cat Thief.

Bucky watched the figure disappear on the other side of the cabin, a strange feeling welling up inside him.

We're about to meet the main characters.

Strictly speaking, Nami hasn't joined the Straw Hat crew yet, and may not even have met Luffy.

But based on the timeline, it should be soon.

After all, he had already arrived in Orange Town.

Buggy doesn't have any particular interest in Luffy and Zoro.

While he was just checking in, as a time traveler, he was well aware of the current level of the protagonist's team.

Luffy has just set sail, and Zoro has just joined the crew; they're both incredibly inexperienced.

Let alone the fact that it's pointless to get involved now, even if it were meaningful, he wouldn't want to get involved.

But he needs to get the nautical chart back.

That's an essential tool for sailing on the high seas; losing it would be a real problem.

Bucky leaned against the gunwale, waiting patiently.

Sure enough, not long after, several pirates rushed back from the town and ran all the way to the ship.