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

At the dock, the Buggy Pirates' ship was loading cargo.

The facilities here are quite complete.

Chests of treasure were carried onto the deck, and barrels of supplies were rolled into the hold. The pirates were running around, busy as bees.

Baji stood at the bow of the ship, holding Nami by the collar.

"Beautiful things that are fragile are just vases."

"All the suffering in this world stems from the weakness of the person involved."

He looked down at the woman.

His orange hair was messy, his face was covered in dust, and there was a red mark around his neck... it was from when he pinched him.

His breathing was still so weak, but at least he wasn't dead.

"Captain!" A pirate ran over, beaming. "This woman is beautiful, perfect for you!!"

Bucky glanced at him.

The pirate's smile froze on his face, and he shivered as if he had been splashed with ice water.

"I, I'm leaving now, I'm leaving now—" He scrambled away.

Baji stood at the bow of the ship, facing the sea breeze, looking towards Orange Town in the distance.

Smoke and dust were still rising from the town, heading towards the ruins of the tavern.

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Luffy.

Zoro.

The Straw Hat Gang.

What will the future hold?

Bucky looked down at his hands.

The hand that was holding the sword just now.

The power has increased.

My senses have become stronger.

It also makes controlling the throwing knives much easier.

With 5% completion and 20% of the ace throwing knife, this level of achievement is already possible.

What if the completion rate were improved further?

What if I unlock the Joker magic?

What if the Destruction Aurora is unlocked?

It's safe to say that this is truly the power of the Clown King.

As the leader of the Dark Lords, Piedmon is extremely powerful.

The only problem is that while Bucky gains the power of the Piercer, he doesn't gain the Piercer's memories.

Although this would prevent Bucky from using his powers as freely as the Piedmon himself, Bucky thought it was a good thing.

Without receiving the Clown King's memories, one's own personality and behavior will not be affected.

As for controlling the power of the Piercer, Bucky felt he had enough time to practice slowly.

In short, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

The upward curve of Bucky's mouth below the mask was even more pronounced.

He suddenly felt a sense of anticipation for the days to come.

The peaceful life before time travel was indeed interesting.

But the unbridled use of power after transmigrating is definitely more exhilarating!

--strength!

—That is precisely why I took action!

"Captain!" Another pirate ran over. "Supplies are loaded, we're ready to depart!"

"Let's go." Bucky nodded.

Pirate ships need to make a lot of preparations to sail on the high seas.

If these aspects are not handled properly, there is a near 100% mortality rate at sea.

As for why it's said to be almost 100% rather than absolutely 100%... well, there are indeed lucky ones like Luffy who can set sail just by being made into a wine barrel.

The pirate ship slowly sailed away from the dock, its sails raised, heading towards the sea.

Inside the cabin, Nami was thrown onto Buggy's bed, and the door was locked from the outside.

Buggy wasn't worried about Nami escaping, because she had nowhere to run on this ship.

Once the bird has been caught, it must be put in a cage; this is what is meant by a caged bird.

Nami remained motionless.

Sunlight streamed in through the porthole and fell on Nami's face.

She frowned.

He was still unconscious, but his body had already begun to react instinctively.

Dream.

She had a very long dream.

There was a face in my dream.

A face wearing a mask.

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

That face was getting closer and closer to her... closer and closer...

Nami's body trembled violently.

But she still didn't wake up.

On the dock, amidst the ruins.

Luffy is still lying on the ground.

His eyes finally closed.

The sunlight shone on his face and on his dusty straw hat.

The sea breeze blew across the sea, ruffling the hem of his clothes.

In the distance, the Buggy Pirates' ship had become a tiny dot, disappearing at the edge of the horizon.

And because of the pirates' spectacular retreat, the original villagers finally returned.

The returning villagers searched the town thoroughly, rescuing the survivors.

Although they found that a lot of their belongings had been stolen, the villagers were still in a good mood because they were surprised that no one had died.

"Hey everyone, there are two outsiders here!"

"Judging from the surrounding situation, it seems there's been a conflict with pirates!"

"Quick, they're not dead yet! Let's take them back for treatment!"

In short, Luffy's journey wasn't directly interrupted... which is probably something to be happy about?

I just don't know if there's any hope for his kidneys.

laugh.

-

-

On the other side...

After some time had passed.

"Well……"

"I feel a little unwell..."

Nami regained consciousness amidst a series of jolts and shakes.

First comes hearing.

The sound of waves crashing against the hull, the creaking of the wooden planks, and the chaotic sounds of footsteps and shouts filled my ears.

Such terrible living conditions are actually quite normal for pirate ships.

We really can't have too high expectations for these pirates' wooden ships.

It's relatively stable, but the living environment is quite noisy. Overall, it's a pirate ship of fairly good quality.

...At least it's better than just getting a broken raft and going out to sea.

...Okay, the most outrageous thing is that they just set sail with a barrel of wine.

Luffy's way of setting sail is just too ridiculous no matter how you look at it.

In short, the Buggy Pirates' ship is at least somewhat high-class.

Of course, it's only a little bit.

After Nami regained her hearing, she regained her sense of touch next.

The surface beneath me was soft, with a rough texture, like some kind of bed.

My neck hurts...it feels like something has strangled it, and every breath I take is accompanied by a dull, stinging pain.

Finally, there's the sense of smell... There's an indescribable smell in the air, a salty, fishy sea breeze mixed with the damp scent of wood, and a hint of... the pungent smell of wild animals?

Nami's eyelids twitched.

Although she was awake, she didn't open her eyes immediately; this was a habit she had developed over the years.

In an unfamiliar environment, figure out the situation before you open your eyes.

Then she heard a sound outside, the voices of two pirates discussing something.

Although it is easy for guards to reveal various kinds of information to prisoners by chatting outside their doors.

The problem is that pirates obviously can't be completely obedient... especially since Buggy's crew of pirates has never had any proper training.

Bucky the Joker used to be a rather lax manager.

However, it's only loose; it's still quite well-controlled.

Bucky the Joker is the type of guy who will kill your whole family if he says so.

One of the most brutal forms of torture on Buggy's pirate ship was stuffing people into cannonballs and firing them out.

Although this approach is abstract, it is very deterrent.

When a cannonball is fired, a person will be reduced to ashes.

So these pirates are actually terrified of Buggy.

"...Why do you think the captain grabbed that woman?"

"Of course! It's so beautiful, wouldn't you grab it?"

"Hehehe, that's true..."

"But the captain didn't seem to have that intention. He just locked her in the room and had Leakey watch over her."

"...Nicky is really mean to us, and it ate that guy last time..."

"Oh, we're having such a hard time... One wrong move and we'll be fed to Littleie by Brother Mochi..."

"Hiss—why do you think the captain is so interested in that woman?"

"So beautiful, so young, wouldn't you be interested?"

"Unfortunately, all the beauties belong to the captain; we can only play with the sheep..."

"So we're just glad we got our share of the money. With money, we can go have some fun..."

"Hehehe..."

"Hehehe..."

Nami's heart clenched suddenly.

captain!

Bucky!

Bucky the Clown!

Bucky the Clown!

The man wearing a mask.

Her last fragments of memory flooded back: she climbed out of the back window of the tavern, landed, and then… then that person stood there, right in front of her, that black and white mask, that bright red heart, that hand gripping her neck…

Nami subconsciously raised her hand and touched her neck.

pain.

It really hurts.

In other words, it wasn't a dream.

She was arrested.

They were captured by Bucky the Clown.

They were locked on the ship.

And... Nami slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing that catches the eye is an unfamiliar ceiling, and you can even see cracks in the wood.

Nami found herself lying on a bed. The bed wasn't big, but it was much better than what ordinary pirates were treated like.

Then she turned her head and was met with a pair of bright yellow eyes with huge vertical pupils.

The one responsible for keeping an eye on Nami here is Lion Leigh.

Lion Leigh was lying on the floor next to Nami's bed, his big, furry head resting on his front paws, staring at her with his eyes wide open.

Nami didn't know what to say: "..."

Nami's body froze instantly.

There's no way around it, Lion Leakey is very big.

For ordinary people, facing such a monster would indeed evoke a natural sense of fear.

Most people don't feel anything when they see a lion on TV, but they'll know how fierce it looks when they go to the zoo.

The lion Liki is no ordinary lion; it is a lion with a size comparable to a polar bear.

Nami's current strength is far from reaching the level of a monster.

Strictly speaking, Nami's fighting ability isn't actually much better than that of an ordinary pirate.

Perhaps because he had undergone some training with the Arlong Pirates, his combat strength there was roughly equivalent to one person taking on ten ordinary people.

So, to Leo the Lion, Nami was just a slightly larger piece of meat, barely enough to satisfy his cravings.

But that's not the point. The point is that Nami is really uneasy when she sees this giant lion.

Nami wants to complain:

—Lions, lions, why are there big lions in the room?!

—Clown Baron, you treat your pirate ship like a circus, is that all?

—But Bucky, if you let the lions of the animal trainer guard me, aren't you afraid the lions will eat me?!

Nami's expression changed to this •﹏•

When Lion Leigh saw that Nami had woken up, he let out a low roar.

Lion Leakey thought to himself: Woman, you've finally woken up.

It didn't move; it just lay there, continuing to stare at Nami.

Lion Leigh knew very well that its roar had just echoed throughout the entire pirate ship.

Its sudden roar would inevitably attract the attention of other pirates, especially the beast tamer Mochi.

Animal trainer Mochi is able to communicate and talk normally with lion Liki.

Moreover, Leigh felt that his unusual reaction would attract the great Clown King Bucky!

Don't underestimate Lion Leakey just because he's only a lion.

But its intelligence is very high, even higher than that of some of the pirates on the ship.

Therefore, Leigh the Lion clearly understands that Bucky the Clown is the one he needs to fear and respect, rather than the Beast Tamer Mochi.

Nami didn't dare to move either.

She just huddled on the bed, her back against the wall, staring at the lion in an extremely stiff posture.

Leakey blinked.

Nami blinked too.

Although the atmosphere is strange, the scene is actually quite funny.

Nami and Lion Leigh began to stare at each other in a physical sense.

—Nami's expression ⊙_⊙

——Nicky expression ⊙ω⊙

Leigh yawned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, then closed his mouth again and continued to stare at Nami.

Nami felt her back was soaked with cold sweat.

She knew that the lion was the partner of the animal trainer Mochi, and his name was Liki.

The intelligence report stated that the vice-captain of the Buggy Pirates, the Beast Tamer Mochi, was accompanied by a lion.

It's said that he's decent in combat, but not very bright.

Of course, this "not very bright" is in comparison to humans; among animals, this lion is considered quite intelligent.

But knowing about it is one thing, actually sharing a room with it is quite another.

Just like a normal person would never dare to get too close to lions and tigers when visiting a zoo.

But the lion Liki is no ordinary lion; in terms of size, it is larger than a typical polar bear.

Moreover, the room is not very big.

The lion was lying there, taking up almost half the ground.

The fact that we were able to get in is probably thanks to the fact that Buggy's room is one of the larger rooms on the pirate ship.

After all, he is the captain of a pirate ship, so Buggy's personal life is definitely top-notch, including his accommodations.

The lion couldn't enter any of the other rooms except for the one where the beast tamer, Mochi, had a custom-made door.

Even so, Nami still wondered how the lion managed to squeeze in.

Nami thinks: It probably crept in little by little?

Lion Leakey did indeed sneak in little by little.

Even though Buggy's room door was much bigger than the doors of a typical pirate's room, it still took him a lot of effort to squeeze himself in.

Captain Buggy said to have it watch over the woman, not letting her run away, and not letting any other pirates in.

As for why he wouldn't let other pirates in, Leigh didn't know; he was just a lion.

But it knew one thing: Captain Bucky had to listen to him.

Captain Bucky is terrifying.

He's far more terrifying than his own beast tamer, Mochi.

So Lion Leakey lay there obediently, staring at the woman without moving.

Although it was very bored and wanted to go out and move around, it dared not move.

What if we break something in Captain Bucky's room?

What if this woman gets away?

Mochi will be angry.

Captain Bucky will be even angrier.

With that in mind, Leakey decided to keep an eye on things.

Leakey swore: I'd rather die than be roasted by the captain!

Nami watched the lion staring at her, her mind racing with calculations.

escape?

How do I escape?

The door is over there, but this lion is blocking it.

window?

While there are indeed windows, and Bucky's room has relatively large windows, what happens after you crawl out of the window?

Knock out this lion?

Are you kidding me? She's just a pretty girl who draws nautical charts. How could she possibly fight a lion?

Should we wait until it falls asleep?

The problem is that this thing doesn't look sleepy at all.

...Nami began brainstorming, and as she was thinking, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the door.

"Has that woman woken up yet?"

"Not before."

"What about the niche?"

"Keep an eye on things from inside."

"Alright, keep a close watch on her. The captain said this woman is very important."

Nami listened intently.

Then she heard a new voice.

The footsteps were strange, yet steady.

It was slow and steady, one step at a time, as if it were stepping to a certain rhythm.

The important thing is that this voice and appearance are very special, like being superior to others.

After this sound appeared, the noisy sounds suddenly quieted down.

"captain!"

"Good day, Captain!"

"Captain Bucky!"

Nami's heart skipped a beat.

Pakistan.

Bucky the Clown.

The man wearing a mask.

The footsteps grew closer.

Then it stopped outside the door.

"Open the door."

The sound was accompanied by an indescribable sense of oppression.

The door was pushed open.

Light streamed in from the doorway, illuminating the dimly lit room.

Nami saw that figure.

He stood in the doorway, backlit, his figure outlined in a dark silhouette.

A red shirt, green pants, yellow shoes, white gloves, and four swords on his back.

He was wearing that mask, and the corners of his mouth beneath the mask were slightly upturned.

Bucky the Clown.

There were two people following behind him.

One was a tall, thin man—Chief of Staff, Acrobatic Swordsman, Kabaji.

The other was a man with a fierce face, holding a whip in his hand, standing beside Bucky—the first mate, the beast tamer, Mochi.