Chapter 3 – Buggy the Clown
"Nami, you're my nakama!"
Luffy stood atop the ruins of Arlong Park and shouted these words. Nami, wearing his straw hat, stood there sobbing—he'd really done it. He had personally defeated Arlong and freed her village.
Luffy even thrashed Colonel Nezumi, making him return all the treasure Nami had worked so hard to steal. From then on, that petty Marine never dared to extort Nami's hometown again; even a third-generation Marine like him knew he couldn't afford to provoke the Straw Hats.
The Straw Hats' navigator officially joined the crew. Meanwhile, in Loguetown, a certain red-nosed figure was waiting in leisure, ready for the arrival of the future Pirate King.
Buggy the Clown, after being defeated by Luffy and finally retrieving his body, had teamed up with Alvida to give that upstart brat a huge surprise.
Alvida had already eaten the Slip-Slip Fruit—no longer a chubby tank, she'd turned into a real beauty. Defeated by Luffy as his very first enemy, she held quite a grudge, so she readily agreed to join the Buggy Pirates.
"I'm going to kill that Straw Hat brat!"
"Just seeing that hat pisses me off. How could he pass such an important hat to a kid?" Buggy didn't mention the hat's connection to Red-Haired Shanks—if he killed Luffy, that hat would become his.
Mohji, wrapped in a white animal skin, was stuffing his mouth with meat. "Captain, your plan is perfect! Straw Hat Luffy won't get away this time."
Cabaji, riding his unicycle, clutched a wine barrel and chugged it down, intent on getting revenge on Zoro. He believed his swordsmanship was no worse than Zoro's. "I'm going to defeat that green-haired guy for sure."
"Captain Buggy is a Devil Fruit user too. Do you think you'll ever appear on the sky screen? I'd love to see that day." Alvida made a casual comment—she knew Buggy's strength, and that in East Blue he was only good at bullying smaller pirate crews.
"Don't be ridiculous, Alvida! The captain doesn't rely on his Devil Fruit—he wins with his brilliant mind!" Mohji answered earnestly.
Buggy's use of the Chop-Chop Fruit left much to be desired. Once he split, his feet always had to stay on the ground. The rest of his body could split for battle, but he couldn't control parts beyond a certain distance—his greatest weakness. Like many Paramecia users, he still had to rely on external tools.
"Mohji's right—anyone who only uses their fruit is a brute. Victory belongs to those who use their wits!" Buggy already had a plan—he'd lure Luffy to the execution platform and finish off Red-Haired's chosen successor himself.
Richie the lion gnawed on a hunk of meat in the corner. After being defeated by the Straw Hats, he'd been spoiled by the Buggy Pirates—these days he did nothing but eat and drink, his fighting spirit utterly withered. He was little more than a pet now.
"All right, everyone, raise your glasses! Soon, we'll be welcoming our enemy!"
"Long live the Captain!"
"Captain is invincible!"
His drunken crew kept singing Buggy's praises, filling him with pride. With such loyal underlings, treasure-hunting would be a breeze. Once he executed Luffy, he planned to leave East Blue to search for Captain John's treasure—he had no real interest in becoming Pirate King.
Suddenly, the outside grew noisy. Buggy sent out one of the less-drunk crew to check. The fat pirate soon staggered back inside, his face full of shock. "Sky screen! The sky screen is showing something—sky screen…!"
Buggy, even more irritable after drinking, activated his fruit and sent a hand flying to grab the guy by the collar. "What's got you so scared? Spit it out!"
"Captain Buggy, you're on the sky screen! You made the list! Your great image is being shown up there for everyone to see!"
Cabaji: "Huh?!"
Mohji: "Huh?!"
The whole Buggy Pirates: "Huh?!"
Alvida actually spit out her drink in shock…
Meanwhile, at the Marine base in Loguetown, Colonel Smoker was holding the latest wanted poster. A major new pirate had appeared in East Blue—first time on a wanted poster and already a bounty of thirty million berries. "Are new pirates this wild these days? This Straw Hat is worth thirty million?"
Tashigi, standing nearby, reported: "The bounty was issued by Colonel Nezumi. He got thrashed by the Straw Hats and is still laid up in the infirmary."
"I'll capture him myself. Pirates with this kind of potential must not be allowed to enter the Grand Line." Smoker pinched his cigar, touching the lit end to the bounty poster. The whole poster burned to ash in his hand.
Smoker, a Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, had come to guard Loguetown in East Blue. For small-time pirates, he was an unbeatable force. With no one in East Blue able to use Haki, no one could hurt him. Any pirate causing trouble in Loguetown ended up in jail.
Nami, shopping at a Loguetown clothing store, could even hear the shopkeeper praise Smoker—before he came, pirates ran wild, but now things were finally under control.
In the weapon shop, the owner complained bitterly to Tashigi. Ever since that "monster" isolated Loguetown from the world, business was terrible—there used to be lots of pirate customers, but now, with fewer pirates heading out from East Blue, he blamed everything on Smoker.
A Marine rushed into Smoker's office. "Colonel Smoker, there's something on the sky screen! The person on the list is a pirate!"
Ever since the sky screen appeared in East Blue, Smoker had tried everything—cannon fire, smoke attacks, even Seastone—but nothing could harm it. This was a huge threat to Marine authority. For the first time, Smoker felt truly helpless.
At this point, Smoker was still proud. Unlike later in the manga, where he rose quickly in rank but his battle performance was disappointing, he hadn't yet become a "unit of failure," nor a pitiful side character.
As the first Logia-type Devil Fruit user to appear, he'd once been treated as a major figure. Fans all agreed—he only suffered because he appeared too early in the story, like Enel with the Lightning Fruit. The manga just didn't know how to handle such powers, and "The Runner" always stole the spotlight. It was a pity Smoker never got the "hero" title.
"Tashigi, come with me. I want to see what the future looks like."
"Yes, Colonel Smoker!"
The future duo walked out of the office, looking up at the sky screen that stretched from the heavens down to the sea. The Marine's report was right—a pirate's face was up there, and it was an East Blue pirate.
Staring at the screen and that unmistakable red nose, Smoker knew at a glance—even if he turned to ash, Smoker would still recognize him. But why Buggy the Clown?
That greedy, cowardly pirate, who'd actually become a big shot on the seas in the future? Smoker started to wonder if the sky screen was just messing with everyone…
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