Chapter 007: The Red-Nosed Man Addicted to Claymore [New book, please add to favorites and send flowers]
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Some hidden beach in the southern part of Water 7.
A pirate ship was docked here, its hull badly damaged. The Jolly Roger had long since been ordered to be taken down by the captain.
Although Water 7 was a convenient place for ship repairs, it still came with great risks. The crew had gone into the city's shipbuilding companies to purchase everything needed to repair the vessel—timber, anti-rot paint, and some daily necessities.
> "Damn Germa Group and the Navy, just you wait! We barely escaped from the West Blue alive, and then we ran aground! This is infuriating!"
The one throwing a tantrum had a fierce face and a cold gaze, but his comical red nose undercut his intimidating aura by several levels.
He was none other than Buggy the Clown, once an apprentice on the ship of Pirate King Gol D. Roger!
As fate would have it, after Buggy and Shanks witnessed their captain's execution in Loguetown, the two parted ways—Shanks stepping onto the path of an Emperor, while Buggy vanished from sight, secretly forming the Buggy Pirates. His goal? To find the treasure map Shanks had lost. Buggy still had no idea what kind of treasure it led to, but even as someone who had sailed the Grand Line with the Pirate King, he couldn't get it out of his mind.
After forming his crew, Buggy kept a low profile—searching for the map while building his strength. Every member of Roger's crew had their own pride, and Buggy was no exception. He wanted to inherit Roger's pride through his own power. Even when he encountered Germa's science division in the West Blue, his Chop-Chop Fruit ability rendered their advanced technology ineffective—they didn't have Haki, so they couldn't do much against him. In the end, it took a Marine Vice Admiral to drive Buggy away.
While fleeing from the West Blue and evading Marine pursuit, the Buggy Pirates ran aground on a reef near Water 7. Several holes tore into the bottom of their ship. Thanks to Buggy, who split himself into pieces to plug each hole, he could still stretch his head above water to breathe. His survival instinct was maxed out…
The damaged ship wobbled its way toward Water 7. Buggy didn't dare openly enter the city for repairs—after all, Enies Lobby was nearby and surely full of spies. So he sent his men to buy supplies while he stayed to guard the ship, carefully hiding his flag.
Before long, the crew returned with the needed materials, along with some food and daily goods.
Buggy's sharp eyes spotted one crew member reading a small booklet with great excitement. One of his detached hands flew over and snatched it away!
The first thing Buggy saw was a golden-haired, silver-armored girl with a pure white cape and a long sword on her back. Her silver eyes were fierce—and Buggy instantly liked her.
Opening the booklet, the first page described a village infiltrated by monsters that ordinary people couldn't recognize. Only silver-eyed warriors—women implanted with the flesh and blood of these monsters—could identify them. A brutal battle between a Claymore warrior and a cruel monster began, while a boy named Raki narrowly escaped death.
From the very first page, Buggy felt as though he was possessed.
This silver-eyed warrior was just like him! Looked down on for appearance (in his own mysterious confidence), strong but treated unfairly by fate (still mysteriously confident), yet courageous and unyielding!
His crew watched from the side as their captain's tears began streaming down. One by one, they were dumbfounded. Was this really their evil captain Buggy? Wouldn't being this sentimental ruin the fearsome image he'd worked so hard to build?
> "Where did you get this book?"
After finishing it, Buggy asked the crewman who had gone shopping.
> "The bookstore! In Water 7. This book's selling like crazy! Oh, and Captain, the author seems to have another work. Want to take a look?"
The crewman handed him a Doraemon volume. Buggy flipped through a few pages, clearly uninterested in children's books, and tossed it back.
Suddenly, an idea popped into Buggy's head.
That very day, Buggy and his crew used all their funds to buy more than 4,000 copies of Claymore and over 2,000 copies of Doraemon.
After repairing their ship, they quietly left Water 7, heading for the weakest sea—the East Blue. A legendary pirate-turned-bookseller was about to open the doors to a whole new world!
But Buggy had no idea that his crew's mass buying spree had triggered a wave among local and neighboring island booksellers.
The two manga series began spreading across Water 7 at an unbelievable speed.
Doraemon, of course, relied on boosting newspaper sales, and could only be compiled into volumes after the newspaper serialization finished. Claymore, however, was James's brand-new manga—meaning that after the first volume, fans would have to wait at least a month for volume two, assuming James didn't succumb to his "chronic laziness" and take random breaks.
Ever since Claymore's release, James had been glued to his fan-value counter—rising from two to three thousand per day to a peak of over six thousand. The results were staggering!
A year of Doraemon serialization had only earned him 70,000 fan points, but Claymore's first volume alone had netted him nearly 50,000 in under a month. The difference was obvious! Choosing to draw Claymore had definitely been the right call.
As Claymore fever swept Water 7, the streets filled with beautiful young women in golden wigs, tight white outfits, and wooden greatswords strapped to their backs—full of "chuunibyou" energy! Onlookers didn't mock them—on the contrary, they praised them, inspiring the girls to plan silver armor and white capes just like in the manga, rivaling professional cosplayers.
Even the men couldn't sit still—Franky and Iceburg commissioned two replica greatswords from the weapon shop, dueling on the beach in their spare time. Seeing this, James started to worry—had he accidentally warped the "talent tree" of the future perverted-cyborg shipwright?
If Franky went down the swordsman path, who would steer the ship? Who would repair it?
> "Did I just do something terrible…?"
But that wasn't important! James told himself not to sweat the details—getting the Anywhere Door was the real priority. Still, if Claymore offered some overpowered demon-energy skills, that wouldn't be bad either. Irene's Quick Sword, fast enough to leave no afterimage; Flora's Windcutter Sword; Miria's Phantom Step—all were techniques that could boost his combat power dramatically in a short time.