430. Thriller Bark

Even after leaving Water 7, the Straw Hats are still in disbelief about Dragon & Buggy. Leo & Nami especially, keep asking Robin about their dad because they can't find him in news. Robin gladly tells them about Buggy and even tells them how she was saved by Buggy in the past.

She then shows them Buggy's current bounty poster and they are very shocked to see it. 5.25 billion isn't a small number, after all. Luffy's 330 million and Leo's 300 million bounties look very small now compared to Buggy's bounty.

Zoro is surprised to see Buggy's face because he knows Buggy. "Is he really your dad?"

"Yeah, why?"

".... He was the one who gave me this sword after refusing me to become his apprentice."

Leo seems to remember something after Zoro said that. "Oh, so you were the one that Kuina talked about."

"You know Kuina?"

"Of course, she is my dad's only female apprentice in swordsmanship while I am the only male apprentice. Why don't you say anything till now?"

"You also never told me who your dad is."

"Haven't I told you his name in the past?"

"W-well, I didn't know his name, I only know his face."

Leo doesn't know what to say, but he understands it because Zoro is a real idiot. Zoro asks about Kuina and Leo says he doesn't know what she's doing right now. Nami also doesn't know because they've lost contact for years.

Anyway, Franky also tells them that he has met Buggy in the past and helped build the Clown Pirates' ship, Black Pearl. He says it is the best ship he ever helped to make. He tried to make Sunny to be as good as Black Pearl, but it's still lacking compared to Black Pearl.

"That ship is simply a monster that is owned by a monstrous crew. I don't know what Palu-san did to that ship, but the last time I saw it, it looked much more powerful than when it was created. Maybe the only ship that can match it is the legendary Pluton now. Even Oro Jackson didn't look as amazing as that ship."

"You made that ship? And they were changing their ship in Water 7?"

Franky nods to Sanji's question and tells them the story of how Clown Pirates changed their ship. It is similar to how the Straw Hats changed their ship. The Clowns' old ship couldn't continue to sail, so they changed their ship.

"Iceburg & I weren't surprised when we saw Merry's Klabauterman. It wasn't our first time seeing it, after all. We first saw it at Clown Pirates' first ship, the Little Hunter's funeral."

Luffy now seems more interested in Leo's dad than his own dad. "He seems like an incredible man and his crew must be amazing."

"I wasn't there when this happened, but Iceburg told me how amazing they were."

Franky then tells them how Clown Pirates stopped Tom's execution just by showing up. World Government & Marine were afraid to confront the Clown Pirates. Even Whitebeard Pirates might not achieve such a thing without initiating a war.

Well, Franky doesn't know the full story, so his explanation might be exaggerated a bit. Still, it's not too far from the truth, so it's still true, and it surely amazes the Straw Hats. They faced CP 9 agents and they almost died, but Clown Pirates made the whole World Government & Marine afraid of them.

"How many members do they have?"

Usopp asks out of curiosity, so Robin tells him that Clown Pirates have 110 members now. But now they have many subordinate crews that joined them because of their power.

"Don't be mistaken though. Those 110 are the reason why they are feared, not because they have thousands of people under them. If we narrow it down, then their 13 powerful executives are the main source of their fame. And even if they don't, then their Captain alone is enough to make Marine retreats. It is said that 'Clown Lord' Buggy can destroy this world."

"That is too exaggerated. As if that cheapskate can destroy this world."

Nami seems quite pissed when saying that. It's because Buggy didn't give her allowance to map East Blue. They laugh at it, but some of them know that the rumor can be true because they have seen people with incredible power in Grandline and they know they haven't seen the real deal.

Leo becomes more motivated to get stronger and find his own fighting style. He realizes he still follows what his dad taught as it is. Buggy always told him to find his own style, but he hasn't found it. He always won using Buggy's swordsmanship in the past, but now he realizes that he really needs to find his own style to improve himself.

While the Straw Hats are talking about him as they enter Florian Triangle, Buggy is busy beating up a pirate crew. They thought they could beat him up and raise their bounties, but he got a high bounty as Kuroko for a reason.

"Be glad that I don't kill you, shitheads. You better stop being pirates and do some honest work. You are ashaming pirates' name to only have this level of skill after being pirates for years."

Buggy leaves the beaten-up pirates and picks up Alice who's playing with some children in a local village. They will go to Sabaody now because they are on the 1st island of a route, so they are very far from Sabaody. If they don't go now, they will not reach Sabaody on time.

On their way there, Buggy teaches Alice about navigation. He has taught it to her since they left Water 7, and now she is quite knowledgeable. She still has a lot to learn though, so Buggy teaches her while also showing examples as they sail.

Other than navigation, Buggy also teaches her self-defense. She is still very young though, so he doesn't teach her difficult things. At the very least, he wants her to know how to defend herself in dangerous situations. She will be able to fight well in the future if she isn't lazy.

Buggy also keeps monitoring the Straw Hats when they are in Florian Triangle. It would be impossible knowing how isolated that place is. But Buggy is the Underworld King who has eyes anywhere, including Moria's Thriller Bark.

He is spying on all Warlords just like how he spies on the other Emperors, World Government, the Marine, and other big organizations. Buggy planted his men everywhere over the years. That's why The Caribbean is the biggest information broker now.

Anyway, Buggy is monitoring the Straw Hats' activities on Thriller Bark to see if things go similarly to the series. Well, Brook isn't involved there now, so things are going differently. They still beat Moria's group in the end though, although Moria's crew is more powerful now.

Moria has some more powerful zombies in his crew, which mostly were Beast Pirates' dead members. After Buggy defeated Kaido, Moria was trying to take his revenge by turning the killed Beasts Pirates members into zombies. Too bad for him, Kaido, King, & Queen weren't killed and were sent to the Marine.

However, he got the old Jack's corpse and that is enough for him. He also got other Beasts Pirates' corpses and turned them into zombies. There was a big problem though. They can't use their devil fruit abilities and it was difficult to find shadows strong enough to be inserted into the corpses, especially Jack's corpse.

He also didn't have a good shadow for Ryuma's body. So he used Leo's shadow to control Jack's body and Zoro's shadow to control Ryuma's body. Sanji's shadow was used to control a Beasts Pirates officer while Luffy's shadow was still used to control the Oars.

Luckily for them, the zombies' power was affected by the shadows more than their bodies. If a zombie made of old Jack's body has old Jack's power, then he could wipe out the whole crew alone. But Jack's zombie was using Leo's shadow, so its power and skills are that of Leo.

Leo was fighting zombie Jack, so it was like he fought his own self. Zoro & Sanji also felt that and their fights against 'themselves' made them realize what they were lacking. They eventually won and then just like in the series, Kuma appeared.

Zoro still received the damage, but it was Leo who fought Kuma until he passed out after getting too much damage from Kuma's attack. He fought without listening to his friends' pledge to stop. Leo didn't stop because his senses were screaming at him to warn him that Kuma was very dangerous, so he should stop Kuma no matter what.

That's why after the war ended, Leo & Zoro were the ones who received the most damage. Kuma was very impressed by Buggy's son who didn't back down till the end to protect those he cares for. Buggy has met Kuma a few times, after all, so they know each other a bit.

The Straw Hats eventually leave Thriller Bark and go to Sabaody. Leo & Zoro are still in bad shape, but they need to go before World Government sends more people, so these 2 are being treated on the way. Buggy is also close to Sabaody already, and he really anticipates their meeting because he already has a plan.

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You can read more chapters ahead of my fanfics and more pictures on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.

Voting for this book is highly appreciate. Cover image is the MC, artist's ig: @fatmaqn_

I've uploaded:

1. Chapter 443. The End (Fairy Tail: Sun Eater)

2. Chapter 467. Pirates vs Gods (Transcended as Lord Buggy)

3. Pictures of both stories (ex: bounty poster & magazine cover) by fatmaqn_

https://www.pa_treon.com/CaptMermain

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