[191] : Buggy's Rebirth! Whitebeard Pirates Mobilize! The Vanishing Emperor!
~ As Usual. Bonus Chapter Every 300 Powerstones!
~ 18 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon
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The Marineford Arc officially starts with the next chapter!
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Compared to Jinbe, Buggy was completely dumbfounded.
What was he hearing??
This man before him—was going to war with Marine Headquarters AND the Seven Warlords?!
A direct assault on Marine HQ??
Is he insane??
Marine HQ and the Warlords, alongside the Four Emperors, formed the Three Great Powers that had maintained the balance of the seas for years.
Meaning, whether from the World Government's strategic perspective or from common perception across the seas—Marine HQ plus the Seven Warlords could contend with all four Emperors.
Not just one Emperor crew!
Buggy, having once sailed with the Roger Pirates, knew very well what a monolithic entity Marine HQ was. Even their Roger Pirates were constantly hounded across the seas by Marine forces led by Garp!
One Emperor crew attacking Marine HQ was suicide.
Let alone with the Seven Warlords added to the mix.
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"Hahahaha! It's been a long time since I've felt so fired up!"
Buggy stared blankly as Rayleigh laughed with overwhelming power.
"V-VICE-CAPTAIN RAYLEIGH! YOU'RE NOT GOING TOO, ARE YOU??" Buggy stammered in shock.
Rayleigh knew better than anyone the terrifying combat strength Marine HQ and the Warlords represented.
Why would the retired Rayleigh re-emerge now??
"Hey, Buggy. Roger... left behind his bloodline," Rayleigh said, looking at Buggy, this brat who once followed him with such respect, his expression filled with nostalgia.
"C-Captain Roger's bloodline??" Buggy shrieked.
"That's right. The one the Navy is about to publicly execute—Portgas D. Ace—is Roger's son," Rayleigh stated, looking at Ace's picture in the newspaper.
The more he looked, the more he resembled Roger from his God Valley days, filling Rayleigh's eyes with nostalgia.
"Whitebeard's 2nd Division Commander, Fire Fist Ace, is Captain Roger's son??" Buggy's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Because of Rowen, Buggy was captured in Loguetown and thrown into Impel Down, never meeting Ace as he did in the original story.
Learning Captain Roger had a child made Buggy's heart pound furiously.
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"Hey, Buggy," Rowen looked towards him.
"Huh??" Buggy blinked, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"Let's make a deal, Buggy. Your aptitude for Conqueror's Haki—in exchange for your ability to swim again," Rowen said, smiling at Buggy.
"M-My ability to swim??" Buggy stared blankly at Rowen, his entire body trembling as if struck by lightning.
Once upon a time, he too was spirited and ambitious, boasting he'd take Whitebeard's head and dye his mustache red.
But after eating the Chop-Chop Fruit, everything changed...
His proudest skill, swimming, vanished. His dream of finding all the world's treasures—shattered.
And along with it... his former ambitious self.
Cowardice and timidity constantly welled up from within his heart, beyond his control—unless he could regain his ability to swim.
But once a Devil Fruit was eaten, one was destined to be unable to swim. Unless they died completely, at which point the fruit would depart and find a new user...
But what was this man saying now??
He could let him regain his ability to swim??
Buggy's mind raced back to this man's power—the ability to steal others' Devil Fruit powers!
That's right!
If this man just takes the Chop-Chop Fruit from him... His swimming ability will return!
As for the aptitude for Conqueror's Haki?
Who cared about that!
If he couldn't regain his ability to swim, he couldn't control his inner cowardice. Forget awakening Conqueror's Haki—he couldn't even learn Armament Haki or Observation Haki.
Buggy wanted to scream that he accepted the deal, but in his extreme excitement, he couldn't form the words, only nodding frantically.
"Very good." Rowen wasn't surprised in the least.
WHAM!
With precisely controlled Haki, Rowen knocked Buggy unconscious with a single punch.
With Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji as prior 'Subjects', Rowen was now incredibly experienced at knocking people out with Haki.
"Plunder."
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Rowen extracted both the Chop-Chop Fruit ability and the Conqueror's Haki (Pale Gold) (Unawakened) Trait.
Rowen's spiritual power had already evolved to the pinnacle of this sea.
Previously, when plundering Strength-type Traits like Devil Fruits, he could only take the user's entire physique energy along with the fruit.
Now, Rowen could separate the Devil Fruit ability from the physique energy—he could plunder only the fruit, leaving the target's physical strength.
Buggy's meager physique energy was useless to Rowen anyway; better to let Buggy keep it. This was an ability he gained after his spirit metamorphosed during his life-or-death battle with Akainu.
With this new ability, it was also time to fulfill his promise with Kaya... Before, though he obtained many Devil Fruits, none were particularly suitable for her. Kaya, being naturally frail with deficient physical energy, needed a Zoan fruit to compensate.
But giving her a random Zoan fruit with poor compatibility wasn't ideal. Zoan Awakenings carried immense risk; if she failed, she could lose her sanity and become a beast.
Though she could just choose not to Awaken, Rowen knew Kaya's personality; she would want to help him, and that inner drive would push her towards Awakening. And more troublingly, Kaya's gentle heart wasn't suited for the Grand Line.
The best solution was to find an already Awakened Zoan user and give that fruit to Kaya. But until now, Rowen hadn't obtained an Awakened Zoan. With this new ability, however, this was no longer a problem.
He could first use a Zoan fruit to supplement Kaya's physical deficiencies, then later, simply remove the fruit.
But after his battle with Akainu, the Summit War was imminent, so Rowen wasn't in a rush to retrieve Kaya yet.
After the war, he could return to the East Blue and fulfill his promise...
Thinking of Kaya, a gentle smile appeared on Rowen's face.
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"Chop-Chop!" Buggy yelled upon waking up, trying to split his body. Nothing happened.
"It's really... It's really gone! The Chop-Chop Fruit!" Buggy roared towards the heavens.
The uncontrollable cowardice and timidity that had plagued him for years also vanished. Though his former ambitious spirit didn't fully return, for Buggy, this was more than enough—
—Without the Born of the Sea (Apex Gold) Trait, Buggy naturally wouldn't regain that same level of confidence. But Buggy's body was suited for swimming; even without the Trait, his swimming ability would be excellent.
And without cowardice holding him back, Buggy learning Haki was only a matter of time. Though lacking the aptitude for Conqueror's Haki, Buggy could at most reach the level of a 'Gatekeeper' Admiral like Zephyr in his prime.
Still, that was far better than the pathetic state in the original story where Crocodile kicked his head around like a rubber ball while he wailed for mercy.
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"Vice-Captain Rayleigh! I can swim again!" Buggy looked excitedly at Rayleigh.
Rayleigh, seeing the cowardice and fear gone from Buggy's eyes, also smiled. Though not the same spirited youth from before, this outcome was very good.
For Buggy, this was no less than a rebirth.
"Thank you, Rowen—" Rayleigh said sincerely, looking at Rowen.
Buggy was one of his juniors. And on these seas, only Rowen could grant Buggy this new life.
To remove a Devil Fruit ability without killing the user—only the World's Strongest Devil Fruit User could achieve such a feat.
"No need to thank me. It was a trade," Rowen replied, smiling at the now blushing Buggy, who was too embarrassed to thank him directly.
Buggy's face turned completely red, making his red nose even more prominent.
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"Vivi, come here," Rowen looked towards Vivi.
"Mm!" Vivi nodded firmly, her eyes shining with fervent anticipation.
VMM!
The aptitude for Conqueror's Haki, via the spiritual connection channel constructed by the System, was transferred into Vivi.
"How do you feel, Vivi?" Nami asked with concern.
"I can feel a power flowing into me... but then it went dormant inside my body. It seems I can't awaken Conqueror's Haki just yet," Vivi replied, biting her lip.
"Don't worry about it. It's inherently more difficult for women to awaken Conqueror's Haki than men. With my help, your awakening is only a matter of time," Rowen said, not surprised.
Females' spiritual and physical power were weaker than males'—this was a genetic reality that couldn't be changed.
The known female Conqueror's Haki users on these seas were only Big Mom, Kaido's daughter Yamato, and the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock.
And of those, only Big Mom had fully mastered Haōshoku Coating. But with Rowen's spiritual power assistance, Vivi awakening Conqueror's Haki was inevitable.
"Mm." Vivi immediately adjusted her mindset and nodded firmly.
After the Enies Lobby battle, not just Rowen's heart had been tempered—Vivi and the others had also undergone a metamorphosis.
A temporary setback was unimportant—
—As long as her determination to fight for Rowen remained unshaken, with Rowen's spiritual assistance, awakening Conqueror's Haki, even mastering Haōshoku Coating, was only a matter of time.
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"Well then. Prepare yourselves," Rowen stated, looking at the public execution time in the newspaper, an extreme crimson-black light flashing in his eyes.
The Summit War he had waited for so long—WAS FINALLY ABOUT TO BEGIN.
"OOOHHH!" The crew's fighting spirit soared.
"WAIT!" A loud shout made everyone turn. Buggy stood there, head bowed, his expression unreadable.
"I'm going too! How can I be absent when we're saving Captain Roger's son??" Buggy roared, looking up.
"On that battlefield, one wrong move and you'll die," Luffy reminded him.
"Hey, hey! Don't look down on me! When it comes to sailing the Grand Line, I'm a man who came just one step short of reaching Laugh Tale!"
Buggy declared, looking at Luffy—the man who had scattered his body parts—with a smile reflecting his own unique 'Disposition'.
Captain Roger had shown him great kindness!
Roger's bloodline continuing meant Roger's legend hadn't vanished!
Though his power was insufficient, how could he not contribute to this war??
More importantly, the feeling of being a cowardly ant, betraying his own heart—Buggy never wanted to taste it again.
"Shishishi! Then let's go together," Luffy grinned, adjusting his hat, a crimson-black light flashing in his eyes.
"Hmph." Rowen smiled.
Buggy truly had been reborn.
Good... Having Buggy, the original story's lucky mascot, on the battlefield, was a good omen.
In war, luck was also very important—
"PREPARE FOR WAR!" Rowen laughed with immense power.
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"Why go to such lengths?? There's no need for this!" Garp stared grimly at Sengoku.
Sengoku had just informed him of the plan to reveal Ace's lineage to the entire world during the public execution.
"This public execution isn't just about killing Fire Fist Ace. You, of all people, should know the impact this will have on the world's situation. Don't forget that, Garp!" Sengoku stated coldly, meeting his old friend's gaze without backing down.
Garp clenched his fists, then turned and left without another word.
Sengoku rubbed his temples.
"REPORT! FLEET ADMIRAL SENGOKU!"
"Hm??" Sengoku turned towards the reporting soldier.
"ALL 23 SCOUT SHIPS MONITORING THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES HAVE BEEN SUNK! PIRATE CREWS THROUGHOUT THE NEW WORLD ARE ALSO BECOMING RESTLESS!" the soldier roared, drenched in cold sweat, his voice trembling.
"Hm??" Veins throbbed on Sengoku's forehead. 'It's begun! The Whitebeard Pirates!'
His last shred of hope vanished!
The Whitebeard Pirates were about to attack Marine HQ to stop the public execution. This move clearly meant the Whitebeard Pirates were mobilizing their entire force—
"What's the situation at Sabaody Archipelago? Has Sky Sovereign Rowen entered the New World?" Sengoku demanded, his expression grim.
Sabaody still harbored another terrifying threat, no less than Whitebeard!
"N-No news! We can't track that man's movements!" the soldier stammered, sweat pouring down his face.
"Hm?? What happened there?" Sengoku felt a deep sense of unease.
"Sky Sovereign Rowen and the entire Straw Hat crew, and the six Supernova crews with bounties over 100 million who were previously active in the Grand Line... HAVE ALL MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHED! NO TRACE! THAT MAN IS GONE!" the soldier reported, trembling, on the situation at Sabaody.
"WHAT???" Sengoku's forehead was drenched in sweat.
Vanished??
Rowen had more than one way to achieve such a feat... whether with the Door-Door Fruit or the Clear-Clear Fruit.
But at this critical juncture, for an Emperor and his entire pirate fleet to vanish mysteriously—what was this man planning??
Sengoku's forehead was slick with cold sweat.
The worst-case scenario... Was it really about to happen??
"ALL FORCES ON HIGH ALERT! CONVERGE AT MARINEFORD BAY! THE ENEMY WE ARE ABOUT TO FACE—MAY BE MORE THAN JUST ONE EMPEROR!" Sengoku roared.
"Y-Yes, sir!" The reporting soldier, soaked in sweat, replied.
More than one Emperor??
The ones attacking Marine HQ weren't just the Whitebeard Pirates??
Could it be that man who brought such a crushing defeat upon Marine HQ—Sky Sovereign Rowen?
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