Chapter 11: A Familiar Historical Path, Buggy Eats a Devil Fruit

Regarding the battle in Wano Country, Drew neither knew the details nor cared to know. At the moment, aside from completing his daily missions, he had two more priorities:

Practicing Tai Chi and learning to control and use Conqueror's Haki.

Although he had directly obtained top-tier Conqueror's Haki, with his current strength, Drew couldn't bring out its full potential. It would require long-term training. After all, whether in terms of raw power or endurance, a boy in his early teens like Drew was still far from comparable to someone like Roger.

Time passed quickly. Five days later, a loud, excited shout broke the usual calm.

"Hey, Buggy!"

"Shanks?!"

Drew frowned, ending his training. He pushed open the training room door and walked out onto the deck, just in time to see Shanks leaping off the Jackson.

"Eh? Why does this scene feel so familiar? Don't tell me…"

Seeing Shanks dive into the sea, Drew rushed to the ship's edge and instantly used Wood Release to create a long wooden staircase extending dozens of meters into the ocean.

"Pfft! Huff… Huff… Buggy, are you okay?"

From the calm surface of the sea, a head emerged—it was Shanks, holding an unconscious Buggy in his arms.

"Climb up first, Shanks," Drew called from the deck. At the same time, he confirmed what had happened—the timeline remained intact. Buggy had eaten a Devil Fruit, lost his ability to swim, and become a landlubber.

The once inseparable duo had now started to show signs of conflict.

Five minutes later…

"Cough, cough!"

"Buggy, you're awake?!" Shanks beamed as he saw Buggy regaining consciousness.

"Shanks!! ヽ('⌒′メ)ノ"

As Buggy woke up and saw Shanks in front of him, he couldn't help but yell angrily.

He had planned to sell the Devil Fruit for a fortune in Berries, but now he'd accidentally swallowed it himself.

Worse yet, the treasure map he had worked so hard to obtain was now gone too.

"Buggy?"

"Hmph!" Buggy turned away with a huff, refusing to even look at Shanks.

"Ahem… Alright, alright. Come on, what kind of brothers hold grudges overnight?" Drew sighed and stepped in.

"Buggy, Shanks didn't mean for this to happen. And besides, becoming a Devil Fruit user isn't all bad. At least you've gained power.

If you still want to search for treasure, to find Captain John's treasure—then just get stronger. Once you're strong enough, you can have your subordinates search for you. You could even turn the whole Grand Line upside down if you wanted to."

"(⊙o⊙)╭(╯^╰)╮"

"Forget it. I want to be alone…"

Buggy sat up, buried his face in his knees, and said nothing more.

"Let's go, Shanks. Give Buggy some space. He'll come around. I believe in him."

Drew patted Shanks on the shoulder and gave him a look, signaling him to leave.

"Damn it!"

Buggy clenched his right fist and slammed it hard into the deck, venting his frustration.

"What? Buggy ate the Devil Fruit?!"

Rayleigh was clearly surprised upon hearing the news from Drew. After all, everyone on the Roger Pirates knew about Buggy's dream—and also knew how much he hated and feared becoming a landlubber.

"Yeah, he's pretty upset right now ┐(′-｀)┌"

"Sigh… Let him think it over. I wonder what kind of power that brat Buggy ended up with."

"Who knows? But Buggy's always been lucky—maybe the Devil Fruit he ate is actually really strong," Drew said seriously.

After all, Buggy was the man with the "lucky Conqueror's Haki."

The small incident of Buggy accidentally eating the Devil Fruit quickly passed. Maybe Drew's words made an impact, because from the next day on, Buggy—who had always been lazy and uninterested in combat—began training like mad.

When he had free time, he even started asking Drew how to use his Devil Fruit powers.

Using the wild theories from his previous life, Drew began to guide Buggy's development in a rather unorthodox way—such as:

Splitting every cell in the body and rubbing them together rapidly to generate and control electricity,Or splitting heavy atomic nuclei, evolving the ability into nuclear fission-level power, etc.

As Drew's explanations grew increasingly bizarre and imaginative, Buggy—who had once been gloomy—began to lighten up. He quickly became more adept at controlling his Chop-Chop Fruit powers.

After all, compared to Logia (Elemental) types, Paramecia-type Devil Fruits rely much more on the user's imagination for development.

There are no useless Devil Fruits—only useless users!

As a power bordering on the conceptual, the Chop-Chop Fruit could become nearly limitless. If, one day, Buggy awakened his fruit and split the Red Line apart, Drew wouldn't even be surprised.

There was only one condition: Buggy himself had to become strong enough.

A week later, having gained basic mastery over his powers, Buggy challenged Shanks.

Aboard the Jackson:

"Hehehehehe—Shanks, take this! Chop-Chop Dragon Claw Strike!"

Buggy charged at Shanks. Just as his attack was about to land, his body split into over a dozen pieces, flying toward Shanks like clawed limbs.

The sudden move left the crew speechless—none of them (aside from Drew) knew Buggy had acquired a Devil Fruit.

"Hehe, Buggy, I'm not gonna lose to you."

Though surprised by Buggy's fragmented body, Shanks quickly realized it was a Devil Fruit ability. After a brief pause, he lowered his small body slightly, then quickly stepped back two paces to dodge the attack—then slashed down with a sword.

"Swoosh!"

A sharp arc of sword energy sliced through the air, cutting off Buggy's arm—but it caused no real damage.

"Damn it! Shanks, you bastard!"

Buggy glared furiously at the severed arm. Though it didn't hurt, he still yelled and charged again—this time emboldened by the fact that swords couldn't actually harm him. He was determined to fight up close.

"Whoosh!"

Just as Shanks prepared for a direct clash, a sudden whooshing sound came from behind him. His partially awakened Observation Haki tingled, and Shanks tilted his head just in time to dodge a sneak attack from Buggy.

Looking closely—it was a giant wooden mallet that had missed its mark.

Because of Shanks' dodge, the hammer kept flying forward—slamming straight into Buggy, who had circled around for a pincer attack.

The massive force sent Buggy flying, stunned.

"Damn you, Shanks!!"