The Clown Buggy (Seeking Recommendations and Collections)

Under the azure sky, the pirate ship Big Top sailed across the sea, waves gently parting to either side and leaving a distinct trail in its wake.

A man draped in a magnificent captain's cloak leaned against the ship's railing, his expression gloomy.

"What's wrong with Captain Buggy lately? Why is he always so sullen?"

"Probably because we haven't seen any villages or pirate ships. Without the motivation of treasure, Captain Buggy must have lost his drive."

"It's more than just losing his drive. It feels like Captain Buggy has lost his soul!"

Two pirates stood on the deck not far away, whispering incessantly.

Buggy's eyelids twitched. His wrists and torso suddenly detached, leaving an afterimage in the air as his white-gloved hands instantly clamped onto the necks of the two gossiping pirates. He hoisted them high into the air, then turned around with a cold, grim expression: "Hey, hey, hey, who are you saying has a big, red nose!"

Buggy's eyeballs rolled slightly in their sockets: "Was it you, or you? Speak!!!"

Cold sweat poured down the pirates' faces, their bodies trembling like chaff: "Captain Buggy, we... we didn't say anything..."

Buggy's palms retracted rapidly, reattaching to his wrists. His expression shifted unpredictably before he suddenly burst into loud laughter: "It's just a red nose, hahahaha! Do you really think I, Buggy, am afraid of people saying my nose is big and red..."

The two pirates landed on the deck, gasping for air. Terrified that the temperamental Captain Buggy might throw them overboard to feed the fish, they hurriedly offered forced laughter, "Hahaha..."

"It's not..." Buggy's voice stopped abruptly, "...funny at all."

The pirates' faces stiffened instantly, and they swallowed hard in fear.

"Fine... go stand guard."

Buggy waved the two pirates away and rubbed his forehead in distress. Ever since he transmigrated, he had been suffering from auditory hallucinations.

Ji Ba had originally been a college student who started a business with loans. Relying on his indomitable drive and keen insight, he had thrown himself into the new energy industry and earned a significant amount of capital.

Just as he was at the peak of his life, feeling invincible... he suddenly transmigrated. The cause? He had fallen asleep while dazed from reading One Piece manga.

Waking up, he discovered he had become Buggy the Clown, a man rumored to possess the Conqueror's Haki of luck.

That was half a month ago...

Ji Ba pulled out the mirror he had been carrying these past few days and touched his large red nose, repeatedly confirming that the person in the mirror was indeed himself. An inexplicable sense of irritation welled up in his heart. Damn it, this was the cruel reality. He had been a youth in his prime, yet he woke up as a man in his thirties, as if over a decade of his life had been snatched away. The key was that if he had transmigrated into someone cool like Shanks or Rayleigh, it would have been passable, but he had to end up as Buggy...

He bared his teeth, attempting to show a harmless smile, but instead, he revealed a treacherous and sinister visage. He sighed gloomily; this must be innate, he couldn't even complain about it!

Actually, these weren't the main issues. The most critical point was that Ji Ba had "seized" the original owner's body and had also fused with parts of Buggy's memories and personality. Consequently, he sometimes couldn't control his temper, leading to states like the auditory hallucinations he'd just experienced, where he felt others were discussing strange things and couldn't help but feel a surge of evil fire in his heart.

These aftereffects had plagued him for half a month. At first, even the sea breeze would give him a headache, but as time passed, the symptoms had improved significantly.

However, the soul fusion had also allowed him to organize a great deal of information in his mind. It was now the twentieth year after Roger's execution, the year 1518 of the Sea Circle Calendar.

There were still two years left until Straw Hat Luffy set sail.

In other words, the original plot had not yet been set in motion by the Straw Hats. From this perspective, this was likely his greatest advantage at the moment.

Regrettably, there were no memories of One Piece in his brain.

The reason was that Laugh Tale, the end of the Grand Line, was not a place a cabin boy was qualified to step foot in. Even though Buggy had sailed the Grand Line with Roger to the end, he had been left behind to guard the ship due to his lack of seniority. However, having fused with Buggy's memories, he could feel how this guy remained obsessed with the Great Treasure, holding onto it with deep resentment.

Regardless of whether he was influenced by this personality, since he had come to this world, Ji Ba decided to set his goal on Laugh Tale to find the Great Treasure that all pirates dreamed of and the truth of the world.

However, compared to the blindly arrogant pirates of the East Blue in the original story, Ji Ba was much calmer. In the half-month since accepting reality, he had already been planning his future moves.

First was the issue of his crew. Taking the Krieg Pirates as a reference, that idiot had five thousand men and fifty ships, yet he was wiped out by Mihawk within seven days of entering the Grand Line and fled in defeat.

This proved that quantity could not make up for quality. At the very least, in the East Blue, finding a team of highly capable fighters was extremely difficult. On this point, Ji Ba preferred an elite crew rather than recruiting a bunch of ordinary pirates to serve as experience fodder for his enemies.

Currently, the Big Top already had over forty pirates. The daily accumulation of food, alcohol, and gold rewards for these pirates was no small sum.

The only ways to obtain wealth and food were by plundering villages and enemy ships, but if he continued to recruit more pirates, the various expenses would only grow heavier.

In the original story, Buggy constantly plundered wealth from towns across the East Blue and searched for treasure to expand his pirate crew.

But as a fine young man from the 21st century, Ji Ba had no interest in plundering villages and towns or bullying the elderly, weak, women, and children; he was even somewhat disgusted by it.

Therefore, the issue of supplies became extremely important.

"Captain Buggy, it looks like Gali Island is ahead!" the pirate sentry on the mast shouted, holding his binoculars.

Buggy's upper body detached and hovered in the air to broaden his field of vision.

The island in the distance was densely packed with houses; it looked like a place with several sizable villages.

He could see a few cargo ships docked at the harbor from afar, but the pier was very quiet, as if it were the off-season for trade, with hardly any laborers in sight.

He issued an order: "Prepare to lower the mainsail and find a spot to drop anchor."

The skull on the mainsail was far too conspicuous and would be detrimental to his upcoming actions.

"Yes!" the pirates on the ship immediately complied.

"Captain Buggy." The cabin door opened, and a cold-looking man walked out. "We believe we should plunder the villages on the island with great fanfare; that is the style of our Buggy Pirates."

The newcomer wore a blue and white checkered scarf and a long cloak, his hair covering his left eye. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Cabaji!" The beast tamer Mohji, who had been standing on the upper deck, spun 360 degrees in the air and landed lightly on the deck. "Are you trying to question Captain Buggy..."

Before he could finish, the giant lion Richie let out an "Awoo" and leaped down, landing squarely on Mohji's body before looking around in ignorant confusion.

"Damn you, Richie!" Mohji's eyes rolled back as his body trembled, and he said weakly.

Richie looked down, cold sweat typical of a human dripping down the lion's face, and he carefully moved his paws away.

Thump, thump, thump...

Richie clutched the three-layered lump on his forehead with a grievance, while Mohji finally retracted his steaming fist and demanded of Cabaji, "Captain Buggy naturally has a brilliant plan. How dare a one-eyed guy like you question Captain Buggy's words!"

Cabaji's mouth twitched. "White-haired freak, who are you talking about!"

"I'm talking about you, you guy who thinks he's cool wearing a cape!"

"What do you mean by that, you guy wearing a hat with round ears!"

"What do you think I mean?"

"Are you looking for a fight, you bastard!"

Sparks flew and tensions flared as the two spoke, while Buggy watched from the side, nodding with a straight face. "Mm, the atmosphere is even better than I imagined."

The surrounding pirates: "How is this atmosphere good at all!!!"