The New Crew Member Arrives

"So you transferred the sharpness of the blade onto yourself, which is why your hands became sharp and hard. If that's how it works, can you also convert blunt impacts, fire, gunshots, ice, explosions, or other unseen attacks—not just slashes?

"Is there a limit to the damage you can take? What happens when you reach it? And does the damage have to make physical contact with you to be converted?"

Faced with Buggy's barrage of questions, Mohji froze for a moment, then opened his mouth and reached inside. After rummaging around, he pulled out a somewhat mangled piece of meat and said smugly, "I can store food, too!"

"You..." A vein bulged on Buggy's forehead. He punched Mohji, sending him flying into the sea. "Pay attention when someone's talking to you!"

"Lord Mohji!" Several pirates plunged into the sea and hurriedly hauled the drowning Mohji back aboard.

"I'm sorry, Captain Buggy..." Mohji spat out seawater and stood beside Buggy, trembling like a model student.

Buggy said seriously, "Devil Fruit abilities need to be developed and trained, too. Don't get complacent or arrogant. This is only the beginning for you."

"Yes, Captain Buggy."

Mohji's face fell. He looked at Cabaji, who stood nearby with his sword sheathed against his chest. Cabaji's face was still stern, but there was a hint of a secret smile between his brows. Mohji felt annoyed.

He suddenly bowed to Cabaji. When he looked up, his expression was especially sincere. He held out his hand. "Cabaji, your God-Hiding Sword Style is amazing. From now on, I, Mohji, acknowledge your strength..."

Cabaji was taken aback and reached out his hand. "I never thought I'd see the day you admitted someone was better than you. That doesn't sound like you at all..."

Beneath the dazzling sunlight, the two not-so-tall figures seemed to have acknowledged each other. It was as if their years of rivalry had dissolved in an instant.

Had they made up...? Male friendship really was the most direct and genuine kind! Buggy nodded, deeply pleased.

"Of course..." Mohji suddenly veered his hand away, letting it pass Cabaji's outstretched hand, and squeezed Cabaji's wound. "I'm kidding, you idiot!"

Cabaji writhed on the deck in pain. "You despicable bastard! You actually took advantage of my trust!"

Mohji waved a hand with a shameless grin. "Don't flatter me. I'm not half as despicable as you."

Buggy pressed a hand to his forehead. He'd been up all night, so he must have been reading too much into things.

Ignoring the two idiots' antics, he strolled into the captain's cabin and called in the Square-Faced Navigator. He spread out the chart he'd gotten from the old woman alongside the East Blue chart they already had.

The two of them studied the chart from the old woman and the East Blue chart.

Every island he had visited was marked on the large chart of the East Blue. The navigator had also noted each island's shape, whether it was inhabited, and the approximate distance and sailing time between islands. By now, the chart held around seventy or eighty islands—a record of all their years roaming the East Blue. Even so, those islands were no more than a drop in the ocean compared to the vast East Blue.

The chart the old woman had given him showed three nearby islands in different directions. They now needed to compare the names and shapes on the two charts to work out where Bear Paw Island was.

The chart was drawn with great skill. But that was precisely why Buggy couldn't make heads or tails of it. By the end, his eyes were sore, and he sank into a chair in the captain's cabin to rub them.

A long while later,

"Captain Buggy... I've got it..." the Square-Faced Navigator finally said, pointing to a similar-looking island on the two charts. "The Ailu Island we visited a year ago is here. There's no mistake."

Buggy stood up and studied Ailu Island on the chart. It lay southeast of Bear Paw Island. Northeast of Ailu Island was another island—their original destination.

Buggy pointed to the island and asked, "If we set out from here now, how long will it take us to get there?"

The Square-Faced Navigator made a rough calculation. "About one or two days, if we don't run into another unexpected incident..." He hurriedly shut his mouth, then glanced back at Buggy's expression. It seemed unchanged, so he finally relaxed.

"Then go get things ready. We'll be setting sail soon."

"Yes, Captain Buggy."

Near noon, countless birds and beasts burst out of the forest, their ruckus clearly audible even from the shore. In the distance, a dark figure came sprinting toward them, shouting excitedly, "I'm coming, sea-beast ingredients!"

Watching Shuma charge toward them with a sack over his shoulder like a thief who'd just robbed someone, Buggy wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead. Couldn't this idiot come quietly...?

He hurriedly ordered, "We can set sail!"

It wasn't that he was in a rush. A whole crowd of Kumat Tribe members was racing after Shuma, charging toward them in hot pursuit... They were carrying enormous pots, bowls, and pans several times bigger than a person.

"Haha!" Shuma leaped onto the Big Top from dozens of meters off the shore, landing with astonishing ease and letting out a hearty laugh.

Then he drew a breath and turned toward his people on the shore, shouting with all his might, "Thank you all for seeing me off! I'm so touched!"

The shore was a clamor of voices. The people waved their giant pots, bowls, and pans while shouting all sorts of obscene things.

Hey, that doesn't look like they're seeing you off. It looks like they're trying to butcher you!

Cabaji pointed at Shuma's back. "Captain Buggy, are we really taking an idiot like that onto our ship?"

Buggy nodded with some difficulty. How could he say no when this idiot was so easy to fool...

On the shore,

"Great Matriarch, that brat Shuma got away!"

"That kid's slipperier than an eel and nimbler than a monkey. We can't catch him! Damn it!"

"When he comes back, we'll boil him, roast him, steam him, and fry him!"

The Kumat Tribe crowded around the Great Matriarch, all talking at once.

The Great Matriarch stamped her foot, and the area fell silent.

She watched the pirate ship sailing farther away and said gravely, "I raised him, so I know what he's like. A fool like him is bound to get tricked and betrayed out at sea, then come back here in tears. He can defend himself, so I'm not too worried about him getting hurt..."

As she spoke, her dry, wrinkled face lit up with a smile like a rainbow after the rain. "When that brat left, he actually told me I was young, beautiful, gentle, and kind. I never thought I'd hear such ridiculous things come out of his mouth. You must have been sneaking around and gossiping about me behind my back, and now you've corrupted him, too!"

The Kumat Tribe members felt their spirits nearly shatter. "We never said anything like that!!!"