Heading to the New World

Jinbe's thoughts are more profound than those of ordinary people, so Buggy didn't have high hopes of winning him over.

After a few days of rest on Fish-Man Island, the Buggy Pirates are finally setting off again. Unlike when they arrived, there are a few more Fish-Man soldiers on board who volunteered to go to the New World, thanks to Neptune's explanation. Also accompanying them are several New Fish-Man Pirates beasts that have succumbed to Buggy's force.

Fish-Man Island Exit, Main Gate.

The seven pirate ships, already coated with protective film, had already anchored and were preparing to leave the island, while countless Fish-Man from the island also rushed over.

This is a big deal.

Neptune, Fukaboshi, and the other royal family members, along with the Left Minister, Right Minister, and other ministers, stood watching from afar. Shirahoshi watched the Big Top with tears in her eyes. Buggy was the first friend she had made in many years besides Mecaro, and he had given her many beautiful fantasies about the outside world. Regardless of whether he would approve of her crying, she would never change her mind and would sincerely consider him a friend.

"They're gone."

Buggy stood at the bow of the Big Top, turned around and looked at the densely packed Fish-Man on the shore. He calmly waved, feeling as if they were seeing off a national leader. After thinking about it, he figured it was about right.

She glanced at Shirahoshi again, smiled slightly, and said, "See you later."

"Mmm!" Shirahoshi bit her lower lip and responded heavily, thinking to herself, I will definitely become independent as soon as possible, so that the Buggy can take me to experience that colorful world!

Buggy said to Mikuru, who was stretching, "Kitty, is the Log Pose all set up?"

"Okay, this is the calmest one."

Mikuru looked at the three pointers on his wrist that were constantly swinging in different directions. Due to the special and changeable environment of the New World, a special pointer had been developed specifically for navigation. This pointer had been prepared on Sabaody Archipelago and could now replace the original Log Pose.

Finally, the Buggy Grand Fleet slowly disappeared from sight as the Fish-Man watched.

Some were overjoyed, some were filled with emotion, but they all shared the same thought, "He probably won't come back."

They left Fish-Man Island peacefully.

The Buggy Grand Fleet slowly ascended the ocean currents like riding an elevator. The six ships were staffed with experienced navigators. Although their control and coordination of the ships were not as good as the Big Top, they still kept up steadily behind without falling behind.

Several sea beasts, now with new owners, surrounded them, chasing away all sorts of strange and unusual sea creatures.

Just as peacefully as when they arrived at Fish-Man Island, nothing strange happened when they left, and they didn't encounter the powerful ocean current "White Dragon" that appeared in the original work.

It was a day later when they left the deep sea and returned to the surface, basking in the sunlight once more. Looking at the Red Line, faintly hidden in the sea mist behind them, Buggy knew they had arrived in the New World.

Mikuru was in charge of the next leg of the voyage. The special dial used in the New World had three pointers, and the one that was the most stable was the island that Buggy intended to visit.

The New World differs from the first half of the Grand Line; there are no fixed routes. It's more like an open world in a sandbox game, where you don't need to follow the rules. You can even bypass an island on your journey without any problems, and the Log Pose won't be affected by magnetism.

Of course, this is on the premise that there are sufficient supplies on board to ensure that the ship can continue sailing, and the weather must also be taken into account.

Perhaps it was because it was the fourth type of "ki" besides the Three Types of Haki. In any case, the sea was very calm, and not only were there no Sea Kings, but even the pirate ships of our fellow sea kings were hardly seen.

These past few days have been so leisurely that even Buggy has started to feel that this place doesn't quite feel like the New World.

With a sense of mission, Cabaji and Mohji went to the training room in the ship's cabin to continue improving their strength.

Kaya calmly flipped through the medical books. She now had knowledge of external injuries, internal injuries, and various diseases. As her medical knowledge increased, her medical skills gradually deepened, and she could usually resolve minor injuries and illnesses in the blink of an eye.

Nilek secluded himself in the machine room, tinkering with strange and unusual gadgets.

Shuma fished leisurely, but no fish ever took the bait. He could never learn to be still, but he didn't care; he was just doing it for fun.

Lilina took the newspaper from the News Coo and analyzed the useful information.

During the day, Mikuru was always lazy, except when she was eating grilled fish. She liked to study late into the night by lamplight.

The captains, who were arriving in the New World for the first time, wore their excitement and joy on their faces and chatted animatedly with their crews.

Two days later.

Buggy, standing on the deck, gazed at the islands in his field of vision.

"This island... does seem safer."

Mikuru: "The pointer pointing to this island is the most stable, which is expected, meow~"

"Cabaji, Lilina, go and find out if this island belongs to one of the Four Emperors... I don't want to be sandwiched between two of Four Emperors."

They temporarily moored the boat at the shore, and Lilina and Cabaji, at Buggy's instruction, headed towards the center of the island. After a while, the two returned.

"I didn't see any of the Four Emperors' flags, but there are human footprints here, so it shouldn't be a deserted island."

"Good luck..." Buggy nodded and shouted back, "Guys, we're ashore!"

The island has a very pleasant climate, with a strong summer beach vibe. Plenty of sunshine shines on coconut-like plants, casting dappled light and shadow through their broad, spiky leaves. Waves wash over the sand on the shore, wetting and carrying it away.

The sea was azure, the beach shone like gold, and the cries of seagulls could be heard from afar, mingling with the sound of waves crashing on the shore, creating a sense of tranquility.

"I never thought there was such a wonderful place in the New World, haha!!" The captains' gruff voices and the echoes of their pirates really disrupted the leisurely atmosphere, making it a bit noisy.

Buggy didn't seem to care much; in fact, he was happy. Most of the New World's territory belonged to the Four Emperors, but not all of it. There were always some exceptions, such as Punk Hazard and Dextro...

They could not possibly take all the islands, because their power was limited.

After all, it's an island in the New World; even if it seems ordinary on the surface, we can't let our guard down.

With ample manpower, Buggy instructed the six captains to lead their men in a fan-shaped formation, each choosing a direction to conduct a thorough search of the island. Every so often, they would use Den Den Mushi) to report the search status and progress to Bucky so he could prepare countermeasures.

After assigning some men to guard the ships, the pirates, led by their captain, went about their own business, and the once noisy shore became much quieter.

Just a moment later, a rustling sound came from a clump of grass some distance from the shore.

"What's that here!" Hearing the commotion, the nearby pirates grabbed their weapons and surrounded the area.

A pink creature darted out, resembling a locust but much larger, about forty centimeters wide and twenty centimeters tall. Its body was covered with a hard shell, and its tail had five pink bristles like leaves. It had four pairs of legs and a pair of compound eyes, and should be classified as an insect.

Several pirates gathered around and discussed the matter.

"A creature I've never seen before, it looks really disgusting!"

"Don't kill it yet, report to the captain first."

"Let me catch this thing."

One of them reached out his right hand, trying to press down on the thin wings on the back of the pink insect. Unexpectedly, the pink insect raised its head, its teeth pointing upwards, and bit the man's index finger.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my finger.

"Aaaaaah!!"

He quickly shook off his hand and cried out in pain. The bitten finger had turned purple and swelled up. Pink spots appeared on the skin of his palm and wrist and continued to spread upwards on his arm.

Everyone was startled, fearing that delay might lead to unforeseen consequences, and they grabbed their weapons and began chopping at the pink insect.

Clang clang clang!

The weapon struck the pink insect's hard shell with a crisp sound, leaving shallow cuts. Although the weapon did not cause any damage, the force of the impact crushed the insect heavily to the ground.

After hacking away frantically for nearly half a minute, one of the pirates finally calmed down and, seizing an opportunity, thrust his katana straight at the mouthparts of the pink insect.

Pfft!!

The dagger pierced the pink insect's head, and when it was pulled out, a sticky, foul-smelling yellow liquid spurted out.

The pink insect trembled, then died.

"What kind of monster is this?"

Seeing the insect die, the pirates breathed a sigh of relief and quickly looked at the pirate whose finger had been bitten and poisoned; the latter was already somewhat delirious.

Without further delay, the group hurriedly carried the wounded man on their backs and ran back towards the shore, intending to take him to Kaya for treatment.

Louis Carl's party headed northwest, and because the island's shape was irregular, instead of heading to the center, they ended up in the shallows.

"There's no road this way..." Louis Carl stroked the end of his upturned mustache. "Go check around for anything. If not, we'll continue along the edge of the shallows."

Dozens of pirates followed orders, circled the shallows, and finding nothing amiss, returned to Louis Carl's side to report.

Louis Carl nodded and prepared to leave. Just then, seemingly due to the tremors caused by their footsteps, one after another dark creature emerged from the shallows, looking at them at first glance like large pebbles scorched by the sun.

However, it is not. It is a creature that looks very similar to a crab. It is about one meter long, and its two pincers are twice the size of an ordinary person's hand. Its four legs are lined up in a row, and it moves at a very slow speed.

The pirates were curious. "Captain Louis, what... what is that?"

"How would I know such a thing!" Louis stroked his beard. "It must be some kind of edible creature."

These crab-like creatures don't seem harmful, mainly because they move as slowly as snails. Even with their seemingly intimidating pincers, who could they possibly attack? By the time they get close, it'll be too late.

Louis Carl still held this view, but he soon realized that he was wrong.

The crab creature stopped moving and stood still. Then, one of them leaped up and snapped its pincers open, clamping down on Louis Carl's neck!

He raised his right foot and kicked a solid rock the size of a fist at his feet, aiming it at the head of the crab creature that had leaped high into the air!

The crab-like creature clamped its pincers onto the rock, instantly cutting it in two, but in doing so, it fell to the ground from mid-air.

Louis Carl stared at the scene before him, and the thought that what had just been snapped in its pincers wasn't a rock but his own head, sent a chill down his spine... His neck must be broken!

"Captain Louis..." Seeing the crab-like creature's terrifying agility and attack power, the surrounding pirates stammered in fear, "We... what... what should we do next?"

"What else can we do..." Louis Carl watched as hundreds upon hundreds of crabs emerged from the shallows, then turned and ran. "Run! Run!"

The pirates, as if on cue, hurriedly followed Louis Carl's footsteps and desperately fled into the distance.

Countless crabs leaped from the shallows, splashing water everywhere, and swarmed towards the fleeing pirates like an opaque black curtain, casting a huge shadow.

While exploring the island, Buggy, along with Cabaji and Lilina, ventured into a relatively dense forest, not far from the coast, less than three kilometers away.

"Quite a peculiar plant..." Buggy crouched down and looked at a plant growing on the ground next to the big tree.

A quick glance around reveals at least five or six more plants like this. These plants resemble the lance of a weapon, about half a meter long, with about ten umbrella-shaped sloping surfaces extending outwards every five centimeters from the main root. They also resemble a miniature version of a miniature pagoda.

He picked this plant, which he had never seen before, from the ground, held it by the stem, and weighed it in his hand. It was quite heavy; it must be solid.

When you tap a tree next to it and take it out, there is a dent in the tree trunk, but the dagger-shaped plant is perfectly intact.

"If we used this as a weapon, it would be pretty good." Cabaji's eyes lit up slightly.

"Indeed, its hardness is comparable to steel; with a little polishing, it's ready to use—a valuable resource..."