Strength Greatly Increased

Shanks is actually a person who is unwilling to admit defeat. He often argues with Buggy about whether the South Pole or the North Pole is cold.

Although he lost to Buggy in this duel, he readily accepted Buggy's proposal for a [match], hoping to get his revenge in a future duel.

The pirates on the ship were overjoyed to see that Buggy was no longer alone and depressed in his room, though this was only wishful thinking on their part.

The duel between Buggy and Shanks added a touch of spice to the otherwise monotonous life of these pirates at sea.

In these daily battles, Buggy's strength has also improved significantly. Perhaps because of that dream, he discovered that he has gradually mastered Observation Haki, and can sense Shanks's attacks and movements more clearly, making him almost invincible in the duel.

But it's not just him; Shanks' strength is also steadily increasing. He gets stronger when facing stronger opponents. Even Buggy, who has mastered Observation Haki, can be caught off guard and suffer a defeat if he's not careful.

That day, on the deck.

The two exchanged blows, using all their fists and feet, and fought for about ten rounds.

Buggy spotted an opening in Shanks' raised hand, quickly moved closer to him, grabbed Shanks' right arm joints with both hands, and slammed him forward with a heavy thud, sending Shanks flying through the air and crashing him mercilessly onto the deck.

"Shanks, how did you lose again? Haha!" The pirates watching burst into excited laughter.

"How did we lose again...?"

Slightly dazed from the impact, Shanks shook his head, sat up dejectedly, and scratched his head in frustration. "What happened? Buggy, you're way too strong right now..."

"Shanks, Buggy has now mastered Observation Haki, so of course you're no match for him, haha."

Rayleigh, standing to the side, laughed heartily.

"Observation Haki?"

Shanks knew about Haki, but he never expected Buggy to have learned it too. He stared at Buggy with wide eyes, "Buggy, when did you learn that?!"

The pirates burst into laughter. Except for Shanks, who was kept in the dark, almost everyone else had figured it out, but they hadn't said anything. Now that he brought it up, they couldn't help but find it funny.

"So that's how it is!"

Seeing everyone laughing, Shanks's dejected expression vanished, and he suddenly grinned, "It's alright, as long as I learn Observation Haki, I won't lose to you!"

Someone said, "Shanks, Observation Haki isn't something you can learn so easily."

Shanks pulled his Straw Hat back, grinning, "If Buggy can learn it, then I definitely can too!"

Another pirate chimed in, "That's true. As long as you train diligently day after day, learning Haki won't be a problem."

"Shanks, don't listen to them, it's actually not that hard to learn."

Roger, looking down from the upper deck, said, "I spent three to five days figuring it out and that's how I grasped Haki. Shanks, you should study it carefully. It won't take you long to master it, right, Rayleigh?"

Rayleigh sighed and rubbed his forehead, muttering, "You think everyone's a monster like you...?"

"Look, even Rayleigh has admitted it," Roger laughed.

The pirates shouted in unison, "That's not what Mr. Rayleigh said!!"

"Captain Roger!"

At that moment, the lookout on the watchtower shouted down, "A pirate ship is approaching this way!"

"Whose ship is this?" Roger asked, looking up.

"It's the House Pirates!" The lookout, with his extensive experience, immediately recognized the pirate crew.

The people on deck stopped laughing and talking and looked at the black dot that was gradually growing larger in the distance. The pirate flag flying on that ship was a square skull, with teeth like doors and eyes like windows, making it look like a house.

"Are they here to cause trouble again...?"

Rayleigh walked to the ship's railing, a glint of light flashing in his glasses. Since arriving in the New World, he and his crew had already clashed with pirate crews of all sizes, so such encounters were nothing new to them.

"If they want to fight, we'll fight them to the bitter end!" Roger said. "Men, grab your weapons and prepare for battle!"

As the other ship drew closer, its outline became clearer, square and angular, resembling a giant house floating on the sea.

A man wearing a captain's hat, with a square face, peered out of the ship's window and looked over.

"So you're the Roger Pirates who've recently become infamous, right? Listen up, I, Charles, will defeat you today and make a name for myself throughout the world!"

"Haha, if you want to defeat me, then you'd better ask the sword in my hand first!" Roger laughed as he responded.

With a wave of his hand, Charles, who had a square face, sent dozens of grappling hooks shooting out from the hull of the houseboat. With a whoosh, they wrapped around the railings of the Ailanford or hooked onto the deck, quickly pulling the two ships closer together. Several doors on the houseboat opened, and countless pirates filed out, stepping on the grappling hooks and rushing onto the deck of the Elan Wind.

"Men, let them know how powerful we are!"

Roger shouted confidently and led the charge to annihilate the enemy. The two sides clashed in close combat, and the deck was instantly filled with shouts of battle.

Buggy also wanted to improve his strength through real combat, so he naturally wouldn't cower and hide. He quickly looked around, picked out a burly pirate, and rushed towards him.

The burly man sensed something, glanced to the side, and saw a young brat running towards him. Without hesitation, he swung his naginata at Buggy.

A smirk played on his lips, as if he could already see the bloody scene.

With a swift motion, the expected spurt of blood did not occur. Instead, the severed arm hung eerily in the air, gripping the dagger and thrusting straight into his heart.

The burly man looked down in surprise, and the moment Buggy pulled out the dagger, he fell backward, his consciousness fading.

The scene of Buggy killing the burly man was witnessed by another pirate wielding a spiked club. Upon seeing that Buggy was Devil Fruit User, the pirate, without saying a word, circled behind Buggy the moment he retracted his arm and delivered a heavy blow to his back.

Although Buggy had unleashed his Observation Haki, he was still a beginner. He could only vaguely sense the whooshing sound coming from behind him. He tried to dodge, but his body couldn't keep up with his reaction speed. He was unable to dodge and was heavily hammered away by the enormous force behind him!

He flew about ten meters and crashed into the rudder at the bow of the ship, blood gushing from his mouth. Buggy felt excruciating pain in his back and was momentarily unable to stand up.

The spiked club pirate immediately caught up, intending to finish Buggy off while he was immobilized, and brought his club down on his head.

Buggy mustered all his strength and rolled on the spot, smashing a small hole in the deck and sending wood chips flying everywhere.

Just as the pirate was about to strike again, a rapier suddenly pierced his abdomen and was pulled out with a hiss. The pirate with the spiked club tried to look back, then collapsed onto the deck with a look of resentment.

"Come."

Shanks glanced around warily, pulled Buggy up from the deck, and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Minor injury."

Buggy breathed a sigh of relief.

Shanks said, "Let's act together!"

Because of their young age, the two were always at a disadvantage in the New World overrun by monsters, so they often fought together, supporting each other.

"Then you'll cover me."

Buggy stood up, tensing his body, ignoring the burning pain on his back, and quickly rushed into the fighting pirates.

For some reason, the fight against a stronger enemy and the life-or-death struggle stirred a faint excitement within him, as if an unknown power was slowly awakening within him.

Shanks was slightly taken aback. Seeing Buggy traveling alone, he smiled wryly and followed beside him, providing cover during the fight.

Buggy skillfully wielded his dagger, stabbing and slashing, striking and retreating in an instant, moving among the pirates. He was not tall and did not attract attention, and he only targeted ordinary pirates who were only slightly stronger than himself, rather than the pirate crew's officers.

When he strikes, ordinary pirates rarely notice. Even if they do, they are too preoccupied with the enemy in front of them to pay attention, and Buggy often manages to stab them. Most of them are injured, and some unlucky pirates are killed by Buggy's fatal blow.

Just as Buggy got into his rhythm and his movements became more and more skillful, someone suddenly appeared in front of him and kicked him with lightning speed.

Buggy turned to block, but his strength was no match for his opponent's. He was kicked several meters away, adjusted his body in mid-air, and landed steadily on the ground. Looking closely, he saw that the man was wearing a strange brown plaid outfit, licked his lips, touched his abdomen, and then pulled outwards.

His abdomen was strangely pulled out, revealing complete darkness inside. Then, a red pencil, as large as himself, was pulled out and placed on the ground.

What is that?

Shanks, who had quickly arrived beside Buggy, asked in surprise.

Buggy replied, "Is there even a need to look...? This guy is definitely Devil Fruit user."

Bingo! Congratulations on getting it right!

The pirate, seemingly showing off, picked up the enormous pencil and brandished it with great flair, turning it into a red blob, while proudly declaring, "I'm Devil Fruit User! Erasers and pencils placed inside me become incredibly powerful..."

Buggy didn't have the patience to wait for the pirate to finish speaking and quickly rushed forward to fight him.

"Listen to me finish what you have to say!"

The pirate was somewhat angry and thrust his large pencil straight at Buggy. Buggy's body instantly Chop-Chop into dozens of pieces, like a punctured balloon, and all of them flew towards the pirate in a flash.

The pirate wielded a pencil, the enormous pencil moving with surprising agility in his hand, providing impenetrable defense. Although Buggy Chop-Chop to pieces and tried to find an opening, he couldn't find a single flaw. Instead, he was forcefully flung away, large sections of his body flying off like broken sandbags.

The pirate, confident of victory, smugly declared, "This pencil may be enormous, but in my hands it weighs less than thirty or fifty grams. Once it's inside me and then removed, I can control it at will. Kids, you'd better just accept your fate!"

Buggy's body parts came back together, and he wiped the blood from his forehead, asking Shanks, "What does he look like to you?"

"Like what?" Shanks, puzzled.

"Like a dog."

"Hmm..."

Shanks paused for a moment, then said, "Let's attack together."

Buggy glanced at Shanks, who wouldn't respond, and sighed softly, "You're too blunt. If you provoke that guy, he'll expose an even bigger weakness."

Seeing Buggy and Shanks talking like that, the Devil Fruit User the Drawer-Drawer Fruit laughed heartily, thinking that the two of them could only use such petty tricks. He couldn't help but feel contemptuous. He reached into his stomach again and pulled out a huge eraser with a metallic sheen. With his other hand holding a huge pencil, he launched an attack on the two of them.

Despite their opponent's underestimation, Buggy and Shanks dared not be careless and engaged the pirate in fierce combat.

Such boarding actions often involve strong individual officers restraining other officers, followed by a chaotic melee among the pirates. Whether the victory is achieved through individual combat or individual combat, it creates a biased overall advantage in the battle.

At this moment, Roger, Rayleigh, and the others were entangled by the leader and officers of the opposing pirate crew and were unable to defeat them in a short time. Meanwhile, wave after wave of pirates poured out from the houses and ships.

Meanwhile, Buggy, despite teaming up with Shanks, was still being pushed back by the Devil Fruit User and was in grave danger.

"No, this guy is too strong!"

Shanks raised his rapier to parry, but was still forced back dozens of steps by the immense force of the pencil. A chip was also broken off the blade of his rapier, which pained him greatly.

"Keep him occupied, I'll handle the rest!"

Buggy's dagger was broken in two, and his hands were numb from the shock. Yet, he felt an unknown power stirring within him, and his confidence surged unexpectedly. He was certain he could defeat the pirate before him.

"I see!"

Shanks gave a wry smile to his comrade-in-arms, choosing to trust him. He used all his strength to desperately entangle the pirate. The pirate was startled by Shanks's frenzied attack and was momentarily flustered, but he quickly calmed down and suppressed Shanks again. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Buggy, who was rushing towards him, and was already on high alert, waiting for the other to walk into his trap.

"Let's see what tricks you can pull..." The thought had just formed in his mind when suddenly his pupils contracted and he vanished... The Red Nose brat had disappeared!

"Overclocking... Dimension!!"

In that moment of distraction, a still somewhat childish voice suddenly rang out beside him, and an extremely powerful force surged into his body in an instant, like a terrible storm on the Grand Line, seemingly crackling and popping wildly inside him, while traces of blood seeped from the pores of his body.

The next instant, a faint gust of air rippled outwards, and the pirate was sent flying off the deck, crashing into the sea with a splash and sinking to the bottom.

Shanks was taken aback by the attack, but quickly recovered and rushed over to help the heavily panting Buggy. "Are you alright?"

"It's... okay..."

Buggy was exhausted and felt dizzy. He could only manage to say that if Shanks hadn't been supporting him, he probably would have collapsed to the ground.

However, the defeat of the drawer-drawer Devil Fruit User immediately attracted the attention of the House Pirates, who surrounded the two and were about to attack when they were slashed down on the deck by the Roger Pirates.

The deck of Aylan Wind was in complete chaos again.

However, the Roger Pirates' fighting strength far surpassed that of their opponents; one of them could easily take on ten.

After a brief but fierce battle, square-faced Charles, struggling to withstand Roger's attacks, realized he could not win and was only wasting his strength. He decisively gave the order, "Retreat!!"

The House Pirates retreated like a tide in an instant, returning to the House ship and quickly retrieving their grappling hooks.

Roger was not a bloodthirsty man. After chasing away his opponent, he did not pursue him. After the opponent's ship disappeared from sight, he asked Crocus to help check on the wounded and treat their wounds. He also had people clean up the dirt and bloodstains on the deck.

Since the pirates on the Ailanford were able to reach the New World, most of them were well-trained and, although many were injured to varying degrees, none of them died.

Buggy, his bandages wrapped tightly around his neck, was utterly exhausted and, with Shanks' help, went back to his room to rest.

In the following days, Roger Pirates encountered many other pirate crews of some renown, resulting in several boarding battles.

At this time, Roger had not yet become the Pirate King, nor had he revealed the existence of the One Piece to the world. In order to compete for the limited amount of wealth, the battles between pirates were often fierce and frequent.

However, for Buggy, the more battles like this, the better. Although he was sore and covered in wounds after each fight, his strength was visibly improved, which excited him greatly.

After so many battles, Buggy has completely mastered Observation Haki, and the familiar Armament Haki within him is about to be activated. As for the Six Powers, he can now use Shave.

That's why he increasingly felt that the dream was real; otherwise, how could he have suddenly unleashed the Six Powers' Shave technique, and how could his improvement in strength be so exaggerated?!