Training with Devil Fruits

The island was a desolate, uninhabited place. Apart from the sea fish washed ashore by the waves, which quickly died, there was no sign of life. The closer they got to the island's center, the more the low shrubs gradually disappeared, leaving it as bare as a bald man's head.

The farther they went toward the center, the more the island sloped downward into a depression. The gravity grew increasingly intense. As Shuma put it, it was a Pot Island.

Buggy had even let his imagination run wild, wondering if the island had been altered when Fujitora awakened his Press-Press Fruit...

On this ridiculous island, Buggy and the others had already spent nearly half a year...

"Has it really been almost six months..." Buggy stood beside a stone marker on the beach. Each day, he carved a "1" into it. Every thirty days, he drew a long line through a row of thirty ones. He used this method to record how quickly time passed. So far, he had carved five long lines, and soon it would be six.

Training in Finger Pistol and Tempest Kick was much harder than learning Shave. Buggy's fingers were now strong enough to pierce rock, but it was still difficult to leave a mark on Iron Body.

Tempest Kick was even worse. All he could manage was a weak slash.

But there was no helping it. The Six Powers were like bonus questions on an exam: only those who finished the rest of the test had a chance to tackle that difficult final question.

On top of that, they had missed the ideal age for learning. They had only reached this point thanks to Buggy's tireless practice day and night.

With Buggy leading by example, the two officers were training just as diligently. They had never grown discouraged or complained.

At that moment, they were locked in a fierce fight.

Cabaji drew his sword and attacked. In a flash, his Great Grade Sword struck Mohji's crossed arms in front of his chest.

Clang! Clang!

Mohji's body had become as tough as Iron Body. The blade rang against him like it had struck metal. Cabaji's sword remained pressed against his chest, unable to advance even an inch.

Mohji quickly placed one hand against the sharp blade, turning defense into offense. With the other, he struck toward Cabaji's neck in a horizontal chop. A strange, blade-like gleam shone along the edge of his hand, which whipped up a powerful gust of air.

Store-Store Fruit: Sharpness Storage!

"Paper Art!" Sensing the air currents around him, Cabaji released Sakura Blizzard's hilt. His body shifted, floating weightlessly like a sheet of paper. He dodged Mohji's slash in an instant, then appeared at his side. His fingers curled like a serpent as they reached for the hilt of the Great Grade Sword Mohji had pinned down.

"Void. Sever!"

Cabaji quickly erased Sakura Blizzard's presence. Mohji had expected the move, but still loosened his grip instinctively. Cabaji pulled Sakura Blizzard free in a flash and sent it lightning-fast toward Mohji's seemingly undefended lower body.

Looking up, they could see Shuma using Geppo to dance freely through the air as if skating. He was chasing a seagull that was desperately fleeing over the water, and he looked absolutely delighted.

After six months of training under the pressure of the outside world, they had all reached something like an apprentice level in the Six Powers.

If Buggy had dumped all six techniques on them from the start, it would only have weighed more heavily on their minds. This approach seemed safer.

Teaching them just one or two of the Six Powers helped them learn faster. As long as they continued to focus on and refine those techniques, the strength they could unleash would be considerable.

Buggy's gaze shifted toward the island's interior. They were ready to move on to the next stage of their plan: the area with three to four times normal gravity.

After giving everyone three days to prepare themselves mentally, they entered the next part of the island, where the gravity was stronger. Even walking became more difficult. Buggy had been able to use Shave before, but in this environment, he could feel the resistance of the air again.

Training here would be even more grueling.

Aside from Shave, Finger Pistol, and Tempest Kick, Buggy hadn't neglected training his Devil Fruit powers.

He tried splitting his body endlessly: one into two, two into four, four into eight...

He found that the more he split himself, the more a force from deep inside—something like his soul—made him agitated and restless. Controlling the parts of his body above his legs also became incredibly difficult. His lower body, especially his feet, even seemed to slip out of his control.

His Fruit's abilities currently fell into two categories: passive splitting and active splitting. Passive splitting could break his body into smaller pieces than active splitting, but it lasted only a short time. An inexplicable force would arise in his body, compelling the separated parts to rejoin.

Active splitting couldn't reach the same degree of division as passive splitting, but as long as he had enough stamina, it had no time limit.

Now he understood why the Buggy in the original story never trained or developed this Devil Fruit ability, whose potential ranged from very low to very high. Once he split his body past a certain point, it felt as if his soul were being torn apart. The finer he split himself, the more intense the pain became.

Asking the Buggy in the original story to train would be like asking him to spend his days "covering his nose and mouth, waiting until he couldn't stand it anymore before taking a breath, then covering them again."

Developing this Fruit ability required tremendous willpower and unrelenting effort!

Night fell, and the stars glittered overhead.

Buggy sat beneath a sturdy tree and raised his right hand. Bathed in the cascading moonlight, he began splitting it into increasingly tiny fragments.

Under his control, his right hand broke into pieces... then threads... then fine dust... then specks...

When he reached a certain point, he felt an intense discomfort, and his head began to spin. In an instant, each part of his right hand seemed to develop a will of its own and returned to the stump at his wrist, forming his hand again.

His soul suddenly felt as if it were being torn apart...

Buggy clutched his chest, where a stabbing pain seemed to come from his heart. He gasped heavily, cold sweat running down his brow. "This really is an unscientific power..."

It was late...

In this part of the island, where gravity was three to four times normal, getting a good night's sleep was difficult. Sleeping felt like having a massive weight of lead laid over his body. He often tossed and turned for a long time before managing a light sleep, and in that discomfort, even the faintest breeze nearby could jolt him awake.

And the days went on...