Luffy the Working Man

"Thief girl, we'll be counting on you next. Can you help our captain open that iron cage?" Rayson asked Nami with a smile.

That Buggy Ball alone ultimately could not defeat Buggy.

At present, Rayson's only truly threatening offensive method was his Conqueror's Haki.

If he relied solely on Beast Strength (Blue), defeating Buggy, who possessed the Chop-Chop Fruit, was practically a fool's dream.

Although Rayson's finely controlled Conqueror's Haki was nearly invincible in the East Blue, against a Devil Fruit user like Buggy, who could not be knocked unconscious directly by the Haki's impact, they had no choice but to rely on Luffy to break the deadlock for now.

Rayson remembered that in the original story, although Nami successfully obtained the key to the iron cage, it ended up being swallowed whole by a little dog named Chouchou.

It was time for Luffy to put in some work and help him obtain Buggy's traits.

"My name is Nami. Just call me by my name," Nami replied. Though Rayson's group were pirates, she was still deeply grateful that they had saved her.

"Wait here." Nami left those words behind and swiftly vanished.

"Using your subordinates as meat shields, Buggy?" As the smoke and dust from the explosion slowly dispersed, Buggy's outline reappeared.

His hands had long since split off, grabbing two lackeys and holding them in front of him to offset the violent impact of the Buggy Ball.

"At such a young age, you possess such terrifying Conqueror's Haki... Your future is indeed frightening. But right now, against me, the wielder of the Chop-Chop Fruit, you're still no match!" Buggy loudly declared. Stimulated by the blast's impact, he had completely recovered from the Conqueror's Haki's intimidation.

Though Conqueror's Haki represented the disposition of a king, before one mastered the technique of infusion, it could ultimately only be used to intimidate and clear out minor fodder.

Few in the East Blue could withstand that pressure, but unfortunately, Buggy, who had followed Roger and seen the New World, was one of them.

Once someone withstood the impact of Conqueror's Haki, the following battle depended entirely on physical strength.

In that regard, Buggy, who had sailed alongside the Roger Pirates through countless days and nights, had an exceptionally sharp eye. Rayson's physique and vitality were utterly ordinary; he was clearly not strong.

At the very least, he was certainly not stronger than Buggy, who had been enhanced by the Chop-Chop Fruit.

Buggy could not understand why someone with such overwhelming Conqueror's Haki had such average physical abilities.

But he knew what he had to do now: erase the man blocking his path.

As for "Pirate Hunter" Zoro? He was merely a pure swordsman. Against swordsmen, Buggy, a Chop-Chop Fruit user, was even confident enough to provoke Hawkeye Mihawk.

(Of course, the reason he had such confidence was mainly because he had calculated that Hawkeye, out of consideration for Red-Hair, would never truly try to kill him.)

"Looks like I'll have to hold him off for a while, Rayson." Zoro drew his three long blades and stared at Buggy with solemn vigilance.

"Die! I'll take you down in style!" Buggy roared as he charged at Zoro.

Slash! Zoro sidestepped, then brought his blade down and cut Buggy cleanly in half at the waist. Buggy's body fell limply to the ground.

"Stop playing dead. Slashing attacks are meaningless against the Chop-Chop Fruit, aren't they, Buggy?" Rayson calmly exposed Buggy's ploy of pretending to be dead on the ground while preparing to ambush Zoro.

How pathetic...

After eating a Devil Fruit and being rejected by the sea, the backlash from the loss of his Child of the Sea (Ultimate Gold) trait had reduced Buggy to relying on such inferior tricks in battle.

If not for his fruit's advantage, Zoro's current strength would have made it easy for him to beat Buggy senseless.

"Since you've already seen through the secret of the Chop-Chop Fruit, then I won't pretend anymore!" Upon hearing Rayson's exposure, Buggy's upper body suddenly rose into the air, a vicious grin spreading across his face.

"Chop-Chop... Flying Knives!" Buggy roared. His two arms detached from his hovering body, each gripping a sharp dagger as they shot separately toward Rayson and Zoro.

"Gum-Gum... Bite!"

"What?!" Buggy's eyes widened in horror. Luffy's head suddenly stretched several meters forward, and just inches from Rayson's cheek, he accurately caught the flying knife between his teeth.

"What kind of body is that?! Are you a monster?!" Nami had already successfully stolen the key and freed Luffy. Seeing Luffy's neck stretch several meters long, her eyes went round.

"Your body can stretch that far?! Are you a Devil Fruit user too?!" Buggy's temple twitched.

"That's right! I'm a Rubber Man who ate the Gum-Gum Fruit!" Luffy answered, his words slightly muffled by the knife clenched in his mouth.

Slash! Zoro first knocked aside Buggy's other arm as it flew toward him, then cut the ropes binding Luffy with a swift stroke.

"I'm saved! Hehehe! Thanks, thief navigator!" Luffy grinned and stretched his newly freed limbs.

"Don't give me some weird nickname! I'm only repaying you for saving me earlier!" Nami rubbed her temples, helpless before Luffy's carefree manner.

"I've decided! You're our ship's navigator! Hehehe! And that map of the Grand Line is ours too!" Luffy grinned, flexing his fists as he loudly declared this to Buggy.

"Don't make decisions for me on your own! Whatever, how you pirates fight each other has nothing to do with me! I'm going to grab the treasure and run! If fate allows, we can work together again! Bye-bye! Have fun fighting!" Nami waved farewell to Rayson and the others, then nimbly disappeared around the street corner.

"Ah, thanks!" Luffy responded energetically.

"See you later, Nami," Rayson added with a smile.

Nami, who had nearly run out of sight, paused slightly when she heard Rayson's words, then vanished completely at an even faster speed.

"Bastards! Are you treating me like I don't exist?! Straw Hat brat! The sight of that hat reminds me of that damned red-haired bastard Shanks! It makes me furious!" Buggy's eyes were bloodshot with rage.

"Red-Hair? You... you know Shanks?!" Hearing the words "Red-Hair," Luffy's attention was instantly drawn in.

"So what if I do?" Buggy sneered.

"Where is Shanks now?" Luffy urgently asked.

"Who knows? You can say I know him, sure, but saying I never wanted to know him in this life would be more accurate!" Buggy spat. The moment he thought of how Shanks had caused him to eat that damned Chop-Chop Fruit, the fire of rage in his heart surged.