Buggy Pirates

"We're starving to death!" The four of them had gone most of the day without food, but aside from Luffy, William, Nami, and Zoro could still endure the hunger for the time being.

Although they had stocked up on plenty of food before leaving Shells Town, Luffy had devoured every last bit of it in one meal. And in order to keep a low profile and avoid drawing too much attention from the Marines, William had not used his Devil Fruit ability to store food.

"Before entering the Grand Line, we still need to find a cook and a musician!" Luffy, nearly flattened by hunger, said expectantly.

"A musician is unnecessary!" William, Nami, and Zoro snapped at the same time. What did pirates need a musician for?

"Don't pirates sing? Otherwise, it'd be boring!" In Luffy's eyes, an adventure without a musician aboard would lose much of its fun. Later on, he really did find a musician to become his companion.

"Forget that for now. Let's find something to eat!" Nami had no interest in continuing the pirate talk. Although she had joined the Straw Hat Pirates in name, she was still thinking about how to earn one hundred million Beli and buy a certain village. She did not want to starve to death before she had even gathered the money.

"Hm, there's a huge bird!" Zoro was drawn by a cry from the sky. Looking up, he spotted a bird even larger than their ship. If they slaughtered it, it would be enough to feed all of them. But he could not fly, so there was no way he could catch it.

"It really is huge!" William looked up as well, and his thoughts were much the same as Zoro's. But he could not fly either, nor did he have any ranged weapons, so he could only sigh at the thought of missing out on such a meal.

"Then let's eat that bird!" Luffy, who had a particular fondness for meat, immediately perked up. Unlike William and Zoro, he seemed to have already thought of a way to catch the bird the moment he smelled food.

"How are we supposed to eat it?" The three of them looked at Luffy in confusion. If they had not caught the prey yet, they would still go hungry.

"I'll catch it and bring it back. Leave it to me! Gum-Gum Rocket!" Luffy stretched out his arms, grabbed the crossbeam, and launched himself into the air like a rubber band.

"I see!" The three of them immediately understood. However, instead of catching the bird as expected, Luffy ended up with his head caught in the bird's beak. Only then did William remember that this scene had indeed happened in the original story. It seemed some events had not changed because of the butterfly effect caused by his arrival. Or perhaps they had changed, and he simply had not noticed.

"Hey, will Luffy be okay like that?" Zoro asked as he watched Luffy get carried away by the bird.

"He'll be fine. Once he sees land, he'll come down himself!" William was not worried about Luffy's safety at all. With Luffy's strength, could he really be eaten by a bird?

"That's true. This boat is too cramped for four people anyway," Nami complained.

Although she had been forced to join, this pirate crew was far too shabby. Not only did they lack their own pirate flag, but their pirate ship was just a small boat, and there were only four crew members including her.

Still, she knew that her three temporary companions were no ordinary people. Their strength was absolutely enough for one person to take on a hundred. In the East Blue, perhaps aside from that pirate crew, there were not many stronger than them. Zoro in particular—his notorious name had spread throughout the East Blue. With such a lineup and crew, they could do quite well in the East Blue.

"That's right. As long as a Devil Fruit user doesn't fall into the sea, there's no problem." Hearing William say that, Zoro no longer worried about Luffy's safety. After all, the four of them were headed to find "Clown" Buggy and take the map to the Grand Line's entrance from him. Besides, the bird was flying in the same direction as their ship.

"Come to think of it, Luffy said you're a Devil Fruit user too, right?" Since William had never used his Devil Fruit ability, Nami had more or less forgotten about it.

"I'm a lizard man who ate the Lizard-Lizard Fruit, Castle Dragon Model." After saying that, William could not be bothered to explain. Using his ability directly would give Nami and Zoro a better understanding.

"Where is this?" Nami and Zoro found themselves suddenly standing in a strange hall, and they immediately became alert.

"Relax, relax. Welcome to the castle inside my body."

Hearing William's words, the two of them could not help looking toward the castle doors. Outside was clearly the deck of their original ship, and William's real body was still steering the ship in pursuit of Luffy, who had been carried away by the bird.

"What an interesting ability!" Zoro laughed.

"Didn't you say you ate a Lizard-Lizard Fruit?" Sharp-eyed Nami immediately caught the key point. What kind of lizard had a castle inside its body?

"What I ate was a Mythical Zoan. This castle in my body is merely one of my abilities." Since Nami and Zoro were going to be his companions, and their character was absolutely trustworthy, there was no need to hide it from them.

"Even if I activate my Devil Fruit ability and enter the castle, my real body can still sense everything happening outside, and it can act independently as well." William briefly explained one of his Fruit's abilities.

"Devil Fruits seem as common as street-stall goods," Zoro said. He felt that all those claims of Devil Fruits being rare treasures of the sea were lies. After all, there were already two ability users right beside him.

"Street-stall goods? Have you ever seen street-stall goods selling for a hundred million on the black market?" William asked.

Perhaps in the eyes of the Celestial Dragons, Devil Fruits were no different from street-stall goods. But no one else, including the Four Emperors of the Grand Line's New World, would dare say Devil Fruits were common street-stall goods, even if they did not lack ability users.

"One hundred million? You actually ate one hundred million Beli?" Nami grabbed William by the collar and cursed excitedly.

"You're a swordsman too?" Zoro did not care what William's ability was. He was not an enemy, after all. The moment Zoro entered the castle, the two swords hanging on the wall had caught his attention.

"Barely, I guess. But I can't spar with you right now!" William did not dare call himself a swordsman in front of Zoro. Although his sword speed was fast, he was still a complete amateur before Zoro.

"Huh?" Zoro was thoroughly confused. What did "barely" mean? Either he was a swordsman or he was not.

"We can discuss swordsmanship another time when we get the chance." William was speechless before someone like Zoro, who was obsessed only with swordsmanship. Still, sparring with the future great swordsman, the three-sword-style wielder Roronoa Zoro, would be greatly beneficial to restoring and even improving his strength. More importantly, Zoro, like Luffy, was now his companion.

In the original story, the Straw Hat Pirates despaired when they encountered Marine Admiral Aokiji on the Grand Line. They despaired again when they met Marine Admiral Kizaru at the Sabaody Archipelago. At Marine Headquarters, they lost Luffy's brother, "Fire Fist" Ace, to Akainu. The first time, Aokiji spared them. The second time, Bartholomew Kuma saved them. The third time, Luffy was rescued after losing consciousness.

That was the despair brought upon the Straw Hat Pirates by the gap in strength. Therefore, William felt that while restoring and improving his own strength, it was also necessary to raise the overall strength of the Straw Hat Pirates.

"That emblem looks like it belongs to the Buggy Pirates, doesn't it?" With his excellent eyesight, Zoro spotted a sailboat about the same size as theirs in the distance. Judging by its emblem, it should belong to "Clown" Buggy's crew. As a pirate hunter, Zoro knew a little about the flags of the more famous targets in the East Blue. Before joining the Straw Hat Pirates, he had made a living hunting wanted criminals, most of whom were pirates.

"Then let them take us to Buggy," William said. Buggy had the map they needed.

In the original story, the bird carrying Luffy was shot down by Buggy's subordinates with a cannon when it passed Orange Town. William knew this, but if he said so, it would be difficult to explain how he knew such things.

"Hey, stop your ship! We're men of the Buggy Pirates!" The pirates aboard the other ship had clearly spotted William's group as well. Once the ships drew close, they pulled out short swords and shouted their warning.

"Oh? You actually dare rob us. You've got some nerve." Zoro cast a cold glance at the three men.

"So you're the legendary 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro! We're sorry! We failed to recognize someone so great!" Before long, the three men aboard the ship had been thoroughly beaten by Zoro and hurriedly apologized. Meanwhile, Nami confiscated all the treasure on their ship.

Like Luffy, Zoro had no interest in treasure, and William felt that he did not need this little bit of money for now. Besides, before Nami truly joined them, it was necessary to use this method to win her over. Even after Nami formally joined the Straw Hat Pirates, she would still manage most of the crew's wealth.

"You made us lose track of our companion. Start rowing forward, now," Zoro said unhappily.

"Yes!" How could the three men dare ask another question? They did not even dare offend William and Nami beside Zoro. All they could do was use their ship to tow the boat behind them away from there.

But come to think of it, had William not been the only one rowing the whole time? He had no choice. He could not exactly make Nami, a girl, row the boat. As for Zoro, forget it. They might fail to find Luffy and end up getting lost themselves.

Now that they had free rowers, why would William refuse?