Chapter Thirteen: Orange Town, The Buggy Pirates

"The little thief cat should be leaving now..."
A teasing voice sounded from behind Nami, making her delicate body tremble. Words like 'no way' flashed through her mind as she slowly turned her head, only to find Shumingyuan's face impossibly close.
She let out a scream, stepping back to put some distance between herself and Shumingyuan, her back pressed against the safe.
"You... how are you here? Weren't you fighting Axe-Hand Morgan?" Nami asked, still shaken.
"It's settled. I guessed a certain thief might be stealing something, so I came up to have a look," Shumingyuan shrugged, wearing a harmless smile.
Nami was speechless; clearly, he meant her. She felt utterly helpless—she had thought she could take advantage of the chaos to steal everything from the navy base and escape, but in the end, she couldn't slip from his grasp.
Clutching the sea chart tightly, she watched him warily. "Even though you've found me out, I won't hand over the sea chart to you."
Shumingyuan smiled and pursed his lips. "What would I want with a fake sea chart?"
"Impossible!"
"If you don't believe me, look for yourself."
Nami hurriedly opened the sea chart. Instead of the routes across the seas, it depicted a clown-like skull signed by Buggy, known as Buggy the Immortal.
The chart leading to the Grand Line was in Buggy's possession. Thinking of that terrifying man, Nami felt a surge of dread.
"How did you know?" Nami glanced at Shumingyuan suspiciously, wondering if he and Buggy were accomplices.
Shumingyuan could only smile wryly. Was he supposed to tell Nami that that's how it was written in the original story? Even if he said so, no one would believe him.
So he improvised, "I happened to run into Buggy's crew before coming here."
He glanced at Nami and laughed, "Look at you, so scared. It's just Buggy. We'll snatch the chart from him and be done with it. Come on, everyone's waiting at the dock."

Nami pressed her hand to her face and sighed inwardly. That was Buggy—not some random stray, not someone you could just defeat at will.
"Still not leaving? Do you really want me to hand you over to the navy here? If they see the treasure you're holding, who knows if they'll brand you a robber," Shumingyuan said, standing in the doorway with a half-smile.
Nami was speechless. Ever since she'd met this man, she'd never had a moment's peace. She always lost out—couldn't beat him, couldn't escape—so she could only follow behind Shumingyuan, head bowed in defeat.
...
At the navy base dock.
Shumingyuan and his companions bid farewell to the warm-hearted townspeople. Under the astonished gaze of the crowd, the massive body of the Sea King emerged from the water, and they leapt onto its back and departed. However, just as in the original story, Koby stayed behind at the navy base to become a marine.
On the Sea King's back, Zoro clicked his tongue in amazement. Others set out to sea by ship, but here they were, riding a sea beast, making quite the spectacle.
"Shumingyuan, you have so many companions now... Poor me, I haven't found a single one," Luffy sighed.
Staring out at the distant sea, Shumingyuan murmured, "Who knows, before long I might leave alone..."
"Shumingyuan, where are we going now?"
"To find the man called the Immortal—Buggy the Clown!"
Thinking of the anime's uniquely lucky Buggy, Shumingyuan was lost in thought. A crew member of Pirate King Roger, sworn brother to Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, and later one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea after the Paramount War—not someone as weak as depicted in the original manga, where Luffy just punches him away at the start of his journey.
On the question of Buggy's strength, Shumingyuan had his own opinion. Being one of Roger's crew alone should make people wary. If Buggy seemed weak because of his Devil Fruit, then consider Shanks, who ate no fruit and still became an Emperor.
Comparing them, back when Buggy hadn't eaten the Chop-Chop Fruit, his strength should have been on par with Shanks at that time. As for potential, which of Roger's crew could be considered weak?
On Zou, atop the elephant, the Mink Tribe's two kings, Cat Viper and Dogstorm, had only followed Kozuki Oden onto Roger's ship as Oden's retainers—not really Roger's crew. Later, together, they could fight Jack, one of Kaido's top three disasters, and even have the upper hand.
Moreover, Buggy had accompanied Roger to the end of the Grand Line—Raftel. With such a background, could he be weak? Shumingyuan didn't believe it. Even if, as the original said, Buggy was punched away by Luffy, that must have been Oda deliberately masking his strength. Or perhaps Buggy saw the straw hat on Luffy's head—the same hat Roger once wore—and let him win on purpose.

For all these reasons, Shumingyuan believed Buggy was not a simple man.
Their target: Orange Town.
With the Sea King traveling at full speed, it took only half a day before a small town appeared in the distance. Ahead, a small boat flying the clown skull flag sailed slowly toward Orange Town.
Shumingyuan narrowed his eyes. That boat was Buggy the Clown's pirate ship—exactly what he had hoped for.
"Stupid fish... swim over and take out that little boat for me."
The Sea King let out a roar, its massive body quickly approaching the boat. Onboard were three pirates. Suddenly, a huge shadow appeared above them, followed by the roar of enormous waves.
The three pirates turned around, terror filling their faces as the Sea King's gigantic body loomed overhead. With a roar, it crashed into the small boat, instantly splintering it into pieces. The pirates were crushed beneath the Sea King's bulk, dying on the spot.
Orange Town was now close at hand.
After the Sea King landed, the group disembarked, but the town appeared eerily quiet, like a deserted city devoid of life.
"Looks like Buggy's crew has already landed," he murmured, then set off toward the town.
Boom!
Suddenly, a massive explosion echoed from within the town. The group watched in horror as a row of buildings collapsed simultaneously, dust billowing everywhere. With that terrifying strike, nearly half the town was destroyed.

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