Chapter Fifteen: Bucky’s True Strength! [Second Update]

“As expected of pirates with a bounty of 15 million berries—even flames can’t kill you.” The leader was none other than Captain Buggy the Clown. Beside him, perched atop a massive lion and looking down from above, was the first mate, beast tamer Mohji. The third, gripping a sword in his single hand while balancing atop a unicycle, his eyes cold and cruel like an acrobat mid-performance, was Chief of Staff Cabaji.

Only these three had escaped the inferno from the Buggy Pirates; the rest were dead. That grand fireball unleashed by Shu Mingyuan had burned Buggy’s crew to the ground, leaving nothing behind.

“Brat, the crimes you’ve committed are unforgivable! All of you, go to hell!”

With those words, the three figures burst forward with savage intent, charging at their enemies.

“Nami, keep your distance.”

“Heh, I’ll take this sword-wielding acrobat.”

“Then I’ll handle the big guy. Let’s see if I can send him flying with a single punch. Gum-Gum—!”

“Buggy the Clown, that means you’re my opponent.”

“Brat! Chop-Chop Cannon!”

Rage twisted Buggy’s face as four sharp knives sprang from between his fingers, his entire wrist detaching and shooting toward Shu Mingyuan like a cannonball.

“The Chop-Chop Fruit—so that’s how it is.” Shu Mingyuan smirked, dodging left to avoid Buggy’s hand projectile, then his right fist clenched as he lunged forward, smashing toward Buggy’s body with blinding speed. With his current physical prowess at fifty points—about the strength of fifty ordinary men—his body brimmed with explosive power, and even he no longer knew the limits of his strength.

As Shu Mingyuan charged in, Buggy’s shoes each revealed a hidden blade. Twisting his waist, he split his lower body apart, spinning wildly as he slashed toward Shu Mingyuan.

“Let’s see you get chopped to pieces! Chop-Chop Pancake!”

The flying knives spun toward him, whistling with such force they seemed poised to slice him in two. Shu Mingyuan stamped the ground and leapt, dodging high as dazzling lightning burst from his left hand, accompanied by a thousand chirping birds. At incredible speed, Shu Mingyuan crashed down toward Buggy’s body.

“Chop-Chop Emergency Escape!”

The youth’s fist, wreathed in thunder and wind, crackled with lightning a foot long, like a thunderball in his hand. In a panic, Buggy split his body into several pieces, scattering to evade the strike.

As Shu Mingyuan’s punch landed on empty air, he was unsurprised. A smile curled his lips as the lightning of Chidori erupted, enveloping parts of Buggy’s disassembled body. Though he wasn’t the wielder of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and couldn’t control lightning at will, the chakra-forged lightning within his hand was his to command.

Buggy, caught in the electric field, convulsed as his hand and lower body nearly crashed to the ground.

“This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!”

“Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!”

As the Chidori faded, Shu Mingyuan swiftly formed the hand seals. A massive ball of fire welled up in his throat and erupted forth.

The enormous fireball, over twenty meters wide, engulfed all of Buggy’s scattered parts. From within the raging flames came Buggy’s agonized screams.

The intensity of Shu Mingyuan’s techniques was so great that even Luffy and Zoro, fighting nearby, were startled. Shu Mingyuan’s ninjutsu always seemed on the verge of tearing the world apart.

The other battles were nearing their end. Beast tamer Mohji and his pet lion were no match for Luffy, who tossed them around like playthings. One more Gum-Gum Rocket would finish them off for good. As for Cabaji the acrobat, his flashy tricks were useless before Zoro’s eyes. With one strike—Three-Sword Style: Demon Slash—three lines of blood blossomed across Cabaji’s torso, and he was dead in an instant.

When their fights ended, they glanced toward the area where Shu Mingyuan had once again turned the world to flames. Both men twitched at the corners of their mouths—no matter the occasion, this guy’s battles were always so over the top.

“Is it over?” Zoro asked.

“Well… not sure. I just feel he can’t be that weak,” Shu Mingyuan replied, eyes fixed on the raging fire.

Suddenly, a cold, sinister laugh echoed from within the inferno. Shu Mingyuan’s face changed—just as he’d suspected, the strength Buggy showed in the original story was all an act. This was his true power.

“Kid, your abilities surprise me—lightning and fire, two elements. I don’t know what kind of Devil Fruit you ate, but if you think that’s enough to defeat the great Buggy, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“I’ve worked so hard to keep a low profile in the East Blue, and now you brats have ruined everything. Today, I’ll make an example of the three of you.”

The flames parted as if by their own will. The red-nosed man strode out, a black sheen flickering across his skin, his presence demonic and undiminished by the inferno—unscathed.

“So… it’s Haki after all…” Shu Mingyuan’s breath caught. In the first half of the Grand Line, Haki was almost unheard of. Once it appeared, it crushed all so-called pirates with overwhelming power.

“A crew member of the Pirate King—none of them are pushovers. Buggy hid himself well.” Shu Mingyuan recalled countless forum debates in his previous life about Buggy’s strength. Now, at last, the mystery was resolved before his eyes.

A sudden pressure exploded from Buggy, bearing down on Shu Mingyuan and the others, so much so that even with his fifty-point physique, he struggled to endure it.

“Damn!”

“Gum-Gum… Rocket!”

Luffy’s iconic voice rang out. All eyes turned as his arms stretched a hundred meters, then snapped back, launching a punch straight into the flames at Buggy.

“That straw hat…”

Buggy’s gaze landed on Luffy—not just Luffy, but the hat atop his head.

“Kid, that straw hat… What’s your relationship with Red-Haired?”

“When you become a great pirate, return this hat to me…” The memory echoed through Luffy’s mind—the day Shanks entrusted him with the hat.

“This is the hat that symbolizes my vow with Shanks!”

Buggy’s fierce face finally showed a flicker of emotion. “What? That’s Shanks’ hat!”

“Hmph! That damned Red-Hair!”

Shu Mingyuan watched Buggy closely. The instant Shanks’ name was mentioned, Buggy’s aura visibly diminished.

“So it really does come down to plot armor…” Shu Mingyuan smiled wryly to himself. He’d only taken a chance, but Buggy was exactly as he’d imagined, possessing strength on par with the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Shu Mingyuan himself was nowhere near enough.

“Rocket!”

Luffy’s full-force punch smashed into Buggy, sending him hurtling high into the sky, vanishing from sight.

Staring at the tiny black dot receding into the heavens, Shu Mingyuan’s mouth twitched. “That was some seriously unconvincing mercy…”