One Piece: Buggy the Clown Who Fell From Grace

For example, right now, he stands on the veranda in front of Noah's second-floor ship, quietly looking down at his masterpiece.

He even had the mood to chat with Robin, who had just joined the group.

"It's their...dream."

The black-haired mature woman brushed a strand of long hair that had fallen to the corner of her mouth and said calmly.

Having studied the ruins of the Sea Forest, she naturally understood the special significance of this longing for the fish-men, and the word "dream" held special meaning for her and the Straw Hat crew.

“Dreams…hehehe.” Bucky chuckled twice, the meaning of which was unclear.

He looked up, the sunlight shining on his pale face. "I always felt that this island was specially created as an ecological park to house fish people and mermaids."

"Sunlight shines down from 10,000 meters above, ocean currents from two different sea areas converge here, and there is even air present; everything is just right."

The dreamlike scene of Fishman Island flashed before his eyes, with schools of deep-sea fish swimming in the interlayered water, and corals and seaweed swaying in the breeze.

"It's not impossible."

As an archaeologist, Robin felt that this inference was still somewhat possible, as many incredible things were buried in those long-forgotten histories.

"So they will definitely regret it."

Pakistan paused in his speech.

There was no further explanation.

Just as Bucky said to Shirahoshi in Ryugu Palace, the mermaids always thought they were discriminated against and not recognized by humans.

actually not.

Slave owners discriminated fairly against every weak person, including humans.

Fishman Island, on the contrary, suffered less damage due to its unique environment.

For example, the Celestial Dragons' hunting activities.

But once they get ashore, things might change.

Don't forget, the Ryugu Kingdom is a member state of the World Government. As a member state, how can it not pay the Heavenly Gold?

What?

No money to pay?

Then let's sell people.

This is what Morgans mentioned about the current situation in some member states.

This is not unimaginable for the major member states. For example, the Goa Kingdom, where Luffy came from, had long followed the Celestial Dragons and divided its people into different classes.

Now, if we tell them that we can sell people at uncertain destinations for a price, they'll be overjoyed.

As for the Celestial Dragons, the Holy Land was first bombed, and then slaves escaped, so they were in dire need of manpower to help them. The two sides could be said to be a perfect match.

Even Doflamingo, who kidnapped children in Dressrosa to use as experimental subjects, no longer needs to hide it.

This only reflects the influence of the external environment.

We also need to consider the geographical environment. Normal islands don't have a humid climate like Fishman Island, nor do they have the presence of bubble technology.

Buggy was in a good mood and told Robin about these things. After all, Robin had traveled all over the world and could understand what Buggy was saying.

At the same time, his eyes noticed on the other side of the deck, at the site of what used to be Fishman Street.

Morgans is leading a group of fishmen and mermaid ladies, teaching them how to be a good newspaper deliveryman.

Objectively speaking, the fishmen are not as efficient as the news-delivering gulls.

However, the fish-men's advantage lies in their ability to evade the World Government's control—they have always been at odds with the World Government.

It can also communicate with fish and sea monsters.

The colony of paper gulls is so large that they are inevitably subject to the control of the World Government on the surface. If the navy were to actually hunt them, they would be unable to withstand it.

Morgans could only influence a portion of the population; under pressure from the government, the newspaper gulls had no choice but to reluctantly cut off the large birds.

They announced they would no longer deliver newspapers for the World Economic News Agency.

Of course, if this is the only channel the intelligence king has, Bucky will probably be eating bird meat very soon.

What rendered him speechless for a time was mainly the attack on the newspaper's printing plant and headquarters.

Fortunately, after the incident with the photographer, Morgans had already moved most of the headquarters' equipment, and only he and Arne were hunted down for a period of time.

It's estimated that he'll regain his former glory as an intelligence king in a while.

But after seeing the attitude of the newspaper delivery gull, it became urgent to create a newspaper delivery system that Mr. Bucky could control.

Once the storm had passed, he would use one hand to deliver regular news to the seagull and the other hand to deliver breaking news to the fishman newspaper deliveryman.

That's the true king of intelligence!

It can handle both sea and air transport!

If he doesn't write ten long essays about Im and Saturn, then he's just a king-level white-collar idiot!

Robin thought about it seriously, following Buggy's train of thought, and also looked up at the sky.

She realized that what the other person said made sense.

"Dreams are something you should always pursue."

She summed up the fishmen's current state in one sentence.

Strangely, both of them were observing the tribe not far in front of them with a detached and scrutinizing perspective.

The difference is that for Robin, it's a professional habit.

Bucky, however, had another idea for fun.

He licked his lips and whispered:

"So, we need to cut off their escape route so that they will pursue their dreams without hesitation."

backup plan...

What's the backup plan?

It can only be this Fishman Island!

Robin's pupils dilated instantly; she was certain that Buggy wasn't joking, that this guy really would do it!

Are you kidding me? There are so many ruins on the island!

Furthermore, what does it mean that he told me this so openly?

Are you going to let me stop it?

Robin's main concern was the ruins on the island.

Buggy seemed to enjoy keeping people in suspense; after telling Robin about it, he didn't say anything more.

He went off to find Hawkins, who was guarding the bow of the ship.

The ship is almost repaired, and the bombs are almost ready. It's time for the fun of drawing cards!

Hawkins was undoubtedly the most enthusiastic member of the group when it came to gacha pulls.

Upon hearing that Bucky wanted to draw a card, the expressionless man instinctively refused.

If Bucky draws a card that says "It's high noon" or something, wouldn't that be embarrassing for him?

After all, they couldn't win even if they fought.

Fortunately, Bucky wasn't deliberately making things difficult for him; he simply asked him to choose three cards and write down the names of Raiden Isle, Ridgeride Isle, and Mysteria Isle.

It was quite interesting when the three cards floated in front of me.

He rubbed his hands together, pretending to look expectant.

"Let's see who will be our next game site!"

Bucky's hand seemed hesitant as he picked through the three cards.

Then, quite naturally, he flipped the three cards over.

Hold onto the cards of Ridchiride and Mystria.

"It's never good to favor one over the other, so I'll just have to make things difficult for myself."

Using two islands as the game area will take some effort.

But that's what makes it interesting.

Hawkins looked furious but dared not speak out.

"Fear and substitution are the demonic images you've found, right?"

This time, it'll be your turn to shine.

Bucky thought for a moment and used the word "image".

Hawkins is the second person to follow this path.

"The word 'image' is not bad; I originally used the term 'characteristics' to describe it."

"Fruit development, approaching the trait, demonic signs, demonic awakening—these are the four stages I've summarized for Devil Fruit development. What happens next depends on how far you go."

Hawkins wasn't just observing Vander Deiken IX during this time; he combined Bucky's performance changes during the Battle of the Fog and the Battle of Ryugu Palace with descriptions from some ancient texts and began to try to build a theory.

And he was certain that he and Bucky were the only ones on this road right now.

Perhaps others in the gang will also embark on this path.

"That's a good summary, let's use traits then."

Bakun originally wanted to make a wish, but he didn't know if Vegapunk's theory had matured by now.

Unfortunately, there aren't many places to publish academic papers in the One Piece world.

Hawkins's concept of Devil Fruit development is easy to understand; it's simply the application of one's abilities after acquiring a Devil Fruit. However, Buggy believes that this stage, besides being a preliminary phase, is also a long-term process.

Approaching traits is the stage Hawkins is currently in.

It means to approach the image that the devil wants to see, in order to please the devil.

Like Bucky did in the Sabaody Archipelago, the devil, spurred on by his actions, grew increasingly arrogant.