Chapter 8: Celestial Fragrance Scramble (Part 3)
As he hoarsely uttered that single word, an indescribable wave also spread out simultaneously.
The man who was just about to smash Buggy with his spiked club suddenly felt an inexplicable chill. His eyes rolled back, and he immediately fell backward. The woman, not far behind him, stared at Buggy in shock.
"You truly surprise me a lot. To think it's Conqueror's Haki! But your awakening is too late. Severely injured, no one can save you from my grasp!" Although momentarily shocked, the leader of the Terror Bandit Gang quickly recovered and spoke very calmly.
"Someone once told me that people can only rely on themselves. The only one who can save you is yourself." Speaking here, Buggy struggled to his feet and then walked directly towards the woman.
Completely ignoring what Buggy said, the woman raised her hand and shot another Slow-Slow Beam.
Having failed once, Buggy wouldn't let the Slow-Slow Beam hit him again. With a sideways leap, Buggy instantly disappeared from his original spot. When he reappeared, he was already at the woman's rear flank.
"Under my perception, all your actions are futile," the woman said unhurriedly as she immediately turned to face Buggy.
"Is that so?" Buggy snorted lightly and disappeared again. This time, Buggy did not reappear but maintained his speed, circling the woman.
"Stop these useless efforts. With your injuries, once you stop and lose that momentum, you'll probably find it difficult to even move! Make it easier for me; I'll give you a quick death later." As the leader of the Terror Bandit Gang, her combat experience was naturally rich, and psychological warfare was something she could employ effortlessly.
However, her words were completely useless against Buggy. Although the situation was indeed as she described, Buggy was unwilling to give up, and it wasn't time to give up yet.
As Buggy continuously circled, a large amount of dust was kicked up by his feet.
When the dust began to obscure their vision, Buggy finally launched his attack. His body suddenly appeared to the woman's front left. A "Sunbu Bengquan" (Inch Step Crushing Fist) was blasted towards the woman with Buggy's maximum strength.
And the moment Buggy stopped, the woman's body also turned. As Buggy attacked, the woman also fired a Slow-Slow Beam.
In the next second, Buggy, who had just assumed his stance, was hit again. However, the woman who saw Buggy get hit didn't feel the slightest bit happy, because she saw that Buggy's right hand was now only a wrist; the palm part had vanished.
Eight Extremities Fist Kai – Bunshin Sunbu Beng (Modified Eight Extremities Fist – Split Body Inch Step Crush)!
A force accompanied by a hair-raising sensation suddenly spread throughout the woman's body, directly immobilizing her.
Immediately after, the woman felt her waist being struck by an enormous force. A berserk power instantly surged into her body and began to wreak havoc frantically, seemingly wanting to destroy everything.
Standing on the spot, the woman instantly spat out several large mouthfuls of internal organs mixed with blood.
"Indeed... relying only on Observation Haki isn't enough... Can you... tell me... who you are?" After continuously coughing up blood clots several times, the woman fell to the ground and with difficulty asked Buggy.
"A few years ago, I was an apprentice on Roger's pirate crew... My name is Buggy!" Feeling the slowing ability suddenly lose its effect, Buggy also answered, gasping for breath.
"So... that's how it is." After speaking, the woman directly stopped breathing.
Seeing that the woman finally had no breath, Buggy didn't sit down with a plop. Instead, he forced himself to separate his left hand as well, then used it in coordination with his right hand to pull out the long sword the woman wore. After the two hands, holding the sword, floated above the man, Buggy then controlled his hands to plunge the sword into the man's throat.
Ignoring the man's reaction, Buggy only then sat down and gasped for air.
After a good while, looking at the two corpses near him, Buggy suddenly had some enlightenment, but a nauseating feeling abruptly rose, and his stomach churned!
Bleargh!
After vomiting for a full minute, the exhausted Buggy began to laugh heartily, though weakly.
No wonder I couldn't awaken Haki. It turns out I hadn't truly integrated myself into this world before. Without this battle, I don't know how long it would have taken me to realize.
Leader of the Terror Bandit Gang, thank you. Although you almost killed me, I still thank you!
From today onwards, there is no more Baki. There is only the Red-Nosed Buggy of the pirate world.
After laughing, he rested for a while longer. Buggy then tore his clothes to crudely bandage his wounds. Standing up again, he came to the side of the ditch. Looking at the already ripened Celestial Fragrance fruits, Buggy controlled his hands to pick them one by one. After packing them, he casually picked up one of the female bandit leader's feet and, dragging her corpse, slowly disappeared into the dense forest.
Almost two hours later, Buggy finally returned to his camp.
Tossing the female leader's corpse aside, Buggy took out medicine and began to treat his wounds. By the time he finished, it was almost dusk.
After cleaning up the smell of blood and getting a good night's sleep, Buggy, upon waking up the next day, eagerly took out another small bottle.
This bottle contained a highly corrosive solution, similar to aqua regia.
Buggy had a plan when he had someone prepare this solution.
As a One Piece fan, Buggy naturally wouldn't forget the plot points of the One Piece anime. In the Punk Hazard arc, there was a scene that Buggy couldn't forget for a long time: the scene when the salamander poison decomposed. It left too much room for imagination.
Buggy was concerned about two points. First, how could inanimate objects eat Devil Fruits? Second, what was the true nature of Devil Fruit abilities?
Buggy could sooner or later get the answer to the first point from the Navy's scientific department. Therefore, Buggy was more concerned about the second point: the reason why, after the salamander poison decomposed, one apple in a basket of fruit left next to the salamander poison suddenly transformed into a Devil Fruit.
Buggy wasn't interested in exploring the deeper reasons for now. The only thing he wanted to know in the near future was whether, after a Devil Fruit user's body was instantly destroyed, the Devil Fruit ability contained within their body would, like the salamander poison, attach itself to nearby fruit.
The pre-prepared corrosive liquid and the female leader's corpse he dragged back yesterday were for this experiment.
And the result of this experiment would determine whether the original history would change.
With an uneasy heart, Buggy placed a basket of fresh fruit next to the female leader's corpse, then opened the bottle cap and poured the corrosive liquid onto the corpse.
(End of this chapter)