"Buggy," Robin called out with a serene smile as she approached, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Why does it feel like your strength's jumped again?"
"Well," Buggy said, turning to her with a grin that made him look far too pleased with himself, "My strength jumped a bit lately."
He casually flexed the fingers on his right hand, then added with a laugh, "If not, Zoro's move might've actually scratched me."
Zoro: ...
You could've just kept that to yourself, you know.
The Straw Hats were frozen in place, caught between awe and existential crisis. Zoro's slash had torn the land apart for hundreds of meters, obliterating the forest behind Buggy like it was made of paper. And yet, Buggy stood there unharmed, chatting like they were all out for a picnic.
"Buggy…" Nami flitted closer, the wings on her back fluttering. Her eyes shimmered with a strange mix of fear and fascination. "Just how far has your power reached? This is… unreal."
Buggy tilted his head thoughtfully. "Hard to say," he admitted. "But so far, nobody's managed to push me to sweat."
That didn't sit well with anyone, least of all Zoro, Sanji, or Usopp, whose expressions twitched in unison.
Robin chuckled softly behind her hand.
Zoro exhaled, finally picking up Wado Ichimonji again, but the smile he wore was tight and bitter. "Buggy… your haki. What was that technique?"
He looked down at his blade, then back up with narrowed eyes. "You didn't even use visible Armament Haki to block my slash. You're a Chop-Chop man—yeah, that makes you a sword-user's nightmare, but that slash should've broken past your body. You didn't even split apart."
Buggy raised a single index finger and smiled. A faint shimmer of black and gold mist coiled around the fingertip—barely noticeable, save for the way it pulsed under the more striking platinum, black, and violet lightning dancing along his skin.
"Notice anything strange?"
Zoro squinted. "That black-gold aura... is that Armament Haki? It's so thin, it's almost gaseous…"
Luffy and Sanji leaned in.
"Oi, he's right!" Sanji said. "It's weak, but the presence is real."
"But why's it look like that?" Luffy asked, tilting his head.
Buggy let the energy swirl freely, humming with a hint of amusement. "What you're seeing," he said, "is what happens when you compress Armament Haki beyond its usual form—until it's no longer just armor, but a piercing essence. You won't see it unless you've mastered how to condense it without losing flow."
"Condensed… Haki?" Zoro echoed, jaw clenched.
Buggy smiled, patient now. "Yeah. Not just hardening. Something more. It flows through the gaps in cells. And it stings like hell."
None of them could say a word.
After all, the only people they'd seen perform anything like that were monsters—true monsters.
"If you're wondering, this black-and-gold aura is a refined and compressed Armament Haki," Buggy said coolly, twirling his index finger as the strange mist-like energy curled around it.
"As for why it looks like this... well, think of it as something like Observation haki killer. It's not something you can grasp right now." He gave Zoro a knowing look. "Once you've mastered Ryu or advanced Armament Haki, you'll start to understand. Until then, don't sweat it."
He raised his finger slightly, and the black-gold haze sparked as three distinct lightning streams—platinum, black, and violet—flared up around it.
"But the real key is here," Buggy added, "the red colored haki wrapped around my finger."
Fsshht.
The Straw Hats' attention was locked onto the brilliant lightning dancing along Buggy's hand.
"This," Buggy said, voice calm but weighty, "is Conqueror's Haki entanglement. One of the only two thresholds that separate the world's top powerhouses from the rest."
He turned his head with a casual grin and looked straight at Zoro.
"Zoro, if you haven't even mastered this... you're not getting anywhere near the world's strongest swordsman. The gap between you and Mihawk is still massive."
"Conqueror's Haki!?" the crew shouted in unison, eyes wide.
"Yohohoho! Luffy seems to have that too, doesn't he?" Brook chimed in from the side.
As one, the crew turned to stare at their captain.
Luffy scratched his head with a grin. "Yeah, I've got Conqueror's Haki, but it's different from what Uncle Buggy's showing."
Zoro and Sanji both fell into silence, gears turning hard in their heads.
Then, almost in sync, a flash of realization lit up their eyes. They turned toward Buggy, voices rising with hope—
"Buggy! That other way you mentioned—"
"Snort."
They both cut off, glaring at each other with a simultaneous scoff.
Buggy couldn't help but chuckle. "The other way," he said smoothly, "is Devil Fruits."
"Devil Fruits…?"
The two sank back into contemplation. They didn't have Conqueror's Haki—at least, not yet.
Which meant... was the only other path to reach the pinnacle of power a Devil Fruit?
Buggy let that question hang for a moment before continuing.
"Haki, when pushed to its ultimate state, can stand at the top. But Devil Fruits? They can reach the same level if developed to their peak. That's Awakening."
He turned toward Luffy now, a smirk forming.
"Take this kid—Luffy's been walking around with the confidence of a man who's awakened his Fruit. Otherwise, he wouldn't have the guts to think he can take me in a one-on-one fight."
Buggy's eyes gleamed. "Well? Still feeling brave, Straw Hat?"
Luffy's hand went to his hat. He pressed it down with a grin that stretched ear to ear.
"Of course I am!"
Laughter broke out among the crew. That was their captain, through and through.
Buggy laughed too, and then slowly rose into the air, hovering high above the field with effortless grace.
"All right then. No warm-ups. Come at me with everything you've got, like Zoro did. No holding back."
His smile turned sharper.
"I want to see just how far your Awakening really goes."
Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Heh... okay then, Uncle Buggy! Let's go!"
His hair, jacket, and pants turned ghostly white, a soft flame-cloud curling around his shoulders. Beep. Beep. With every step, the ground beneath his feet turned elastic, springing him higher and higher into the sky.
BOING—!
As Luffy bounced, the pressure around him surged. His Haki exploded outward, his presence expanding like a storm cloud building at sea. The sky shimmered with tension as he launched higher and higher, every bounce faster than the last.
A few seconds passed in tense silence until Luffy's voice suddenly echoed through the sky.
"Uncle Buggy! Watch out!!"
He grinned wildly, the wind howling around him.
"This is my strongest move so far—Gomu Gomu no… Ape Slingshot!!!"
Whoosh!
In a blinding flash of white, Luffy rocketed upward, his body trailing divine-like steam and a massive arm coiled back like a slingshot. The force behind it twisted the very air, and his fist, now enlarged to titanic proportions, raced toward Buggy with the weight of a god's fury.
Buggy hovered calmly above, arms crossed. He cracked a faint smile.
"The momentum's impressive… but in the end—" he raised one fist, casual and unbothered, "—your Haki's too weak."
His hand shimmered with tricolor lightning and a roaring black-gold flame as he clenched it tightly.
"Without Haki, no matter how wild your power is… It's still not enough."
Bang!!!
Their fists met with a thunderclap that split the sky.
Luffy's giant punch caved inward on impact—compressed, crushed, and then blasted backward in less than a second. The force of Buggy's punch sent shockwaves through the heavens.
Before anyone could process what had happened, a platinum streak cut through the air. Buggy had already reappeared beside Luffy in a blur of light.
Then—
Boom!
Whoosh!
Boom!!!
Ten lightning-fast punches slammed into Luffy's stomach in a blink. His body bent violently into an inverted "V" before crashing to the earth below.
The impact shook the island. Dust billowed skyward as a crater—hundreds of meters wide—split open across the ground.
When the smoke finally cleared, silence fell like a death knell.
Luffy's Gear 5 form had vanished.
He lay motionless at the crater's center, steam hissing off his skin. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His eyes had rolled back. Unconscious. Defeated.
Not even a groan escaped him.
The Straw Hat Pirates stood frozen. No words. No breath.
Zoro had been stopped by a single finger.
And now, Luffy had been flattened by a single punch.
Was this… the power that stood at the top of the world?
"Buggy… don't you think that was a bit much?" came a voice with a teasing lilt—Robin's, floating in from the side.
The Straw Hats collectively exhaled in relief. Right. Buggy wasn't an enemy. He was family—Luffy's family. A brutal mentor, maybe, but not a threat.
Buggy descended from the sky, landing softly beside the smoking crater. He looked down at Luffy's unconscious form and chuckled under his breath.
One punch.
One second.
He'd done it—fulfilled the sacred duty of any isekai'd mentor: beat the protagonist so he can grow.
With a smirk tugging at his lips, Buggy thought, After the Island Destroyer, I figured I'd earned a little leeway… Might as well teach the kid some respect. After all, if Kaido-sensei's out of the picture, someone's got to step in.
Still, his tone remained composed as he spoke aloud.
"If I didn't hit him that hard," he said, glancing back at the crew, "he'd never feel what Conqueror's Coating is truly about. Sometimes pain is the only path to power."
He gave them a confident smile, then casually slung an arm around Robin's shoulders.
"In the meantime, you all should rest up here for a few days."
He grinned.
"I've got some business with Robin. I'll send her back in two."
---
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