Buggy D Clown

Vegapunk's Help, With Conditions

Crimson Empire

Buzz... buzz... buzz...

As Buggy was taking Zephyr to tour the seastone mine, his phone bug suddenly rang, catching him off guard. He wondered who would be calling him when the rest of his team was with him.

Click!

After answering the call, Buggy was startled by the voice on the other end.

"Buggy? Is that you?"

"Ah? Yamato? Haven't you been traveling around the empire? Why did you call me?" Buggy asked, suspiciously.

Yamato paused for a few seconds before responding. "It's like this... I came across this creature that looks like a Shark—no, wait, Sharks don't have wings. Maybe it's a bird? No, that doesn't seem right either. Anyway, I don't know who they are, but they look a lot like S-Hawk and S-Snake from your crew. He has the same wings, and there are flames behind him."

Hmm?

Buggy frowned at the mention of the mysterious creature, and both S-Hawk and S-Snake, who were standing nearby, exchanged surprised glances. The phone bug's volume wasn't low, so Buggy didn't try to hide the conversation from them, allowing the two to overhear.

"It's Shark!" S-Snake and S-Hawk said in unison, their voices matching.

"A Shark?" Buggy repeated, understanding now. He spoke into the phone. "Yamato, you're saying it's right in front of you?"

"Yes," Yamato confirmed.

"Alright, don't go anywhere. I'll have Blueno open the door. We'll come find you," Buggy said before hanging up the phone.

He turned to Blueno, signaling him.

Crunch.

Without a word, Blueno opened the spatial door in perfect synchronization with Buggy's request.

At that moment, Buggy looked at the puzzled group of Zephyr and chuckled.

"Zephyr, would you like to take a look with me? We have another Seraphim who has come to join our empire?"

"Came to join our empire?" Zephyr glanced at the young Hancock and the S Hawk, nodding thoughtfully.

The group on Buggy's side expertly stepped through the space door, and when they emerged on the other side, they found Yamato staring warily at the Seraph-Shark.

"Yo, Yamato! Haven't seen you in a few days. Why the long face?" Buggy remarked, noticing Yamato's disheveled appearance. He looked worn out, even a bit thinner than usual.

Yamato scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. "I don't know how to cook, hehe. Sometimes I can't find anything to eat, so I end up hungry. I miss Uncle Fry's cooking."

Buggy rolled his eyes. "Come back if you want food. It's not like I'm not offering. See what you're saying? It's like I never feed you."

Yamato blushed slightly, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "Heh, well, I'm trying to save my pride, you know. I'm a dignified Kozuki... uh, Onihime Yamato, but I can't find anything to eat!"

Hahaha! Everyone laughed at Yamato's naive response.

"Are you Godslayer Buggy?" A voice, youthful yet almost identical to Jinbei's, piped up.

"Yes, it's me." Buggy raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Who sent you to find me?"

"No comment." Little Shark answered in a mechanical tone before pulling out a sound shell from his pocket and handing it to Buggy. "Someone asked me to give this to you. They hope you can keep it as secret as possible."

"Got it." Buggy nodded, accepting the shell. "Thanks, Shark!"

S Snake and the S Hawk

"Shark, why don't you stay here too?"

"Yeah, let Captain Buggy—"

But before Little Hancock could finish her suggestion, the sound of a sharp slap echoed through the air. Shark had slapped himself hard across the face, his expression immediately turning pained, as though the act itself was a form of punishment. Without another word, he turned sharply, vanishing into the distance before either of them could stop him. His retreat was swift and silent, but the sadness in his eyes remained, lingering like a shadow.

"Well, that's a pity," Little Hancock muttered softly, her voice laced with regret.

"Shark!" S Hawk's voice cracked slightly, clearly upset by the sudden departure. He clenched his fists, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

Seeing Shark's abrupt exit, both Little Hancock and S Hawk were visibly shaken. The moment had been tense, and the abruptness of Shark's departure left a heavy silence between them. Little Hancock's eyes softened, the sadness she had been hiding slowly creeping to the surface.

Pat! Pat!

At that moment, Buggy placed his large hand on their heads and grinned. "Do you want Shark to be free?"

"Yes!" S Snake and the S Hawk immediately looked up at Buggy with hopeful expressions.

"Alright, I promise you I'll set him free, and it won't take long," Buggy reassured them with a smile.

"Captain Buggy is awesome!" The two little ones immediately brightened up with joy.

Although their strength remained strong after the chip was removed, their personalities were still childlike, much like kids their age. There was not much change in that regard.

But that's okay. It allows them to hold onto the memory of self-growth. Even though they are clones, they'll eventually become two completely different people from their original selves.

Seeing Little Hancock laughing, the Boa Hancock also breathed a sigh of relief. Now, she truly saw Little Hancock as her daughter. It couldn't be helped; the two were too alike. And so, she cherished her deeply.

It wasn't just the Empress; the entire Buggy Pirates were very fond of the two of them. After all, who wouldn't be charmed by two strong, talented, and cute little children who looked like them?

It could be said that the Haki of both had already been mastered by the members of the Buggy Pirates. They had both now mastered the two types of Haki—Armament and Observation—and were able to use them maturely with techniques like Winding and Hardening.

Next, the only thing left was to build the depth of their Haki. That could only be achieved slowly through fighting and training, a process that no one could speed up for them.

But there was no doubt that both of them were destined to become some of the world's top combatants in the future!

Click!

At that moment, Buggy raised his hand and pressed the sound shell in his palm.

"Hey! Is that okay? Captain, didn't that Shark tell you to listen alone?" Doringo exclaimed from the side.

"Are there any outsiders here?" Buggy rolled his eyes. "It's not something too personal."

"People specifically named it and handed them over to you alone. Isn't this still personal?"

Everyone fell silent but couldn't help but feel warmth in their hearts. They understood that this was a clear sign of Buggy's trust in them.

Zephyr and the others exchanged glances. Being Zephyr's disciples, they understood Buggy's intentions: to win people's hearts. But knowing the reasoning behind it didn't make it any less impressive. To do it so naturally, and so cleverly, while still evoking emotion—what a smart move!

Zephyr couldn't help but sigh, even though he fully grasped the significance of Buggy's actions. He still felt a sense of joy.

"Hi, I'm Vegapunk. Please respond!"

"Hi, I'm Vegapunk. Please respond!"

"Hi, I'm Vegapunk. Please respond!"

Everyone looked puzzled. What on earth was going on?

The phrase is repeated several times, always in the same sentence. Even Buggy couldn't help but frown. Did Vegapunk have something to ask him? But this voice... it was just the same sentence over and over. Wasn't that odd?

He didn't understand it at first, and the others were even more confused.

"Vegapunk? So it's that crazy old man. If it were him, it wouldn't just be a simple sentence," Zephyr was the first to speak up.

"Do you all know about Vegapunk's identity?" he asked.

Everyone nodded in response.

"The greatest scientist in the world!"

"That guy is the object of envy, jealousy, and hate in the scientific community!"

"Can we stop with the speeches? I'm still here!" Ceaser Gastino interjected with a chuckle.

"It's said that the technology in his head is ahead of the world by five hundred years!" There was much more lively chatter, with everyone weighing in.

Ceaser floated over, looked at Buggy, and said, "Captain, should I take a look?"

"Sure," Buggy replied, tossing the sound shell to Ceaser.

Click! Click!

Ding ding ding!

Everyone watched as Ceaser fiddled with the device, muttering to himself. They had no idea what he was doing. It was safe to say that everyone in the group was well-versed in a variety of knowledge, and most were familiar with the concept of Yinbei. So, it was clear that the sound shell's function was mainly for recording—nothing too complicated.

"Hahaha!" Suddenly, a burst of wild laughter erupted.

"Yes! Vegapunk, you old bastard! I knew you were up to something. I caught you red-handed, didn't I?"

With that, Ceaser pressed something on the device. A blue light shot out from the tail of the sound shell, causing Ceaser to flinch and drop it. The shell hit the ground, but that didn't stop the blue light from shooting into the air.

Immediately, under everyone's shocked gaze, Vegapunk—complete with half an apple on his head and a long tongue sticking out—appeared in the light curtain.

"Holographic projection technology?!" Buggy couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Can you imagine seeing a holographic projection in an era of flintlock guns and gunpowder shells, something that typically belongs to the interstellar age? While some might be familiar with cloning technologies in the realm of black tech, Buggy had always leaned more toward Devil Fruit abilities. But this... holographic projection wasn't just any trick—it was star-level technology!

This was cosmic-level technology, something completely out of place in the One Piece world. Buggy chuckled to himself. "Oh, I guess I'm stuck with this too... Well, that's fine."

"Oh? Godslayer-Buggy, you recognize the video tech?" Vegapunk's inch-wide face beamed with surprise as he clicked his tongue a few times, clearly excited. "As I suspected, you're truly extraordinary!"

"So, your purpose is to find me?" Buggy raised an eyebrow, still puzzled. "What do you want with me?"

The others exchanged confused glances, struggling to understand the conversation about "holographic projection." They weren't in a rush to get answers, though—they knew their captain would explain everything to them later. Now, they were just curious as to why Vegapunk was seeking out Buggy.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Vegapunk stood solemnly and stared at Buggy with great reverence. Then, his tongue twitched a few times before he spoke again. "I need your help."

Everyone collectively thought, have some respect when you ask for help, old man!

Buggy, on the other hand, couldn't help but laugh. "Wow, hahaha! Old man, have you finally studied the government's taboo?"

Ceaser, standing with his arms crossed, laughed triumphantly. "I told you a long time ago that you'd end up destroying yourself! You might as well just follow us and run away with buckets."

"Run away with you?" Vegapunk flicked his tongue in disgust. "With you poor and dull bastards?"

"Poor and dull?!" Caesar's eyes widened, his voice rising with outrage. "You dare call me—me—poor and dull, you senile old fool?! You don't even know what genius looks like!"

A sinister laugh bubbled up from deep within his chest, his words laced with venom. "I'm going to make you regret this… You'll see, you'll all see..."

"I still have plenty of unfinished experiments, and I need a lot of money!" Vegapunk spread his arms, his voice smooth and matter-of-fact, as if the absurdity of his words were perfectly reasonable. "If I run away with you, who will fund my research? You poor fools—just look at the mess you're in right now! Don't you dare tell anyone you're my student when you go out!"

"Oh, so you're a student of this old man, Ceaser!" Buggy and the others chimed in unison, stretching out their words with exaggerated curiosity.

"No! I am NOT this old man's student!" Caesar exploded, his usually composed face now contorted in rage. He jumped up and down, his hands clawing at his hair as purple gas visibly emanated from his head and ears. "I-I-I can't believe you're accusing me of something so ridiculous!" He gritted his teeth, steam practically coming out of his ears. "I'm a brilliant scientist! Not some lackey to this crazy old fossil!"

He spun toward Vegapunk, his anger boiling over. "You'll regret this, you fossil! I'll show you who's really the genius around here!"

Desperate to change the subject and avoid more ridicule, he quickly switched gears. "Old man, didn't you say you need help? Who dares to even think about killing a man with so much advanced tech? Oh, right—it's the government, of course. But by the way, what exactly did you research that made the government want to kill you? They must know it'd be a huge loss to eliminate you, right?"

Vegapunk shrugged nonchalantly and flicked his tongue. "Well, I can't avoid getting killed now. After all, I studied the historical texts thoroughly." He paused, his expression hardening. "Ohara, which was just the beginning, was destroyed. So what if I'm a genius scientist? I know more than Ohara ever did. Everything about Ohara is in my head. They'll kill me for it."

Ceaser scoffed. "Why are you still doing historical research? Are you an idiot?! Why can't you just do science peacefully? Wasn't it the same when you cut off the bloodline factor research? Why are you getting stupider each time I talk to you?"

Vegapunk's grin faded, his voice softening. "I can't help it, I'm human too, Ceaser. The death of Clover, the destruction of Ohara, the fall of the Tree of Omniscience—it still makes me angry." Ceaser fell silent, his anger replaced by a somber understanding.

Snap!

At that moment, Robin's eyes blurred with tears. She hadn't expected Vegapunk to have such an attitude. She grabbed Buggy's hand, her eyes pleading with him.

"Buggy, can you save him?" she asked silently.

Buggy raised his hand and gently rubbed Robin's head, wiping away her tears with a soft smile.

"If you ask me to save him, then I will," he said with determination.

"Mm!" Robin nodded vigorously, her expression one of earnest resolve.

"Thank you, little girl," Vegapunk muttered insincerely, giving Robin a stiff nod. He sighed heavily. "I have no choice but to restrain myself. Twenty years of restraint—what can I do? I'm just too smart. I'm a genius! I only had to read it once! I didn't expect the history text to be so simple. What else can I do? I'm just desperate!"

Everyone from the empire even his own creations S Hawk and S Snake exchanged incredulous glances. 'No, old man, you're off the charts with that narcissism!'

Robin sighed and said, "Buggy, I regret it."

"Sorry, I was being arrogant," Vegapunk immediately bowed his head to Robin, his posture exaggerated. Robin couldn't help but laugh at his antics.

But before her smile could fully form, Vegapunk added, "I'm not targeting you, I just want to say that the wisdom of all beings including pirates, navy, royalty, and nobles on this planet is not even as great as a single strand of my hair. It's not meant as discrimination."

At that, the farmer—who had been quietly listening—bolted away in shock.

"Hey! Old man, are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Let him die, this narcist old fool!"

"Could it be that the World Government wants to kill you because of that filthy mouth of yours?"

"Absolutely! Let him be killed by the government!"

Zephyr and the others couldn't help but twitch at the corners of their mouths. Even though they hadn't seen this old man for years, his insufferable attitude was as annoying as ever.

Buggy raised his hand, glanced at Vegapunk, and said, "Seems like there's a mole on your side, and now you're asking outsiders for help. But you came to me. Should I say you're wise or just desperate?"

"As expected of you—the man is known for making ten moves and counting them all!" Vegapunk's eyes lit up. "State your terms!"

"Saving you is simple," Buggy said calmly. "My partner Blueno has already locked onto the Shark's life force. As soon as he returns, it won't take long for all of us to get there. No matter who your mole is, I can find them and deal with the problem easily. But if you don't agree to my conditions, I'll reconsider whether saving you is worth the risk. You also need to think about whether it's worth it."

"Very well!" Vegapunk smiled. "I'm willing to trade with you, but only if I have conditions of my own. Otherwise, if you want nothing, I'll still have a headache. Tell me—what do you want?"

---

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