"No need. You heard what Shanks said—something about a destined Joy Boy. What nonsense." Buggy spread his hands.
"We don't need fate's guidance. If Lord Ren wants to do something, he doesn't need any of that mystical mumbo-jumbo."
He scoffed at the whole Sun God Nika thing.
Since they didn't need it anyway, better to stay away from this trouble altogether. The last thing they needed was for Lord Ren to become King of the World, only for the World Government's braindead morons to claim it was all thanks to the Nika Fruit.
Besides—so what if it was Nika?
That special?
If there really was some unique fruit, maybe in the future there'd be a Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan Model: Raiden Shogun. Now that would be something.
This was exactly why Buggy had never mentioned buying the fruit from the start.
"It's a shame, though. I heard Keiko-sensei developed a technique to make objects eat Devil Fruits. I was hoping to see if this fruit could become something interesting."
Nekomamushi said with regret.
He was genuinely curious about that technique. The fusion of Zoan Devil Fruits with objects seemed like it could be fascinating.
Ordinary animals were one thing, but if you could give weapons the power of Mythical Zoans—wouldn't that make things incredibly interesting?
"Really? How did you learn about the Enkanomiya incident?" Inuarashi asked, surprised.
"I helped Keiko-sensei with the experiments…" Nekomamushi said, then shuddered—clearly recalling those dark memories.
He wasn't the only one. Kawamatsu had the same reaction.
"What happened exactly?"
Everyone was suddenly curious.
This was the first time they'd heard about it, but Nekomamushi and Kawamatsu just trembled all over, like they'd sunk into a terrifying bog, unable to speak a word.
"Let me explain."
Furaese sighed and said: "I used to go to the Enkanomiya frequently to help Keiko-nee with experiments and research, right?"
"That's right—it's because you carry the Lineage Factor of the Lunarian Tribe in your body." Enel remembered clearly.
"Mm. Back then, Nekomamushi was very curious about me going to the Enkanomiya, so one day he secretly followed me."
"After all, it was the Enkanomiya—even we've never set foot there." Buggy nodded, understanding Nekomamushi's curiosity.
"I remember the Enkanomiya wasn't submerged underwater yet at that time?"
"Correction—the Enkanomiya was never underwater. It exists in a separate dimension." Furaese corrected this minor error. "But by the time these two were sneaking around, it had already shifted into that other dimension."
Kawamatsu then timidly added: "The thing is, Nekomamushi thought the Enkanomiya was at the bottom of the sea, so he secretly dragged me along to dive underwater. We couldn't find it—instead, we were spotted by the patrol machines down there. In the end, those machines were the ones who brought us to the Enkanomiya."
"I had no idea something like that happened. Nekomamushi—you kept even this from me?" Inuarashi was hurt.
But Nekomamushi was even more upset: "You stinking dog! You have no idea what I went through!"
"Do you know what one experiment session does to a Mink child?"
"And to a fish-man…"
Furaese: …
With her formidable defenses and healing abilities, Furaese didn't have much empathy for their ordeal. In her eyes, Keiko's experiments and research were nothing special.
It was just some blood draws. Nekomamushi and Kawamatsu had simply panicked and traumatized themselves.
"You deserved it—trying to break into the Enkanomiya!" Inuarashi said sternly.
"It wasn't my idea! Nekomamushi coerced me into it!" Kawamatsu protested aggrievedly.
He and Nekomamushi really didn't get along—and he was always the one getting bullied.
Which made sense, since fish-men were also fish.
"Anyway, I heard about the project back then and was quite interested. Later, I specifically asked about its progress." Nekomamushi had recovered and continued.
"If possible, I'd really love to have a Salted Fish Greatsword—something that can fight and also be eaten."
"Why not just carry Kawamatsu into battle instead?" Buggy rolled his eyes.
Kawamatsu: ???
Can you be a decent person? Can you?!
Kawamatsu was furious. Even if Buggy was the captain, he couldn't say things like that! What was even more infuriating was that Nekomamushi actually looked like he was excitedly considering it.
This was outrageous—bullying an honest fish-man like this!
Kawamatsu decided it was time to stand up for himself and show these guys the wrath of a gentle soul!
He spoke up:
"S-So… should we go back and buy it?"
The moment he opened his mouth, it was timid little Kawamatsu all over again.
"I'll ask." Buggy took out a wiretap-proof Den Den Mushi.
This kind of Den Den Mushi was extremely rare in Inazuma—each one was a treasure.
After a brief exchange, Buggy put down the Den Den Mushi and said: "Lord Ren says there's no need. I told you—those things are bad luck even if you have them. Nuisance."
The consciousness of the Nika Fruit—it was disgusting just thinking about it. Like some long-dead ghost that refused to stay gone.
Eight hundred years without an awakening—that might actually be a good thing. If it did awaken, it would feel like being possessed.
"Well, Lord Ren doesn't need to worry about that."
He knew Ren had the ability to absorb—any Nika Fruit consciousness could be wiped out in the mental space in an instant!
The Buggy Pirates didn't leave the East Blue right away. Instead, they found two jugglers. Uta didn't seem particularly impressed.
But the big lion under the animal tamer's control was pretty ugly, which she found interesting.
After that, they headed toward the Goa Kingdom to find a blond-haired kid Ren had mentioned.
This was their real purpose for coming. Otherwise, Buggy would never have traveled all the way to the East Blue for two minor characters.
Shanks' crew circled around before finally anchoring at Windmill Village.
Because he'd spotted a very interesting kid here.
Monkey D. Luffy.
Just hearing that name nearly triggered his PTSD. That old monster Garp had put him in danger more than times than he could count.
He never expected to run into his grandson here.
Shanks immediately set up camp in Windmill Village and hit it off with the kid.
He didn't have any ulterior motives—he just thought it'd be fun to mess with the brat. If he could con him into becoming a pirate, even better.
Of course, Shanks hadn't expected to actually succeed at first. This was Garp's grandson—why would he want to be a pirate?
But who would've thought this sheltered kid would immediately see him as his idol?
And he'd shamelessly become Ace's little follower.
How delightful—if the late captain knew that Garp's grandson had become his own son's sidekick, the expression on his face would be priceless!
Meanwhile, at the Refuse Dump, a blond-haired boy was struggling to survive on his own.
[
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