Chapter 16: More Than a Sweetheart, She's the Captain!
Hiding in the shadows of an alleyway, Nami watched everything with wide eyes, her hand clamped over her mouth in shock.
How could this be?! That straw-hat-wearing girl… she's the captain?!
Ralph's respectful tone and the sudden, undeniable authority in Luffy's demeanor all pointed unmistakably to this unbelievable truth.
What kind of pirate crew would let a flat-chested, reckless girl who only cared about eating, drinking, and charging ahead be their captain?
Nami's worldview was shaken once again. But then she shook her head vigorously, trying to dismiss this "absurd" thought.
No! This must be that scheming Ralph's plot! He deliberately pushed Lufia to the forefront, pretending she's the captain! That way, when real danger strikes, he can abandon this naive and simple-minded girl as bait and slip away himself!
Yes! That has to be it!
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, deepening her disgust and wariness toward Ralph.
What a despicable man! To use a girl like this! Lufia, just wait—I'll definitely save you from this liar!
With this firm resolve, Nami hid herself even more carefully, her gaze fixed intently on the two.
Meanwhile, led by the trembling pirate underling, Luffy and Ralph arrived at the top floor of the bar where the Buggy Pirates were stationed.
Dozens of pirates of all shapes and sizes were gathered there, either sitting or standing. In their midst, under a sunshade on a lounge chair, sat a man with a captain's hat, blue hair, and a bright red nose—Buggy the Clown!
The underling scrambled to Buggy's side and quickly whispered in his ear about Ralph's terrifying speed.
Buggy's eyes, exaggerated with makeup, narrowed slightly as he assessed the two before him. His gaze lingered on Ralph for a moment, scrutinizing him, then settled more on the straw-hat-wearing Luffy standing at the front.
If his subordinate possessed such power, how strong must this seemingly young straw-hat girl be as the captain?
Having spent so many years at sea, Buggy knew one thing for sure: the sea didn't care about age or gender, only strength! He didn't underestimate Luffy in the slightest just because she was a girl.
"Who are you?" Buggy's voice was drawn out, dripping with mockery and pressure. "Why have you come to see me?"
Luffy stepped forward, hands on her hips, her voice clear and straightforward. "I'm Luffy, a pirate! As for why I'm here…" She paused, tilting her head in thought.
"…B7!"
Silence fell over the room.
Even Ralph behind her nearly stumbled.
Buggy's forehead instantly bulged with veins. Feeling mocked, he flew into a rage. "You brat! Are you making a fool of me?!"
"Ah! I remember now!" Luffy completely ignored Buggy's anger, punching her palm with a sparkle in her eyes. "I heard you're strong! I'm going to defeat you! Once I beat you, you'll hand over the sea chart to the Grand Line!"
Such a blunt, unabashed challenge left all the Buggy Pirates on the top floor stunned once again.
Is this girl insane, or does she truly have something to rely on?
After a brief silence, Buggy suddenly burst into exaggerated laughter: "Shuahahaha—!" His underlings, as if waking from a dream, joined in with uproarious laughter.
"This is too amusing!" Buggy laughed until tears nearly streamed from his eyes. "A nobody pirate like you dares to go to the Grand Line? What for? Sightseeing? Hahahaha!"
His laughter ceased abruptly, but his eyes turned dangerous, carrying a hint of predatory amusement:
"However... I admire your courage! It's been a long time since I've seen a rookie with such guts! I'll give you a chance—as long as you... can bear the price of failure!"
"No problem!" Luffy replied without the slightest hesitation. Her eyes shone like the hardest diamonds, gleaming with fearless brilliance, while her face broke into a sunny, confident smile.
"Once I make a decision, I have no regrets! Even if it costs me my life!"
This pure and resolute determination moved even Buggy slightly, further diminishing his contempt.
He stood up, his fingers now holding several gleaming daggers that had appeared as if from nowhere.
"Determination isn't something you can prove with empty boasts!" Buggy's voice turned icy. "Take this, Straw Hat girl!"
Before his words faded, his knife-wielding arm swung forward violently. Several streaks of cold light shot toward Luffy like venomous snakes!
Yet Luffy merely tilted her body sideways and leaned back—her movements fluid and natural, like willow branches swaying in the wind—effortlessly evading all the flying knives.
"Your speed," she curled her lip, delivering an evaluation that made Buggy's blood pressure spike, "is far worse than Ralph's!"
Though he had no idea who "Ralph" was, Buggy wasn't angered. Instead, he grinned widely: "Shuahaha! That's because I haven't shown my true power yet!"
The ensuing battle almost became Luffy's evasion showcase.
Buggy brandished his daggers, thrusting and slashing with seemingly fierce attacks, yet Luffy always dodged them by a hair's breadth with ease. Seizing a moment when Buggy was off guard, Luffy landed a swift, solid straight punch right in his stomach!
"Urgh!" Buggy's eyes bulged instantly from the pain, bending over like a boiled shrimp. He had intended to test the girl's strength but never expected her fist to be so heavy!
It seemed he had no choice but to get serious!
"Your strength is really weak, huh?" Luffy shook her wrist, delivering a fatal critique and precisely hitting Buggy's sore spot, "Red-Nosed Uncle."
The words "Red-Nosed" ignited him like a powder keg. Buggy erupted in fury: "You brat! You're asking for death!!"
Blinded by rage, he slashed at her viciously again! Luffy sidestepped as before, simultaneously throwing a counter punch!
This time, however, her fist met empty air!
Buggy's upper and lower body had separated in an instant! His upper torso floated eerily in mid-air like an independent entity, sneering as it flew behind Luffy. The dagger in his hand gleamed coldly as he slashed down hard toward her back!
"Shrrrip—!"
The sound of tearing cloth echoed as a bloody gash instantly appeared on Luffy's back, quickly staining her red mandarin jacket.
"Oww!" Luffy cried out in pain, stumbling forward a step. But ignoring the pain, she whirled around to stare at Buggy's floating upper torso, completely forgetting Nami's earlier warning, her face filled with astonishment rather than fear:
"How is this possible? Are you a monster?"
"Shahahaha!" Buggy's upper body laughed triumphantly, "Listen well, Straw Hat girl! I ate the Bara Bara no Mi and became a Splitting Human! I can separate my body at will! As long as I want, your fists can't touch me! Shahahaha!"
"How can this be?" Luffy muttered, but the fear in her eyes quickly faded, replaced by blazing excitement and fighting spirit, "But... this is really interesting!"
Meanwhile, Ralph, who had been standing at the edge of the battlefield, clenched his fists so tightly his nails nearly pierced his palms, his teeth gritted.
Seeing that glaring bloodstain on Luffy's back, he felt as if an invisible hand had seized his heart!
No matter which world, which country—there was no reason to let the woman he loved get hurt right before his eyes!
A powerful impulse nearly made him charge forward immediately to tear that damned red-nosed bastard to pieces!
But reason held him back firmly.
He knew Luffy too well. This was her fight, a necessary trial on her path to establishing authority as captain and achieving her dreams. If he interfered now, Lufia would definitely not be happy—she might even feel insulted and distrusted. This was absolutely a matter of principle that would be hard to forgive.
She's the one I love, but she's also my captain...
For the first time, Ralph clearly realized the potential difficulties this dual identity might bring, though he had no time to ponder it deeply now.
He could only forcibly suppress his surging rage and heartache, constantly comforting himself:
Restraint! Must restrain myself! Lufia has plot armor, she won't lose! This is a necessary path for her growth!
The battle continued.
After witnessing Buggy's bizarre ability, Luffy finally got serious.
Using his Splitting ability, Buggy made his upper body float higher into the air, even separating his hands and feet to form a floating fortress, attacking Luffy from tricky angles with the knives in his hands and blades protruding from his shoe tips.
He was smug, thinking that with this absolute distance advantage, this close-combat rubber girl could only take hits passively. However, Luffy took a deep breath and suddenly stretched her right fist backwards, her rubber arm extending like an infinitely long bowstring!
"Gomu Gomu... Pistol!"
The fist stretched to its limit tore through the air with a sonic boom, like a cannonball fired from its chamber, striking Buggy's upper torso in midair with speed barely visible to the naked eye.
"Waaah!" Caught completely off guard, Buggy's upper body screamed as it was knocked down from the air like a baseball, crashing heavily onto the wooden floor and rolling several times.
Buggy and his underlings were all stunned.
"You... you're a Devil Fruit user too?!" Buggy shouted in disbelief, clutching his painfully bruised face.
Luffy retracted her fist, wearing an utterly matter-of-fact expression. "That's right! I'm a rubber human who ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi!"
With this, both sides' abilities had been revealed. The peculiar battle between Devil Fruit users officially escalated into a fierce confrontation!
Ralph, watching from the side, understood clearly and sighed inwardly:
Battles in the early days of the Pirate King followed a pattern.
Devil Fruit abilities could achieve miraculous effects when unknown, but once exposed, their effectiveness would greatly diminish.
Sure enough, after both sides became aware of each other's abilities, the battle reached a brief stalemate.
Buggy's splitting ability made Luffy's physical attacks largely ineffective, while Luffy's elastic rubber arms' long-range attacks and super flexibility made it difficult for Buggy's flying daggers and sneak attacks to land easily.
What followed was a contest of Devil Fruit ability development and finding weaknesses in the opponent's powers!
In this regard, Luffy's pure combat intuition clearly gave her the upper hand!
She keenly noticed that when Buggy concentrated on controlling his upper body for precise attacks, his control over other separated body parts significantly decreased—especially those feet wearing pointy shoes, which always stood dumbly in place.
"Found it!"
Luffy's eyes lit up. No longer obsessed with attacking the floating upper body, she swiftly closed in on Buggy's isolated lower body using her rubber-enhanced agility. Then she lifted her foot and accurately kicked Buggy right between the legs!
"OWWWW——!!!"
Indescribable, bone-deep and soul-piercing agony instantly flooded Buggy's consciousness like a tidal wave!
His floating upper body let out an inhuman, piercing scream, his eyes rolling back. All the split body fragments in the air—including arms and head—instantly lost control, clattering down from the sky like rain and scattering across the ground.
Luffy stepped forward, planting one foot on the chest of Buggy's limp, contorted upper body. Looking down at him, she grinned playfully: "Red Nose, I win! Admit defeat! Hand over the sea chart!"
Buggy, struggling to breathe under her foot, his face flushed purplish-red from pain and humiliation, gasped out with difficulty: "I... surrender... I admit defeat... The sea chart... is yours..."
However, the moment Luffy let her guard down slightly, several of Buggy's hands scattered on the ground quietly picked up fallen daggers and shot toward Luffy's back and side like venomous wasps!
"Watch out!" Ralph's pupils contracted sharply as he cried out involuntarily.
But it was too late!
"Thud! Thud!"
The sound of blades piercing flesh rang out again! Two new bloody wounds instantly appeared on Luffy's back and side. She cried out in pain and stumbled forward.
"You coward!" Luffy glared furiously at Buggy.
Buggy's upper body seized the chance to roll away from under her foot, coughing while letting out a triumphant sneer: "Shahahaha! Coward? We're pirates! Isn't cowardice perfectly normal?!"
Seeing the fresh wounds on Luffy's body and her slight trembling from pain—
"Shing—!"
The sound of a dagger being drawn was crisp and cold.
Ralph's eyes turned glacial, his voice low and deep, as if coming from the depths of hell...
"In that case... I have no reason to speak of honor with you anymore!"
"Ralph! Don't interfere! This is my fight!" Luffy shouted through gritted teeth.
But Ralph's figure had already vanished!