Location: Orange Town, East Blue
Date: Sea Era 1519
The transition from the absolute stillness of the Calm Belt to the open water of the East Blue felt like stepping from a high-security server room into a noisy, disorganized street.
The air was lighter, the waves were predictable and the people were far too comfortable in their ignorance.
To them the "Great Era of Piracy" was a series of scary stories to me, it was a system crashing in slow motion.
"Is this the 'great threat' you warned me about, lad?"
Jaguar D. Black asked
his massive arms crossed over a chest that looked like it was forged from iron.
He stood on the deck of our reinforced raft, squinting through the salt spray at the colorful circus tents rising above the charred ruins of Orange Town.
"He isn't a threat, Black. He's an asset"
I replied
adjusting the collar of my coat
My Observation Haki was already scanning the town, filtering through the panicked heartbeats of the cowering citizens until it hit a spike of chaotic, greedy energy near the central fountain.
"Buggy the Clown. A man who sailed with the Pirate King and learned absolutely nothing but how to hide behind a crowd. In a world of monsters, a man who knows how to survive is a priceless tool."
"A man who hides is a man who can be used as a shield," a voice added from the cabin.
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji stepped onto the deck, his expression as flat as the horizon.
I had found him in Loguetown only four days prior, yet he already moved with the steady balance of a veteran sailor. His eyes, those hollow voids of pure calculation, were fixed on the harbor.
"He has a crew, weapons, and a reputation that far exceeds his actual strength. He is the perfect distraction the 'User Interface' for the world to stare at while we rewrite the back-end."
We docked at a pier that had been cleared by the Buggy Pirates' intimidation tactics.
As we stepped onto the cobblestones, three pirates in striped shirts and smeared face paint stepped forward, cutlasses drawn and teeth bared in jagged grins.
"Hey! This is Buggy's territory! Hand over your"
The pirate didn't finish.
My Future Sight had already shown me the arc of his swing.
I didn't even draw a weapon I simply stepped two inches to the left and tapped his wrist with a finger hardened by a thin, invisible layer of Armament Haki.
The shockwave shattered his bone instantly, the sound like a dry branch snapping in the wind.
Beside me, Ayanokoji didn't waste a single movement he walked through the remaining two his strikes were so precise and devoid of emotion that the pirates collapsed before they realized they were under attack one hitting the ground with a dull thud, the other folding like a broken marionette.
No flair.
No hesitation.
Just a total shutdown of the obstacle.
"The Captain is in the center square" Ayanokoji noted, stepping over a groaning body without looking down.
"He is currently celebrating a successful raid. His guard is non-existent. He believes his legend is enough to protect him."
We found Buggy atop a pile of looted crates, a mug of ale in one hand and a stolen map in the other.
His oversized red nose caught the light of the setting sun and his subordinates were cheering for a victory they hadn't truly earned.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Buggy shrieked
his mug shattering on the stones as his body instantly split into segments, his head floating three feet above his torso as his Bara Bara no Mi reacted to the sheer pressure Jaguar D. Black was radiating.
"Marines? Bounty hunters? You've got a lot of nerve interrupting my celebration!"
I walked forward until I was standing in the center of his "Safe Zone." My Conqueror's Haki began to leak out not as a blast to knock him out but as a suffocating, heavy weight that turned the air into thick lead.
The pirates around him began to slump over, their eyes rolling back as their wills simply evaporated.
"Buggy,"
I said
my voice low and cold, cutting through his hysterics.
"I know about the Oro Jackson. I know about your 'brother' Shanks and I know exactly where the mark of Captain John's treasure is hidden."
Buggy froze. His floating hands trembled, and his feet, still on the ground, began to shuffle backward.
"H-How... how do you know those names? Those are secrets from the end of the world!"
"I am the Architect,"
I said
my eyes locking onto his
"And as of this moment the Buggy Pirates have been drafted into a larger design, You will keep your fame. You will keep your flashy clothes and your loud mouth but your ships, your trade routes and your crew now belong to my plan."
Ayanokoji stepped forward, holding a scroll he had drafted during our four-day voyage.
"These are your new standing orders. You will establish a delivery service. You will move gold, messages, and specific 'recruits' across the seas under the guise of your circus. In exchange, we will provide you with the coordinates of three major treasures within the next six months. You will become the wealthiest coward in history."
Buggy looked at the scroll, then at the mountain of a man named Black, then at my darkened fist. He was a survivor above all else he knew when the tide had turned against him.
He looked at the unconscious men around him and realized that for the first time, his luck had run out or perhaps it had just been upgraded.
"Deliveries?"
Buggy swallowed hard
his red nose twitching in rhythm with his beating heart.
"You want me to be a... courier? Me? The Great Buggy?"
"I want you to be a legend"
I corrected him
a slow smile spreading across my face.
"Because by the time we're done, the world will believe you're the mastermind behind the fall of the World Government and Ayanokoji here is going to ensure you never make a mistake that proves otherwise. Welcome to the system, Captain."
The Buggy Pirates had just become our Logistics Division.
The plan was moving and as I looked at the map in Buggy's shaking hand, I knew exactly where our next piece was waiting: a boy named Ace, who was currently burning with a fire he didn't yet know how to direct.