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The moment Buggy revealed his tiny, customized Buggy Bombs, Aero's mind immediately turned to Eddie.
Eddie had been frustrated lately struggling to increase the raw impact of his abilities. These compact explosives could change that completely.
Aero glanced behind him and sure enough, Eddie was already eyeing the tiny bombs with a fire in his eyes.
Buggy misread the silence, assuming they doubted his invention's power. So, with an exaggerated flair, he picked one up, wound his arm, and hurled it at a nearby stone wall.
> BOOM!
The wall exploded into rubble, a violent shockwave bursting out from the tiny sphere.
Buggy turned proudly to the group. "Well?! Not bad, huh? This baby's way stronger than your average cannonball!"
Eddie gulped. Just seeing a wall disintegrate from something that small made his mind race with ideas. His gaze locked on Buggy like a starving wolf spotting fresh meat.
Aero noticed but kept his expression carefully neutral. He knew better than to let Buggy catch wind of their interest. The clown captain would hike the price instantly.
"Impressive," Aero said casually. "So… are you the only one who knows how to make them?"
Buggy puffed out his chest with pride. "Of course! These babies are 100% original, made by the great Captain Buggy himself!"
"Good," Aero nodded. "Then I assume you won't mind sharing the recipe with us?"
Buggy froze.
"W-What?! Didn't you already take my treasure map?!"
Aero shrugged, voice calm. "The map was compensation. The formula… that's the foundation of our new friendship."
The two negotiated Aero firm but not aggressive. In the end, Buggy caved.
Still, he didn't walk away empty-handed.
"Treasure!"
Aero gave him half of the loot they had on board. Buggy's attitude immediately flipped.
When he found out Aero's crew had treasure worth hundreds of millions of berries, his tone became almost brotherly.
Much of it came from their battles the leftover scraps from the Krieg Pirates were modest, around 50 million berries. But the real jackpot had come from the Arlong Pirates.
With their haul alone pushing close to 500 million, and other smaller raids adding to the total, the Hurricane Pirates' treasury was now sitting at roughly 600 million berries.
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That Night – Orange Town
The Hurricane Pirates and Buggy Pirates gathered in the central square for a joint celebration. Torches lit up the plaza as laughter and drunken cheers echoed through the streets.
Buggy's crew was as eccentric as ever swordsmen, acrobats, beast tamers you name it. If you swapped out the guns for juggling pins, they could've passed as a circus.
Pirates tore into meat, slammed down mugs of booze, and danced around barrels. It was a full-on festival.
At the center, Buggy sat beside Aero with a big arm slung around his shoulder. "Aero, my boy! You're young, but you've already made a name for yourself in the East Blue. That's no small feat!"
Part of that was genuine praise. Most of it, though, came from the glow of three hundred million berries now resting comfortably in Buggy's stash.
That kind of fortune meant he could lay low in the East Blue for a good while no rush to head for the Grand Line.
Aero responded modestly, "It's nothing special. Honestly, I'm still too weak."
Then he added with a straight face, "It's just that the other East Blue pirates are even weaker, so I've managed to scrape by."
Buggy froze mid-toast. Did he just… insult every East Blue pirate?
Including himself?
"This brat…" Buggy thought, clenching his teeth while forcing a smile.
Still smiling, he asked: "So, Aero… planning to head to the Grand Line soon?"
Aero nodded while biting into a chunk of meat. "Yeah. We're in the middle of preparations. Once things are wrapped up here, we're setting sail."
Buggy let out a loud, exaggerated laugh.
"That's wild! You've barely been out here and you're already heading into the Grand Line?"
Then, his tone turned serious. "Just remember—m those waters aren't like the East Blue. The pirates there… they're monsters."
Aero nodded in agreement. "Exactly. The Grand Line's no joke. Only the best from the four seas dare to enter."
The East Blue was the weakest sea of them all and even he knew that.
"Without the will to challenge those stronger than you, you'll never become strong," Aero said simply.
Buggy stared at him. For once, the clown captain didn't crack a joke.
Then, he burst into laughter.
"Hahahahahah"
"You know what? I like that. You've got guts, kid! From now on Captain Buggy's got your back!"
Aero grinned outwardly.
Inwardly, though? He wasn't fooled.
I'm not charging headlong into the New World until I'm ready. Taking on the top dogs without the power to back it up? That's suicide, not ambition.
His gaze drifted toward the far side of the square then froze.
Gin was locked in a drinking contest with a giant, snow-white lion. Their mugs clanked as the crowd cheered.
Eddie was nearby, thankfully just quietly munching on grilled skewers not doing anything stupid.
As for Dylan? That fool was already the center of attention, partying with a group of rowdy pirates.
Aero smiled.
Well, this chaos suits us. We're all a little crazy in our own way but we've come together for a reason.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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