C23 Poor Buggy

"Are you dead yet? Are you?" Picking up a stick, he poked Buggy's red nose and taunted, "Hey, hey, red nose, big nose, you awake yet?"

"Who are you calling red nose, kid? You looking for trouble?" Buggy snapped to attention at the mention of "red nose," as if by reflex, overcoming the excruciating pain and standing up with a menacing air.

Nothing irked Buggy more than being called red nose. He'd even rouse himself from a deep coma at the insult. It was quite the peculiar quirk.

After a brief flare of anger, calmness took over, and the two men locked eyes.

Rodney: (─__─)

Buggy: (-_-#)

The air grew still, and the moment turned exceedingly awkward.

"Scatter and Escape!"

In an instant, Buggy's body shattered into dozens of pieces, scattering in every direction.

Not far off, his body reassembled in the woods, hovering in the air, but without his feet.

"My feet!" Through the leaves, he spotted his feet pinned under Rodney's.

Now he was in a bind. His ability to split into pieces had its downside; he couldn't fly, and his body couldn't stray too far from his feet.

"Humph, good thing my power is unbeatable here." Immune to slashing, he wasn't worried about his feet getting harmed. His current priority was to retrieve his feet and save his crew.

Despite often bullying his crew, Buggy genuinely valued them.

Meanwhile, Rodney, looking at the feet beneath him, chuckled mischievously. Knowing that slicing attacks were futile, he refrained from using Ninjutsu again. Instead, he gestured to the remaining crew members, "Bring the knocked-out folks back to the ship, and then..."

He glanced back at Buggy hiding in the woods, his smirk suggesting nothing friendly.

"What's the deal with this guy?"

Buggy hadn't pieced together any information about Rodney yet, but he recognized that Rodney was not to be underestimated. He chose to bide his time.

Under Rodney's intimidation, Buggy's crew had no choice but to dutifully transport the unconscious to their Pirate Ship.

As for his feet, they remained firmly under Rodney's control, clearly indicating he had no intention of letting Buggy off easy, which infuriated him.

"How can you do that? Don't you plan on leaving?"

Being stepped on was incredibly irritating.

At that moment, Rodney took action. He kicked Buggy's legs, one after the other, sending them flying onto the pirate ship.

"No good! Wait..." Buggy's body uncontrollably followed in flight. He could afford to lose any part of his body except his feet.

"Set sail."

Rodney commanded.

Intimidated by Rodney's power, Buggy's crew reluctantly set sail, muttering curses under their breath while maintaining a facade of compliance.

Buggy, trailing behind the ship, stealthily climbed aboard while Rodney was distracted.

"What's the situation now?" Buggy inquired of a sailor.

"I'm not sure, Captain. This guy just told us to head for the nearest naval base. What should we do, Captain Buggy?" the sailor asked.

The peak of the Buggy Pirate Group's combat strength was Buggy himself, as he was a Devil Fruit Ability User. In the East Sea, those with Devil Fruits were rare, and the crew had always followed their leader's commands.

After pondering for a moment, Buggy said, "Let me think, just give me a moment. But first, you need to retrieve my feet."

He needed his feet back to avoid limitations on his abilities.

"Are these the ones?" A hand extended, offering two feet.

Without hesitation, Buggy took them, grinning. "Yes, that's them, well done, lad. I'm promoting you to vice-captain..." As he reattached his feet, Buggy's smile met a pair of red eyes.

Buggy: (⊙x⊙)

"Hello, Captain Buggy."

"Kid, those eyes... I remember now. You're the notorious Pirate Hunter, Red-eyed Rodney!" Buggy exclaimed, recognizing Rodney's unwanted moniker. "You've been targeting me? Damn!"

Rodney's forehead veins throbbed, though his smile remained. "Captain Buggy, call me Fate Master Rodney. I had no intention of capturing you, but it looks like I'll be taking you and your crew to Rogue Town now. It's a fitting place for the end, don't you think, Buggy?"

Buggy's body shuddered, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "You, could you possibly know...?"

"Ah, I have a special intelligence system. I'm quite aware of your identity," came the reply.

"What do you want?" Buggy thought, anxious to keep his identity as a member of the Pirate King's crew a secret. If the navy got wind of it, it would spell trouble, and his abilities were no match for theirs.

Rodney gave a slight smile. "Just as you thought."

With a swift punch, Rodney knocked Buggy to the ground. As Buggy, about to utilize his Fruit Ability, felt a sudden coldness on his wrist, his strength drained away, leaving him limp on the ground.

"This... could this be...?"

"Yes, indeed. Sea Building Stone handcuffs. Don't even think about escaping. I'll be sending each of you to Rogue Town," Rodney said, turning his gaze to the crew member who had been idly watching. "What are you staring at? Get moving and sail the ship. If you don't, I'll have you feeding the Sea King Species!"

"Right away!" The crew member scurried off.

"The view here is quite nice. You can stay put," Rodney said, walking away with his back to Buggy.

Lacking strength didn't mean Buggy was out of options. With Rodney's back turned, Buggy aimed his foot and shouted, "Special Buggy Bullet!"

A projectile the size of a jelly bean rocketed from his foot, speeding towards Rodney.

Rodney spun around, drawing his White Fang with lightning-fast reflexes. Lightning-charged Chakra coated the blade.

With a single strike, he split the special Buggy Bullet in two.

Boom!

Despite being sliced by Rodney, the special Buggy Bullet exploded, its ferocious power sending him flying. Buggy burst into raucous laughter. "Haha, you've been hit by my special Buggy Bullet! You can't possibly stand a chance now, can you?!"

Rodney was flung from the Pirate Ship, but instead of plummeting into the depths, he skimmed across the ocean's surface like a stone skipping over water, finally coming to a halt atop the waves.

His clothes were in tatters, his skin marred by burns. His face was blackened from the explosion, and some of his bangs had been singed by the flames.

Buggy: (╬￣Д°;)っ

"This monster! He's still alive after taking a special Buggy Bullet from me?!"

Rodney: (╬￣?皿￣?╬)

Under the blood-red gaze of the Sharingan, Buggy sensed his end was near. What to do?

Could it be time to meet Captain Roger?

No, I haven't found those treasures yet!

He was starting to regret using the special Buggy Bullet on Rodney.

"Good job, Buggy, very good!" Rodney said through gritted teeth, pain coursing through his body. He summoned medical Chakra to his palm, stimulating cell recovery and bringing a cool sensation to his wound.

"What do you want? Stay away from me!"

Buggy kept backing away, but Rodney caught him and yanked out a steel wire from his waist pouch. This wire was specially made, incredibly durable, and nearly impossible to break unless cut.

One end was tied to Sea Building Stone handcuffs, the other to a railing.

"Wait, you're not thinking of..."

"That's exactly what I'm thinking." Rodney kicked Buggy off the Pirate Ship, leaving him to be dragged across the sea's surface.

"I, gurgle, gurgle... Wait a, gurgle, gurgle..." Buggy was towed by the Pirate Ship, bobbing in and out of the water, too weak to use his abilities, feeling utterly helpless.

"Pull him up every half hour; he won't die. If you don't follow orders, or if I find out you've pulled him up, you'll end up just like him." Rodney's sinister smile sent shivers through the pirates.

"Understood!"

Hang in there, poor Captain Buggy.

And so, Buggy's days were spent in the sea, save for the brief moments of eating and sleeping. His robust constitution kept him alive, where a lesser man might have perished.

Rodney had let his guard down, not anticipating Buggy's ace in the hole, and it was excruciating.

It took him several days to fully heal the burns on his body, yet he still needed to regrow his hair.