300 Nautical Miles from Loguetown.
On a desolate, uninhabited island, dozens of pirates were hard at work under the scorching sun.
They were drenched in sweat, scattered across more than a dozen massive pits, shoveling dirt endlessly.
"Captain, are you sure this treasure map isn't fake?"
"It's already the third day—we haven't found a single damn thing!"
First Mate Mochi gulped down a large bottle of water, then sighed and complained.
It's not that he didn't trust their captain—but…
Every single one of those so-called treasure maps the captain brought back? Fake. All ten out of ten.
Yes, he believed in their captain wholeheartedly. But he absolutely did not believe in the captain's treasure maps.
Especially this time—when the captain brought back the latest map, the ink hadn't even dried yet!
Back then, he told the captain straight: he'd been scammed.
But the captain wouldn't listen!
Sigh...
"This can't be! There's no way it's fake!"
"We must've dug in the wrong spot. Tomorrow, we switch locations. The treasure has to be here!"
Mochi's face darkened.
But there was no point arguing. He knew his captain too well...
Unless the man realized it himself, no amount of persuasion would help.
So, fine. Back to digging.
He grabbed a nearby shovel and jumped back into his pit.
But just then—
Whizz...
A sharp sound sliced through the sky.
Before anyone could react—
BOOM!
A violent explosion erupted about 200 meters away, near the island's coastline.
Even their pirate ship, docked nearby, was hit by the shockwave. Wooden planks cracked, some splintering off entirely.
"Captain, that sounded like a cannon blast!"
"Impossible! That wasn't one of my Buggy Bombs!"
"Captain, your Buggy Bomb is still just a concept. Please don't pretend it's real..."
One of the pirates muttered under his breath.
WHAM!
He was promptly sent flying by a punch from Buggy himself.
Come on now—some things are fine to know, but you don't say them out loud!
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!
Four more sharp sounds echoed through the air.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
This time, there was no mistake.
Buggy's pirate ship was hit directly—blown into the air in a spectacular explosion.
Debris and splinters rained down like a storm.
Everyone stood frozen, dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, two nautical miles away—
Hina stood at the bridge window of her battleship, peering through a telescope.
She had seen the pirate ship get obliterated. The precision and power of the bombardment?
Completely satisfactory.
"Commander, we've identified the target. It's the Buggy Pirates—current bounty: 10 million Berries!"
"Also, their captain—Buggy—is on the ONLY ALIVE list requested by Captain Luo Lan!"
Luo Lan wants him alive?
Hina was surprised.
She was familiar with the internal "ONLY ALIVE" list, and knew exactly what it was for.
In short, the Science Division had been working on a method—under Luo Lan's guidance—to extract Devil Fruit powers directly from the bodies of ability users.
So, when pirates with interesting powers showed up, the order was: don't kill them.
Capture and imprison them in the underwater prison, then wait for Science Division to finish their research.
This was also why Luo Lan was urgently requesting more Seastone.
Because—
The Science Division had already completed the devices according to his plans.
The only thing left was the Seastone needed to finish the final step.
So... does Buggy's Devil Fruit ability really deserve that much attention?
"Do we know what Buggy's power is?"
"Yes, ma'am. Here's the file."
An officer immediately handed Hina a folder.
It was the "capture priority" list compiled by Luo Lan. The officer flipped to Buggy's page.
"Can split his body into pieces at will."
"Post-Awakening: Can split anything he touches into pieces."
"Suggested development path: Decompose matter into pure energy, following Einstein's mass-energy equivalence formula."
What the hell...?
Hina blinked.
She understood every word individually—but together?
What was this?
Who the heck was Einstein?
And what's this "mass-energy equivalence formula" supposed to be?
She kept reading, finally reaching something she could understand.
Threat Level: SSS
Hina's eyes widened.
She'd reviewed this catalog before—it even had Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, which was only rated SSS as well.
And Buggy's Chop-Chop Fruit got the same rating?!
Absurd.
She flipped further.
"Suspected to possess 'Lucky Color Haki.'
Extremely difficult to kill under normal circumstances.
If captured, handle using R3 Protocol."
Hina almost threw the folder.
R3?
That was another internal designation from Luo Lan.
Under R3, a captured Devil Fruit user would be imprisoned in a special water-filled cube, leaving only their head exposed to breathe.
You could imagine the torture—trapped in cold sea water, powerless, barely breathing.
And they really needed this just to deal with Buggy?
Wait. More small text?
"Do not argue. Lucky Color Haki does exist."
...
Hina shook her head.
Lucky Color Haki? Fine. She wouldn't argue.
But she would test how much "luck" that man really had.
"Pass the order. Target the island 2 nautical miles away—full barrage, main and secondary cannons. Fire two full salvos!"
"Yes, Commander!"
The marine looked stunned for a second, then snapped to attention with a salute.
Lucky Color Haki, huh?
Alright. Let's see if that "luck" can survive this.
Within seconds, four main cannons and all side turrets roared to life.
Soon after, the island became a blazing inferno.
Hina sat down in her captain's chair, placing her hand on the control disc to her left.
Her Observation Haki—
Began gathering energy.
The screen in front of her lit up, displaying two clusters of light.
One—nearly 200 bright dots—was her battleship.
The other—only about 30—and still decreasing fast.
---
On the less-than-one-square-kilometer island, it was a scene of absolute destruction.
Each shell had devastating power—greater than even those used in a full-scale Buster Call.
The Buggy Pirates were completely overwhelmed.
Fortunately, due to their digging operations, they had dozens of deep pits to hide in.
Otherwise...
They'd have been wiped out already.
But if the bombardment continued—
Even hiding in the pits wouldn't save them for long.
They wouldn't die from direct hits.
They'd just get...
Buried alive.
---
+263 Chapters on Ko-Fi
https:// ko-fi.com/sami27