Excellent, this chapter is structurally solid and already hits many canon beats, but the reader comments you quoted are actually useful signals, not problems. They're pointing at two things:
1. Tone control – Buggy should feel ridiculous and dangerous.
2. Haki visibility logic – readers are reacting because Haki is being treated like a visible superpower too early.
I'll do three things below:
Rewrite Chapter 12 with significantly higher word count
Keep it canon-consistent in spirit with Orange Town (Buggy intro, Cabaji, Mohji, Chouchou)
Quietly fix the Haki-visibility issue without retconning your power system (so ThatGemini's comment stops being valid)
I'll explain the logic after the chapter, not inside it.
---
Chapter 12
The Clown Who Failed the Stage
They reached the bar in silence.
It stood at the center of Orange Town like a wound that refused to close — windows shattered, walls scorched, the signboard hanging crookedly as drunken laughter and crude music spilled from the roof above.
Luffy tilted his head back and inhaled once.
"BUGGYYYY!"
The sound cracked through the street like thunder.
The music above screeched to a halt.
Shadows gathered at the roof's edge, silhouettes shuffling closer, cautious now. A moment later, figures stepped into the light — pirates in mismatched clothes, weapons slung carelessly, eyes sharp with cruelty.
And in the center of them all stood their captain.
Buggy the Clown.
He was tall and lean, deceptively so, muscles hidden beneath flamboyant clothes. Blue hair spilled from beneath an orange tricorn hat stamped with a grinning skull. His face was painted in garish colors — red lipstick stretched into a permanent smile, blue stripes under his eyes, and a bold X of crossbones running down his cheeks.
And right in the middle of it all—
A massive red nose.
Luffy squinted.
"…Wow."
Buggy leaned forward, hands on his hips.
"Who dares shout the name of the GREAT Captain Buggy!?"
Luffy pointed.
"Shanks wasn't lying. That thing really is huge."
The rooftop went dead silent.
Several pirates visibly stiffened. One of them swallowed hard.
Buggy's eye twitched.
"…What did you just say?"
"And don't get mad," Luffy added casually, "but yeah, I know Shanks. I trained under him."
That did it.
Buggy exploded.
"DON'T SAY THAT NAME IN FRONT OF ME!"
Veins bulged on his forehead as he pointed accusingly.
"And don't look at my NOSE!"
Luffy tilted his head.
"I literally can't not see it."
Someone in Buggy's crew whimpered.
Buggy shook with rage, then suddenly—he laughed.
A high, shrill, unhinged sound.
"Fine. Fine!" he cackled. "Everyone! Prepare Buggy Ball!"
The pirates snapped into motion.
A cannon was dragged forward, its barrel already scorched from use. A heavy red cannonball — marked with Buggy's jolly roger — was loaded in with reverence.
Zoro stepped forward, hand resting on a sword hilt.
"I'll handle this."
The fuse lit.
The cannon roared.
The Buggy Ball screamed through the air.
Zoro moved.
Steel flashed.
The cannonball split cleanly in two, the halves spinning wildly before detonating behind them — two abandoned buildings collapsing under the blast.
Dust and smoke filled the street.
Buggy snarled.
Before he could shout, Luffy spoke calmly.
"Zoro. I don't want this city taking more damage."
He glanced at the wreckage.
"I'll handle it from here."
Zoro paused, then nodded and stepped back.
Luffy raised his eyes to the rooftop.
"You disappoint me, Buggy."
Buggy froze.
"I expected better," Luffy continued, voice even.
"From what Shanks and Rayleigh told me… you should have been legendary."
The pirates murmured.
Buggy's grin cracked.
"You were on the Pirate King's ship," Luffy said.
"Yet here you are — hiding in the weakest sea, terrorizing civilians."
Shock rippled through the rooftop.
Buggy panicked.
"HEY! Shut up! Don't say that out loud!"
His crew stared at him.
"Captain… you were on Roger's ship?"
Buggy screamed incoherently.
Luffy took a step forward.
"You don't deserve the title of captain."
Buggy snapped.
"Fire another Buggy Ball!"
The cannon boomed again.
This time, Luffy didn't move.
The cannonball slammed into his palm.
No flash. No spectacle.
Just a dull thud.
The ball stopped dead.
Luffy flicked it upward, and it detonated harmlessly in the sky.
Silence.
Buggy's mouth hung open.
"…Haki," he whispered.
Luffy smiled faintly.
"Relax. Not everything needs a name."
The air shifted.
Pirates collapsed one after another, eyes rolling back, bodies hitting the rooftop like sacks of grain.
Only three remained conscious.
Buggy.
A man on a unicycle.
And another desperately trying to wake a lion.
Buggy screamed.
"CABAJI! KILL THEM!"
The unicyclist launched forward.
Zoro moved.
Steel met steel.
Luffy turned his attention elsewhere.
Buggy's detached hand shot toward Zoro's blind spot—
—and stopped.
Luffy stood there, foot pressing it into the ground.
He hadn't rushed.
He hadn't panicked.
He had simply been faster.
"If you want to fight," Luffy said quietly,
"fight me."
Nami stared.
Caught cannonballs.
Knocked men unconscious by presence alone.
Lightning.
Detached limbs.
These people aren't human.
"I ate the Goro Goro no Mi," Luffy said casually.
"I'm a lightning man."
Buggy swallowed.
"…Chop-Chop," he muttered. "I'm immune to blades."
Luffy drew his sword.
It hummed faintly.
He struck.
Buggy didn't dodge.
The blade grazed his cheek.
Blood flowed.
Buggy screamed.
"H-how!?"
"Electricity," Luffy said. "Metal conducts."
The blade touched Buggy's chest.
Buggy collapsed.
Blue sparks wrapped around him, forming bindings that crackled softly.
"Haki-infused," Luffy added. "Your fruit won't save you."
He bound the others just as easily.
Then he turned away.
"We cash the bounties," he said.
"Then we head to Gecko Island."
Zoro sheathed his swords.
"Our sniper?"
Luffy smiled.
"Exactly."