There are generally two kinds of pirates in this world.
One kind sets sail in pursuit of dreams, or because circumstances force them onto the sea for one reason or another.
They relish the joy of sailing, sing praises of the spirit of adventure, and will even draw their blades to help others whenever they encounter injustice.
Rather than pirates, it would be more accurate to call them capable, action-oriented adventurers.
Most of the time, they don't deliberately commit evil deeds—though their love of freedom often leads them to act without considering the consequences.
The Straw Hat Pirates clearly belong to this category.
They could stop a war from breaking out in Alabasta, preventing needless casualties, yet they could also release countless criminal pirates from the Great Prison of the deep sea just to save Ace.
This has nothing to do with good or evil.
It is all the result of free will.
The other kind of pirate, however, pursues wealth and status purely for their own sake, indulging in the pleasure of conquering the weak through force.
The Buggy Pirates are undoubtedly this kind of crew.
They seized Orange Town, drove out the original residents, and carried out reckless plundering and experiments across the land.
Their behavior was eerily similar to the rise of certain great powers from Red's previous life.
Calling them villains through and through would not be an exaggeration.
Under normal circumstances, a crew like this would never sit down with the Straw Hat Pirates to discuss anything seriously.
But today…
Under the matchmaking of Red, a reincarnator from another world, these two groups were actually sitting together, discussing future plans.
On the Straw Hat side, all four members were present.
Buggy, meanwhile, brought along his two right-hand men—Mohji and Cabaji.
Seven people took their seats around a round table according to their respective status.
Luffy and Red sat at the head of the table—one completely ignoring everything as he buried himself in food, the other sitting upright with a faint smile at the corner of his lips.
Zoro and Nami sat to their left and right.
Though they didn't fully understand the situation, since Red was directing everything, their expressions remained relatively calm.
"Alright," Red said suddenly, as the one orchestrating everything. "Now that the oath wine has been drunk, from this moment on, we're family."
He looked at Buggy and the other two and continued,
"First, I want to make one thing clear. Since our target is a behemoth like the World Government, we can't keep treating ourselves as ordinary pirates."
"Whatever happened in the past doesn't matter."
"But from this day forward, I don't want to hear a single report of the Buggy Pirates oppressing civilians."
"You should understand this—anyone could become our friend, and anyone could become our enemy."
"What we need are more friends, not more enemies."
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
Red fixed Buggy with a scrutinizing gaze.
Since Buggy was now carrying the name of the Straw Hats on his back, he had to understand the Straw Hat crew's code of conduct.
"Understood! Absolutely understood!"
Buggy nodded repeatedly in agreement.
He wasn't an idiot—he could easily grasp the meaning behind Red's words.
Though what he sought was the kind of ruthless piracy practiced by Viking marauders, compared to the even more outrageous goal of overthrowing the World Government, he didn't mind changing his methods.
Being a good person was hard—but pretending to be one was easy enough.
As for why Buggy was being so obedient, without even suspecting that Red might be deceiving him…
If this had been before drinking the oath wine, he might have hesitated a little, complying only under Red's overwhelming force and the strange power of his words.
But after drinking the oath wine, Buggy now trusted the Straw Hat crew completely!!!
The reason lay in the two new techniques that had appeared in his mind: Headbutt and Pay Day!
To understand how that happened, we have to rewind to a little over ten minutes ago…
Shortly after Buggy drank the oath wine, Red carried out a test.
He first called Buggy and Mohji into a room, revealed his identity as a Trainer, and explained everything until they fully believed and accepted it.
Then Red opened the device interface and chose to enter the game world.
At that moment, he discovered that two new options had appeared in the list of Pokémon he could bring along!
One was Nami, who hadn't appeared yesterday.The other was Buggy the Clown, who had just joined under his banner.
As expected, Mohji—used as a control—did not appear on the list.
Red wasn't particularly surprised by Nami's appearance.
After all, she already knew about his identity as a Trainer, and that morning she had completely opened her heart to the Straw Hat crew, officially joining them.
Trust established, Trainer identity acknowledged—these conditions being met made the result perfectly normal.
Mohji not appearing was also expected.
After all, he wasn't Buggy. He wouldn't suddenly trust Red just because Red mentioned Roger and Shanks.
Buggy's appearance, however, was both within Red's expectations and a pleasant surprise.
"It looks like even without a 'companion' bond, as long as I reach a certain level of trust or closeness, I can still bring others into the game world."
"That really opens up a lot of possibilities~"
Red smiled as he reached this conclusion.
Of course, even though Buggy could enter the game, Red wasn't about to waste precious game time on him.
Seeing that Buggy's attributes were the same as Luffy's—Normal + Fairy—Red only brought him into the game once and taught him both Normal-type techniques.
The entire process took less than a minute.
Yet this miraculous method completely won Buggy over.
Looking at Buggy's current expression, Red revealed a satisfied smile.
He continued, "Tonight, we'll be setting sail and leaving this place."
"After we leave, I'll be entrusting you and your crew with several tasks…"
"Please speak, Lord Red!"
Buggy rubbed his hands together with a flattering grin, lowering himself to an extremely submissive posture.
Red smiled faintly. "The first matter concerns the Buggy Bomb."
"I want you to hand over the Buggy Bomb formula and provide some technical support."
"No problem!"
Eager to prove himself, Buggy agreed without the slightest hesitation.
"I developed the Buggy Bomb myself. The formula's all in my head—I can write it down right now!"
As he spoke, he was about to fetch paper and pen.
But Red suddenly interrupted him.
"No rush."
"Just give me the shell formula before we leave. And you still have some Buggy Bombs left here, don't you?"
"Hand those over to me as well."
"Understood, Lord Red."
Buggy nodded again.
The manufacturing cost of Buggy Bombs wasn't particularly high—the real value lay in the production technique.
A few shells here and there were nothing he couldn't part with.
Buggy's cooperative attitude made Red smile in satisfaction.
It was worth it—after all, he had taught Buggy two techniques in one go.
This treatment was something even Zoro and Luffy hadn't received… though that was only because they didn't need it.
In the entire East Blue, if there was anything truly worth Red's attention—
It was probably the Buggy Bombs Buggy had invented.
Don't be fooled by how the Buggy Pirates looked from top to bottom—completely unassociated with the word "powerful," nothing more than a comic relief crew…
Yet in Impel Down, Buggy could casually wipe out a group of guards with Marine officer–level strength using just one compressed shell. The power he displayed wasn't actually inferior to that of most strong combatants.
His comical appearance and ridiculous personality simply stood out too much, making people forget about his true combat potential.
Even now, a single unmodified Buggy Bomb already possessed destructive power comparable to Luffy's full-force Gear Third attack!
It surpassed those firework-like artillery shells used by the Marines by an unknown margin!
Such talent would shine brilliantly even on the Grand Line.
If conditions allowed in the future, Red even planned to find a suitable location on the Grand Line to establish an ammunition factory, mass-produce Buggy Bombs, and equip the Straw Hat Grand Fleet with them.
When that time came, it wouldn't be the World Government chasing the Straw Hats with a Buster Call anymore!
Instead, it would be the Straw Hat Grand Fleet—
Launching a God-Slaying Order against the World Government and the Celestial Dragons!!!
"A God-Slaying Order~ That sure sounds imposing," Red secretly smacked his lips.
Of course, these were all future matters—just a brief moment of fantasy.
After finishing the topic of the Buggy Bombs, Red continued with his instructions.
"The second matter…"
"I need you to stay hidden and remain on standby in the waters near Loguetown."
"Once news spreads that the Straw Hat crew is heading toward the Grand Line, I want you to help me find someone in Loguetown…"
(End of Chapter)