Transcended as Lord Buggy

The battle between Clown Pirates and Ley's Happo Navy unit continues. Cricket, Mantis, & Jude are having a hard time fighting their opponents. They have a different problem that they need to solve.

As for Buggy, he doesn't have a hard time, but not an easy one too. So far, he is equal with Ley and even push Ley back just now. But it doesn't mean he can defeat Ley easily.

Just now, Buggy use Pollux's pressure power to push Ley back. It doesn't give him any satisfaction to use Pollux's power, but at least he can make Ley pay for his arrogance.

"You talk like you can defeat me when you can't even force me to move from my spot. You sure like to talk bullshit," says Buggy while grinning.

Ley gets up and looks at Buggy angrily. He said he will defeat Buggy, but he get pushed by Buggy instead. Buggy really embarrasses him by doing that, and Ley is someone with high self-esteem. So he doesn't take it lightly.

"Bastard! How dare a lowly pirate as you embarrass me," says Ley angrily.

Ley's aura suddenly changes and his body starts to transform. Orange & black fur start to appear on his skin. His teeth & nails become longer & sharper. He also grows bigger and stands on 4 limbs. Ley transforms into a big tiger.

"Zoan? I thought Hasshoken practitioners won't eat a devil fruit and just use their martial art," says Buggy unfazed by the sudden transformation.

"There's no such rule. Only fools rely on one weapon without having any other options. I can do what I want to become stronger," says Ley.

"Is that your reason to hide your low mastery of Hasshoken?" Buggy mock Ley while grinning.

Buggy succeeds to make Ley angry at him and jump to attack Buggy. Ley opens his mouth and shows his fangs. He tries to bite Buggy, so Buggy uses his swords to block the jaws.

Ley covers his jaws with haki to not get cut by Buggy's swords. Then he swings his front legs at Buggy and uses claws to attack imbued with Hasshoken. Buggy just grins and lets the claws scratch him.

Ley get excited when his claws ripped Buggy's body. But then he gets shocked when he sees Buggy is fine. Ley looks at Buggy's body that gets cut into some parts, but he is fine.

Ley jumps back and asks Buggy, "You're a devil fruit user too?"

"What do you think?" Buggy asks back while grinning.

Buggy never showed his devil fruit power in Kano Country. So no one in Happo Navy knows that he is a devil fruit user. That's why Ley is very surprised now.

"Wait! But I used haki just now and even imbued my claw attack with Hasshoken. Why don't you get affected?" asks Ley confusedly.

"Why should I tell you about it?" Buggy doesn't answer Ley's question.

Buggy doesn't tell Ley that it's not because of his devil fruit, but observation haki. Buggy has trained his observation more than armament in the last 2 years. It's because there's no one strong enough so far that can force him to strengthen his armament.

Buggy can't see a glimpse of the future, but he can predict the attack direction easily. He uses his prediction to split his body in time before he gets cut. Although it won't work if he fights with someone that can move faster than his reaction time.

"Your body gets cut and split into some parts but you're fine. It must be a paramecia, and it doesn't look like you can use that power outside your body. Hah, it's not a good fruit at all," says Ley while analyzing Buggy's devil fruit power.

"Whether it's good or not, you're not the one to decide. A devil fruit grows strong with its user. No devil fruit is weak, there's only weak user," says Buggy.

"That's what someone with weak devil fruit always said," says Ley while smirking.

Ley transform again into his hybrid form now. He become a bipedal tiger with a big upper body like Lucci's hybrid form.

"If claws don't work on you, then I will just use punches again," says Ley.

Ley jumps to Buggy again and punches with his hand that has become bigger. Buggy swings his sword too and clashes with the punch. But now Buggy gets pushed back a little because Ley's Zoan devil fruit gives him more raw power.

Buggy just grins and jumps at Ley and swings his swords in an X shape from below because Ley is a lot taller than him now. Ley blocks the swords with his hands and opens his mouth to bite Buggy again.

Buggy cut off his head and send a headbutt to Ley's jaw from below. Ley gets his mouth closed forcefully by Buggy's headbutt.

Then suddenly Ley's stomach gets hit by Buggy's knee kick and flings back. Buggy has cut his right leg from thigh to ankle and used his knee to kick Ley's stomach.

Ley flings back, crash to the wall and enter the ship's room. Buggy's kick has become more powerful after his climbing and the levitation ability makes him can make his attack faster & stronger. So he can make Ley fly easily even in hybrid form.

"You're looking down on my devil fruit too much, fucker!" says Buggy with a serious expression.

"You too," says Ley while coming out from the rubbles. Zoan's durability is really high, so that attack doesn't affect him too much.

Buggy & Ley rush at each other again and clash. They fight head-on again with their basic skills. But now they use more power and create a booming sound every time they clash.

Buggy uses his swordsmanship and raw power to counter Ley's Hasshoken. Even if Ley has more raw power now, Buggy still can handle it. He can even climb a mountain with 1700 kg tied to him. So Ley's power isn't a trouble for him.

While Buggy's battle with Ley gets more heated up, the other Clowns' battle also gets more heated up. Cricket has started to block Hanji's staff attacks with his hands.

Buggy has told Cricket that haki can get stronger if used on a stronger opponent and if his spirit gets stronger too. Buggy also told Cricket that someone will grow stronger if he is cornered.

Cricket thinks that the current situation is like what Buggy said to him. His opponent is stronger, and he starts to get cornered. This is the perfect situation for him to grow stronger. But he still needs to be careful, or he will get defeated and maybe die.

So Cricket starts to block Hanji's staff while trying to uses his haki. He has started to grasp the feeling to use basic colorless armament haki.

Cricket keeps trying to cover his hands with armament and block Hanji's staff attacks. But he hasn't succeeded so far and got many bruises on his hands & body.

Mantis also tries to use her fight to improve her skills. But she is focused on observation haki, not armament like Cricket. She keeps trying to read Yoko's moves and fight back accordingly.

Mantis also starts to use her legs to kick Yoko. She mainly uses her metal bat to block Yoko's sword. She is in better shape than Cricket because she can block most of Yoko's attacks. She only gets some small cuts and is even able to hit Yoko a few times.

On the other hand, Jude can't do anything about her opponent, Lin. Lin keeps shooting exploding projectiles at her and makes her can't move because she needs to reform her body every time.

Her ash also still can't reach Lin who stays high on the crow's nest. She can't do anything, but Jude also has the same thinking as Cricket & Mantis.

The three of them look at Buggy who fights against Ley without much trouble and think, 'We need to grow stronger and not become weights for Captain. These guys will be our stepping stone.'

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