Chapter 142: Buggy: Stronger than my Buggy Ball?

Zoro picked up the fruit, and a Contract Task was immediately triggered.

【Contract Task (1/5)】

Task Content: Defeat the Sea King lurking near the pier.

Task Reward: Ghost Qi Affinity Lv. 1 (White)

"Ghost Qi?"

Zoro frowned; the task reward sounded unrelated to Jiangdian, which was a pity.

The Sea King refers to some giant, carnivorous fish that often haunt shallow waters.

To ordinary people, they are irresistible behemoths, but to Zoro, they are merely slightly larger pieces of meat; he had encountered one once, and after hacking it into fish chunks, he sold it to an auction house.

"Sea King, let's go!"

Luffy cheered excitedly, pulling Zoro and Nami as he rushed toward the pier.

……

On the other side,

The Buggy Pirates also noticed the special nature of the Contract Fruit.

Mohji, the Vice Captain, covered in wounds, showed Buggy the new weapon in his hand.

A beast-taming whip.

Buggy narrowed his eyes, failing to see anything unusual about the beast-taming whip, and said perfunctorily: "Very good, where did you run off to just now to end up like this?"

"There is a dense forest to the east of Orange Town. Liji and I followed the fruit's guidance and found an unmined iron ore vein, and then we got this beast-taming whip as a reward."

Mohji held the beast-taming whip with a face full of excitement, as if he had obtained a rare treasure.

Buggy, however, eyes lighting up upon hearing about an iron ore vein, asked: "You discovered an iron ore vein? Where is it?"

Even a low-quality iron ore vein could be exchanged for a good price of several million Beli at an auction house.

Mohji scratched his head embarrassedly and said: "When the task was completed, that iron ore vein disappeared and couldn't be found anymore."

"Are you messing with me?"

Hearing a lie that couldn't even fool a child, Buggy's expression turned terrifyingly gloomy.

"It's true!"

Fearing Buggy's rage, Mohji hurriedly explained: "The Contract Fruit takes away the task items."

Buggy was so angry he laughed, wondering if his Vice Captain's brain had been flooded, and said: "You mean... an iron ore vein worth several million Beli was exchanged for a broken whip?"

"This is no ordinary beast-taming whip."

"Is that so? Then let me see what's special about it."

Buggy suppressed his anger, waiting for Mohji's explanation.

Snap.

A crisp whip sound rang out.

Liji, struck by the beast-taming whip, let out a howl, in which a sense of excitement could vaguely be heard.

"That's it?"

Buggy's mouth twitched, and just as he was about to speak, he was stunned by the change that followed.

He saw the lion Liji, after being struck by the beast-taming whip, have its fur suddenly stand on end, looking very terrifying, and the most crucial thing was...

He didn't know if it was an illusion,

But why did it feel like the lion Liji's size had grown by a circle?

"That's right, Captain Buggy!"

Mohji stroked the beast-taming whip tenderly and said boastfully: "Beasts struck by the beast-taming whip can become stronger."

"Moreover, according to the information in my mind, the beast-taming whip is only a novice weapon. If you complete all the Contract Tasks and become a player of the Samsara Game, treasures, power, authority—all wishes can be realized!"

"Everything!?"

Buggy's eyes nearly popped out,

He wanted to scold Mohji, but after glancing at the beast-taming whip and then at the enlarged lion Liji,

He skeptically took out the last remaining Contract Fruit, the same text still in his mind: it required handing over five million Beli.

"If it's not like what you said, then you're dead, Mohji... and Liji too!"

Buggy jumped in distress, enduring the pain of losing money, and took a heavy cloth bag out from the pirate tent.

Five million Beli.

Even for the great Pirate Buggy, taking out such a huge sum was not easy.

After all, being a Pirate is a job of licking blood from the edge of a blade; one could be swept into the seabed by waves at any time, or captured by the Navy, or even killed by other pirate crews. Saving money is impossible; enjoyment is the main tenet of Pirates.

However,

The change in the lion Liji and the way Nami took the fruit even while fleeing did indeed make Buggy realize that the Contract Fruit was not simple.

"Realize all wishes?"

Buggy's heart pounded; his wish was to plunder all the treasures in the world.

That foolish guy Hongfa Xiangkesi, despite being a Pirate, had no interest in treasure; could such a Pirate even be called a Pirate?

Bang.

The cloth bag was suddenly empty.

A strange memory suddenly flooded into Buggy's mind.

Some knowledge about metal manufacturing, elements, and power, eventually merging into a large category of metal and gunpowder knowledge.

【Armor-Piercing Shell Manufacturing Lv. 1】: Consume stamina to create bullets with extremely high penetrating power.

Tip: You can provide your own materials to reduce stamina consumption.

Originating from the Sharpshooters of the Heavenly Realm above the Sky Sea, some of these gunners possess an outstanding understanding and skill in the manufacture of bullets, treating guns and bullets as their own lives, and are capable of creating powerful bullets with various functions.

"Captain Buggy..."

The Chief of Staff, who rides a unicycle, Kabaji, looked at the Captain standing there in a daze, feeling somewhat nervous.

Immediately, with tears in his eyes, he thrust his sword fiercely at Mohji, but was blocked by the claws of the lion Liji.

"Damn you, Mohji, how dare you deceive Captain Buggy! Now that Captain Buggy has become a fool after eating the poisonous fruit, what are we supposed to do?!"

Mohji was startled, scratched his fur-like white hair, and cursed angrily: "Idol, Captain Buggy didn't eat the fruit at all!"

"That's still your fault!"

"Bastard, has your brain been ruined from riding that unicycle?"

"Shut up, all of you!"

Hearing the noise in his ears, Buggy shouted with an ugly expression, and then, after slowly digesting the memories in his mind.

He suddenly rushed into the tent where supplies were stored, directly brandished a dagger, and pried open the box of high-explosives containing the raw materials for making Buggy Balls.

Two minutes later,

A strangely shaped magazine was made; inside it were not standard-looking bullets, but small daggers.

"Bring me a gun!"

A Flintlock was handed into Buggy's hand.

Buggy felt apprehensive inside, tentatively pressing the finished magazine against the Flintlock.

The obviously mismatched Flintlock and magazine strangely fused together.

Buggy aimed at a thick wall and pulled the trigger.

Bang.

A dagger flashing with a cold glint shot out from the barrel, its handle popped out, and the pure metal blade propelled forward, dragging a long, narrow air wave behind it.

In the center of the wall built of rocks, a mark appeared where it had been pierced through by the dagger.

Mohji leaned over and asked curiously: "Captain Buggy, is this your new ability?"

It doesn't look like much; the power is only slightly greater than a Flintlock.

"Wait..."

Mohji suddenly widened his eyes, his gaze looking through the hole.

It wasn't just the wall that had been pierced;

After the blade pierced the wall, it actually went through the messy room and furniture, shot straight out of the building, and nailed itself into the wall on the opposite side of the street.

"Hahahaha, is this an armor-piercing bullet?"

Buggy let out a hearty laugh, his eyes burning as he stared at the new mission of the Contract Fruit.

It was actually real!

With this kind of power, even steel could be pierced, and furthermore, the armor-piercing bullet could increase in power as the level rose, with even stronger penetration and faster firing speed!

"My boys, the new treasure has already appeared; how can we continue to stand still? Charge with me!"

(End of this chapter)