Chapter 29: Mission!
"There are no other conditions. However, you must think carefully. Once you agree, you cannot go back on your word. Going back on your word means betrayal, and betrayal has only one outcome." As Buggy spoke, he made a throat-slitting gesture.
Looking at the people around her, then at Buggy, a resolute expression appeared in Paula's eyes.
"I agree to join your pirate crew!"
The anticipated answer was finally spoken. Hearing it, Buggy could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
To be honest, Buggy was prepared to be rejected. It was only after seeing Paula that Buggy realized that although this young girl was a year or two younger than him, she was quite opinionated. If he hadn't stunned her with his display of power and simultaneously piqued her interest in becoming stronger, successfully inviting her would likely have involved many more twists and turns.
Buggy didn't take Paula away from West Blue, not even leaving Paula's base of operations. Instead, Buggy chose to stay.
For Paula's role, Buggy had designated her as an intelligence operative from the beginning. However, Buggy knew nothing about this field; he didn't even know where to find a relevant teacher to train Paula.
Of course, it wasn't as if the pirate world lacked famous organizations for intelligence work. The World Government's CP9 and CP0 were the best training bases. But Buggy had never considered targeting these two organizations. For one, Buggy had no way to infiltrate them. For another, Buggy wasn't confident that an untrained Paula could pass their scrutiny.
However, these difficulties couldn't stump Buggy. For Buggy, Paula, who had expert-level potential, shouldn't actually be trained in intelligence gathering and analysis. These things could be quickly honed with the right environment and ability. The real focus of her training should still be on improving her strength.
As an ability user, strength improvement was mainly manifested in two aspects: one was her ability, and the other was Haki.
Buggy didn't plan to teach her Haki, mainly because he feared it wouldn't be suitable. After all, only women truly knew what was best for women. Long before leaving Amazon Lily, Buggy had already laid the groundwork with Gloriosa.
He just needed to impart the method for improving her abilities to Paula, and then send her to Kuja Castle for Haki training for a period.
He didn't know if Paula was too talented in intelligence analysis, to the point where her aptitude in other areas was worryingly slow. In any case, Buggy's plan to leave West Blue for Amazon Lily within half a year was mercilessly crushed by reality.
Actually, thinking back, Buggy himself had taken a considerable amount of time to master his Chop-Chop ability. Expecting Paula to master hers in a short period was simply unrealistic.
To be honest, after staying on the nameless island for just over half a year, Buggy had thoughts of giving up. But when he considered how difficult it was to find suitable crew members, Buggy persevered.
It took a full year and a half before Buggy managed to get Paula to the point where she could apply her abilities to objects other than living beings.
It had to be said, the ability of the Thorn-Thorn Fruit was quite formidable, especially in assassination after entering the first stage of its use; it was truly something that left people defenseless.
Seeing the current Paula, Buggy could fully imagine how much her assassination ability would improve after she mastered Haki. At that time, assassinating an Admiral might genuinely not just be a theoretical possibility.
Of course, Buggy didn't intend to train Paula into an assassin. He only hoped that Paula could ensure her own safety while gathering intelligence with her abilities; that would be enough.
In the spring of Sea Circle Calendar 1505, Buggy finally took Paula from West Blue by ship into the Grand Line, and then into the Calm Belt.
Standing on the beach of Amazon Lily, Buggy was giving Paula her final instructions.
"This is the island where the legendary Land of Women is located. Follow the main road, and you will reach the only city on the island, Kuja Castle. After entering Kuja Castle, go directly to find Gloriosa. Tell her that I sent you to learn Haki from her, and she will understand. Afterwards, if you meet a girl named Hancock, and if she asks about me, just say that I am still searching for companions, and when we meet next time, I will definitely give her an absolutely surprising gift."
Hearing this, Paula looked at Buggy with a knowing smile.
"Captain, will that girl named Hancock become the captain's wife in the future?" Paula asked, quite fond of gossip.
"If there are no accidents, she will!" Buggy, for a rare moment, was incredibly thick-skinned.
"Mm, understood. I will help you keep an eye on her," Paula clearly misunderstood something.
"Hey, you! This is the Land of Women; there are no men. What are you going to keep an eye on for me? Seizing the time to learn and master Haki is the most important thing for you. You only have two to three years here, and it definitely won't exceed three years before I come to pick you up. There's a special mission I need you to help me complete. The danger level shouldn't be too high, but it's very time-consuming. It might even take several years to complete. And what determines the length of the mission is your strength afterwards."
Seeing Buggy's serious face, Paula started to get curious.
"Captain, what is this mission? Can you tell me first? Please don't let it be a mission I don't like!"
"I can't tell you right now. But I can say that this mission holds extremely special significance for you. I think a few years later, when I tell you, you will absolutely be willing to carry it out. Relax, your captain, although not a good person, will definitely not force his companions to do things they are unwilling to do." Patting Paula's shoulder, Buggy finished speaking and directly soared into the air, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.
The years 1504 and 1505 could be said to be relatively peaceful years for the pirate world since the opening of the Great Pirate Era. During this period, apart from the birth of the future queen of a certain desert kingdom in the Grand Line, the only other notable event was the meeting of two brats, who would later become very famous, in a large junkyard in East Blue.
Besides these, some minor incidents with somewhat local impact occurred on Fish-Man Island and Momoiro Island. For ordinary people, those events had nothing to do with them. As long as their peaceful days weren't disturbed by pirates, that was the best saikō.
Not long after leaving the nameless island, Buggy felt he was about to break through. Finding an island with a town, he stopped, and Buggy entered his breakthrough period.
However, the breakthrough was not easy. Eating, drinking, relieving himself, and various miscellaneous matters constantly prevented Buggy from calming his mind. Finally, Buggy ruthlessly dashed for a day from West Blue into a small island in the Calm Belt, only then finally finding some peace and quiet.
It took a full year, back and forth, for Buggy to break through from the peak of Clear Strength to the initial stage of Dark Strength. The breakthrough itself didn't take much time; the rest of the time was spent by Buggy on consolidation and stabilization.
In the spring of Sea Circle Calendar 1506, after completely consolidating the initial stage of Dark Strength, Buggy finally left the Calm Belt and charged directly into the New World. Without stopping, Buggy once again crossed the New World and entered the long-unseen North Blue from the Calm Belt on the other side of the New World.
Following the compass's guidance, Buggy, without any setbacks, found a special Devil Fruit on an island in the North Blue.
Carrying this Devil Fruit, Buggy once again set off on his journey to find companions, which had been interrupted for over a year.
(End of this chapter)