127. 1 Month
After Cricket defeats Enel, The Clowns have a party in front of Bani's house. They celebrate their victory against the Half-Wings. The victory itself doesn't worth a celebration because their opponents are weak. But the loots are worth a big celebration.
They hold the party beside the unconscious Enel who lay on the terrace floor. He still doesn't wake up even after half an hour. This guy sure likes to faint for a long time, just like how he was after Buggy defeat him.
The Clowns even have the chance to draw funny pictures on his face & body. It will be very funny to see his reaction after he wakes up. They know he is rather stiff, so his reaction will be very interesting to see.
Enel finally wakes up 5 minutes later. He sees them partying while he was unconscious and gets angry. He throws a tantrum, but everyone is laughing at him.
It makes him confused, so the kind Diane tells him about the drawing on his body. He gets pissed and shoots his lightning at the Clowns, but they dodge the lightning bolts and have fun with those bolts like those are mere party tricks.
Bani & Diane watch happily from the side as if they see their little son playing with his friends. It is a moment that they always dreamed of since years ago. It might be late now, but it's better than never.
The party gets merrier and now Enel finally joins in the fun. He dances around with the crew while singing some unknown bad songs. The others even need to close his mouth forcefully to stop him from hurting their heads with his singing.
But even if his singing is very bad, Enel has blended in with the crew. He can blend in quite fast because none of them look at him as if he is a strange person. Of course, he knows the reason for it, all of them are strange in their own way, so they're similar.
After the party, the Clowns sleep in Bani's house. They just sleep anywhere as long as the place is empty. Even a hard floor is a comfortable place for them to sleep.
Well, everyone sleeps except for Buggy & Cricket who guard their ship. Both of them didn't work too hard today and still have a lot of energy to spare. Buggy also wants to check their total loot today.
"Woah, they sure have amassed a lot of wealth here," says Buggy as he checks some treasures.
"Yeah, but they didn't see these treasures as valuables. They just saved these things because of the pretty appearances," says Cricket.
"Gold, silver, and jewels aren't valuables in Sky Islands. Soil is their treasures, not sparkly things like these," says Buggy.
"How much do you think these will sell for?" asks Cricket.
"Maybe 300 or 400 if we get good prices. With all these treasures and our current wealth, we will be able to build our new ship with Adam wood and upgrade our weapons," says Buggy.
"That's good then. This ship has started to become too small for us," says Cricket.
"Yeah, but we will go with her until the last island in Paradise, Sabaody. I hope she can hold on until that time," says Buggy.
"We have Palu, so we don't need to worry," says Cricket.
"That's what makes me worry though. He has found his homeland and parents now," says Buggy.
"Are you worried that he won't continue being a pirate after this?" asks Cricket.
Buggy doesn't answer, but Cricket knows that it's a yes. Now Cricket also starts to worry about it because Palu has achieved his goal.
"Sigh, let's just wait for his decision. We can't force him to keep sailing with us after this if he doesn't want to. But I've decided to stay here for a month no matter what his decision is," says Buggy.
"Why'd you want to stay?" asks Cricket curiously.
"You know that this place has Mantra, right?" asks Buggy.
"Ah, it's how they called Observation Haki," says Cricket.
"That's right. The people here have learned Mantra for centuries. They've improved it to a high level and we need it. I want us to improve our Observation Haki during this month. Palu & Deon also haven't awakened it, so they really need it."
"Besides, we must've gained the Marine HQ's attention. The next time they send someone to us, it will be a Vice-Admiral. Even worse, it might be an Admiral. We are not ready for that," says Buggy.
Cricket understands it and thinks that Buggy's decision is correct. He knows they are strong now, but they aren't invincible. Even he is not sure he can defeat Strawberry, a Rear-Admiral easily like Buggy. But he's sure he can win if he uses everything he has.
"Alright, I think it's a correct decision to take even though the others won't really like it," says Cricket.
"Yeah, they must be bored to train again after training for 6 months. But this is for our survival, so we need to do it. It's better than training separately for 2 years, after all," says Buggy.
"Training separately for 2 years?" asks Cricket curiously.
"Don't mind it. That's what another crew did and I don't want that," says Buggy.
Cricket frowns but he leaves it because it's not important. Both of them then sort the treasures to kill time while guarding the ship. They also have sparring after that because there's nothing else to do.
The next day, Buggy announce the 1-month stay to his crewmates. The old members are protesting while the new members don't think much about it. But they all can only agree because it's a Captain's order.
Buggy then explains that he won't force them to just train in the next 1 month. They can do whatever they like as long as they get stronger. He also tells them that their target is upgrading their Observation Haki.
As for Palu & Deon, they need to awaken it with Bani's guidance. The only one who doesn't have that target is Ruff. He is not a fighter and his body is still too weak for the training. Buggy will train him personally to strengthen his body.
"What about me?" asks Enel.
"You can use Mantra already, right? Then you need to focus on training your devil fruit ability for now. Jude will teach you about it because both of you are logia type," says Buggy.
Jude salutes to him while Enel is doubting her ability to teach him. But he can only agree because he is The Clown's member now and needs to follow Captain's order.
Buggy also gives his crew another task. It is to buy every Dial that is sold on this island using the soil that they've brought before they came here. Ruff will research the Dials and find their best usage for the crew.
Then, their 1 month plan started. They go to purchase the Dials first so Ruff will have enough time for his research. With the soil that they've brought, they can easily buy every Dial that is sold in every shop here.
They finally started their training on the 2nd day. Palu & Deon get trained by Bani, Enel trains with Jude, Manba trains with Mantis, and Cricket trains with Buggy. As for Ruff, he gets trained by Buggy in the afternoon after his Dial research.
For a month, they trained and enjoy their time in Birka. Their stay made Birka's officials have headaches every day. But The Clowns never create any problem, so the officials are just too paranoid.
A month finally passed and they've improved a lot now. Everyone except Ruff has been able to use Observation Haki now, even Deon who has just trained it in a month. Of course, it's still far from good, but he can use it now.
Bani's method is really effective to awaken Palu's & Deon's Observation Haki. Buggy also has learned the method and will apply it when training his future members. But now, he has another problem to think of, Palu's decision.
"Don't worry, I will stay in the crew and keep sailing with you. I've promised you that I will take care of your ship until we achieve our dream, right, Captain?" says Palu while smiling.
"We might've just met him for a month now, but that's enough. He is an adult now and we don't want to stop him from doing what he wants," says Diane.
"Just don't forget to go home when you have time, son," says Bani.
The Clowns are happy to hear that and they hold one last party in Birka before they leave.
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