Troublesome Encounter.
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-Buggy Pirate's ship.
3rd POV*
Buggy sensed danger from the blue haired girl, she doesn't look easy anymore. "Prepare more balls!" Buggy hastily ordered the few pirates who survived Nojiko's attack before. "Buggy! How dare you attack Nami! I'll make you pay!" Nojiko shouted at Buggy which made him even more scared. He grabbed his knives and separated his body, he wanted to divert the girl's attention by detaching his body to many pieces. And the result was.. it worked! Nojiko was relatively weaker than Nami who goes on adventure everyday to gain money, and Buggy who is stronger than Nami.. the result is pretty predictable. The only problem is that he didn't expect the girl to be crazy enough to not only grab the hand that is used to impale her stomach but also bit it with so much force that Buggy screamed in pain. "Ahh!! Damn you woman! Why did you do that!?" Buggy was enraged by her actions.
Nojiko didn't reply and just glared at him, the piece of flesh that she bit was strangely tasty making her confuse. She spat the flesh while shivering from the weirdness it felt. "Giiieh!! It hurts!!" Buggy howled clenching the hand, his whole body was already full. That was a great opportunity for Nojiko, while Buggy was distracted by the pain, she blasted hundreds of crystals as all of them embedded itself to Buggy's body. She was so enraged that she didn't hold back and just unloaded everything she could throw. Cedric was alerted by this, "Nojiko, stop" he said grabbing her shoulder. That brought Nojiko back to her sense. "Why did you stop me? I need to punish him from doing that to Nami!" Nojiko complained. "..." Cedric didn't say anything and just pointed at Buggy's body who is already littered with crystals. He was twitching all over the place.
It would not be strange if he dies in that state. Seeing that Nojiko calmed herself, she really lost herself there. "Besides, do you want to sail the sea again just using wooden planks?" Cedric asked staring at the ship that is getting creaky. He knows that it won't last long, the damage that the ship obtained was too much for it. Nojiko got embarrassed but still try to hide it using a furious expression. She just looked away afraid that Cedric will see the redness of her face. They started cleaning up the ship, throwing the bodies to the sea while scrubbing the blood on the floor. Buggy was also thrown without mercy, it is already a mercy for Nojiko's view that he could die in the sea not within her hands. The process took long and the night finally arrived, Nojiko and Cedric was exhausted from the activities.
The fight made Cedric understand a lot of things. He was satisfied with it, the reason why he didn't interfere is that he wanted to know how the two would fare against the infamous Buggy. The real reason is that his body is exhausted while his stomach is empty for him to do anything. It was already taking for him to handle simple pirates, he is just lucky that he has kagune to leave the fighting instead of using his body. One thing he also discovered is that his kagune devours the dead body it made contact to. He doesn't need to consume the humans himself to grow strong, just stabbing his kagune is enough. Though there is one thing that made him upset the most, it was the thing that System called safe. 'System, why did Nojiko have a strange face when she tasted the flesh of Buggy? I thought there was no need for that anymore' he asked seriously.
[Ding! Host, the thing was not completely erased. Only the craving for human flesh and the tongue of the ghouls were erased! If host wishes to, then it is possible to consume humans without feeling disgust from it]
The system explained the reason properly. It made him relief that they don't have the need to consume. He stared at Nojiko and Nami who are sleeping, both are tired from the fighting especially Nojiko who has to help Cedric clean the ship. Although he is happy that they are finally resting, he is also experiencing a grumbling stomach refusing to let him sleep if he doesn't fill it. He reluctantly sate himself using the fruits and vegetables that Buggy Pirates has in stock, it doesn't taste good but he has no way of acquiring proper dishes now. With his stomach half-full, he laid on a bed with uncomfortable expression and finally went to sleep. It was an adventurous day for him that really drained him, he is just happy that they finally have a proper ship to use for their next destination.
Morning came with Nami first to wake up, she spent more time sleeping than the two so it was not a surprise that she is the first to open her eyes. She stared at the surroundings and looked at her hands, a weak smile appeared on her face, "I really lost huh? It feels awful" Nami muttered, she is disappointed in herself because even though she already understood humbleness from the tyranny of Arlong, she still got ahead of herself and thought she is strong. That caused her to get careless resulting to being blasted by that unknown attack. It was frustrating but she also appreciated that lesson, she now swear that she won't be full of herself. "Hey, you two. Finish your rest already! Its morning" feeling lonely, Nami decided to annoy the two of them who groaned on their sleep. It didn't take long for them to wake up from Nami's insistence.
Nojiko spent the whole morning cooking food for Cedric, but even she was surprised by the amount he consumed on a single morning. She used ¼ of the whole stock just to create a breakfast for the three of them, it would have been taxing if she didn't have her new constitution, she is particularly grateful to it. Both her and Nami were also surprised to know that their appetite grew bigger along with their body, they now needed to eat a food good for 10 person just to be full. It was strange and shameful for the girls who don't want to be seen as glutton. Cedric eased their worries just by saying, "What's wrong? I also eat alot myself. No need to hold back, we can even call ourself Eating Pirates if necessary" he said with bland tone not really caring about it. "Ke, this is why you don't understand womans!" Nami complained pouting. She might looked angry but it lessened her worries a lot.
They only finished eating when it was already 9 am in the morning. Nami immediately took control of the ship, it was an amazing sight for Cedric seeing how she sailed through the sea as if she is familiar with it. It might not even a exaggeration to say that she memorize the place. Nojiko went to Cedric since she wanted to ask about her concerns from the fight. The two are alone because Nami is still handling the rudder. "Cedric.. why do I love the human meat?" she asked before realizing how misleading her words are. "W-Wait, I said it wron-" she didn't get to finish it. "Its not necessary. I know your concerns. Hm, let's just say that the origin of those tails are from man-eating beings, I acquired them while taking the disadvantages which is to crave human flesh but sadly I couldn't erase the tastiness of flesh.." Cedric patiently explained to her making the girl satisfied. She is now confident on her own ability, if needed she won't hesitate to use it.
"Hey, why are you two getting cozy here! Stop flirting alright?" Nami grumbled seeing them being happy together. She felt outsider about this case. "We're not flirting" Cedric deadpanned at her. "Yeah, yeah, as if I would believe that!" Nami didn't accept his words. "Anyway, what brought you here? Is there news?" Cedric figured out that arguing with her will be useless so he stopped and just asked. Although Nami was dissatisfied, she still need to relay this news to them. "I finally saw an island!" She said happily. It was relieving for the three of them considering that their ship is already creaking just from the waves itself. "That's great!" Nojiko shared her happiness. The three of them went outside and saw the small island on their sight. Cedric didn't feel any familiarity with so he just thought that it was a unknown island that wasn't tackled in the story. It made him relieve because it means that there is no big trouble in there. Of course his relief was far from the truth.
The three docked their ship on the shore as a stunning show was immediately laid on their eyes. It was a group of navy rushing towards another group of pirates. The pirates are running away with desperate expression on their faces, it looked like they faced someone scary. "Don't be absurd! Do you think that I, Astro the great Pirate will be scared of a mere Navy Colonel!?" A large man appeared in the middle of the pirate group, he speak such arrogant words yet his body refused to listen to him. His feet were on full turbo running away from the navies. "What is this.." Nami muttered with her lips twitching. She didn't know that Cedric right now has a complicated expression on his face, especially when staring at the said Navy Colonel. It was a man with gray hair, a scar on his face that is stitched and two cigars on his mouth.
That man screamed trouble to Cedric, he is now questioning his luck meeting this man here when he still doesn't know any haki. He could only rely on his innate ability here, that is if a fight occured between their group. "Ah! Captain Smoker! There is a pirate that has been decked on the shore!" A marine informed the captain of what he saw. The group of pirates and marines stopped on their tracks and turned their heads to the place. "That sign..! It is the Buggy Pirates Captain!" another marine stated the obvious which gained him a punch in the head by Smoker. "I could at least tell that much" Smoker clicked his tongue in annoyance. He is also elated that he can now capture that sneaky Buggy who always manage to escape his clutches. It is a great opportunity for him but sadly that couldn't be said on the other side. "Fuck.." Cedric cursed out loud surprising the two women on his side.
Cedric rarely curse but the thing that stunned them the most was that he has a complicated expression staring at the captain. It was like having a hard time deciding something, this is surprising to them because they are already used to Cedric's insane strength, they believe that there is nothing in this place that could pose a threat to him. "Idiots, this is our chance! Escape while that bastard is occupied with the newcomer!" Astro shouted at his small crew who just cheered in response. That idiotic response gained the attention of Smoker once more locking their fate. He didn't hesitate and used his devil fruit to destroy the group of small fries. They didn't even make him sweat, it was just a simple exercise for him. "Nojiko, Nami, return to the ship! At once!" Cedric gave his command that stunned the two, but nonetheless they followed it.
They understand that this situation is a problem for them and that navy captain must be strong. They didn't think more and just returned but unfortunately their speed was not enough to lose Smoker. If Nami's strength is 4/100 while Nojiko has 3/100. Smoker has a strength equivalent to /100, it is a huge gap between them. Cedric is much stronger than him but without Haki, he can't do shit to him. Cedric saw that Smoker's seastone baton was about to hit the two so he rushed and threw a straight at him. To Cedric's astonish gaze, the attack connected itself to Smoker's gut sending the guy flying through the air. He then understood that he wasn't taking them seriously and thought he didn't need to use elementalization to handle them. He looked at the place where Smoker landed and saw that he lose consciousness, it made him smile a little when a idea emerged on his mind. That smile horrified everyone there for no particular reason.
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