78. Recovery

Buggy is laying on a bed in Rouge's house now. His body is full of bandages like a mummy. He finally open his eyes after being unconscious for 6 hours.

Buggy wants to move because he remembers that he was fighting Garp. But he can't move his body, so he looks at his body. He sees the white bandages that cover his body and leave nothing visible.

'What happened here? Where am I?' thinks Buggy after realizing that he is not fighting Garp anymore.

Buggy tries to remember what happened and finally realizes that he has been defeated by Garp. He looks around and thinks that this is a room in Marine Ship. He thinks he has been captured.

But then he realizes that his hands aren't cuffed with seastones. There's no way Marine will detain a devil fruit user without a seastone handcuff.

'Is this not the Marine ship?' asks Buggy in his mind.

Buggy suddenly hears a door being open and sees Manba there.

"Captain, you've finally woken up," says Manba excitedly.

"Manba? Where is this?" asks Buggy.

"This is Rouge's house, we took you here after I gave you the first treatment. I've given you a thorough check and treatment here. How are you feeling?" asks Manba.

"I don't feel so good," replies Buggy while smirking.

Manba smile seeing Buggy smirks and says, "If you still can smirk like that, then you will be fine. I'll call the others."

Manba leaves the room to call the others. Buggy then hears many footsteps of running people in the corridor. Then all his crewmates arrive at the same time. They try to enter the door together and jam it, making them can't enter the room.

"Sigh, enter it one by one!" says Buggy.

The Clowns stop and enter the room one by one. They surround Buggy and ask about his condition. Buggy doesn't answer and asks Manba instead. Manba says that he just needs rest now until he recovers.

"Who's your opponent, Captain?" asks Cricket.

The others are curious too about the one who can put Buggy in this state.

"Monkey D. Garp, the Marine Hero," says Buggy.

They all get surprised because they all know who Garp is. He is a very famous figure in Marine and almost everyone knows him. Garp is even more famous than the Admiral or even Fleet Admiral since he became the 'Marine Hero'.

"Isn't Garp the one who is said to be equal with the Pirate King?" asks Mantis.

"Yeah, he has fought with Captain Roger many times in the past. The only Marines that Captain Roger thought highly are Garp and Sengoku. Although he respects Garp more because Garp is more similar to him in ideals. He also fought alongside Garp in the past," says Buggy.

"A pirate & marine fought together? Not against each other?" asks Jude confusedly.

"Yeah, because they have the same enemy in the past. I will tell you about it at another time. I need to rest now," says Buggy.

They all are curious, but they know Buggy needs to rest. So they leave the room after making sure that Buggy is fine. Manba gives Buggy some medicine before leaving too and lets Buggy rest.

Buggy sigh in relief because he is still fine and can meet again with his crew. If Garp's unit captured him, then he will be in jail now instead of this room. The worst possibility is that he would die.

'It seems Garp knows that I'm protecting Rouge. So this means he has decided to take care of Ace. It's a good thing because I can leave Rouge & Ace to him after this. I won't be able to take care of them again after Ace is born,' thinks Buggy.

Buggy now realized that Garp was the one who pull some strings. He is the reason why no Marine came to the island for 2 weeks. But the pressure from the higher-ups must be strong, so Garp finally decided to attack Buggy.

Buggy leaves that thought and goes to sleep. He feels very tired and weak because he lost too much blood. Manba's medicine also makes him sleepy, so he falls asleep fast.

He finally wake up again the next day after sleeping for 12 hours. The pain in his body has subsided and he feels better now. But he still can't move and isn't allowed to move by Manba.

Then finally, Buggy recover fully after 2 days & 2 nights. It surprised everyone, even Manba who made the medicines. He knows his medicines aren't that potent and can heal someone with severe injuries like Buggy in 2 days.

That means Buggy's natural healing ability is high. Normal people will need weeks or even months to recover from that. But it's also because of Manba's medicines. They're good medicines, after all.

Buggy leaves his room to check on Rouge. She has gotten better now after being treated by Manba for more than 2 weeks. She looks more healthy now, just like a normal pregnant woman. Rouge is sleeping now, so Buggy leaves the room to talk with Manba.

"How is she?" asks Buggy to Manba.

"She is better now and her health has raised a lot. She is very strong-willed and it makes her recovery faster. But her energy is still low and it will be hard to return it to normal. For the last 2 weeks, we will need to improve her energy reserve so she will be able to go through the labor," says Manba.

"I still prefer Caesarean section than normal labor," says Buggy.

"That's still the plan. Even if her energy increase, I will still use Caesarean Section. Normal labor needs a lot of energy, and it can put her in danger again if we use the normal method," says Manba.

"Good, I will leave it to you," says Buggy while walking out of the house.

Buggy leaves the house and goes to the highest place again. He looks at the sea and thinks of his battle with Garp. He knows Garp is still too strong for him, but he never knows the distance between their power.

"Now I know our distance. I know how high I should aim for. Knowing my target will make my training more effective. I need to reach that level and surpass it. If I can't surpass it, I won't be able to roam around the world freely. I won't be able to discover all mysteries without such strength," says Buggy.

Buggy then decides to upgrade his training even though it's hard enough already. If he doesn't push himself, then he won't grow. If he doesn't grow stronger, then he & his crew won't survive. Their enemies will keep getting stronger, so they need to be stronger too.

Buggy's crewmates also have the same thinking as him. Especially after they see their super-strong captain almost die 2 days ago. Now they know that people at Garp's level have started to target them.

The Clown Pirates then start to train a lot harder than usual. They are still taking care of Rouge in the middle of their training. Their priority now is Rouge, they can train after they leave this island. But Rouge's treatment can't be halted.

For the last 2 weeks, they keep training and taking care of Rouge. No one slacked off even if they are very tired. They've talked with Buggy about their training, and Buggy has set a standard for them.

"All of us need to be able to use haki, at least one type before going to Grandline," says Buggy.

"Even me?" asks Manba.

"Even you. I will teach you haki after Rouge gives birth. So we will stay in South Blue for some months while exploring it. Garp didn't catch me, it will make the Marine warier of us," says Buggy.

"They will be warier of us because they thought that we can escape from Garp. Is that what you meant?" asks Jude.

"Yeah. Garp is very strong and not many people can escape his grasp. So we need to be careful now. The moment we enter Grandline, then the ones who target us will be Vice-Admiral at least," says Buggy.

Everyone now has serious expression and knows the severity of that situation. Vice-Admiral's powers are varying, but they're still one of the strongest forces in Marine. So they can't be underestimated.

Buggy also talks with everyone including Rouge about Roger's & Garp's cooperation in the God Valley incident. It was the reason Garp got his title. That's also the reason why Roger trusted Garp.

Buggy has told them why Garp didn't catch him. The Clowns are surprised that Garp will take care of Rouge & her baby. Rouge herself isn't surprised by it, because Roger has told her about it.

2 weeks passed with the Clowns keep training & taking care of Rouge. Rouge's conditions keep improving because of Manba's treatment and her strong will to live with her baby. Then finally, the time for Rouge to give birth has come.

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