54. Mountain Climbing

Chinjao suddenly wants to offer a deal to Buggy.

"What deal?" asks Buggy.

"How many mountains that you climb in a day?" Chinjao asks back.

"So far I only climb 5 per day. It's the 7th day now, and I've climbed 34. I need to climb one more today." Buggy answers Chinjao's question.

"How about the weight?"

"It's 100 kg now, yesterday I use 80 kg."

"Hmm, 20 kg a day, huh? Alright, this is the deal. I want you to add 20 kg for every mountain and you still need to climb 5 mountains a day. If you can do it, then I'll give you the Hashoken manual." Chinjao's offer surprise his subordinates & Buggy.

"CHINJAO-SAMA!? This is-" Chinjao's subordinate wants to talk, but Chinjao cut him off.

"I know what I'm doing," says Chinjao

"What if I can't?" asks Buggy.

"Then you will be my subordinate," says Chinjao while grinning.

Buggy thinks about it and looks at Chinjao. Then Buggy sees his crewmates come and want to asks them. But suddenly he sees Chinjao's men surround his crewmates slowly.

'This old man, he will use my crewmates to force me to accept the challenge. Tsk, this is the worst. Now I can only accept it.'

"Fine, I'll do it. But we will start tomorrow because I've climbed 4 today." Buggy tries to bargain. He will climb more mountains today if Chinjao agrees.

"Alright, we can start tomorrow. But you need to stop climbing today, so you'll have 65 mountains left. It's the perfect number for 5 mountains a day, right? You will climb for 13 days from tomorrow." Chinjao grins, he knows Buggy's plan.

Buggy clicks his tongue and can only accept it. Chinjao's group then leaves the area, so there's only the Clown Pirates now.

They ask what happened just now, so Buggy explains it to them. They get surprised and feel guilty about Buggy. If they don't come, Buggy won't need to accept the challenge.

"No, they'll still threaten me using you. This is their country, so they can do what they want here." Buggy calms his crew.

"So, what should we do now?" asks Cricket.

"I'll do the challenge, that's the only way. We can't run away now, because they must've prepared for that. So I want you guys to train hard and be ready for any situation. As for this challenge, just believe in me. This is not something that I can't do," says Buggy.

Buggy then gives them some instructions if some situations arise. They understand the instructions and think those are the best solutions now. Then they discuss more plans that they might need.

After the discussion, Buggy eat and rest. He needs to save his energy for tomorrow. He will defeat Chinjao and embarrassed that senile old man.

'Even without his drill, he is still so arrogant. But I will return that to you and you will feel very shamed after 13 days. I will also take that Hashoken from you.' Buggy swear in his heart.

Buggy knows that Chinjao must've heard of him after he climbed more than 30 mountains. That guy will also know that he is a fresh rookie with a high bounty. It's rare to find a rookie like Buggy on Blues. That's why Chinjao is targetting Buggy to join Happo Navy.

This is Happo Navy's home ground, so Buggy can't do as he please here. Happo Navy is supported by Kano Country's royal family, so they can do as they please. The royal family will be more than happy to get a strong crew under them.

"20 kg per mountain, with the base weight of 100 kg. That means the last climbing will be 1.400 kg, 1.4 tons. That's very heavy for the current me. My best weight lifting is 1000 kg, and that's just for one lifting." Buggy ponder about the weight.

Buggy thinks more about it and he finds a trick that might help him. He will still use his own power, but if he's pinched, he'll just use his trick. Buggy plans some more things before he goes to sleep.

The next day, many people come to watch Buggy. They heard the news from the Chinjao family. Those guys want to make this into some kind of event.

They even start to bet on Buggy's success or failure. They open betting for every mountain that Buggy climb. Buggy tells his crewmates to bet on his success every time. They agree and bet 1 million, for the first round.

"Yahoho, your crewmates really believe that you will succeed," says Chinjao who has just come.

"Of course, a crew needs to have full belief in their Captain," Cricket answers instead of Buggy.

"If you have full belief in him, then you need to bet all your wealth," says Chinjao while smirking.

"If we bet with all our wealth, then you won't be able to pay everything. Besides, this is still the first round, and the bets are still low." Mantis smirk too at Chinjao.

"Whatever then. Now, let's start this challenge," says Chinjao.

Chinjao's men come with weight for Buggy. This is a 120 kg weight because this is the first mountain. Some men help Buggy to tie the weight on his body to make sure it doesn't fall.

Then Buggy start to climb the mountain with the 120 kg weight. Many people bet on Buggy's failure, except Buggy's crew & Chinjao family. Chinjao still believes Buggy can take this challenge because it's just 20 kg more from yesterday.

Buggy climbs the rocky cliff with quite an ease, although it's harder than yesterday with heavier weight. But it's still doable, and Buggy can finish it with quite an ease.

Then Buggy climb the next 3 mountains with 140 kg, 160kg, and 180 weights. It is harder than before, but Buggy can climb it with some effort too. Increasing the weight after just climbing one mountain is very hard.

Buggy can even climb with a 200 kg weight in the last mountain. He needs higher effort for it and climbs slower, but it's still doable for Buggy. He doesn't need to use any trick on his climbing today.

Buggy really feels his growth in this one day. So maybe this challenge isn't that bad for him. His crew & Chinjao family also get some profit from the bet. So it's good for all of them.

After he finished the climbing, Buggy eat a lot of food that Mantis cook. He needs to replenish all the energy that he spent today. He never felt so tired like this since he arrived in this world 2 years ago.

"Hehe, this is not so bad. I surpassed my limit many times in just one day. With mine & my crew's freedom at stake, I can exert more hidden power that I couldn't access before," says Buggy while looking at his hands that have bruises from his climbing.

"It's good that you can grow strong, but this is still the first day. Normally, it will be impossible to grow strong really fast. But you're quite abnormal, so we can put that aside," says Mantis

"Oi, what do you mean by that?" Buggy slap the air.

"What's your weight record, Captain?" asks Mantis, ignoring Buggy's question.

"1 ton," answers Buggy.

"Hmm, so it will be very difficult around 1 ton. Maybe it will start at 900 kg. Do you have any plan for that?" asks Mantis

"Yeah, don't worry. Also, I have another plan that needs your help, especially Dina & Robin. You guys return to the ship and tell them my plan," says Buggy.

Dina & Robin aren't here, they need to hide in the ship. So Buggy whispers his plan to Cricket, Mantis, & Jude. They all get surprised, but then they giggle sinisterly. Just what kind of plan that Buggy made?

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