91. Recruitment

After Buggy & Ruff's success, the town gets very lively. They immediately hold a big festival to celebrate the first success of climbing the Volcano. The town's people even want to make this a yearly celebration.

Of course, Ruff becomes the star of this festival. Everyone who mocks him before has started to idolize him now. The Town's Mayor even wants to name the Volcano's peak with Ruff's name.

But he refused and ask his father's name to be used instead. Everyone agrees because they know that Ruff climbed the Volcano for his father. Now the name of the Volcano's peak is Ernest, it's Ruff's father's name.

The Clowns enjoy the festival together. They also have just learned the Volcano's name today. They never bothered to ask it before. This Volcano is named Kratoa, and this island's name is Markatoa.

"I can't believe none of you asked about this island's & the volcano's name. Ck ck ck, I'm disappointed," says Buggy to his crew while shaking his head.

"Say that if you have asked it yourself!" retorts Mantis.

"We-well, I was too engrossed on climbing the Volcano, while you guys are just playing around," says Buggy in defense.

"Oh yeah? Then maybe you don't need to taste the food that I've learned while 'playing around' these days," says Mantis.

Buggy immediately bows to Mantis and apologizes, "I'm sorry, I should have asked it myself. Please let me eat the food, Ms. Mantis."

"Good, I accept it," says Mantis satisfied.

The others laugh at the 2's antiques. It's a usual thing for them to joke around like this. They're not a stiff crew with a strict hierarchy where they can't joke around.

"You guys are very close, huh? I won't believe that you're pirates if I have never seen your bounty posters," says Ruff who walks toward them.

"Heh, then how should pirates behave in your mind?" asks Palu.

"Well, I thought pirates will be crueler even with their own crew. I even thought that pirates are just using each other and won't think twice to betraying their crew. But you guys are joking around like normal friends," says Ruff.

"It all return to their reasons. If what the pirates want are just fame, wealth, and power, then they will just use each other. But what we seek are not those things. We have our dreams that are more important than those. We believe that fame, wealth, and power will come to us as we go further," says Cricket.

"We know the importance of a solid crew in the sea. There are many threats that we can't solve alone, so we need to solve them together," says Manba while eating a big bowl of noodles.

The Clowns then smile and say something together, "This is our adventure, after all."

Ruff widens his eyes and smiles hearing their answers. But then he raised an eyebrow when he sees the Clowns are acting strangely. Their body is shaking and their mouths are twitching like they try to hold their laugh.

"HAHA, I CAN'T HOLD IT ANYMORE. THIS IS SO EXCITING," says Mantis while laughing.

"HAHA, TO THINK THAT WE CAN FINALLY SAY IT MAKES REALLY MAKES ME HAPPY," says Cricket excitedly.

"I TOLD YOU THAT THE TIME TO USE IT WILL COME," says Buggy.

The Clowns are dancing happily like they celebrate something. Ruff is getting confused now, so Manba explains it to him. The Clowns have made some cool lines to say for some situations.

Ruff's mouth's corner is twitching now because he feels like he's being fooled. But he knows that what the Clowns said are their true feelings. Even now, they dance happily together, proving that their words aren't just a script.

"Captain, we need to make more of these things," says Jude happily.

"Of course. We will be a pirate crew with the coolest lines," says Buggy while nodding.

"Hehe, I can imagine us saying cool things before we fight with our enemies. Our words will surely make them speechless," says Palu while imagining their cool & starry images.

Seeing the Clowns behave like that, Ruff only has one thing in his mind, 'They're all idiots.'

The festival keeps going for a full night and makes the town very lively. Ruff & Buggy also agree to sell the suit's design to the town. They will produce it for people who are brave enough to climb the Volcano.

The next day, the Clown Pirates gathered in Ruff's house. They have a big lunch together before they'll leave the island. Their Log Pose's has been filled and they don't have anything else to do here.

"So, what's your plan after this, Ruff?" asks Buggy while they eat.

"I don't know, maybe continue to craft new items," says Ruff while shrugging his shoulder off.

"But what items that you want to make? You've made almost everything that this island needs. I know that creating a new item is hard without inspiration or a goal. So what's your next goal?" asks Buggy.

Ruff thinks about it for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't have any at this moment. I've finished what I want to do here. So maybe I will go to another place and find a new goal."

"Then, how if you join us?" asks Buggy.

"Join you? You want me to become a pirate? I never fight even once in my life. How will I survive if I become a pirate?" asks Ruff back.

"I told you that we're seeking adventure, not battles. If you can't fight, then we will teach you to protect yourself at least. If you still don't want to fight, then you don't need to fight. We will do the fight and protect you," says Buggy.

"Why'd you want to recruit me if I can't fight?" asks Ruff.

"What I need from you in my crew isn't your power. I need your brain and your scientific ability. Tech & weapons are important in any force, including pirate crews like us. We need them for our survival in this dangerous sea," says Buggy.

"What kind of weapons that you want to have?" asks Ruff with suspicion.

"Weapons that can keep us alive. As we go further, the enemies will keep getting stronger. They will have better weapons, better technology, stronger crew, etc. If we can't keep up with them, we won't survive against them. We won't achieve our goals if we die," says Buggy.

"Don't worry, we can promise you that we'll never use your weapons wrongly. You can investigate our past and you won't find any record of us doing any atrocious crime. We never even kill any civilian. We only fight other pirate crews, underground forces, or Marine," says Cricket.

Ruff doesn't say anything and just looks at them. He has understood the Clowns' personality in these few days. He knows that they're not bad people even though they're pirates. But he never has a thought to become a pirate.

Ruff sighs and says, "Sigh, I know you guys are different from the other pirates. But I don't know if I can join you and become a pirate myself. I don't even know that my mother will-"

"I will allow it," says Riana so suddenly.

"Mother?!" says Ruff in surprise.

"You don't have anything to do in here anymore. If not for your father's death, you would leave this island already. You've lived for your father, now live for yourself, son," says Riana.

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