"Nami, let's go."
"Oh, okay."
Albert and Nami, each carrying a bag of treasure, walked out of the room. When they emerged, for some reason, they were spotted by Buggy flying in the air.
"From now on, I've decided that anyone who dares to touch my treasure, no matter who, I absolutely won't forgive them. Put my treasure down right now!"
"Oh no, Albert, we've been discovered." Nami said to Albert in a panic.
Albert threw the treasure on the ground, patted Nami's shoulder, and comforted her, "Don't worry, I've got this."
Albert quickly pulled Nami behind him, drew the sword from his waist, and slashed rapidly toward Buggy.
The power contained in the sword made Buggy startled, and he quickly used his "Four-Way Split" Devil Fruit ability to dodge Albert's sword.
"Who exactly are you? There's no such skilled swordsman in the East Blue."
Albert looked at the evading Buggy with a raised corner of his mouth, quite pleased. Of course, Buggy discovering him was intentional on Albert's part. The reason was to meet Buggy and find a way to learn Armament Haki from him.
Albert said calmly, "I'm Albert, nice to meet you, Buggy, the apprentice crew member of the former Pirate King!"
As soon as Albert spoke, Buggy was shocked and his face darkened, "How do you know my identity? Who are you exactly? Are you a spy for the World Government?"
Nami, standing nearby, was already stunned by Albert's words, "Albert, what did you say? This big red-nosed guy is actually an apprentice crew member on the Pirate King's ship?"
Albert nodded, "That's right, in fact, this big red nose really is."
"Big red nose?! How dare you call me a big nose, and you stole my treasure too. No matter who you are, I must chop you into pieces!"
Double-prodded by Albert and Nami, Buggy was completely furious, waving the dagger in his hand as he charged at Zhan Ye.
"Argh..."
Buggy had just reached Albert's front when his face suddenly changed, and his flying upper body dropped straight to the ground, his face full of agony, as if enduring immense pain.
"I... my... crotch..."
Albert held back his laughter as he looked at Buggy and couldn't help shouting at Luffy, "Hey, thanks for that, but this is our fight now, so please don't interfere, okay?"
Luffy showed a bright smile, "Okay!"
Albert looked down at Buggy, "Don't worry, now no one's disturbing our fight."
Buggy got up from the ground, flew back into the air, and said furiously, "Hmph, you despicable brat, how dare you steal my treasure? I must chop you into pieces."
Albert dug his ear, "Oh, then come on!"
"You bastard, how dare you underestimate me? Let me make you taste my Clown Knives."
Albert watched the fast-flying daggers, merely swaying his body slightly to dodge them, feeling quite speechless in his heart.
Did he really look that weak? Using such a weak attack was really underestimating him.
"So slow, is this your attack?"
Albert boredly dodged the flying knives' attacks, and under the perception of Observation Haki, he easily saw a Buggy
Bomb launched from under Buggy's feet.
"Buggy Bomb, ahahaha... Didn't expect that, did you? I was just misleading you, ahahaha..."
Albert looked speechlessly at the wildly laughing Buggy, swung his long sword, and instantly split the incoming Buggy Bomb in half.
Bang... Bang...
The sound of two bomb explosions interrupted Buggy's laughter.
Buggy was dumbfounded, "(⊙o⊙)"
"Damn it, you damn swordsman, go to hell, Buggy Bomb, Clown Knives, Four-Way Split Fist."
Albert was very disappointed. It seemed this Buggy had put all his energy into developing his Devil Fruit, and hadn't learned Haki at all.
Clown Buggy looked at Albert, who easily dodged his attacks, and was very annoyed, "Bastard, if you've got the guts, don't dodge!"
"Alright, I won't dodge!"
True to his word, Albert stood there without dodging, but with a swing of his long sword, he released a sword energy, easily
nullifying Clown Buggy's attacks.
Bang...
The huge explosion made the hand Buggy threw out smoke.
"Sword energy? You're a Swordmaster!" Clown Buggy looked at Albert in terror, forcing himself to say, "Alright, considering you're not bad, I'll spare you."
Albert was amused and exasperated by Buggy's shamelessness, and retorted in anger, "Spare me? Hehe, Buggy, you have something on you that I really want."
"Damn it, you've stolen all my treasure, what else important do I have left for you!"
Albert looked at the furious Buggy and said calmly, "Haki training method."
Buggy, "..."
"Haha... so you don't know Haki, you scared me!"
"No, I do!"
Buggy, "..."
"You know it, so why do you want the Haki training method?"
Albert answered honestly, "I know Observation Haki, but not Armament Haki."
Buggy immediately looked triumphant, "You don't know Armament Haki, haha, that means you can't counter Devil Fruit users, what great news."
Albert looked helplessly at Buggy, "Why are you happy? Don't forget you're just a Paramecia type Devil Fruit user. Although slashing attacks are useless against you, my hand-to-hand combat skills are pretty good."
Buggy, "Σ(っ°Д°;)っ"
"Please spare me, I really don't have a Haki training method."
Albert looked unconvinced, seeming to think he needed to teach Buggy a lesson, and clenched his fist to punch Buggy.
Half an hour later, Buggy was kneeling before Albert, bruised and swollen.
"You really don't have it?"
"I, really no, you let me go."
Nami also advised, "Albert, it seems he truly doesn't have the Haki training method you mentioned. Let's just leave it."
Albert angrily kicked Buggy flying, pointing at him and cursing, "How can you not have it? You were a crew member on the Pirate King's ship!"
"What? He was a crew member on the Pirate King's ship?!" Luffy was shocked by this news.
Albert looked helplessly at this foolish Luffy, thinking he had already mentioned this at the beginning and wondering what Luffy had been listening to.
"Not only him, even Shanks was a trainee on the Pirate King's ship."
"Really? Shanks is indeed amazing, he was actually a crew member on the Pirate King's ship. I miss Shanks so much." Luffy said nostalgically, touching his straw hat.
"Sir, I only followed Captain Roger for a short time, and because I ate a Devil Fruit, I didn't properly learn Haki, so I really don't have a Haki training method."
Through his Observation Haki, Albert knew Buggy wasn't lying, but he was really unwilling to accept this. Such an exciting world was waiting for him to explore, and without enough strength, how could he adventure?
Albert looked conflicted at Buggy, sighing inwardly, "Since he doesn't have it, I can't make him produce one." He turned to Nami, "Since he truly doesn't have it, Nami, let's go."
"Okay, Albert, come help me carry the treasure onto the ship."
Albert reached out to take the treasure from Nami's hands, and said to Luffy, "Straw Hat, I'm leaving. We'll meet again if we have the chance."
"Oh~ Okay, by the way, I'm going to form a pirate crew. Do you want to be my partner? I think you're strong."
Albert shook his head, "I don't have good feelings towards pirates. My ideal is to become a great adventurer. Our paths are different, so it's better we don't stay together."
Luffy looked regretful, "That's such a pity. But we'll meet again in the future. By then, my crew will definitely be strong. Oh, you haven't seen my crew member yet - he's a swordsman who uses three swords!"
Albert nodded, "Mm, I look forward to your crew member. When we meet again, I'll definitely get to know him properly. Now we must say goodbye."
Luffy, "Mm, goodbye!"
Albert threw a bag of treasure to Luffy, "Hey, Luffy, this is for the village. Please deliver it to them."
"Hey, that's my treasure!"
Albert patted the angry Nami's head, saying, "This is compensation for the village. They've suffered too much. Consider it a loan."
Hearing Albert say this, the furious Nami's attitude softened, though she still said stubbornly, "Fine, this time I'll consider it a loan. You'll owe me triple later!"
"Okay! Nami, you're truly a kind and gentle girl."
"Hmph!"
...
After saying goodbye to Straw Hat, Albert sailed his ship towards the sea, heading to his next destination - the Baratie Sea Restaurant.
There, Albert was going to wait for someone - Hawk-Eye Mihawk.
Since he couldn't get the Armament Haki training method from Buggy, the fastest way to learn it would be from Mihawk.
Now that he knew about Haki, Albert wouldn't allow himself to learn it too late. His time was too precious.