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•———•———•———•———•———•
Chapter 527's Events:
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"You want to save Ace!!?" exclaimed Buggy in shock, then immediately whispered, "Shhhhh!!! They'll find us!!"
"You're the one who was yelling," said Luffy, bewildered.
"Hey, guys, open the cell…" The prisoners continued pleading to be released.
"Jeez, you're noisy! Shut up!!!" exclaimed Buggy again.
"You know about Ace?" Luffy was surprised.
"Yeah… Unlike you, your brother seems like a good guy!!" "We were drinking buddies for a while. So I was really bummed out when I heard what happened. It's pure foolishness to lay a hand on Whitebeard's guys, Marines…!!" Buggy expressed his opinion candidly.
"I want to go to level 5. That's where Ace is, right?" Luffy asked for confirmation.
"How should I know!!? If you wanna go, then go on your own! Do you think we're friends or something!? I'm not going somewhere that dangerous!" Buggy immediately set boundaries to avoid getting involved with Luffy again, then began to leave, saying: "Later. If you're not coming with me, then I'm escaping on my own."
"Even though there are ten warships outside? Can you really escape?" At this moment, Luffy seemed more cunning than Buggy.
"T… Ten of them!? I see…!! It's to defend against Whitebeard… This is a bad time…!! Well then, I'll just kill some time here…" Just as Buggy was about to turn to leave, he was drawn to a specific object on Luffy.
"Guess I'll have to ask someone else…!!" Luffy decided.
"…!! No, no, it can't be. That's totally ridiculous…" Buggy seemed to be talking to himself.
"Well, see you later! Good luck escaping!" said Luffy.
(It can't be… There's no mistake…!!!) Buggy's eyes widened in shock, then he quickly jumped at Luffy. "Hold it right there, Strawhat!!!"
"What's wrong with you!!?" Luffy exclaimed.
…
..
"I'll tell you how to get to where Ace is!! In return, will you give me the armband!?" Buggy proposed a deal immediately.
"Sure!! If that's what you want!!" Luffy agreed.
•———•———•———•———•———•
Beside Oro Jackson in the New World:
"What caught your attention to that armband? Isn't it just an ordinary armband?" asked Shanks.
"Yes, it's suspicious. Buggy, who we know, would never risk his life for nothing, except treasures... and not just any treasure. It must be a valuable treasure like Captain John's precious treasure." added Gaban.
"Does this armband have any connection to a specific treasure? After all, Luffy found it in the loot they obtained from Thriller Bark, if I recall correctly..."
"True, judging by Buggy's shocking reaction, it seems so..."
"Oh, Buggy, how audacious! Is that armband more important than the life of your captain's son?"
Roger's crew gave Buggy disapproving looks, making him sweat.
"Of course not! I must have randomly come up with a reason to help Luffy find Ace only..." Even he didn't believe the vague excuse he came up with, let alone the rest of the crew.
"Hahaha! Look at the terrified expression on your face! They're just messing with you, and you fell for it." Shanks burst into laughter, saying that.
Then the rest of the men followed suit, including Rayleigh. "Hahahahaha!!"
"Wahahahaha!!"
"Hihyahyahyaha!!"
Buggy's mood soured after seeing this scene, but internally, he sighed with relief. As long as his crew didn't reject him because of his counterpart's actions in the manga, everything else was acceptable.
Buggy focused his gaze on Luffy's armband again, but he didn't find it familiar and didn't know the reason behind his counterpart changing his stance and helping Luffy in exchange for obtaining it.
'I'll probably learn about it in the future; it's either something precious or indicates something valuable since it caught my counterpart's attention...'
'Since it came from the Thriller Bark treasure, it might be related to Captain John's treasure after all, considering his body is also in Thriller Bark...' These were Buggy's thoughts at that moment.
…
Regarding Thriller Bark, it was recently in an unenviable situation.
A few days ago, an elite fleet of steel ships surrounded Thriller Bark Island, which had transformed into a ship by 90%. The crucial point was that it was moving like a ship!
A ship the size of an island.
"This place is under the jurisdiction of the Hunters's Guild. Members of Gecko Moria's crew are also under arrest... Carpenters and those responsible for construction and transforming the island into a ship will be exempted, paid their dues in full, and returned to their homes."
Standing in front of a crowd of terrified people, Bullet listed the decisions related to Thriller Bark after capturing its owner and throwing him into the central prison.
Hearing that, the workers' crowd stopped trembling with fear and cheered happily. Finally, their suffering was over. Finally, the Hunters's Guild intervened in their ordeal and stopped Moria's evils!
Among the crowd, a relatively young boy emerged from hiding state, forced into it after losing consciousness due to Bullet's overwhelming Haki attack.
"Go and restrain that boy. He must be Absalom."
"Got it, sir." The elite hunter nodded and executed the orders of the legendary hunter.
How they would deal with him later was none of his concern.
"Burn all the corpses that Moria manipulated. The shadows have already returned to their owners... well, except for the shadows whose owners have already died and Moria managed to control them due to his newly discovered power..." Bullet ordered again.
After all that, the island ship was pulled to another location where the Hunters's Guild successfully took control of it. This was the end of Moria's life as a pirate, before it even began.
Moria's life as a pirate ended in this world, at least... perhaps what will happen to him later will be extremely shocking.
…
Returning to the present time on Whole Cake Island:
"Mama, Mama! It seems you're enjoying your time, kids!" In her giant body, Charlotte Linlin sat down to get closer to the girls who were playing with the snow-like ice cream, joyfully hitting each other with it.
The hidden girls looked at Linlin and signaled her silently not to reveal their hiding places, or they would be hit with the dense snow until they turned into snowmen and lost the round in the end.
"Oh... you really seem to be enjoying yourselves~" Linlin nodded to them with a smile and agreed to their request, then stood up and moved away to watch from the side.
At this moment, Rob appeared as if he emerged from the void and stood beside her.
"You're doing well taking care of them," Rob said with a smile.
"I have a lot of children, after all... before I became a mad pirate, I used to have some common sense." She replied calmly and without haste.
"I see... who would expect that Big Mom has such a side, really..."
"Don't call me by that title... I no longer like it."
"You'll get used to it in the future... after all, you're one of the most monstrous Yonko in the manga..."
"Hiss... really?"
"Well, on the other hand, your old self doesn't differ much from when you were an abandoned child in some aspects."
Hearing that, Linlin began to tremble as she recalled her past, her childhood. "What do you mean..."
"You'll understand in due time..." Rob answered with a mysterious smile.
"Dear... I've always wondered... who are you really..." Linlin remembered her conversation with Katakuri at that time and asked a strange question she didn't know why she asked in the first place.
"You'll never know..." Rob answered calmly before walking lightly towards his children.
"But now I'm just a loving father... unlike you." Leaving behind these words.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 623: Impel Down's Design!
Chapter 624: Level 1: The Crimson Hell!
Chapter 625: Level 2: The Wild Beast Hell!
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