While the front lines of the war were shrouded in dark clouds,
the prison-break group from Impel Down was also slowly drawing closer to Marineford. The Marines established contact with that warship.
"So you're the masterminds behind the Impel Down jailbreak, Straw Hat Luffy and Buggy the Clown."
"Me???"
Buggy froze for a moment when he heard his own name.
All his underlings immediately burst into chatter.
"What the hell? Captain Buggy actually surpassed the Seven Warlords and got identified by Marine Headquarters as the main culprit!!!"
"What kind of great figure are you, exactly?!"
Buggy himself had the same question. His eyes were full of tears at being targeted by the Marines.
"Yeah, why me???"
But the Marine officer on the other end was completely certain. He ordered his men to bring over the intelligence files.
"We originally underestimated you as a nameless pirate, Buggy the Clown. We never expected you to be a former crewmate of the Pirate King, Roger."
"How do you know that?!"
Buggy's eyes bulged out so hard his snot nearly flew out with them.
He had always wanted to keep that identity hidden precisely because he was afraid of being targeted. Yet somehow, it had still been exposed.
But his followers were already boiling over with excitement.
"Eh?! You were on the Oro Jackson, the ship that once belonged to Pirate King Roger and was later passed on to Black Spear?!"
"A superstar of the pirate world!!!"
The Marine officer continued in a tone that said he had seen through everything.
"And also, we have already investigated the fact that you call the Four Emperor Red-Haired Shanks your brother,
and that you are close friends with the man who once suppressed an entire era of the seas, Black Spear... Saint Ozz Dotor."
"Nani?!"
This time, the underlings completely exploded.
"A man like you actually kept such a low profile all the way until now. Have you finally decided to reveal your strength and ambition at last?!"
Snot trickled down from Buggy's nose and over his big red lips.
"N-No, that's not..."
At that moment, even Luffy remembered something.
"Come to think of it... Rayleigh mentioned your name before too."
Buggy's expression turned nostalgic at the sound of that name.
"Nani? You met Mr. Rayleigh?! Man, that brings back memories. Our old vice-captain."
The pirates were so shocked they had practically gone mute.
Pirate King Roger. Four Emperor Shanks. Black Spear Ozz. Dark King Rayleigh.
Each name struck like thunder, like some living legend.
"You were actually once a crewmate of the Pirate King!!
And a close friend of Mr. Ozz, the man at the pinnacle of pirate power!!!"
"You really are an incredible great pirate!!!"
Only a handful of people who knew Buggy well were still barely able to stay calm.
"This guy... is actually Mr. Ozz's..."
Jinbe looked genuinely unable to understand it.
"Looks like every ship really does have its stain."
Emporio Ivankov could not help but sneer.
"But he's obviously this weak. Is that really true, Boss?"
Mr. 1 voiced his doubts and turned toward Crocodile beside him.
"A guy as underhanded as Buggy is really that man's close friend?!"
Mr. 3 was just as skeptical. His mouth hung wide open as he stared at Little Sand as well.
After all, their boss herself had once been one of Mr. Ozz's companions.
Hearing the two of them ask, countless prisoners also turned to look at Crocodile.
"..."
Crocodile only bit down on her cigar, wearing an expression so sour it was almost painful, mixed with a trace of helplessness.
She stayed silent for a while, then finally frowned and answered,
"That's right."
It was a light answer, but it might as well have set off an explosion.
The entire warship fell into a strange silence.
The most shocked of all was none other than Mr. 3, who had been fleeing alongside Buggy this whole time. His glasses were nearly pushed apart by his bulging eyes, and his mouth was hanging open without any sound coming out.
"K-K-K... What kind of joke is this? Buggy, you actually really..."
As for the prisoners,
the moment they got Little Sand's confirmation, they looked like they were about to collectively float away on sheer excitement.
Their worship of Buggy nearly broke through the heavens.
At this point, even if Buggy told them to go take Whitebeard's head, none of them would hesitate for even a second.
"..."
Seeing the situation develop like this, Buggy had been in despair at first. But because he was Buggy-sama, he adjusted his mindset almost immediately.
Standing before countless prisoners,
he folded his arms and assumed the pose of a strategist in total control.
"That's right. This time, I'm here to take Whitebeard's head. Follow me, boys, and let's make our dreams come true!!!"
Perfect. This is a chance to raise my status.
As Buggy looked at his cheering followers, he secretly started plotting.
If things go well, I might actually be able to take Whitebeard's head,
and then I'll transform myself into...
one of the Four Emperors!!!
Of course, there was another reason too.
It just so happened that Ozz seemed to be there as well.
...
At Marine Headquarters, Marineford,
the chaotic battle was already underway.
"They got here pretty early, huh."
Within the vast range of his Observation Haki, Ozz could sense a warship flying straight toward Marineford.
But at the moment, his attention was elsewhere.
"Say, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, looks like there are deserters over there."
Ozz chuckled lightly as he pointed in the direction Koby and the others were returning from.
Sengoku had still been watching the battlefield, but the moment he heard Ozz say that, his gaze followed.
"This..."
A wave of embarrassment hit Sengoku.
That was way too humiliating.
Fortunately, Ozz did not continue pressing the matter. Instead, he turned his gaze back toward the distant battlefield.
"Now there's someone interesting."
The warship descended from the sky, and the Impel Down escapees formally entered the battlefield.
"Eh?! We're gonna die from the fall!!!"
"There's nothing but ice underneath us!!!"
Buggy was flailing wildly through the air when he suddenly felt his body grow lighter, and his descent slow.
That struck him as strange, and when he looked around, he immediately spotted a familiar figure.
"Ozz!!!"
"Yo, long time no see, Buggy."
Once everyone had landed safely,
Crocodile was the first to look toward Ozz and the others.
When she saw Ozz stationed beneath the execution platform, she hesitated.
She had originally intended to go after the Marines, but she also had a grudge against Whitebeard.
Now she suddenly did not know which side she ought to strike.
Luckily, Ozz spoke at that moment. One hand at his chin, a faint smile on his lips, he said,
"So you came too, Little Sand. This game is getting more and more interesting."
"Game?"
Crocodile paused when she heard that. Perhaps because she had thought of Ozz's personality, the cigar in her mouth curled upward with her lips.
"Well... a man like you was never going to have some so-called conventional stance anyway."
Under her gaze, and under the horrified stares of everyone present,
the man who had been sitting calmly upon his throne slowly rose to his feet.
The moment that happened, Doflamingo could not hold back his laughter any longer. Cloaked in his feathered coat, he danced wildly with excitement.
Pirates and Marines alike were already being manipulated by his strings, like puppets.
"Fufufufufu... hahahaha!!!"
"That's exactly it!!! Marines are justice and pirates are evil?"
"The brats who know nothing of peace and those who know nothing of war will always see things differently.
Only those who stand at the absolute summit of strength, those so powerful they inspire despair like kings, have the right to define good and evil."
His eyes locked onto that black figure slowly rising to his feet, and his whole body trembled with excitement.
"Justice will triumph. Of course it will.
Because only Ozz is justice!!!"
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