"Don't panic! This sort of thing has happened to me twice before! Back in the day, Shanks got out of a jam with my help!"
As time passed, Buggy gradually let himself go, spewing nonsense freely.
To maintain his persona, he needed a comparison. Others might get beaten up for joking around too much, so Buggy didn't dare say anything, but Shanks didn't mind; Buggy knew Shanks wouldn't hurt him.
By belittling Shanks to elevate himself, this had become a common practice for Buggy recently.
Mr. 3 didn't believe it, but he didn't have the energy to refute it now. Buggy drifted over on his own ability, while Mr. 3 was different, even with underlings carrying him, soaking in the water had left him entirely drained.
He finally made it to shore, but he hadn't recovered yet.
"Huh? I remember making you two so confused that you couldn't tell north from south, east from west. If I hadn't been done playing, you never would've discovered the truth. How come the story changes when you tell it?"
Olga's figure appeared in the crowd, her arm amicably resting on Buggy.
"!"
Buggy's forehead instantly broke out in cold sweat. Olga's voice was engraved in his bones; although he'd faced many setbacks in his life, Olga was the only one who had thwarted him and Shanks together.
"That... that was... an Illusory Calamity!"
"A High-Level Official under Kaidou, with a bounty of 1.5 billion Belly... Such a person is actually the arch-nemesis of Captain Buggy!!"
"Captain Buggy, truly deserving of note, to be on the mind of such a major player!"
Buggy's underlings had long assimilated into Buggy's mindset. To them, everything Buggy did was right, even if it wasn't, they could forcibly rationalize it.
"What are you talking about, Captain Buggy is already one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Since Whitebeard died, there's been a vacancy among The Sea's emperors. Captain Buggy definitely can restore the Four Emperors!"
"Only pirates like Kaidou can be mentioned alongside Captain Buggy!"
"I say, where on earth did you recruit these pirates? Are they just not right in the head, or do they genuinely want to get you killed?"
Olga was encountering this situation for the first time; initially, she just wanted to play with Buggy. With a principle of fairness, after teasing Shanks, Buggy certainly wouldn't be left behind.
Now, this group had made her almost forget why she came here.
"Uh... this..."
"Forget it, this isn't my business. I just wanted to tell you, before the Paramount War, that red-haired guy Shanks got played by me once. To balance things out, have you experience it too.
Over the next period, these people will see you as their greatest enemy. Good luck."
"Wait!! I shouldn't have provoked you, right?!"
"What are you talking about? When you and that red-haired kid first met me, you were trying to snatch what I held in my hands. Playing with you was already quite generous, good luck, Star Clown, Master Buggy~"
As soon as she finished speaking, Olga's image started to blur before Buggy could react, and he was already surrounded by a group of his underlings.
Buggy instinctively wanted to flee, but as soon as he flew a short distance, his body went out of control, flying chaotically everywhere, and his legs were still being grasped by other minions.
"Help!!"
With Buggy's screams echoing, the Shadow Fox disappeared beyond the horizon.
Bad news: Buggy was no match for his underlings, and his fragmented body was completely pummeled from all angles.
Good news: Olga's ship was fast, and shortly after they left, Buggy's underlings shook off the illusions.
At this time, however, they fell into a brand-new self-induced emotion.
"Captain Buggy! You chose to get beaten rather than hurt us!"
"Indeed, to prevent mutual harm, Captain Buggy has given too much... Wah, wah, wah, I'll devote my life to you!"
In spite of his bruised and battered condition, Buggy received praise from the group, a result Olga hadn't anticipated upon leaving.
Not only Olga, but even Mr. 3 and Buggy's old crew couldn't comprehend why they were so fanatic.
"Speaking of which... that fight felt pretty good just now."
Mr. 3 looked at his fists; he too was a victim of the illusion realm, and upon seeing Buggy's extremely self-important expression, any guilt Mr. 3 might have felt had vanished.
"Mhm."
Not only that, but Buggy's former crew even nodded in agreement with Mr. 3....
At the same time, somewhere unknown on The Sea, Hawkeye received another call.
"Roronoa, you can stop now."
"Huh? Why, have we arrived?"
"No, it's over there. We'll take the ship back; I don't want you leading us into some unknown current."
Even though Hawkeye kept a close eye on Zoro, it couldn't stop them from being swept into an unknown current due to Zoro's sense of direction.
Hawkeye didn't want to scull the oars himself, so for future consideration, he opted for a different approach.
...
Olga was still en route, and after dealing with Wald, Akainu returned to Marinfanto with the fleet, but instead of praise, he faced inquiry from the Five Elders.
As the Navy Admiral, he set out without notifying the World Government, an undeniable overreach.
It was at this moment that Akainu realized this Marshal position wasn't conducive to ease of action; not only did it fail to smooth his operations, but it also added two shackles to him.
Compared to Akainu, Kuzan, who's left the Navy, enjoyed far more freedom.
"Thanks, Mr. Kuzan, it was a great help."
"Just a minor thing, go deliver the cargo, and remember to reinforce your cart next time."
Despite joining, Kuzan wasn't given any tasks, instead, he's become something of an unemployed drifter, spending his days in Wano Kuni helping others.
This was mainly because Kaidou went out again, and Arceus showed little interest in Kuzan for the moment. The remaining members were unable to command Kuzan, as he was brought back by Yamato; any orders would have to come from Yamato.
Regardless of trust, Yamato's goal was to have Kuzan act as a shield of sorts; you'd never know when Kaidou might pop back in, naturally Yamato wouldn't send him out.
So Kuzan got a little time to relax.
He recently encountered someone whose wagon axle broke, and to ensure timely delivery, he reinforced the vehicle with ice temporarily.
"Camel? Where have you gone, Camel, we need to head back!"
Ending another peaceful day, Kuzan planned to delve into the study of shaved ice made by Alcremie and Tsareena with Camel.
However, upon turning around, he spotted Camel running into a nearby farm field, assisting a giant in repairing tools, and that giant's face was all too familiar.
"Sa.... Saul?!"