"It's said that before his death, that ancestor of the Alabasta Royal Family used sand gold to build a vast, hidden Underground Palace in the desert. Just the Underground Palace made of sand gold alone would be enough to buy all of Alabasta…"
"Gulp…"
Clown Buggy couldn't help swallowing his saliva.
Inside Alabasta there was actually an Underground Palace made entirely of sand gold; just the materials used to build that Underground Palace would be enough to buy the whole of Alabasta!
Then…
What about the treasure in the Underground Palace?
Could the treasure stored in the Underground Palace be enough to buy the entire world?
Clown Buggy instantly started fantasizing about getting the treasure and striking it rich overnight. He could sleep on a mountain of gold, even the cup he used to drink water would have to be made of pure gold…
"That Underground Palace hides treasures beyond human imagination…"
The red-haired boy, however, didn't go into detail about what the treasure was. He just went on talking about that ancestor of the Alabasta Royal Family who built the Sand Gold Palace, using that man's identity to illustrate how shocking the treasure inside must be.
"Strictly speaking, that ancestor of the Alabasta Royal Family was also one of the founding Heavenly Celestial Dragons, and once ruled this world together with the others. Back in that era when everything in the world was at the mercy of the Twenty Kings, his wealth had to be even greater than that of the current Heavenly Celestial Dragons…"
"It's just that because of the Heavenly Celestial Dragons' majesty, no one has ever dared to look for that Underground Palace, and this matter has been completely buried by history…"
"Probably…"
"Only that legendary Pirate hero who dared to kill a Heavenly Celestial Dragon would have the nerve to covet the wealth left behind by one of the founding Heavenly Celestial Dragons, right?"
"..."
The stars in Clown Buggy's eyes vanished as he snapped out of his fantasy.
As much as he liked the idea of an Underground Palace made of gold, that was the treasure of a Heavenly Celestial Dragon founder. Once he stole the treasure inside, the World Government would most likely hunt him down to the ends of the earth…
Clown Buggy clenched his fists in tangled hesitation.
Being hyped up as a hero among Pirates felt great, especially when the Pirate praising him looked really strong, but he was a coward at heart—he didn't dare mess with any Heavenly Celestial Dragons again…
But then…
This was one of the legendary Twenty Kings who established the World Government…
A big shot on that level had to have stashed away an absolutely terrifying hoard of treasure, right?
Just as Clown Buggy was agonizing over it, the Pirates under his command all got excited and directly hoisted their Captain up!
"Only Captain Buggy is worthy of a treasure like that!"
"It's just one of the Twenty Kings who founded the World Government…"
"For Captain Buggy, killing a Heavenly Celestial Dragon is as easy as squashing a bug. How could he possibly care about some dead Heavenly Celestial Dragon founder…"
The Buggy Pirates instantly turned rowdy.
To this bunch of Pirates, a treasure like that was basically a gift from the heavens, and only a hero like Clown Buggy, who dared kill a Heavenly Celestial Dragon, had the right to go after the treasure left by one of the founding Heavenly Celestial Dragons!
"N–no…"
Clown Buggy's eyes went wide as he watched his crew egging each other on to go hunt down the treasure of a Heavenly Celestial Dragon founder, scaring him so much he couldn't stop swallowing his spit…
No…
Don't do this!
I don't have guts that big!
Clown Buggy's eyes were starting to fill with tears. With watery eyes he looked at his fawning subordinates, desperately hoping they would all just shut up already!
But…
The Buggy Pirates had no intention of shutting up…
Every last one of them looked at Clown Buggy full of hope, wishing this hero who had killed a Heavenly Celestial Dragon would lead them to find the treasure left by the founding Heavenly Celestial Dragon!
"Captain Buggy, let's set sail!"
"Let's hurry to Alabasta and haul out all the treasure from that Underground Palace!"
"..."
Clown Buggy was almost scared to the point his snot was coming out!
Why did his own crew also take him for the murderer who killed that Heavenly Celestial Dragon!
"You've already killed one Heavenly Celestial Dragon anyway…"
Alvida looked at Clown Buggy and flipped her hair. "Stealing the treasure hidden by one of the founding Heavenly Celestial Dragons isn't that big a deal, is it?"
"..."
Clown Buggy faintly felt that this partner had a point!
Something about it seemed off…
But then again nothing about it really seemed that off either…
Since the World Government already had him wanted as the culprit who killed a Heavenly Celestial Dragon, stealing the Underground Palace treasure left behind by a Heavenly Celestial Dragon founder didn't seem like such a big extra step…
"Men!"
"Hoist the sails, set off!"
Clown Buggy raised the long saber in his hand, his expression suddenly turning wild. "We're going to snatch the treasure hidden by the founding Heavenly Celestial Dragon!"
"Yes, Captain Buggy!"
The entire Buggy Pirates suddenly exploded into activity, rapidly bustling about on the sea ship provided by the Konoha Pirates, grandly preparing to head for Alabasta!
"..."
Everyone in the Konoha Pirates watched this group of Pirates excitedly setting off on a new journey in search of treasure, and each of their moods grew complicated.
"These guys… got tricked this easily?"
Senju Tobirama's forehead twitched as he felt the stupidity of this bunch of Pirates.
"No, this isn't stupidity. It's their stubbornness in chasing their dreams…"
Red Sand Sasori stood on the deck of the Konoha Pirates' ship, watching in the direction the Buggy Pirates were sailing away. "We can't let someone with a dream be disappointed, so you'd better pick up the pace. That way I can hurry over to Alabasta and build him a Sand Gold Palace…"
"But…"
"The Underground Palace isn't what matters…"
Uchiha Madara had long since figured out how this guy operated, and the corner of his eye twitched. "What's important is the identity of that founding Heavenly Celestial Dragon who supposedly built the Underground Palace, right?"
This kind of play…
Everyone had already seen it before.
Basically everyone on the Konoha Pirates' ship had been a victim of this sort of thing at some point.
"Can't be helped."
"The big shots of this world left behind too many things…"
"And we have no idea what relics this world actually left behind, so we can only create some past history ourselves. If it's something left behind by one of the Twenty Kings who once created this world's order, most people are bound to trust it…"
This was inevitable.
After all, when the hidden history of this world can't be brought to light, the fake history humans invent naturally takes the stage and runs rampant…
Even if someone whose name appears in that history were to personally speak of the past, it would most likely still be hard for people to believe them…
Yes.
Even if someone came forward and testified in person…
It still might not be of any use.
Because people only see the kind of history they want to see.
When the whole world is saturated with false history, even if someone who truly lived through that era stands up to tell the truth, people will still assume what he says must be fake…
After all…
People didn't personally experience any of it.
Only those who have personally gone through it will believe what really happened back then.
"There's no helping it…"
"We don't understand that ancient script this world left behind, the one carved on those stone tablets, the one that records the real history…"
"Forget it…"
"It doesn't really matter."
"Since we don't understand the Poneglyphs, then we'll just topple the supposedly correct existence of the Poneglyphs first—turn that so-called true history into fake history, and force the World Government to jump out and expose the stories they've been hiding…"
"When the water is muddied,"
"the fish will jump out."
"When the world is muddied,"
"those hiding in the dark will emerge."