Two years passed quickly. On the surface, the seas had remained peaceful during that time, but beneath the calm, undercurrents churned.
Borsalino was still relentlessly pursuing the Sun Pirates, yet he had gained nothing. Meanwhile, a group of Joker Party members had emerged across the seas. Rumor had it that they were residents of Flevance who had suffered medical accidents while haphazardly trying to treat Platinum Lead Disease.
The Joker Party members were crazed, and their favorite pastime was causing trouble for the World Government. Many World Government officials had already been brutally murdered by them, further weakening the World Government's control over the world when it was already stretched thin.
Although the World Government primarily ruled the Pirate World through military force, these ordinary World Government officials embodied the government's ability to execute its authority and represented its prestige as well. Their mass deaths brought the World Government not only a decline in control, but also a loss of credibility.
Yet the World Government could not possibly assign Bodyguards to every civilian official. After all, it did not have that many powerful fighters. At most, it could provide guards on the level of elite soldiers. Against those Joker Party lunatics who had completely lost their minds and dared to turn themselves into human Bombs, such guards were truly of little use.
Thanks to the Joker Party, Joker, the pioneer of terrorists, saw his bounty rise steadily until it had reached over two billion Beli. Unfortunately, Joker's whereabouts were exceptionally mysterious, while the Joker Party's madmen were utterly impenetrable. Coupled with the Pirate World's inherent face blindness, finding the real Joker among a huge crowd of crazies dressed like clowns was simply far too difficult for most people.
Joker was living quite comfortably, while Buggy spent every day in constant