Red-Hair and Buggy Go Their Separate Ways, Smoker, Doflamingo, and Vergo!

In the period that followed, the New World also experienced some chaos. First of all, Shiki's remaining territory was completely divided up. It seemed that only the towering secret realm of Melville, as Shiki's lair, was left unattacked. After all, that place was too bizarre, and there was nothing to gain from taking it.

Judging from the current territories in the New World, the Whitebeard Pirates have the largest territory, followed by Charlotte Linlin's Whole Totto Land Totto Land. Next in line is not Kaido, but Ochoku, who has joined forces with Silver Axe and is based on Hachinosu Island, taking the opportunity to expand his sphere of influence. Finally, there is Kaido, Kaido is doing something unknown, staying in Wano Country without making any major moves.

However, in recent times, Arms Business has begun to rise in the Underworld, and the number of pirates has surged, leading to a surge in demand for weapons and ammunition.

According to the investigation by the Marine Criminal Investigation Department, most of the weapons circulating in the Underworld nowadays come from the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates.

When he learned about this, Ortolan was quite surprised.

It seems that things have indeed changed. In the original story, the only powerful pirate force that was Arms Business was Kaido's, while the Big Mom Pirates were mainly intelligence agents.

It seems that because Caesar fell directly into Charlotte Linlin's hands, the Big Mom Pirates have also started to focus on Arms Business.

East Blue, Loguetown.

In an ordinary restaurant, Buggy is arguing with Shanks.

"I'm going to rebuild my pirate crew and set sail! Buggy, let's go together!" Shanks invited Buggy.

Buggy hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, I've had enough of you, Shanks..."

"Huh!?" Shanks said in surprise, "Aren't we best friends? I'm hurt by what you're saying."

Buggy got angry upon hearing this and cursed, "I'm never going to sail with you again! I'm going to be my own captain and search for the world's treasures! Besides, our pirate ideologies are completely different, okay? Forcing us to be together will only make things worse!!!"

Although Buggy and Shanks are always bickering and arguing, in reality, as an experienced crew member and an apprentice crew member on Roger's ship, they are actually very close and can definitely be considered teammates who can entrust their backs and lives to each other.

However, their ideologies clashed. Shanks basically inherited Roger's spirit, believing that adventure and freedom were more important than one, while Buggy thought that pirates should be cruel and despicable, and should seek treasure and plunder wealth.

On this point, the two sides simply cannot get along.

Seeing Buggy's resolute attitude, Shanks thought about it carefully. Although the two had a good relationship, Buggy was telling the truth, so he didn't press the matter. With some regret and emotion, he said, "Shall we part here?"

Buggy paused for a moment, feeling a little sad upon hearing this. He was actually grateful to Shanks. Just before they were about to reach Laugh Tale, Bucky suddenly fell ill. Shanks gave up the opportunity to go to Laugh Tale with the rest of the crew and chose to stay and take care of him. Buggy had always remembered this.

Even after the Roger Pirates disbanded, the two of them continued to hang out together. When they finally separated, he was indeed reluctant to part ways with them.

Ultimately, Buggy nodded and said, "Let's part ways here..."

Shanks, being an optimist, quickly adjusted his low spirits and said, "Alright, let's each form our own pirate crews and have a competition to see who's stronger!"

Buggy didn't respond to that. He knew that, given Shanks' personality, he would return to the New World sooner or later, and as for himself... well, Buggy felt that he probably wouldn't go back to the New World; that place was too dangerous.

Perhaps we'll never see each other again?

After finishing their farewell dinner, Buggy hugged Shanks and then turned and left the restaurant first.

Watching Buggy's figure recede into the distance, Shanks wanted to speak up several times to stop him, but in the end he pressed down on his Straw Hat and suppressed his emotions.

In the same Loguetown, long lines of recruits had already formed at the entrance of the Loguetown Marine Base.

That's right, the Marine Headquarters is quite fast. The massive recruitment notice has already been issued to Marine Base in various sea areas, in an effort to recover some resources before more people join the pirate crew.

Smoker, with prematurely gray hair, was in the queue. As time passed, he finally arrived at the registration desk at noon.

"Name?" a Marines soldier asked casually as he sat at the table.

"Smoker."

"Gender..." When the question was asked, the soldier had already written 'male' on the form.

Before Smoker could answer, he asked again, "Age?"

Smoker hesitated for a moment, but still forced himself to say, "Eighteen years old."

"Ten..." The soldier was just about to register him when he suddenly frowned, carefully observed Smoker, and said, "Kid, you're not eighteen at all, are you? You look like you're only fifteen or sixteen. Stop fooling around here, you're not old enough to be on the battlefield yet!"

That's right, Smoker is lying about his age here; he's not even eighteen yet.

Upon hearing this, Smoker panicked and quickly said, "I have a baby face, and I turned eighteen just two days ago. I really want to join the Marines!"

"Don't waste time here. I'm busy, can't you see how long the line is behind us? Go home now!" The Marines soldier waved his hand impatiently, trying to drive Smoker away.

Smoker was truly anxious. After hesitating for a while, he suddenly seemed to remember something and exclaimed, "That's right! I'm a Devil Fruit user! I'm Logia-type Devil Fruit user!!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Marines soldier stood up abruptly, looking at Smoker with a suspicious gaze and saying, "If you're lying to me, I'll beat you up, brat!"

"Look, you're real!" Smoker said, transforming his body into white Smoke-Smoke. Everyone around him stared in shock, as if they had never seen a real person before.

Indeed, I've never seen one. In the Grand Line, Devil Fruit abilities are nothing new, especially in the New World, where they're practically everywhere.

However, in the four seas... especially in the East Blue, which is known as the 'Sea of Peace', such abilities are still quite rare.

The vast majority of people have never seen a person with such abilities!

Upon seeing that Smoker truly possessed Logia-type Devil Fruit power, the Marines soldier's expression immediately became eager. He said to his colleague beside him, "Help me sort out the situation behind him. I need to take him to the base to see the base commander!"

As mentioned before, there is a current trend of Logia-type worship within the Marines.

Among the new generation of Marines, the most famous are the four Logia-type monsters, especially these two. The Goro Goro no Mi user, Ortolan, has really made a name for himself!

Smoker's sudden appearance, wanting to join the Marines, and being a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, naturally drew great attention from the Marines soldiers.

Once he gets this situation sorted out, he'll have accomplished a great feat!

As for Smoker not meeting the age requirements for conscription? You're kidding! What do you mean he doesn't meet the requirements? Didn't you see he claims to be eighteen? He definitely meets the age requirement; he's just a bit young and has a baby face!

As a righteous Marines, one must give others enough trust. If Smoker dares to say it, then we Marines dare to believe it!

In the East Blue, conscription is in full swing, and the same is true in other sea areas, such as the North Blue at this time.

At the Donquixote Family's residence, Doflamingo is meeting with a North Blue branch Marines captain to discuss some matters.

"I'm entrusting the matter to you, Vergo." Doflamingo said this as he pushed a full chest of gold in front of the Marine Colonel.

Quickly, the Marine Colonel left the Donquixote Family's residence with the gold.

Meanwhile, atop the castle tower, Doflamingo watched the figure of the Marines, a wicked smile playing on his lips, and said, "After he recommends Vergo to the Marine Headquarters, remember to silence him."

Standing behind Doflamingo, Diamante grinned maliciously, "Darling, Doflamingo~"

After a slight pause, Diamante asked again, "So, is our Donquixote Family really going to enter the pirate realm next?"

"Fufufufufufu..." Doflamingo chuckled evilly, looking towards the distant sea, and said, "The next era will be a chaotic New Era. Those who can't keep up with the times are destined to be eliminated. Given our situation, being a pirate is the best choice, Diamante..."