The Release of Obsession

Arne felt like he had a terrible dream.

He dreamt he saw the crewmates who had gone missing in the Foggy Sea Area.

One of them had even come from the same small island in the South Blue as he had.

In the dream, the other person seemed to be living a rather decent life.

Living in luxury.

And smiling, he asked Arne if he was still in his original pirate crew.

Arne replied that he was not.

The old acquaintance then pressed him on where he was living now.

Stuttering, he blurted out the Batty Cutie Pirates.

"Phew, thank goodness it was just a dream."

Arne patted his chest, looking like he was still shaken.

The scene in the dream was too terrifying!

Outside the dream, the Black Shadow that had originally made him tremble with fear had already retreated, though the thick fog still lingered.

Mr. Buggy was still standing at the ship's bow.

He looked like he was secretly chuckling.

"What about that Black Shadow, Mr. Buggy?"

"It ran away."

"But don't worry, I'll catch it."

"Catch it?!"

Arne looked at Mr. Buggy's serious expression and wondered if he had misheard.

That thing looked like some kind of terrifying monster!

Mr. Buggy nodded and didn't say anything more.

"Before that, let's find Ghost Island."

He began to look forward again to what Captain John and Silver Axe's corpses might leave behind.

And where did Moria dig up their corpses?

This is perhaps the fun of treasure hunting.

Buggy could barely understand himself.

Besides the black shadows that reached the sky and the earth, there seemed to be no other danger in the Foggy Sea Area.

Buggy woke up Morgans and the Secretary Gull.

Then he sailed the Grand News in the Foggy Sea Area for another two days.

This sea area did not have the characteristic of getting lost; several times they saw rays of sunlight peeking through the edge of the fog.

But since they hadn't reached their destination, they turned and plunged back into the thick fog.

Fortunately, they had brought enough food for the ship, and they were few in number.

If worse came to worst, they still had the corpulent Secretary Gull to serve as rations.

They could still manage.

It wasn't until the third day.

That they saw the world's largest pirate ship in a patch of thick fog.

A Thriller Bark, as large as a small island, surrounded by a ring-shaped wall.

He really didn't know how this ship sailed from the West Blue into the Grand Line.

Buggy drifted straight towards it.

His split bodies inherently possessed the ability to float, especially when his ability was not restricted by the condition of needing to touch the ground, making him even more at ease.

Entering the outer ring wall, there was still a moat inside, with many tattered corpses floating on it.

As for the island, it was almost in a state of disarray.

As expected of a place ravaged by the Straw Hat Pirates.

However, Buggy then thought of the Sabaody Archipelago, where he had stayed for a while.

Well, it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Both places were filled with a chaotic beauty.

But what surprised him slightly was that in the castle in the middle of the Thriller Bark, which looked like it had been gnawed by dogs, there was still lamplight on.

"Moria is back?"

He shook his head and thought.

Time seemed to be about right, the war had probably ended.

He wondered if the World Government had, like in the original story, sent the Heavenly Yaksha and Pacifistas to clean up Moria, that old rogue.

They probably wouldn't.

Buggy remembered that he had advertised for Doflamingo twice during the live broadcast.

No matter how broad-minded the World Government was, there would still be lingering resentment.

Moreover, he felt that Doflamingo would distrust the World Government even more.

Expecting an ambitious man to trust the side of order was extremely unlikely.

Buggy understood this mindset deeply.

Skimming over the pitted areas, Buggy floated towards the castle.

The half-collapsed battlements were propped up by temporary wooden planks, maintaining a somewhat complete appearance.

Through the various drafty glass windows.

A Doctor Hogback, with bat-like teeth, an exceptionally sharp nose, and a circle of repaired marks on his face, was hunched over a desk, meticulously repairing a skull.

It was the skull of a woman with short, golden-yellow hair.

Her eyes were closed, and the corner of her mouth was turned up in a warm smile.

Buggy couldn't smell any decay, no matter what treatment had been done.

The doctor's hands were steady, carefully wiping away every blemish on the woman's face.

However, it couldn't be concealed; the stitched lines on the woman's face were also present.

"If you use catgut, it can be absorbed without leaving a trace."

Buggy, who had also been patched up, offered a serious suggestion.

"That won't work, Sindri can't absorb it."

Doctor Hogback instinctively looked up.

He saw a floating skull with bright red lipstick and a skull mark on its forehead.

A similarly floating hand was stroking the skull's chin.

The appearance was serious.

"Good morning."

The skull grinned and greeted him.

Even Hogback, a surgeon accustomed to the dead coming back to life, felt his heart skip a beat!

Who knew what time it was outside the Foggy Sea Area.

The hand holding the knife trembled uncontrollably.

"Sindri, my Sindri!"

Hogback, regaining his senses, panicked.

"I think you have a lot to say to me."

In the blink of an eye, Sindri's skull was snatched by Buggy.

"Right?"

The advantage of being a criminal was that he could threaten others without any psychological burden.

Yes, Buggy did this often.

He had just found information about this doctor in the College Student's memories.

Dr. Hogback, one of Moria's subordinates and a genius surgeon.

He had once had a crush on the famous stage actress, Victoria Sindri.

Which was the skull in Buggy's hand.

For many years after her death, he had been dedicated to resurrecting her.

Well, a touching story of a "boiling sheep" (idiom for a naive, overly enthusiastic person).

So Dr. Hogback told him everything.

He immediately revealed the location of Captain John's corpse, and even, fearing Buggy's actions might be too rough, explained about the bracelet.

They naturally knew it was Captain John's treasure marker.

After all, he wore this bracelet in life and death, a fact known even to the original Buggy and Alvida.

However, the location the bracelet pointed to was in the New World.

And Moria had been holed up for many years.

Let alone the New World, he had barely even left the Foggy Sea Area.

Until they were plundered by the Straw Hat Pirates as spoils of victory.

As for whether Captain John's corpse had left any other information.

Buggy did something very classless.

He split Captain John's corpse apart.

There was nothing.

The corpse had long since dried up, and there was nothing left but residual swords.

"Now, you should be satisfied."

Buggy whispered.

The obsession that had been urging him on in his heart finally loosened its invisible grip.

Buggy, or rather, the past Buggy, finally yielded to the current situation.

All that remained was the Joker's dried-up, extremely twisted heart.

It churned and urged him on.

"It seems I'd better find a new amusement."

Buggy raised his head, a grin uncontrollable on his face.