The castle on Terror Thriller Bark.
Moria glanced from afar at the zombies burying themselves of their own accord.
His heart gave a sudden jolt.
The idea of using zombies as bombs—
It was absolutely genius!
He felt as if a door to a whole new world had just opened before him.
Why bother making a Zombie Army of slow-witted zombies?
He could just stuff the zombies full of explosives and send them wherever he wanted to blow up!
More importantly, the whole process would only cost him one corpse and some explosives. The shadows attached to the corpse would return to their original owners once they no longer had a host.
Then he could cut them out and use them again!
Moria felt that his decision to detain dozens of pirates along the way had been exceptionally wise.
What if he got his hands on several corpses of giants or Sea Kings?
Wouldn't that be enough to blow the World Government sky-high?!
Absolutely insane.
Moria figured he must have caught it from that Joker.
But excitement soon bubbled up inside him. He couldn't wait to see the World Government's shocked and regretful faces when they realized how dangerous he was!
He watched the fog grow denser and let out a cackling laugh.
"You dared look down on me! Hee-hee-hee!"
--
"Is the information reliable?!"
Inside the only building in Marineford that was still more or less intact, Sakazuki puffed on a cigar, his upper body wrapped in bandages.
He demanded an answer and exhaled a cloud of smoke.
There were too many postwar matters requiring the Admiral's decisions. Sengoku was still recuperating, while Kizaru had gone to the New World to keep things under control. As for Aokiji, he had never seen eye to eye with Sakazuki. With Sengoku no longer there to keep them in check, they got along even worse, so Aokiji had simply taken a team to pursue the prisoners Blackbeard had released.
Both matters were extremely urgent.
In short, as the only Admiral left behind, Akainu was getting a firsthand taste of the misery of being in charge.
"...We can't be sure." The staff officer who had brought the report wore a pained expression.
"Our intelligence agencies have received several different reports at the same time. Some concern Mary Geoise, while others concern Marineford and Judicial Island."
"Of these, an attack on Mary Geoise seems the most likely!"
"There has already been an explosion at Red Port."
"Additionally..." The staff officer pulled out another file. "There have been reports of someone resembling the Enemy of the World, Buggy, on the Sabaody Archipelago."
"That guy?"
Akainu furrowed his brow. His strongest impression of Buggy was how uncannily well he could read the moment.
He had timed his outrageous actions on the Sabaody Archipelago perfectly, striking when the Marines were too stretched thin to respond.
Was this incident connected to him too?
"Which one is the smokescreen? Or is this guy really that bold?"
Akainu's brows drew together. A hint of scorn crossed his face as he muttered around his cigar.
Hmph. He was nothing but a Joker who only dared scheme from behind the scenes.
Whether or not this was Buggy's doing, if he dared show his face now, he could consider himself a dead man!
Akainu had no intention of playing any sort of mind games with Buggy.
That was something he had done only for Whitebeard!
He planned to crush him with sheer force.
"Get ready. You're coming out to sea with me."
"But, Lord Sakazuki, what about those reports?"
The staff officer looked helplessly at the several intelligence files in his hands.
"The more things are like this, the less we can let them lead us by the nose."
Sakazuki got to his feet, the cigar between his lips suddenly burning faster.
"Whatever they're planning, we just need to kill the first one to show himself."
Only the dead could make evil fear.
But he had barely taken two steps—
When a Den Den Mushi call from the Gorosei was put through to him.
"..."
Two more cigars later.
When Akainu hung up the Den Den Mushi, his face had grown even stiffer.
He couldn't help shouting.
"What are those higher-ups thinking?!"
"At a time like this, they're still ordering me to guard Mary Geoise!"
What a bunch of useless allies!
By rights, there was always an Admiral stationed at Mary Geoise.
But the Marines had only just fought a war. How could they possibly guard so many places?
Even Akainu, the only one stationed at Marine Headquarters, was so busy his head was about to explode.
When faced with this kind of threat, the best response was to kill, not stand guard!
Kill them all, and there'd be no problem!
In his view, they should just issue a Buster Call and level the island. Then there'd be no problem.
But because of some rumor about God Valley, the Gorosei were so impatient to send him to guard Mary Geoise!
"I still need to climb higher."
Akainu clenched his teeth around his cigar, his eyes filled with resentment.
--
Night fell.
The fog over the Sabaody Archipelago grew even thicker.
Especially beneath the crescent moon, which hung in the sky like a smile.
Visibility shrank until people could barely make out where their own hands were.
Transportation at Red Port had been temporarily suspended.
Normally, there should still have been some Marines stationed there.
But now, only two blurry figures could just barely be seen through the dense fog.
A short distance away.
Buggy emerged through the white mist, dragging a Ruby Longsword that dripped blood.
The thick fog seemed to have no effect on his vision.
"The CP Organization sure has a keen nose."
Most of the blood on his sword had come from members of the CP Organization who had been lying low on the archipelago.
Their last failure had clearly enraged them.
But that was great. Buggy loved seeing that look on their faces.
He wore a squinting grin like the crescent moon above.
The shadow in the white mist gradually came into focus.
"Mr. Buggy, the cable car is ready," Sergeant Jacques said, unable to hold back any longer.
Beside him, Swan's eyes widened.
"Mr. Arrow...?"
She found the smile on Buggy's face strangely familiar. And then there was the way Mr. Jacques had gone out of his way to bring her here and explain things to her.
So the awful pirate Buggy was Mr. Arrow!
"I think Mr. Joker would be a better title," Buggy said with a chuckle, tacitly accepting her words.
Swan covered her mouth, struggling to keep her emotions from showing.
The Saint had come back to life!
Buggy wasn't interested in how thrilled she was. He simply sat down in the Bubble Cable Car in front of him.
There were already quite a few passengers inside.
Most kept their heads lowered, and a few smelled of earth.
"Good morning, everyone."
He chose a seat near the middle and sat up straight, smoothing out his slightly wrinkled vest.
"So, everyone here is going to the Fireworks Party, right?"
Buggy clapped his hands as he asked.
The passengers didn't respond.
"I'll take that as a yes."
His eyes shifted to Swan and Jacques, who stood outside the cable car.
Their expressions grew complicated.
They were genuinely afraid of where Buggy was going.
"No, no, don't worry. I wasn't asking you two."
Buggy seemed to be the very picture of consideration. "We also offer tickets for the outer grounds."
His smile was inscrutable.
Before you continue