Old Acquaintances Meet, Extra Warm
A day later, the Big Top returned to Sabaody Archipelago fully loaded.
As soon as they landed, the [Crazy] human trafficking gang swarmed around them. Buggy's outstanding performance in the Marineford War had drawn the world's attention. This crew member of [Pirate King], after traversing an era, has now returned to the public eye in a magnificent manner!
It was this legendary figure that made the executives of these human trafficking groups even more eager to curry favor with him, and they even arranged a welcome banquet for the Buggy Pirates at the Zoroa Restaurant.
The Bege brothers, leaders of the human traffickers, secretly glanced at the group of prisoners behind Buggy, their hearts pounding with fear. Although many of them had disappeared long ago, they still remembered them vividly... These were all pirates who had once had bounties of hundreds of millions!
Pirates with bounties ending in "[hundred million]" and "[ten million]" represent a fundamentally different level of threat, except for pirates like Crocodile who are summoned to become Shichibukai and whose bounties will not increase further.
The Bege brothers roughly counted at least seven pirates with bounties over 100 million, at least thirteen with bounties over 50 million, and countless others with bounties over 10 million...
They only stole a glance before hurriedly averting their eyes, afraid of attracting the attention of these fierce-looking prisoners. Even if the entire group attacked, just two or three of them, pirates with bounties exceeding one hundred million, could practically wipe out their entire human trafficking ring!
Buggy has managed to gather all the energy that shouldn't have been there, and imagine how powerful that energy will become!
"Captain Buggy, we'd like to raise a glass to you!"
Upon entering the Zoroa Restaurant, the Bege brothers immediately offered Buggy a drink, attempting to further strengthen their relationship. Buggy casually took a few sips, then began to feast, replenishing the energy he had expended during the war.
The prisoners, whose meals in Impel Down had been utterly appalling, with some even lacking prison food, were now overjoyed to be eating such delicious food. They devoured their food with tears of joy, or danced with their arms around each other, their faces beaming with happiness.
The banquet at the Zoroa Restaurant lasted about an hour. After Buggy had eaten and drunk his fill, he asked the Bege brothers to lead him to the shipyard between zones 50 and 60. He planned to personally oversee the construction of the pirate ship, since the construction time and cost would have a significant impact on the upcoming voyage plan.
Shipbuilding itself takes a considerable amount of time. While there's no need to be overly strict about the arrival time in the New World, there's also no need to linger on this island for too long. However, he's currently troubled by another issue: funding...
After eight months of renovations to the Nilek, the Big Top has spent a total of 20 million Berries. Now, the ship has just under 20 million Beli left. With so little money, let alone building several medium-sized pirate ships, even building a decent small ship is a stretch...
Therefore, Buggy plans to personally negotiate and try to lower the cost of shipbuilding. If that fails, he will definitely resort to coercion to force the shipwrights to build ships for him. If that still doesn't work, he plans to double-cross the pirates who come to Sabaody Archipelago, robbing them of their ships and money, in the spirit of sacrificing his own friends.
As he walked toward the shipyard between areas 50 and 60 with this thought in mind, he saw groups of pirates brazenly crossing the middle of the road. Pedestrians around them hurriedly retreated, fearing that the impact of the Marineford War had made the natives of Sabaody Archipelago feel uneasy. At this moment, they were like frightened birds, afraid of getting into trouble.
"Boss, I heard the Marine Headquarters is nearby... Won't our conspicuous behavior attract the Marines?" a pirate whispered.
The man at the head, dressed in white and holding a silver cane, smiled faintly, "It's alright. The war in Marineford has just ended, and the Navy doesn't have the resources to deal with us right now. Besides, this will attract more attention, perhaps increasing our chances of finding Chief Buggy..."
"I thought it was someone looking for me... it's you..." Buggy suddenly appeared in front of the man. "Daoer."
"We were just talking about you, and here you are... Chief Buggy!!" Daoer's face lit up with joy and excitement.
"We've worked together at Weilan before, we won't forget..."
"That's wonderful!" Daoer smiled appropriately. "Not only me, but Chief Jass and Chief Tink have also come. We've split into three groups to see if we can find you on Sabaody Archipelago. If we can't, we plan to head to the New World!"
Buggy asked, "... What do you want with me?"
"We'll discuss this after Captain Jass and Captain Tink arrive..." Daoer finished speaking and instructed the pirate beside him, "Go and dial their Den Den Den Mushi and tell them I've found Captain Buggy, and the location is..."
He looked up at the numbers on the surrounding mangroves, "It's number 40..."
"Send them to Area 50, I'm going there later," Buggy said.
"Alright, then we'll do as you say, Captain Buggy." Daoer responded and instructed the pirate beside him, "Have the two captains go to Mangrove Sector 50; we'll meet there."
After he finished speaking, the hundreds of people turned around and followed Buggy. Daoer walked beside Buggy and continued, "Chief Buggy, I have obtained the treasure on the treasure map of Hildo that you asked me to find. It is now untouched and placed in the cabin."
"Um?!"
Buggy's brow twitched involuntarily. He glanced at Daoer quickly, a smile playing on his lips. "You really are a man of your word..."
"Since Chief Buggy is willing to trust me, I certainly won't let you down..."
"Good!" Buggy praised the other person's character, then asked, "About how much is that treasure worth?"
Daoer smiled and held up two fingers.
Buggy guessed, "Twenty million Beli?"
Daoer shook his head.
Two hundred million Beli?
"No, the estimated value is two billion..." Daoer finally couldn't help but burst into laughter. "This is the wealth that treasure map hunter Hildo has collected in his entire life. However, his Seven-Link Treasure Map is really complicated. Even he himself didn't know where he hid the treasure. I was trapped there for seven months and almost got lost in that sea area!"
Two billion!
Buggy quickly suppressed his joy, trying not to lose his composure, and put on a calm smile. "Thank you for your hard work, Daoer. Consider this a favor I, Buggy, owe you!"