Joy Boy

With Buggy's overwhelming military force intimidating them, the situation is now settled.

All the high-ranking members of the Ritual Hall, including the Seven-Feathered Imperial Guards and the Eight-Feathered Generals, were killed in battle. Soldiers below the Seven-Feathered rank laid down their weapons and submitted to the sacrificial shrine.

The war ended swiftly, and the Buggy Pirates officially took over the island. They then spread the news to more than twenty surrounding villages and began to appease the people.

Buggy entrusted Carl with the administration of the island's political affairs.

Although Louis Carl was a pirate, he had once been a king and was experienced in domestic affairs, which he handled very well.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and with everyone's arrangements and discussions, many things on the island began to gradually get on track.

With the help of the "docile" Heracross, the broken and shattered ground in the center of town was slowly filled and compacted. With the help of all the pirates in Buggy Pirates, the huge Rubik's Cube building was finally put back in place. After receiving a satisfactory assessment of the building from Nilek and after adjusting and closing the internal mechanisms, Buggy and his crew moved in.

The building was officially renamed "Magic Cube Hall".

Most of the civilians, soldiers, and pirates who had been bitten by the Rainbow Bug were recovering day by day thanks to Kaya's healing abilities. To reduce Kaya's burden, Buggy distributed the Rainbow Bug toxin serum from the national treasury to the patients.

This move immediately won the hearts of the island's civilians, and more and more people began to accept Buggy as the island's new master.

However, not everyone thought so. A small group of people were unconvinced and made a fuss, wanting to challenge Buggy's position. Why should this foreign pirate become the new [National Priest]?!

Naturally, Buggy had his men publicize the provocation. In the Ritual Hall square, where civilians flocked and countless eyes were focused, Buggy calmly defeated the strongest challenger, who called himself "Wild Nameless." With a solemn expression and a sense of ritual, he delivered a moving speech, hoping that the strongest challenger would become his chief bodyguard.

The challenger Wild Nameless was initially thought to be doomed, was completely captivated by Buggy's actions. This also deeply moved and inspired the civilians who witnessed the scene, deepening their sense of identification with the new king.

With this, the identity of the new island king was completely confirmed, and no one dared to object anymore.

At this moment, in the Magic Cube Hall, in the Affairs Hall.

Louis Carl handed the documents to the desk. "The total number of casualties in this war, including all of them, was compiled by me and Sister Lilina."

"You've worked hard, Carl." Buggy sat in the soft-backed wicker chair, not in a hurry to take the documents, but instead gave him an encouraging look.

"It is my honor to serve Captain Buggy!" Louis Carl patted his chest, looking thoroughly pleased.

Buggy nodded slightly, picked up the document and flipped through it. After a while, he put it down. "Although the war was won, the pirates suffered considerable losses..."

After a moment's thought, he said, "I'll talk to Ryan and the others later. Select some men from these self-defense forces and incorporate them into your pirate crew to make up for the losses in this war. I'll disperse the rest of the troops, keeping some to maintain the daily order of this town, and sending the rest to other villages to assist and provide security."

"Yes, that's fine too."

Louis agreed that war inevitably results in casualties, and that it is unavoidable.

"What about that M Ore?"

"It has been temporarily sealed off..."

Louis Carl also explained the situation of the mine.

The miners inside were not civilians or soldiers, but a large number of prisoners released from jail by the state. These prisoners had been mining day and night to lessen their sentences, hoping to one day be released and see the light of day again. However, now that the mine has been shut down, these people have been imprisoned again.

"Let's handle it this way for now,"

Buggy then asked, "How are those annoying pests doing? Are they still very active?"

"It's said that the villages on the island haven't seen any more Rainbow Bug invasions in the last couple of days, which is probably really related to the fact that this M Ore has been mined too frequently."

"That's good. It would be troublesome if this place turned into a deserted island... Alright, Carl, come and report back to me if anything happens on the island."

"Yes, Captain Buggy."

"Um..."

Buggy glanced at Louis's tired face, "Carl, everyone knows the One Piece is in the New World, but apart from [The Pirate King], no one else has found it. You've been on the high seas for so long, you should know this isn't something that can be achieved overnight. That's why we need a base to secure our escape route, instead of drifting aimlessly at sea. That's why I took over this island..."

"There will be many things we need to rely on you for going forward. Don't take your hard work these past few days to heart. If you're feeling down about anything, don't bottle it up; tell me. It'll make you feel better..."

Buggy knew his gaze was sincere, but he wasn't sure if what the other person saw was the same as what he wanted to convey.

Louis Carl's face stiffened, then he straightened up, stammered for a long time, and bowed deeply to Buggy. Tears streamed down his face as he looked up, struggling to suppress his choked emotions, "Captain Buggy. This little bit of hard work is nothing compared to being able to serve you!!"

"That's good. You can go now, remember to rest..."

Louis took his leave and walked out of the room. The sound of his sobbing grew louder in the corridor and carried clearly into the room.

"Heh..." Buggy shook his head slightly in exasperation. None of the pirates who came Impel Down were normal; they were all a bunch of guys with sensitive constitutions...

Of course, perhaps it's because my acting skills are getting better and better.

These past few days, after a thorough search of the Magic Cube Hall, several confidential documents have finally been unearthed, concerning Heracross.

This is definitely not an ordinary native creature; it was abducted from the Boin Archipelago on the Grand Line. This transaction document, which dates back nearly ten years, bears the stamp of the Donquixote Family, suggesting it was made by one of their caravans.

According to the National Festival's casual notes, he must have been in a very obsessive state, feeding the rhinoceros beetle with M Ore for nearly ten years. The result was that Heracross's body became gigantic and he unintentionally activated the two types of Haki within him.

As for the reason for the riot of the Rainbow Bug, Buggy finally saw the explanation here. These Rainbow Bug were not caused by the over-exploitation of the mineral veins, but because they sensed the presence of Heracross and developed an instinct of fear, which led to the large-scale riot that invaded the town.

Although the Grand Priest was aware of this, Heracross' power far exceeded his imagination. Unable to control the creature, he dared not release it to scare away the Rainbow Bug.

However, he could not make the matter public, because by then thousands of people on the island had already died or been injured. Revealing the truth would be a long-term solution that could not solve the immediate problem, and would instead incite the townspeople to resist.

Meanwhile, Buggy finally remembered the stone statue in the cave. No wonder he felt he had seen it somewhere before—he had seen it in the East Blue.

Back then, when I passed through Gali Island, I met Robin by chance. I saw a stone statue of this kind in the Ancestral Ruins. However, the upper body of the stone statue there was placed in an underground secret chamber, leaving only a section of the upper body.

Now, the name of the statue was finally written on the document in front of him, catching Buggy's slightly surprised gaze. His name was Joy Boy.

When Buggy stayed on Fish-Man Island, he personally went to the Sea Forest to see the stone tablet, which contained an apology written in Ancient Script. The person who carved that text was Joy Boy.

Since written materials are easily damaged, they are rewritten every few decades by a designated person. Therefore, the materials are not written in Ancient Script, but in the world's commonly used scripts today. However, it is clear that the materials recorded here are not complete.

Even so, Buggy still flipped through it with great interest, as if he had found a treasure.

Because there is no such thing as reproductive isolation in this world, mermaids and humans can reproduce together, and Joy Boy is a human born from the union of a female mermaid and a male human.

Eight hundred years ago, Joy Boy arrived on this uncivilized island, bringing with him a wealth of new knowledge and technology, which he taught to the island's inhabitants.

With his help, the inhabitants abandoned their primitive lifestyle and gradually moved towards civilization. Soon, markets, villages, and eventually towns formed on the island, and he was revered as the island's god.

However, he came to this island with a clear purpose: to mine the M Ore on the island. He promised to help the natives, but he also made this a condition.

The inhabitants, having received his kindness, were naturally eager to help him mine the ore. However, both ore extraction and refining were very lengthy processes, and he stayed on the island for a full eight years.

Finally, someone asked him, "My lord, what are you going to do with all this ore?"

Joy Boy said that these ores could provide Noah with enough power, and with the help of the Sea Kings, they could pull the entire Fish-Man Island to the surface of the sea, so that all the Fish-Man could bask in the sunlight and fulfill their promise to the mermaid princess.

The residents couldn't understand what he was saying, but they didn't dare ask any more questions.

A year later, he felt that these energy ores could empower Noah, so he prepared to leave with them and head to Fish-Man Island.

Before leaving, he left behind some valuable techniques and knowledge.

Three days after his departure, a war broke out that quickly swept across the entire world. Even this isolated island heard the news: Joy Boy, whom they worshipped as a god, had joined the war, accompanied by a large number of super-powerful human weapons.

After Buggy finished reading what he could understand, he found it somewhat unbelievable. He read it again and found that there was nothing he had missed. He couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Since Fish-Man Island was still in the deep sea, it meant that Joy Boy's plan had failed. As for why it failed, one possibility was that the energy supply was insufficient, and another was that he never implemented the plan. The reason for this was probably the sudden war eight hundred years ago.

What concerned Buggy even more was the mention of human weapons in the documents. This meant that the technology to create human weapons had existed for the past eight years...

That makes sense. Ancient Weapon like Pluton, which are rumored to be able to destroy an island with a single blow, are only products of eight hundred years ago. Even if they were developing various advanced weapons back then, it wouldn't be surprising.

Could it be that Vegapunk, who was able to create human weapons for the navy, also discovered ancient blueprints and technology...?

Buggy doesn't dwell on things he can't understand. He clears his mind; there are still many things to deal with on the island, and it's not worth putting his mind on this nonsensical matter right now.

Two more days passed.

Buggy was handling various affairs on the island, discovered something good: the free-range Heracross would hunt for food in the nests of the Rainbow Bug in the wild. As a result, as long as Heracross was around, the Rainbow Bug that posed a constant threat to the island were no longer a problem.

At that moment, Lilina arrived at the Hall of Affairs, bringing with her intelligence: Big Mom's territory, Whole Cake Island, had been ravaged.

Buggy looked at Lilina with interest. "What's going on?"

Lilina said, "I don't know the specifics... It's said that Big Mom's food craving has flared up again, but this time it's different. Big Mom ingested a dangerous drug called ES, which was brought to her by the captured fish-men. I don't know if she accidentally ingested it or did so intentionally... In any case, her food craving is more severe than ever before. She has wreaked havoc on Whole Cake Island, and several of her Sweet Commanders were treated as enemies and injured for trying to stop her. However, with the help of Jinbe, a former Shichibukai fish-man, things finally calmed down. But given the current situation, nearly half of Whole Cake Island is now in ruins."

"That's fine, haha..."

Buggy's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter. "For now, we don't have to worry about them coming after us, which gives us a chance to survive!"

"I've never seen anyone talk about themselves like that before..." Lilina pouted.

"Their foundation is stronger than ours; there's nothing we can do about it..."

Buggy's smile gradually faded, replaced by a calm SMILE. "Anyway, fighting alone isn't very interesting. Now that we have territory, we can start to broaden our horizons..."