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New World, Karai Bari Island
"Buggy Delivery" Headquarters
"Rumor has it that Crocodile is Captain Buggy's subordinate, and it turns out to be true!"
"As expected of Captain Buggy!"
"Speaking of which, Vice Captain Mr. 3 also seems to have had dealings with Crocodile!"
"Trafalgar Law is here too. That guy is also extraordinary. Does he want to follow Captain Buggy?"
The pirates discussed excitedly.
Captain's Room
"I'm sorry, I really don't have any money!"
Buggy crawled on the ground, crying and begging Crocodile to spare his life. His humble appearance stunned Law.
Is this comical fool really a crewmate of the Pirate King, the sworn brother of Red Hair Shanks, the main culprit of Impel Down, and the "Genius Jester" Buggy who shone brightly in the Summit War?
Before coming, he had thought the other party was an incredible big shot and was quite nervous, even preparing for a fight.
In the end, this is it?
And "Mr. 3" Galdino, rumor has it that he defeated two Giant captains, and during the Summit War, he even rescued Ace right under the nose of Fleet Admiral Sengoku and a group of Marine powerhouses.
His resume was quite explosive.
But at this moment, the other party's attitude was not much better than Buggy's.
Law was beginning to doubt his life.
"Crocodile, do we really have to cooperate with this kind of trash?"
"Although this guy is useless, he still has some value."
Crocodile stepped on Buggy's head.
The title of former Warlord and the pirate prisoners outside all had utilization value; he had no choice.
He wanted to establish a new company and needed money and manpower. Although Daichi would invest money for him, the original shares had to be held in his hands.
This was the bottom line.
"The new company will be called Cross Guild. Is that okay?"
"Whatever."
Law had no objection; any name was fine.
He was just looking for a temporary place to accumulate strength, and when the time was right, he would leave to do his own thing.
Hachinosu on the Other Side
Golden Lion's first act upon taking over Hachinosu was to publicly recruit subordinates. As one of the most powerful pirates currently, his appeal was quite strong.
The main reason was that the Beast Pirates' current standards for recruiting subordinates were too high; without a certain level of strength, one couldn't get in, so ordinary pirates could only settle for joining other forces.
Hoenn Community, Resort Beach
"Zephyr joined Hoenn?"
Daichi was quite surprised.
He had thought Zephyr would need some more time to join Hoenn and might even create the Neo Marines before that, but he was unexpectedly decisive.
It must be because of Kuzan.
With that master-disciple bond, he would have seriously considered it too.
Let Zephyr handle the capture of Weevil.
And Doll, Smoker, and others.
Many of Kuzan's former subordinates successively left the Marines. These officers were already quite dissatisfied with the World Government and trusted Kuzan.
The situation was excellent.
Daichi looked at the birdman sitting opposite him.
"Morgans, what do you think of my proposal?"
"Absolutely, this is big news!"
Morgans readily agreed.
In front of him lay Golden Lion's bounty poster and the newly released promotional poster for Cross Guild.
Such explosive news would surely cause a huge stir.
Moreover, the man in front of him had power comparable to the World Government, and he personally sought him out, so this favor had to be granted.
Now, his working principle was to listen to the World Government on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, give face to the Hoenn government on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, leaving one day for free play.
Three Days Later
The newspaper was published.
[New Yonko]
Kaido, Big Mom, Golden Lion.
And the leader of Cross Guild, "Genius Jester" Buggy!
The two vacant Yonko positions were finally filled, astonishing the world. While the underground world had anticipated Golden Lion, the sudden emergence of Cross Guild was quite intriguing.
However, the pirates had no doubts about the strength of Cross Guild.
The combination of Buggy and Mr. 3 had long been famous, and now Cross Guild had also absorbed Crocodile and Trafalgar Law, two capable individuals, causing their strength to skyrocket.
In addition, Cross Guild also issued bounties for the Marines, which shocked the world even more than the news of the Yonko's birth.
Fleet Admiral had five crowns, representing 5 billion Berry.
Admiral had three crowns, 3 billion Berry!
Vice Admiral had five stars, 500 million Berry!
Captain had one star, 100 million Berry!
Except for a few special cases, the prices for Marine officers were based on this, with only slight fluctuations up or down.
Marine Headquarters
The conference room was filled with smoke.
The officers' faces were grim. The Cross Guild's bounties meant one thing: their lives were threatened.
Under the temptation of money, their threats would no longer be limited to pirates.
In the restaurant, Sengoku and Tsuru were drinking tea.
"This Cross Guild is probably Daichi's doing!"
"I think so too!"
Their thoughts aligned.
Nowadays, almost every major incident in the New World is linked to Daichi, or rather, without his authorization, something like putting bounties on the Marines would be impossible.
Setting aside what benefits bounties on the Marines would bring to Cross Guild, just the enormous expenses alone are something few could afford.
Cross Guild couldn't possibly have that much money.
"What a terrifying tactic!"
Sengoku sighed.
He could guess Daichi's objective.
With bounties, officers would constantly worry about their safety when performing missions, and might even be betrayed by the civilians they were protecting.
This would severely impact the morale of the Marines, and even worse, trust between the Marines and civilians would be lost.
Now, all that was needed was an opportune moment!
Furthermore, the Hoenn government's recruitment had already unsettled the military, and the joining of several officers like Doll to Hoenn had caused a huge impact on the Marine's internal structure.
A Marine rushed in to report.
"Sengoku-sama, news has just arrived that Captain T-Bone was killed, and the culprit was a poor citizen from the Pepe Kingdom!"
A shadow fell over Sengoku and Tsuru's eyes.
Just as expected!
But for T-Bone to be the victim, it was too cruel.
That man was full of justice, an excellent officer who hated evil and loved the common people, deeply beloved by his subordinates.
Tsuru sighed deeply.
"The culprit's family must be living a happy life now, right?"
Sengoku remained silent.
They knew very well why this was happening.
The bounty was only a small part of the reason; Captain T-Bone's true cause of death was this terrible world that made it impossible for people to live.
They couldn't blame the culprit.
At this point, there was only one way.
Strike down Cross Guild as quickly as possible!
However, even without Cross Guild, other guilds would emerge. The essence of this incident was a struggle between two political powers.
"Let Sakazuki handle it."
Sengoku shook his head helplessly and changed the subject, asking, "Tsuru, how is your granddaughter doing now?"
"Kujaku is in Hoenn, she's not in danger."
Tsuru shook her head slightly.
Kujaku was assigned to the G-14 Branch. When Doll submitted her resignation, she specifically contacted Tsuru to inform her of Peacock's recent situation.
In this current world, there's nothing wrong with Kujaku staying in the Hoenn government; at least she doesn't have to face the darkness of the World Government.