"Huh?!"
"We're going to sea on this tiny sailboat?!"
Zoro stared at the shabby little fishing skiff that could barely fit two people. The heroic excitement he'd just worked up evaporated on the spot.
He was already regretting agreeing to become a pirate with this guy.
"Ahahahahaha!"
Luffy didn't care at all. He clenched his fist, eyes shining with pure enthusiasm.
"It's fine! We'll definitely have a big ship of our own someday! And we'll find a bunch of crewmates too!!!"
So the two of them bobbed along, basically drifting wherever fate pushed them, heading deeper into the sea until they happened to spot an island.
"Hey, Zoro! Look, we finally found land!!!"
Everything went strangely smoothly. They beat up a group of pirates gathered there, and the two idiots ran into Nami.
"Thank you so much! If you hadn't shown up, I'd have fallen into those pirates' hands, you know!"
Orange short hair, that sweet smile, the little thief cat Nami thanked them brightly. Luffy immediately invited her to be the navigator of his pirate crew, all passion and sincerity.
Nami smiled and agreed on the spot.
What she was really thinking was simple: the first chance she got, she would steal everything these two pirates owned.
Because in her eyes, pirates were all trash.
Whether it was Arlong, who had once tried to rob and kill, or Buggy, who had seized her family's orange grove and threatened to wipe them all out if they didn't hand over every last orange, they were the same to her.
To be fair, Buggy had spared Bellemere's life back then, but the crushing debt, and the way he'd hold a blade to her family's throat if they didn't pay tribute, had kept Nami under a constant, suffocating pressure.
Buggy was a pirate through and through.
And raising a massive crop of oranges, refined to perfection, demanded an absurd amount of labor and resources.
To keep her family alive, she had no choice but to gamble again and again, stealing treasure from the sea to buy them more time.
Living like that, calculating every breath, turned into habit. Over time, it became greed.
The difference from the original story was this: Luffy's crew never ran into Buggy here.
Naturally, they made their way to Syrup Village instead, and after a messy detour, the ship gained another member.
The Straw Hat crew's adventure rolled forward at full speed.
On the other side…
Ozz traveled at his own pace.
At first, he'd planned to go find "Little Sand"… no, "Old Sand" now. But after subtracting the time he'd spent recuperating, he did a quick calculation.
This was about when Buggy would get beaten by Luffy and end up stranded on a deserted island.
As his good brother, since Ozz had already come all the way back from the New World, of course he had to go take a look.
A reunion, long overdue.
"Caw!"
Standing atop the Red Line, Ozz had a News Coo perched on his shoulder. The seagull cried out once.
Ozz nodded.
"Then let the News Coos find Buggy for me."
At this point, the news of Ozz's return still hadn't spread widely.
Outside of a few underworld bosses and a handful of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, he hadn't shown his face in any public setting.
And the people around him knew how to keep their mouths shut. Just knowing Ozz was back gave them confidence.
As for the rest…
They all understood Ozz's personality.
When the time was right, that legendary man would appear, perfectly on cue.
It didn't take long.
A News Coo found the target and sent back a photo.
The picture slid out of a Den Den Mushi's mouth. Ozz took it and looked.
A circle of pirates surrounded a clown captain in the middle, red nose, blue hair, full circus getup.
The crowd wore faces of worship, while the clown in the center laughed arrogantly, shameless and ridiculous in the most Buggy way possible.
"So many years, and this guy hasn't changed at all…"
Ozz pinched the photo between his fingers, a genuine smile tugging at his lips.
Then his figure vanished.
Cocoyasi Village.
Buggy had brought his circus crew here, throwing a banquet. They were celebrating another jump in Captain Buggy's bounty.
Soaked in flattery, Buggy stuck out his tongue and laughed, arms spread wide. His body split apart into pieces, floating around like a threat.
"Haahahahahaha!!!"
"A measly fifteen million! Boys, what's that even supposed to mean? My real strength is way beyond that!!!"
With thick red lipstick painted on, Buggy cackled without restraint. To be honest, when it came to stirring people up and working a crowd, Buggy had a talent no one could deny.
Sure enough, his men ate it up.
"Oooooooh!!!"
"Captain Buggy, we worship you!!!"
"Yeah!!! Rumor says Captain Buggy was recognized by a legendary figure! He's got what it takes to become the Pirate King!!!"
"That's right!!! Fifteen million is nothing! What are the Marines doing? It should be five billion instead!!!"
"Yeeehahahaha!!!"
Listening to the praise, Buggy floated so high he forgot which way was up. He drank greedily, guzzling alcohol.
But slowly, as the rush faded, Buggy's gaze drifted to his men, arms around each other, laughing and roughhousing.
A flicker of nostalgia crossed his eyes.
And then he fell quiet.
"What's wrong, Captain Buggy?"
A teasing voice came from beside him.
Buggy wasn't in the mood. He assumed it was some underling trying to cheer him up, so he didn't even lift his head.
"Nothing. I just thought of a friend I haven't seen in a long time."
"A friend? If he's friends with a great pirate like you, Captain Buggy, and he's disappeared for so long, that's just disrespectful! He doesn't take you seriously at all!"
That line instantly lit a fuse in Buggy's chest.
Or rather, it was pure rage.
A mere underling dared to talk about Ozz like that?!
"What the hell are you saying? Getting way too full of yourself, you little…"
Buggy grabbed the speaker by the collar, eyes wide, mouth open in fury. His fist even rose, ready to swing.
But at the last second, he finally saw the face clearly.
A little unfamiliar, yet far more familiar than anything else.
Compared to the youthful look from his twenties, the man before him had more maturity now, more handsomeness.
And above all…
That calm, signature smile.
That black long hair.
"Y-you… you you are…"
Buggy's words jammed in his throat. He wanted to say it, but he was terrified he'd be wrong. He stuttered uncontrollably, shaking with emotion.
Until the man stepped forward, pulled him into a hug, patted his shoulder, and said one simple line.
"Sashi buri dana, Buggy."
Just those words, and Buggy couldn't hold it in anymore.
Tears burst out, half joy, half sorrow. His nose ran so hard it nearly smeared on the other man's clothes.
He shouted that name at last, voice cracking.
"O-Ozz… Ozz!!!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"