Not long ago, in the East Sea, on an unremarkable small island, a group of pirates were sweating as they gripped shovels and pickaxes, laboring hard to excavate the rock layers below.
"Everyone, work harder! There's definitely treasure down there! The position on the treasure map can't be wrong!"
A man with a red nose was flying in the air, directing the underlings below.
Clown Buggy, the captain of Buggy's Pirates, with a bounty of 10 million Belly. As a former intern of the Roger Pirates and a good brother to Red Hair Shanks, this amount doesn't match the 3.6 billion of Red Hair.
No one would have thought that this man searching for treasure in the East Sea had incredibly strong connections; even Whitebeard remembered that conspicuous red nose.
His flight was unique because the body flying in the sky didn't have feet; the two feet remained on the ground.
This was Buggy's use of the Chop-Chop Fruit, which allowed him to split himself into many pieces.
He was immune to slashing attacks from sharp weapons, and his ability's effective control range had a radius of 200 meters with his feet as the center. Beyond 200 meters, he would lose control of his body.
Apart from his feet, the other parts of his body could fly, and at this moment, Buggy was flying in the sky acting as a supervisor.
The number of pirates under his command was considerable, but the quality... compared to a pirate crew, it felt more like a rather vicious circus.
"Captain Buggy! It's too hard down here, we can't dig it!"
"Yeah, Captain Buggy, it's all rock down here. Did we get the wrong place?"
"Hmm? Are you doubting that I misread the treasure map? Hurry up and... dig!"
His two hands detached from his arms and grabbed the underling by the collar. With the power of the Chop-Chop Fruit, Buggy was practically invincible in this region of the East Sea.
As a professional treasure hunter, how could he possibly misread a treasure map?
It was at this moment that a News Bird flapped its wings and flew over, directly carrying the newspaper towards Buggy in the sky.
In the eyes of the News Bird, someone like Buggy was a premium customer, he even learned to fly into the sky to get the newspaper himself.
Seeing the passing News Bird, Buggy waved, indicating he needed a newspaper too.
Even as a rather fierce pirate in the East Sea, aside from starved people trying to take emergency measures, no one wanted to harm the News Bird.
After placing coins in the News Bird's pouch, Buggy began to browse the recent news; sometimes newspapers offered clues to treasures.
Then he saw something he couldn't accept.
[The New Sea Emperor - Red Hair Shanks, the era of the Four Emperors has come!]
The Navy would nickname pirates, but wouldn't give this group a new designation. Roger's title of Pirate King back then was because he reached Laugh Tale and accomplished that feat.
The Seven Warlords of the Sea were strong pirates sought by the World Government to balance the sea, hence a need for a majestic title. As for the initial Sea Emperor and today's Four Emperors, those were results of Morgans hyping things up for attention.
Buggy would read the newspaper, but only for things that interested him. After all, he had traveled the New World with the Roger Pirates, so he wasn't interested in ordinary matters.
Moreover, his relationship with Shanks was complex. In short, he detested the person who ruined his dreams, so he hadn't paid attention before, until he saw this news now.
"The Four Emperors... Shanks, that bastard, ruined my treasure hunting dream, and now he's reached this stage!"
Furious to the point of molecular disassembly, Buggy actually achieved it. In the sky, he continuously split and reassembled, making various incomprehensible movements, dropping the Wanted Poster that was interleaved in the newspaper, leaving the underlings below dumbfounded.
"Captain Buggy! Are you okay? Is there something special in today's news?"
"3.6 billion... how terrifying, is this the monster of the Grand Line? But why is Captain Buggy so agitated? Does he know this big shot?"
"Mind your own business! Quickly dig up the treasure for me!"
Hearing the people below refer to Shanks as a big shot further agitated Buggy's emotions.
In complex emotions, Buggy also joined the digging team, starting to convert those complex emotions into physical labor. Due to their persistent efforts, they finally cracked open a hole in the rock layer, out of which some black liquid started to flow.
"Captain Buggy, there's some strange liquid flowing out, it's not the gold you mentioned!"
"How is that possible? The treasure map clearly stated the gold was flowing below, move the cannon over! Blast this place open directly! Let me show you the power of my newly developed Buggy Bomb!"
Previously unsure of the exact location, now they had unearthed what was supposedly the treasure, but ended up with unknown black liquid. Buggy didn't have opportunities like Shanks, so he planned to vent with these things. As for the result, well...
"As expected of Captain Buggy, the power of the Buggy Bomb is really strong."
"Yeah, that whole mountain was blown away."
"Don't take it for granted! A bunch of idiots, think about how to land!!"
The Buggy Bomb, specially made cannon ammunition by Buggy, was incredibly powerful. But this explosion wasn't just the Buggy Bomb's issue; Buggy had some translation errors on the treasure map. It mentioned liquid gold, and this liquid gold wasn't what it literally meant.
The islands in the sea developed very differently, ranging from prehistoric civilization to future technology. Buggy's treasure map happened to be on an island at the second industrial revolution stage, where oil's value was no less than gold.
However, Buggy didn't perceive this issue, leading to the current situation.
Meanwhile, on Ghost Island, watching Shanks, who had truly established the title of the Sea Emperor, Olga also felt quite complicated.
"These kids grow up so fast."
Shanks had already gained quite a bit of fame before, but in this era after Roger's death, the Four Emperors were undoubtedly the pinnacle of pirates, not to mention Kaidou being one of the Four Emperors too.
Seeing Shanks become someone on par with her boss, she felt a lot, especially since he used to be just someone she defeated.
"The times have changed, Olga, and now things aren't too bad either."
"Yeah, but Elizabeth, haven't you seen any news about the red-nosed one?"
"Red nose?"
"You know, the one hanging around with that red-haired guy. Now that guy's become a Sea Emperor, his friend must be doing well too, right? Strange, why don't I have any impression at all?"
Pirates in the New World frequently needed to update information to know who was doing well recently, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find any intel about Buggy.