One Piece: Buggy the Clown Who Fell From Grace

Barrett's eyes gleamed as if they were about to explode, and his heart pounded like a firecracker.

"no way!"

He is not willing!

The whirlpool continued until dawn. At the darkest hour of the night, Bai Xing emerged from the sea, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

"good."

Bucky sent out a hand and patted her head.

"You did very well."

The sea was dark red, littered with the carcasses of many sea monsters, and seabirds rushed to gather there before dawn.

This is their feast.

However, near the center, a colossal sea king-like floating corpse stood like an island, its castle-sized eyes gleaming gray-white, and a crack extending down from the top of its skull.

There is no life left.

Only some muscles were still twitching.

Shirahoshi placed her hand on the cheek of this sea king, her cherry-red lips opening and closing, an ancient lament echoing in the moonlit night sky and sea.

The sea kings resurfaced, their diverse faces all expressing sadness.

But the same voice echoed Bai Xing's sentiments.

王…

Their king…

At this moment, Shirahoshi felt that she had truly broken through a certain barrier. The sea kings became concrete in her mind, like Aunt Shirley from the mermaid cafe, and the mermaid Camie...

To become concrete figures and... subjects.

The sea monsters slowly circled on the surface of the sea, forming a huge, slow-moving whirlpool, and the floating corpses were slowly pulled into the sea by the current.

The seabirds that didn't have time to release their beaks were dragged down with them and became their victims.

It resembled some ancient ritual, with the tribe's people circling around their king and weeping for their dead kin.

Baji stood atop White Star's head, taking in all of this.

I stared at it for a while before turning my eyes away.

On the head of this colossal sea king, Barrett knelt with his legs bent, still in a punching stance.

His eyes, wide open, still seemed to reveal the ferocity of a wild beast, but a line of bloody tears flowed down from the corner of his eyes, his ears, nostrils, and the corner of his mouth.

His body, which had repeatedly pushed its limits, finally gave way and he died with a creak.

The soul still sustains Barrett, allowing him to stand firm in an unwavering posture.

Bucky remembered that Barrett was the second-best combatant on the ship after Roger and Rayleigh, and even Rayleigh often fought him to a draw.

However, even back then, Barrett, though equally ruthless, was still someone who was willing to entrust his back to his comrades...

This kind of entrustment probably led to him suffering a lot of betrayal after leaving the Roger Pirates, right?

After all, he didn't have Roger's charisma. After rising to a high position through sheer strength, he relentlessly pursued battles against even stronger opponents.

He wanted to become even more powerful than Roger through his own abilities.

For most pirates, such a guy would be absolutely terrible.

Because there is no benefit.

Pakistan is actually somewhat similar.

However, the biggest difference between him and Barrett is that he always focuses on the big picture and ignores the small details.

Whether it was the Sabaody Archipelago, Dressrosa, Egohart, or Wano Country, he generously distributed the gold, silver, and other valuables.

The fish-men willingly served as newspaper deliverymen, while the mermaids settled on the ark.

Vegapunk brought all his inventions onto the Ark, and although Caesar always claimed to be threatened, he secretly chuckled at the factory the Joker had approved for him.

People like Nine-Tailed Fox and Wang Zhi forced themselves to accept the Joker's madness and his various bizarre ideas.

Besides his immense power, he also had his eye on the future.

Unbeknownst to many, the Joker's future has changed from certain death to a potential rise to the top.

This is not important to Pakistan.

He first shoved a permanently marked pointer into Barrett's arms, and then released a video Den Den Mushi.

Under the watchful eyes of the Den Den Mushi, he was Bucky the Clown!

This permanent pointer was obtained from Barrett's arms!

"Morgans needs to get the work done."

Whether or not this is a permanent pointer pointing to Laugh Tale, it is witnessed by his two former Roger Pirates crew members, Clown and Bullet.

This is the permanent pointer of Laugh Tale!

Then Morgans spread his conversation with Barrett among intelligence dealers through rumors and unverified sources.

Rayleigh and Shanks also knew about this.

The pirates' enthusiasm was naturally aroused.

"This collaboration... is indeed somewhat ridiculous."

After being betrayed multiple times, Barrett no longer trusted anyone but himself, while the Joker simply felt it was unnecessary.

After doing all that, Bucky returned to Shirahoshi's head.

The carcass of the colossal sea monster slowly sank to the bottom. According to the laws of the ecosystem, this was an excellent source of nutrients for the creatures in this area, dozens of times richer than a whale fall.

However, the Sea Kings seem to behave somewhat differently.

As the last sea king's corpse sank into the sea, the large circle in which the sea kings circled seemed to shrink, pointing in a certain direction.

The sea monsters, like a migrating school of fish, clustered together the corpses of their kind, creating ocean currents that carried the bodies in one direction.

"They seem to want me to come with them?" Bai Xing's eyes reddened again, and she gained a deeper understanding of the Sea King's abilities.

But it still depends on what the Joker decides.

Bucky looked down first, and the herd of sea monsters seemed to weave together a sea dragon, swimming on the surface of the water.

Where are they going?

Or, to put it another way, where did these sea kings come from?

"This should be interesting."

Bucky narrowed his eyes slightly, not rushing to agree, but instead first finding Wang Zhi and handing him the video Den Den Mushi.

He would relay information about Morgans via Den Den Mushi (communication phone snail).

And Barrett's body... out of a bit of camaraderie from being on the same ship—mainly because of some red-nosed babble—Bucky told them to find a place to bury him.

It would be fine to bury it nearby on Peach Island.

Vegapunk invented a bubble gun that would cause ability users who touched the bubbles to lose their abilities. However, in addition to that, the bubbles created by the bubble gun also had a coating-like effect.

Pakistan was also requisitioned.

When he finished doing all this and returned to Bai Xing's head, the herd of beasts was reduced to just their tails, which were faintly visible under the starlight and moonlight.

"Let's go, let's go and take a look."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 274 The Underwater Ruins of the Calm Belt

The moon and stars are rare.

On the sea, only layers of white waves could be seen sweeping across the surface, their crashing sound drowning out the howling of the sea breeze.

Shirahoshi poked her head above the surface of the sea, her tail fin swaying underwater.

The sea kings seemed to be waiting for her, swimming slowly, but as Bai Xing approached the herd, they all let out whimpering sounds.

The herd began to graze around their king.

Shirahoshi doesn't need to swim much; the currents created by the movement of a group of sea kings are enough to propel her forward.

The sea monsters also rose slightly, revealing their dorsal or tail fins on the surface of the sea, and their skins were all different.

Some are as bright and distinct as carp, with their scales reflecting light when they surface.

Some are like eels, with a smooth mucous membrane that makes them swim exceptionally fast.

Bucky's feet were hanging from White Star's head, his body floating in mid-air, and he was also full of curiosity about this strange sight.

Neither the college students nor the red-nosed children have any memories of such a scene.

Perhaps it happened eight hundred years ago?

Roger once deduced from the historical text of Skypiea and King Neptune's description that the soon-to-be-born Shirahoshi and the mermaid princess from eight hundred years ago both belonged to "Sea King" Poseidon.

A kind of inheritance?

And there was a ceremony in front of us that resembled a funeral.

They are not simply wild animals...

Bucky recalled a setting he had seen in his memory... Sea Kings have very long lifespans and high intelligence, almost comparable to humans.

They nest in the doldrums...

If they truly possess the wisdom of ordinary people, perhaps these giants are the real kings of the world?

"Is this another secret that has been left unsolved for a hundred years?"

He gazed into the distance and saw the faint light of dawn drifting far, far away on the sea.

A secret even Red Nose doesn't know...

As the sun rose and set, it was as if someone had replaced the image in the sky; the scenery around Bucky remained completely unchanged.