"Goddammit!"
"From this day on, I'm the King of Clowns!!!"
…
…
At the gates of a glittering hotel coated in golden paint in Carnival City.
Buggy the Clown, wearing a clown mask that barely hid his trademark red nose, stood trembling before the grand doors, shouting those words with quivering legs.
Beside him stood a strange man wearing a black Batman-style mask, his hair styled into a bright green mohawk — none other than Bartolomeo, who had officially joined the Straw Hat Pirates' Grand Fleet with Luffy and Red's permission.
Ever since witnessing Luffy and Red destroy dozens of Marine warships singlehandedly back in Loguetown, Bartolomeo had been utterly awed by their strength and spirit, drawn to them like a moth to flame.
With the help of the veteran pirate Alvida, he quickly organized his own crew from the underworld and entered the Grand Line.Thanks to the immense power of his Barrier-Barrier Fruit and his own formidable ability, they survived countless dangers and storms.
Eventually, he encountered Buggy again in the waters near Carnival City — the same clown captain he had met briefly in Loguetown.
After helping the Buggy Pirates defeat a pursuing Marine battleship, Bartolomeo seized the moment to beg Buggy for an introduction to join the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.
And when Red later contacted Buggy, requesting his crew to help keep an eye out for a Celestial Dragon to abduct…
Bartolomeo volunteered for the task with blazing enthusiasm.
Which led to the current scene.
…
…
"Unbelievable!!! Boss Luffy and the others really are legends!"
"They're actually going after a Celestial Dragon! That's the kind of man I swore to follow!"
"To think I can serve as part of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet — I'm so damn lucky!"
"Right, Buggy-senpai!?"
Bartolomeo's eyes gleamed with worship as he turned toward the trembling Buggy.
"Ah!?"
Buggy, though joining the Straw Hat alliance out of ambition, never imagined he'd be dragged into something this insane — and even worse, that he would be the one to start it!
But under Bartolomeo's endless cries of "Senpai! Senpai!" he could only force a strained grin, folding his arms and pretending to be calm.
"Humph! Hahaha!"
"Of course! That's obvious!"
"As a newcomer, your job is to watch carefully and learn from the best!"
"Yes, Buggy-senpai!"
To Bartolomeo, blinded by his devotion to the Straw Hats, even Buggy now seemed to radiate their same heroic glow.
Behind them, however, Mr. 3 and Alvida exchanged weary glances.Their eyes met — both filled with the same dread and resignation.
What the hell did we get ourselves into!?
Kidnapping a Celestial Dragon!?Are we out of our minds!?
The thought of running away crossed both their minds simultaneously.
But when they turned to look at their captains again, hesitation silenced them.
Mr. 3 recalled how Buggy had saved him and taken him aboard, how things had gone smoothly since.If he left now, would he go back to being that terrified assassin constantly looking over his shoulder?
Alvida, meanwhile, thought of the countless perils they'd faced under Bartolomeo's lead.If she quit now, she probably wouldn't even make it back to East Blue alive.
"Sigh~"
The two let out a synchronized sigh.
Then, resigned to fate, they followed their captains toward the hotel.
Perhaps luck was with them after all.
Not long after Buggy hung up with Red, they'd spotted a Celestial Dragon parading through the street atop a kneeling slave.The man had stopped a performing circus troupe, demanding they appear at his hotel the next day to entertain him.
So, that night, Buggy's crew ambushed the circus, stole their props, and disguised themselves as the troupe.
After all — Buggy's pirates were modeled after a circus, and Bartolomeo's men were already garishly dressed punks.Playing the role came naturally.
When they entered the hotel lobby, not even the guards checked them — they were ushered straight inside by the Celestial Dragon's bodyguards.
Fate, timing, and luck all seemed aligned in Buggy's favor.
It was as if the heavens themselves wanted this farce to happen.
…
…
Meanwhile…
Not long after Buggy's group entered the hotel, a man in wooden geta and a simple ronin's garb stepped out of a casino across the street.
A blind swordsman — who had sealed his own eyes so he would no longer have to witness the world's sins.
The man who would one day become the Marine Admiral known as Fujitora.
But for now, he was merely a gambler of uncommon strength — with no ties to the Marines.
"…Their target is a Celestial Dragon?"
Standing by the casino doors, Fujitora murmured softly.
Though he could not see, his Observation Haki far surpassed ordinary men, allowing him to feel the world with exquisite clarity.
And unfortunately for Buggy and Bartolomeo, their "whispered" plans had reached his ears perfectly.
"The Straw Hat Pirates… if I recall correctly…"
"They're the rookies who entered the Grand Line recently with bounties over a hundred million."
"But why target a Celestial Dragon? Seeking fame? Or justice?"
Curiosity stirred within him.
He despised pirates — but loathed the Celestial Dragons far more, those self-proclaimed gods who treated commoners as toys and slaves.
Taka, taka…The sound of his wooden sandals echoed on the stones as he began walking toward the hotel.
But before he reached it, a commotion broke out down the street.
Through his Observation Haki, he sensed people dropping to their knees in panic.
At the far end of the road, a lavish palanquin approached — carried by four scantily dressed women.
Their knees and hands were bloodied raw, yet they kept crawling forward, driven by fear.
For seated above them… was a Celestial Dragon — a so-called descendant of the Creator.
Before such beings, neither slaves nor commoners were seen as human.
"…"
Fujitora clenched his fists tightly.But in the end, he too knelt with the others — powerless, shamed.
The suffering in this world was endless.
Once, he'd been a fiery young man who believed in justice.He had saved countless victims, slain countless villains…But evil always returned, suffering always persisted.
And so, in despair, he had destroyed his own eyes — for the world itself was rotten to the core, beyond salvation by one man.
He had chosen blindness to escape the burden of guilt.
Yet even so, guilt never truly left him.
Over decades, he buried his sense of justice deep within, turning instead to gambling for distraction — sometimes helping others, sometimes punishing evil, but never calling it justice again.
But…Could a man truly change so easily?
…
…
The Celestial Dragon, clad in his gaudy white "space suit," stepped down from the human-drawn palanquin.
Then — BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
He drew a golden pistol and shot all four women dead.
"Useless slaves! So slow!"
"Do you know how many Beli I paid for you!?"
"Get me a new batch tomorrow!"
He barked orders, indifferent to the corpses at his feet.His guard nodded obsequiously, unfazed by the slaughter.
The Celestial Dragon strutted away, leaving the palanquin to crash down atop the dead, blood pooling like a red river.
The watching crowd trembled but dared not look, praying silently for the monster to leave.
And when he finally did — after whispering something to his bodyguard and grinning wickedly before entering the hotel — the people scattered.
Only one blind swordsman remained in the middle of the street, standing motionless like a man waiting to be helped across.
Helpless. Furious.
"…How did the world become like this?"
He clenched his fists again — and again forced himself to relax.
But this time, his head turned toward the hotel.
His Haki had clearly caught the exchange between the Celestial Dragon and his guard.The man had summoned the circus… not for entertainment, but for cruelty.
"So… what will you do, then?"
For the first time in years, Fujitora felt compelled to watch again — to witness whether those pirates could truly change anything.
He stepped forward, lifted the fallen palanquin, and gently gathered the four women's bodies.
Using his power, he carried them beyond the city to a quiet field.
There, he used his gravity to dig graves and bury them side by side.Kneeling before them, he whispered:
"My apologies. My strength is limited."
"This is all I can do."
After a pause, he continued:
"But what I cannot do… someone else in this world surely can."
"If there's even one person who can show me a glimmer of hope—"
"Even the faintest light!"
"I'll devote my all to protect that light!"
When he finished, he turned once more toward Carnival City.
He could feel it — a pulse of fate, a stirring of destiny.
Those pirates… might just make him believe again.
His Observation Haki told him so.
…
…
Half an hour earlier.
After Buggy and Bartolomeo's group were escorted through the hotel's back door, they discovered something astonishing.
Beneath the grand building lay an enormous underground coliseum.
Who could have guessed that this island of pleasure and delight hid such darkness?
As they were led into the arena, a roar of applause filled the chamber.
Around them sat nobles and merchants in fine attire, all masked, all cheering — waiting for blood.
"Uh-oh… looks like we just walked into the slaughterhouse," Mr. 3 muttered.
Clang!
The massive stone gate slammed shut behind them.
He immediately understood — the circus troupe had been deceived.
This coliseum was the Celestial Dragon's playground.He lured innocent people here for his amusement, forcing them to fight and die for sport.
Hearing this, the others' faces twisted with shock.
Buggy, already familiar with the depravity of nobles, merely rolled his eyes, mind racing on how to complete Red's mission.
But the newer members from East Blue were pale with disbelief.
The Grand Line truly was the graveyard of pirates — a place of endless darkness.
Still, they were pirates and gangsters themselves; pity came only faintly.
Among them, though, a pink-haired youth wearing a bear costume trembled.
Koby lifted his stuffed bear head and asked nervously:
"Isn't this… a crime!?"
"Don't the Marines ever stop the Celestial Dragons!?"
(End of Chapter)