One Piece: Ulquiorra Template

Chapter 65: John

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"Captain John's treasure? Who's that? Black Wing, don't think you can fool our boss Buggy with just any old story!" Mohji and Cabaji exclaimed, eyeing the armband Ian pulled from his pocket. Since when had a Marine Vice Admiral become a con artist? They'd never heard of such a thing.

After the God Valley Incident, where the Marines and Roger had joined forces to crush the Rocks Pirates, the whereabouts of the vast fortune amassed by the Rocks crew remained a mystery. However, the fact that even Buggy, a seasoned pirate and former Roger Pirate, was seeking Captain John's treasure suggested a possible explanation.

It was entirely plausible that the greedy Captain John had absconded with the Rocks Pirates' entire fortune, effectively betraying the entire crew. After all, this was a crew that had fostered future Emperors like Kaido and Big Mom, legendary pirates like Whitebeard and Shiki, and had been so formidable that it took the combined might of Gol D. Roger and the Marines to defeat them. Their treasure hoard must have been immense.

"That doesn't look like a fake..." Both Garp and Buggy instantly recognized the armband as John's, one a Marine hero, the other a former Roger Pirate, both veterans of the God Valley Incident.

"Yeah, I got this from Moria. He and his crew were turned into zombies, so they clearly didn't know its value." Ian explained, still baffled as to why John, a crewmate of Whitebeard, Shiki, Kaido, and Big Mom, would end up as a zombie.

He had used his Vice Admiral privileges to investigate John and discovered a staggering 2.2 billion berry bounty, the same as Blackbeard. Given John's affiliation with the Rocks Pirates, such a bounty wasn't entirely surprising. However, beyond that, he found no other information. Like the Straw Hat, perhaps the armband was simply a symbol of his identity.

Otherwise, Moria wouldn't have left it on the zombie. From the earlier context, it was deduced that Captain John was betrayed and killed by his own crew, and then mocked by his fellow zombies. This suggested that John, much like his betrayal of Rocks, was ultimately betrayed by those he trusted.

This revelation only fueled Buggy's obsession. Ian couldn't fathom the extent of Buggy's avarice, but the fact that Luffy had secured Buggy's assistance in escaping Impel Down with a mention of treasure spoke volumes. Buggy's greed bordered on madness. Otherwise, during the Marineford War, when Shanks asked him to return Luffy's straw hat,

Buggy would never have been so easily distracted by a new treasure map, forgetting his Devil Fruit weakness to water. Carefree and focused solely on treasure, that was Buggy's simple pursuit, a philosophy likely inherited from his time with Roger.

"No way! I have to examine it to see if it's real!" Buggy exclaimed, reaching for the armband, only for Ian to pull it back. "Here's the item. Take it or leave it."

Ian's casual demeanor and nonchalant expression, coupled with his stoic face, only served to further agitate Buggy. It conveyed a sense of indifference, a subtle challenge. And indeed, it was.

Ian was merely curious about Buggy's true strength.

Buggy seemed content with its basic applications. He thought of Gildarts Clive, the Fifth Guild Master of Fairy Tail, whose immense magical power caused unintentional destruction, prompting his town to create a special path for him,

allowing him to walk directly to the guild hall without demolishing the streets. Gildarts even bore a striking resemblance to Shanks, leading many to believe he was making a cameo appearance.