"I've returned, Grandline," says Buggy excitedly while looking at the vast sea.
The Clowns finally reach Grandline's entrance after having a bad start. They all get excited because this is where their real journey will start. This is what they've prepared for.
"What should we do now, Captain?" asks Cricket.
"Of course, we will follow the log pose. But before that, let's go to that watchtower. I want to meet someone," says Buggy while pointing at the watchtower on their left.
They dock their ship on the coast and go to the watchtower. There's no one there, but Buggy can feel someone is inside the watchtower. He knocks on the door and someone comes out soon.
"Long time no see, Crocus-san," says Buggy after seeing the one who comes out, it's Roger Pirates' doctor, Crocus.
"Hmm? Oh, Buggy, it's been a long time. How are you doing? Haha," says Crocus excitedly while patting Buggy's shoulder.
"I'm good. You should know that from the news too," says Buggy while smiling.
"Haha, you haven't appeared in any news for 6 months, so I don't know anything. You've finally come to Grandline again, huh? Shanks has started earlier, you know. It's been 1 year I guess," says Crocus.
"Shanks can do what he wants and I will do what I want. I'm not in a rush to come here like him, so I took my time," says Buggy.
"Well, as long as you're fine, then it won't be a problem. You've also become very strong now, even though you were like that in the past," says Crocus while smiling.
Buggy flinches and immediately covers Crocus' mouth. He doesn't want his crew to know that he was a coward. Well, that was the original Buggy, but he is Buggy now, so it is embarrassing.
"Like that?" asks Mantis curiously.
"A-ahaha, it's nothing. I was just very weak in the past, so I trained hard after that. He must be surprised to see my progress, that's all," says Buggy nervously while pinching Crocus' stomach lightly.
Crocus looks at Buggy with stink eyes and thinks, 'Sure you were a little weaker than Shanks, but you were not that weak for your age at that time. The problem was your cowardness.'
Crocus flicks Buggy's hand and says, "Yeah, I'm just too surprised at his progress. He has grown stronger very fast, after all."
Buggy's crewmates feel that it's not what Crocus meant. But they won't know it unless Crocus or Buggy tell them. They can only let it be for now because they won't get the answer soon.
Buggy then introduces his crewmates to Crocus. They talk with Crocus for some time while gathering information. Crocus must've known more about Grandline's current situation than them. They talk while eating Mantis' food.
"Big change in Grandline, huh? For now, the situation in Paradise is still like usual since the Great Pirate Era started. But in New World, there are some big movements. Whitebeard & Big Mom pirates have started to conquer many islands there," says Crocus.
"What about the Marine?" asks Buggy.
"They're still like usual, going here & there to catch pirate crews. They've raised their vigilance and got more active lately though," says Cricket.
Currently, Paradise is still peaceful enough compared to New World. With Marineford being in Paradise, the situation here is still controllable. Marine also work harder lately and many rookie pirates were caught.
The rookie pirate crews that aren't strong enough will not survive even in Paradise, not to mention in New World. Over there, many pirate crews started to join big crews like Whitebeard or Big Mom so they can survive.
Surprisingly, there's still no news about Red Hair Pirates. It seems they're still amassing strength before resuming their journey. It's not a big deal though because Shanks will eventually become an Emperor.
Buggy needs to worry more about his crew instead. The Marine is very active and they've raised in fame even before entering Grandline. He's sure the Marine have known that they're in Paradise now.
But what they'll do won't change. They'll still explore the Paradise even if many enemies will try to stop them. They've trained for months because of that, so they won't back off.
"Ah, Crocus-san, I want to apologize too. I've attacked & scared Laboon just now because he block the entrance. But he is fine, we didn't use a big attack that will injure him," says Buggy.
"You scared him?!" says Crocus in surprise.
"How?" asks Crocus curiously.
"That's a secret," says Buggy while smirking.
Crocus seems to realize it and knows how Buggy scared Laboon. He widen his eyes in surprise because he never thought that Buggy will have that power. But he smiles because it means Buggy has the ability to get big in this era.
"Roger & Rayleigh will be proud of you, Buggy," says Crocus while smiling.
"They should've. Then, Crocus-san, I think we'll leave now. I just want to greet you after some years," says Buggy while standing from his seat.
The Clowns then return to his ship and Crocus sends them. They get on their ship and prepare to sail. But before sailing away, Buggy says something to Crocus.
"Crocus-san, tells Laboon I apologize. Also, I will help him find his friends again. He just needs to stay here and be well," says Buggy.
"Alright, I'll tell him about it," says Crocus lightly. He doesn't think much about it and thinks Buggy just wants to make him feel better.
The Clowns then leave and follow the Log Pose's direction that pointed to the front right. They wave to Crocus as they leave the Twin Peaks.
As they sail on the sea, Buggy tells his crew to get ready for Grandline's absurdity. He has told them many times, but they haven't seen it themselves, so they won't understand it.
Just like what Buggy thinks, the others are still quite nonchalant now. But they change fast when the sky suddenly gets dark and a blizzard suddenly appears.
Now they finally realized why Buggy always telling them about it. Grandline's weather is always absurd like this. It will get even worse in New World, so they need to prepare for it.
The Clowns try to control their ship amidst the strong blizzard. They don't even have time to change their clothes into the thicker ones because they need to control their ship.
Jude use all her knowledge to take them out of this blizzard. The blizzard lasts for 6 hours before they finally get out of it and get a good weather again. The Clowns are shivering because of the cold, but at least they can get out alive.
"It's...*brr* really an absurd sea," says Cricket while shivering.
"I've told you about it many times," says Buggy while warming himself under the sunlight.
The Clowns continue their way to the first island. They sail for a few days and keep encountering sudden weather changes. They even meet another pirate crew, but both crews ignore each other and focus on surviving the bad weather.
Them after 5 days of sailing and getting into many weather troubles, the Clown finally arrives on the first island. The island is a big active volcano that has some lava streams coming out from it.
The island is completely made out of volcanic rocks & soil. They don't see any vegetation or sign of living being on the island. Then the volcano suddenly erupts and lets out a lot of volcanic matter.
Buggy can only look at the island with a helpless expression. "Great, another terrible start."
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