Chapter 261: Crocodile's Mecha Dream

"Good, Buggy Clan Head."

Crocodile tossed the Family Token over without hesitation.

After examining it carefully, Buggy confirmed there was no problem and directly chose to found a family.

【Congratulations to player 【Genuine Joker】 for founding the 【Desert Circus】 family!】

"Old Sand, no need to be polite with me. Since you contributed the Family Token, the family name naturally has your share in it."

Buggy, very much on familiar terms, reached out and draped an arm over the Sand Crocodile's shoulder,

seemingly pleased with his own brilliant decision to recruit an ally.

"Thanks, but no need next time."

Crocodile's mouth corner twitched,

such a stupid-sounding family name—he'd rather not have his share added to it.

Buggy kept his word, directly giving the Vice Clan Head position to the Sand Crocodile, and transferred 150,000 Reward Points to him.

Having received the Reward Points, Crocodile couldn't wait to open the Game Shelf,

to purchase an item he'd had his eye on for a long time.

"President, Pluton should be a giant warship. If you buy it directly in the tent, won't it run aground?"

Daz Bones was one of the few who knew the Sand Crocodile's plan.

He hadn't known at first either; only when things fell through at the last moment did he piece together the truth of the plan from the President's scraps of words.

The President had gone to great lengths to seize Alabasta, all to obtain the historical text in the Dixia Wangling.

It recorded information about Pluton within.

According to legend,

Pluton was a warship of tremendous scale; if driven at full power, it could destroy an island in an instant.

It was the highest-level technological product of the Ancient Kingdom.

"Vice Clan Head, you actually want Pluton? What enormous ambition!"

Buggy, hearing Bones's words, was also full of shock.

After all, he was a former crewmate of Pirate King Roger—even if he hadn't eaten pork, he'd seen a pig run; he had also heard his crewmates talk about matters concerning the Ancient Weapon.

"Pluton?"

Crocodile raised his head, a look of reminiscence in his dark eyes,

then shook his head with some disdain: "Only after becoming a player did I realize how laughable my pursuit of Pluton looked under the Game Merchant's gaze."

The Pluton warship he had so bitterly pursued had long been cast out of his mind.

Just as the Game Merchant had said,

within the Samsara Game, any wish of a player could be granted.

These wishes could be old ambitions, like the Pluton warship, or new wishes born after witnessing the Samsara Game.

Compared to the new wish, the Pluton warship was like a mere toy, utterly incapable of sparking his interest anymore.

"What I pursue now is no such shallow thing as Pluton."

Crocodile drew a deep breath, as if to prove it, and laughed wildly: "The Ancient Weapon of the Pirate World? The Great Kingdom?"

"All boring stuff. I heard the World Government has already produced some results?"

He turned his head,

looking at Buggy, who had once been hunted by the God's Knights.

"That's right. When I was ransacking the Celestial Dragons' vault, I seemed to see some materials."

"Didn't look closely, but it seemed related to Vegapunk on Danjian Dao—something about manufacturing the strongest weapon, the Seraphim?"

Buggy nodded. They were all comrades in the same family now; there was nothing to hide.

The entire sea knew,

the God Clan had manufactured the latest high-powered weapon, far surpassing the Pacifistas of Marine Headquarters—the strongest technological product combined with the Ancient Weapon.

This was intelligence deliberately leaked by the World Government.

Unwilling to see Marine Headquarters dominate alone, constantly attracting talent to join, they could only proactively reveal their trump card.

"The strongest weapon?"

Crocodile sneered: "Before the Samsara Game, it's like useless gravel, long since belonging in the trash heap."

"Open your eyes wide and take a good look at what I've redeemed!"

He spread his hands,

and a golden light flared up, illuminating the entire tent.

"If it were before, I definitely wouldn't believe anyone talking such big talk."

Buggy's expression grew solemn; he widened his eyes, waiting for the Vice Clan Head's redeemed item, thinking: "But now, no matter what item appears in the Samsara Game, it won't surprise me."

The Buggy Pirates, including Bones, also stared expectantly at the golden light.

A moment later,

the light gradually faded, and a pistol forged entirely of metal, golden in color, was held in the Sand Crocodile's hand.

"Huh?"

Buggy's mouth fell open, feeling like watching a circus performance only to have the finale be not a lion or a fierce tiger, but a comical little pony.

The rest also wore strange expressions.

Mohji burst out laughing: "Vice Clan Head, that metal pistol actually cost 150,000 Reward Points?"

The Samsara Game's goods never cheated young or old—

the more Reward Points spent, the better the quality of the item, so this metal pistol must be special somehow.

But the appearance was truly terrible.

It looked just like the alloy toys that the former king of Drum Kingdom, now Wapol of the Wapol Pirate Crew, manufactured and sold to young children.

"Hmph, don't be impatient."

Crocodile glanced sideways, mocking Mohji, and said: "My exchange item can smash your Purple Fire Lion to pieces."

He gripped the handgun tightly and pulled the trigger.

Bang.

With a soft sound, a top engraved with yellow sand shot out from the gun barrel and rolled along the ground.

The ground the top rolled over left behind a trail of shimmering light,

until the top drew a circular mark, and a violent Magic wave erupted.

A golden-yellow Magic Circle,

filled with scorching heat, as if yellow sand were rushing toward one's face.

"Mohji, watch clearly. This is my—come out, Desert Envoy!"

The Magic Circle, as if connected to some space, continuously emitted a pulling force,

and a golden-yellow mecha head appeared,

with golden patterns swirling across its surface, like a symbol of the desert.

【Desert Envoy】: A mecha from the world of Light Energy Envoy, forged from special metal combined with Magic, capable of manipulating the power of desert and desiccation.

Crocodile directly tossed out the metal handgun that had summoned the mecha head,

and after the handgun landed, it transformed into a golden hoverboard,

he leaped onto the hoverboard, his body wrapped in a layer of golden halo, and charged into the crystal at the brow of the mecha head.

Hum.

The mecha head, now piloted by Crocodile, rapidly began to shift form, transforming into a giant mecha dozens of meters tall.

Its head directly punched through the top of the tent.

"Mohji, are you very dissatisfied that I became the vice Clan Head of the Desert Circus family?"

Crocodile's voice came from within the Desert Envoy mecha.

Being able to gather a large amount of assets in a short time and run the Baroque Works in an orderly fashion, he understood very well the principle of combining kindness with authority.

Now was the time to establish authority.

"There's no vice Clan Head—it's my fault!"

Mohji hurriedly shielded his lion Liji and lowered his head to show submission.

"Hahahahaha, you idiot Mohji, is the vice Clan Head someone you can look down on?"

Buggy saw this and burst out laughing, feeling there was nothing improper about it.

Among Pirates, whoever is stronger calls the shots. Even the Sand Crocodile with his Desert Envoy can't beat him, so he is the Clan Head.

Mohji provoked the new vice Clan Head, so getting scolded was his just deserts.

Moreover,

the stronger the Desert Circus family's strength, the happier he, as Clan Head, naturally was.

The reason he was willing to be hunted by God's Knights, to give up his Celestial Dragon identity and steal the Celestial Dragon treasury, was because he was not the kind of person willing to cower in some corner.

In the past, he had no ability,

but now, the Samsara Game had given him the chance to pursue his dreams anew.

Buggy suddenly changed his usual comical manner, raised his head, and looked seriously at the Desert Envoy, asking: "Old Sand, what is your dream?"

(End of this chapter)