Discussion What will Cross Guild do next?

[electricmastro]

Yamato seem to be at average intelligence for the one piece world. So I doubt that she'd fall for anything involving buggy even if crocodiles in involved or not.

Considering how this is a character who’s self-admitted to not know much about the outside world, I suppose we’ll just have to see then.

 

[WILDCARD 1 7]

Considering how this is a character who’s self-admitted to not know much about the outside world, I suppose we’ll just have to see then.

True but you also have to keep in mind buggies in this situation cuz he couldn't keep his big mouth shut even with the fear of Hawking Crocodile. And even mentioning Luffy, which someone will, tends to work him up.

Be patient Oda will bring her back into the story when he's ready.

 

[FetherMan]

Cross Guild gathering more powerful allies towards their cause and the best option in doing so, is Impel Down. The only thing with that is, Blackbeard kind of did that already.

 

[electricmastro]

Looks like Cross Guild set to be going for the Road Poneglyphs in Chapter 1121, as well as Croc getting reinvested in Pluton.

Just about everyone will be making a major move during the Elbaf arc it seems.

 

[Zmsp]

Depending on the Egghead finale, I could see Stussy or Lucci + Kaku joining, maybe all 3.

They've seen some shit and started asking questions, even if they did their job in okayish fashion.

It makes a lot of sense thematically.

 

[RaisinRisin]

Depending on the Egghead finale, I could see Stussy or Lucci + Kaku joining, maybe all 3.

They've seen some shit and started asking questions, even if they did their job in okayish fashion.

It makes a lot of sense thematically.

They do all seem like potential candidates, but I feel like they're not quite at that point yet. Maybe Stussy alone, or she could just go back to neo-MADS or whatever Judge and Caesar (and Queen???) are calling themselves right now. Could be interesting if Miss Buckin and Marco tried hiring Cross Guild to bust Weevil out of jail. (Very doable if he's not in Impel Down yet. If he's in Impel Down though, it'd have to be off-screened or very rushed.)

 

[Zmsp]

They do all seem like potential candidates, but I feel like they're not quite at that point yet. Maybe Stussy alone, or she could just go back to neo-MADS or whatever Judge and Caesar (and Queen???) are calling themselves right now. Could be interesting if Miss Buckin and Marco tried hiring Cross Guild to bust Weevil out of jail. (Very doable if he's not in Impel Down yet. If he's in Impel Down though, it'd have to be off-screened or very rushed.)

Am I the only one who's looking at Cross Guild like some sort of World Government metaphor?

They're an organization represented by a cross that issues bounties, and they're blurring the lines between good and evil...

I still believe this might be true, and there's a panel that has me entertaining the possibility:

Spoiler: Zoro talking to Kaku

 

[RaisinRisin]

I still believe this might be true, and there's a panel that has me entertaining the possibility:

Spoiler: Zoro talking to Kaku

Nice callback there.

I think I understand your case (and can support it), but what about the current headspace Lucci and Kaku are in? I feel like-- if he has any integrity anyway-- a single encounter with the inhumane ruthlessness of the Gorousei towards its supposed allies isn't going to be an issue for Lucci, considering how he treated Nero on the train from Water 7. Kaku might change his mind but that's probably only if he learns what happened. I doubt Lucci would tell him.

 

[electricmastro]

Depending on the Egghead finale, I could see Stussy or Lucci + Kaku joining, maybe all 3.

They've seen some shit and started asking questions, even if they did their job in okayish fashion.

It makes a lot of sense thematically.

Lucci and Kaku from my perspective still seem too devoted to the Government to quit. Stussy I could see being with Cross Guild depending on what her next moves are though.

 

[Zmsp]

Nice callback there.

I think I understand your case (and can support it), but what about the current headspace Lucci and Kaku are in? I feel like-- if he has any integrity anyway-- a single encounter with the inhumane ruthlessness of the Gorousei towards its supposed allies isn't going to be an issue for Lucci, considering how he treated Nero on the train from Water 7. Kaku might change his mind but that's probably only if he learns what happened. I doubt Lucci would tell him.

Lucci and Kaku from my perspective still seem too devoted to the Government to quit. Stussy I could see being with Cross Guild depending on what her next moves are though.

Well, I wouldn't go out of my way to defend this outcome, but I think we have a couple of good arguments for it:

- They've served their purpose in the roles they were given. If the characters are to stick around, a change of goals would give them some life back. They were the "superhumans" during Enies Lobby and we've seen the new ones, we've seen their fruits and the awakenings, we've seen the doubts start to show, we've had the Vegapunk message to add another layer to it, so now we just need the climax to seal the deal. Would anyone want to see round 4 of Lucci vs SHs/Ally?

- We've yet to really see the Egghead climax, but it is my belief that the lack of tension clearly points towards Imu, a God Knight or Lulusia Weapon showing up over the next chapter or two. I guess the God Knight wouldnt do much for them, but Imu or Lulusia Weapon would probably make them question a thing or two. Quite literal inhumanity is bound to have them scratch their heads over the matter.

- They could just get blamed for the Egghead failure and sent to Impel Down like Who's Who, eventually being freed with Doflamingo/Weevil or something along those lines.

The Egghead climax is probably gonna dictate a lot when it comes to Yonkou movements/dynamics.

- If I'm advocating for a Government inspiration, we need the assassin branch and a proper zodiac

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 30, 2024, Original Post Date: Jul 26, 2024 ---

Actually, I've given it some thought and I think we can start making more educated guesses on who joins Cross Guild and what their next move is. They're not exactly a pirate crew, but a large crime syndicate that operates like a business. I see two possible routes:

1) Elbaf: I think that intersects with Neo-MADS and the way they operate, and establishes a motive for them to join the fray at Elbaf: Caesar and the giantification plot, the giants that deserted his crew and the Buggy/Shanks storyline.

2) Hachinosu: If he's gathering former warlords, we could have Moria join them in case he actually escaped from there, and give them information on stuff like the 3 Road Poneglyphs stolen from Law. It could also be that Law joins them and negotiates saving his crew in exchange for that information... I think Law is most likely to join the SHs, but this is plausible enough. There's no time for Buggy to roam the seas in order to get his poneglyphs.

I can't see them raiding Impel Down right now, but I think it would be fitting for all major clows to join the circus: Buggy, Caesar, Moria, Doflamingo.

 

[RaisinRisin]

Actually, I've given it some thought and I think we can start making more educated guesses on who joins Cross Guild and what their next move is. They're not exactly a pirate crew, but a large crime syndicate that operates like a business. I see two possible routes:

1) Elbaf: I think that intersects with Neo-MADS and the way they operate, and establishes a motive for them to join the fray at Elbaf: Caesar and the giantification plot, the giants that deserted his crew and the Buggy/Shanks storyline.

2) Hachinosu: If he's gathering former warlords, we could have Moria join them in case he actually escaped from there, and give them information on stuff like the 3 Road Poneglyphs stolen from Law. It could also be that Law joins them and negotiates saving his crew in exchange for that information... I think Law is most likely to join the SHs, but this is plausible enough. There's no time for Buggy to roam the seas in order to get his poneglyphs.

I can't see them raiding Impel Down right now, but I think it would be fitting for all major clows to join the circus: Buggy, Caesar, Moria, Doflamingo.

Moria is actually a very good candidate for joining Cross Guild. Good potential for comedic interactions if they later recruit Doflamingo too.

I can only see it happening temporarily (most likely if it's to save some of his crew as you said) since his personal journey seems to be more about learning what it is to be a D and deciding what to do with that knowledge, but Law joining Cross Guild would be hilarious! (We'd get opportunities for absurd alliance-to-alliance comparisons, personal goals at cross-purposes (yet somehow working out anyway), and I can absolutely see an annoyed Law getting petty and telling Buggy to his face that Luffy called him an idiot in Wano. Law wouldn't want credit for doing their work, but he'd resent it going to Buggy.)

There's potential for neo-MADS (and/or Germa?) involvement with Cross Guild, partially depending where Miss Buckin and Marco's storyline is going. She can't go to Vegapunk anymore to prove paternity, so neo-MADS (and Judge in particular) would probably be the next-best option. It could take some time spent convincing/recruiting them before any potential Impel Down shenanigans go down. If neo-MADS has already joined Cross Guild for some kind of joint business venture, then all your players are together, but not at Elbaf. If Elbaf is Shanks' territory, that could spell (the wrong kind of) trouble.

I didn't think Caesar personally cared about giantification, but I wouldn't be surprised if his dealings with the Straw Hats might have made him decide to stop specializing in weapons of mass destruction and focus on something like cloning instead. I just hope they don't go stealing giant DNA to make cloned or artificial giants. (If they do though, they'll definitely appear in the final war.)

 

[Zmsp]

I didn't think Caesar personally cared about giantification, but I wouldn't be surprised if his dealings with the Straw Hats might have made him decide to stop specializing in weapons of mass destruction and focus on something like cloning instead. I just hope they don't go stealing giant DNA to make cloned or artificial giants. (If they do though, they'll definitely appear in the final war.)

I have to disagree on the giants part.
I'd say giantification is the one thing Caesar really cares about, because Vegapunk seemingly deemed it impossible, and Neo-MADS are mostly about going beyond Vegapunk. We obviously have to assume that whatever comes from the Caesar/Judge association is related to a clone army of artificial devil fruit users, but there has to be a bit more to it than that, and giants/ancient giants is the unexplored plot that connects them to the current narrative.

There's also Lilith and her own revenge plot against the Government: Lilith was the primordial woman, so she was Eve in the whole Sunlight Eve vs Treasure Adam narrative that will likely be explored in Elbaf. The other primordial woman is Pandora, and that's the sun homie created by Mother Carmel, a government broker that operated in Elbaf.

There are too many connections here for this to not be exposed in Elbaf.

 

[RaisinRisin]

I have to disagree on the giants part.
I'd say giantification is the one thing Caesar really cares about, because Vegapunk seemingly deemed it impossible, and Neo-MADS are mostly about going beyond Vegapunk. We obviously have to assume that whatever comes from the Caesar/Judge association is related to a clone army of artificial devil fruit users, but there has to be a bit more to it than that, and giants/ancient giants is the unexplored plot that connects them to the current narrative.

There's also Lilith and her own revenge plot against the Government: Lilith was the primordial woman, so she was Eve in the whole Sunlight Eve vs Treasure Adam narrative that will likely be explored in Elbaf. The other primordial woman is Pandora, and that's the sun homie created by Mother Carmel, a government broker that operated in Elbaf.

There are too many connections here for this to not be exposed in Elbaf.

I still don't think Caesar cares about giants, as his past behaviour seems to indicate the only accomplishment he actually blatantly proud of was making massive poisonous bombs, and there are other ways to top Vegapunk. Maybe also SMILEs, though that seemed more about how they raised his status in the world via dealings with Joker. That said, Judge might want a giant clone army (even if there's no obvious purpose for him having it, except maybe to help Cross Guild go after an ancient weapon or something).

If they were to go to Elbaf while at the same time being members of Cross Guild, it would have to be undercover, or Shanks' allies will raise the alarm. Alternatively, if it's not Cross Guild-related activity (and also if, say, if it helps prove the validity of whatever genetic soup Miss Buckin was likely involved in concocting to make Weevil) though then I suppose I can see how it could work.

 

[electricmastro]

Looks like Oda just keeps building up the hype with Cross Guild in the race for One Piece. Looking at the latest chapter, I wonder what Crocodile will discuss with Buggy in regards to that.

 

[RaisinRisin]

Looks like Oda just keeps building up the hype with Cross Guild in the race for One Piece. Looking at the latest chapter, I wonder what Crocodile will discuss with Buggy in regards to that.

I might be wrong, but I got the impression from 1122 that Crocodile only said "sit" there (and not anything else) not just for the joke where Buggy is like his dog, but also because Buggy's "it's ours" line was his idea and he didn't want him to go off script and start improvising afterwards. Not only do we already know Buggy is being managed but on top of that, I don't think Buggy would ever want to share a treasure freely, considering his behaviour in the past, so I suspect Croc is just planting seeds to manipulate the crowd while also making sure he has front row access.

 

[electricmastro]

I might be wrong, but I got the impression from 1122 that Crocodile only said "sit" there (and not anything else) not just for the joke where Buggy is like his dog, but also because Buggy's "it's ours" line was his idea and he didn't want him to go off script and start improvising afterwards. Not only do we already know Buggy is being managed but on top of that, I don't think Buggy would ever want to share a treasure freely, considering his behaviour in the past, so I suspect Croc is just planting seeds to manipulate the crowd while also making sure he has front row access.

It’s just that I think we figure something has to happen with them in the race for One Piece given everything that has just happened.

I also get the suspicion that Vegapunk’s words have renewed Crocodile’s interest in Pluton as well.

 

[WILDCARD 1 7]

Since it doesn't look like Marco was going to free Weeble last we saw him. Buckingham may try to get Cross Guild. Tho since he's possibly a clone of Whitebeard I don't think he was taken to ID. Perhaps the same place that King (and possibly Queen)was taken to.
Maybe they'd even run into Greenbull since he was the one that took Weeble King and Queen. And have a battle thus increasing overall bounties.
But that's just one half cooked idea lol

 

[electricmastro]

So, might be that Cross Guild will be recruiting Kozuki Moria next.