In the latest chapter we learned about the Cross Guild, a powerful organization headlined by three former members of the Seven Warlords of the Sea: Buggy, Dracule Mihawk and Crocodile; with Buggy, now one of the Four Emperors, recognized as the leader.
The Cross Guild is able to use their battle might and political influence to issue bounties on Marines, an initiative which appears to be working as indicated by it being reported on in the newspapers. As a result of the bounties, the Marines now have to worry about attacks not only from pirates, but civilians and bounty hunters as well.
Not much is currently known about how the group was formed. It appeared to have been created following the end of the Levely, when the Seven Warlords system was disbanded and Buggy and Mihawk became wanted criminals again. Buggy was named as one of the new Four Emperors around the same time this group was created, and Trafalgar Law noted that gaining followers of Mihawk and Crocodile’s caliber certainly warranted this.
Honestly I don’t think it’s particularly surprising that Crocodile and Mihawk joined Buggy.
Crocodile seems prefer working in the shadows. He’s a manipulator and a mastermind. He probably sees value in allowing people to think Buggy is in charge to draw attention away from himself.
Crocodile is someone that’s already faced defeat and been captured. However, he knows that Buggy, while weak, has an outstandingly amazing resume from being on Roger’s crew to masterminding Impel Down, not to mention so quickly entrenching himself into the Underworld that as soon as Doflamingo’s years (decades?) long presence vanished, Buggy was immediately poised to be the #1 player in the Underworld markets.
It makes absolute sense for Crocodile to use Buggy as a figurehead leader to further promote and boost the organization up. Crocodile as a captain doesn’t quite have the same sort of impact. Buggy does, at least to most of the world. People like Kid can see somethings wrong, but the general public won’t.
Mihawk is a little more inscrutable. His motives have always been somewhat mysterious and he seems to be at least partially driven by whatever passing whim catches his fancy. Why he joined Cross Guild in the first place is hard to say. What we can say though is that Mihawk doesn’t seem the leader type. He’s one of the few Warlords we were introduced to without a crew or organization attached to him. So his reluctance to lead could be why he doesn’t feel a need to clarify Buggy’s position.
