HeyHey,
So I'm back to theorizing after some years away cuz of work and other RL stuff and due to some free time I thought about updating some old theories I had on OJ. This is an updated version of my Old Crocodile theory.
Warning: My theories tend to be quite long so a small heads-up if you're not into that.
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I want to start this theory off with Crocodile and to do that I first want to look at the likely inspirations for his character. Oda often uses fictional characters and historical figures as a basis for his characters in One Piece. In the case of Crocodile I believe Oda used the following 3:
Captain Hook from the play/movie Peter Pan.
Captain Ahab from the book/movie Moby-Dick.
Calico Jack, an English pirate captain operating during the early 18th century.
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The most obvious one would be Captain Hook, the main antagonist of the play/movie Peter Pan.
Captain Hook got his pirate name from the iron hook that replaced his severed hand that was eaten by a crocodile. Its likely Crocodile got both his name and hook from this movie.
What’s more important to remember however is that the name of Hook’s pirate ship was named the Jolly Roger. A phrase also used for pirate flags.
Captain Hook was largely inspired by Captain Ahab, one of the main protagonists of the book/movie Moby-Dick.
Captain Ahab lost his leg to the White whale Moby Dick and wears a prosthetic leg made out of whalebone. This could refer to Crocodile being defeated by Whitebeard. Whitebeard’s ship was called the Moby Dick and looks like a white whale.
What’s Important to remember here is that in 1930’s Moby-Dicks movie adaptation Captain Ahab served on a ship called the Mary-Ann.
The last inspiration would be the pirate John Rackham, also known as Calico Jack.
Calico Jack was activate towards the end of “the Golden Age of Piracy” which lasted from 1650 to 1730. He was most famous for having two female crew members: Mary Read and his lover Anne Bonny. After their capture in 1720 Calico Jack was swiftly executed but both Mary Read and Anne Bonny were given a temporary stay of execution by claiming to be pregnant (that’s called pleading the belly for those interested). Mary Read died in prison, most likely to fever related to childbirth, but there is no historical record of Bonny’s release or execution.
Its important here to remember two things:
1. Calico Jack was credited with designing the skull and crossed swords that became famous as the iconic Jolly Roger pirate flag.
2. Both Mary Read and Anne Bonny dresses as men to hide that they were females (they were cross-dressers, Okama in One Piece)
Now to start linking Calico Jack to Crocodile in One Piece.
Remember that I mentioned that Captain Hook’s ship in Peter Pan was called the Jolly Roger? Well Calico Jack can be linked to a Jolly Roger (pirate flag) that has two crossed swords and a skull instead of the bones.
In One Piece there are 4 Jolly Rogers that have this:
1. The Red Hair Pirates.
2. The Giant Warrior Pirates.
3. The New Giant Warrior Pirates.
4. And last but not least: Baroque Works.
What hints to Crocodile and Baroque Works is the existence of Mr. 1, Daz Bonez, who has the blade-blade fruit (bones becomes blades)
Secondly would be Captain Ahab’s ship which was called the Mary-Ann. Calico Jack had two female cross-dressers on his crew (Okama’s) which were Mary Read and Anne Bonny.
What hints to Crocodile is the existence of Mr. 2, Bon Kurei, who was an Okama ( 2 Okama).
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That should have established the Crocodile - Calico Jack link. If Crocodile was inspired by Calico Jack then the most likely character to be linked to Mary Read would be Emporio Ivankov.
Mary Read was said to have died in prison to a fever, likely related to childbirth. Something similar happened in Impel Down with Ivankov being thought of as dead, together with all the other prisoners that escaped to the secret level 5,5. Furthermore Ivankov helped Luffy recover from Magellan’s poison which could relate to the fever part.
Mary Read was apart of Calico Jack’s crew. However its unlikely that Ivankov was apart of Crocodile’s crew. I believe it to be more likely that it provides a basis for having met him when Crocodile was still a rookie pirate.
That would leave us with Anne Bonny who I believe can be linked to Jewelry Bonney (yes there’s more then only the name comparison).
Let’s start with her Devil Fruit ability which allows her to change the age of herself and other people. After the Time Skip Crocodile is 46, Ivankov is 53 but Bonney is estimated around 24.
However we saw in the Reverie Arc that she knows Kuma who should be 47 so its likely Bonney is actually allot older then she looks when we first meet her on Sabaody Archipelago.
Similar to Mary Read, Anne Bonny was also sent to prison after the crew was captured and Calico Jack was executed. We learn from Akainu that Bonney had escaped/ran away from the World Government.
There is no historical record of Anne Bonny’s release or execution which could link to this.
Similar to Ivankov, I’m not saying she was apart of Crocodile’s crew, just that it provides a basis for her having met Crocodile and or Ivankov when they were younger (if she is allot older then she seems).
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On the basis that Crocodile, Ivankov and Jewelry Bonney have met in the past we can continue to speculate.
There are multiple options Oda could have went with from this point, especially Ivankov’s Devil Fruit ability opens up some interesting routes, but I went with what seems to be the most logical option for now.
Let’s start with the possibility of Bonney having been a Revolutionary in the past. With her having a past with Kuma and Crocodile having a past with Ivankov, both Kuma and Ivakov being members of the Revolutionaries under Dragon, it’s quite possible she was once a member to. Combined they make quite the useful Devil Fruit trio for Dragon to have. Bonney can change the age of a person, Ivankov can change the gender of a person, and Kuma can teleport that person to a different Island in One Piece.
It would also explain the comment Blackbeard made about her having a high bounty while her combat abilities don’t seem that great to him.
Normally I would say that a Revolutionary member should have gotten a higher bounty but with her having escaped from the World Government it makes some sense why they didn’t want to draw to much attention to her.
Next would be Ivankov and Kuma. Let’s say Bonney was captured by the World Government and hidden somewhere since she was part of the Revolutionaries. Dragon decides to try and save her so Kuma joins the Royal Warlords to gather information on her whereabouts but can’t find her in Marine Ford. Afterwards Ivankov gets captured is sent to Impel Down but also no signs of Bonney there. The next likely location would be Marie Jois but Royal Warlords likely aren’t allowed there.
This could then lead to Kuma volunteering for the human weapon experiment if Vegapunk is also located somewhere in Marie Jois. This could allow him to enter Marie Jois to look for Bonney there.
This would explain a couple of things:
The first would be why Bonney, as part of the Worst Generation, ended up as a pirate in South Blue.
With Kuma’s Devil Fruit ability he can send people from one Island to other Islands in One Piece. We also know that Kuma used to be the King of a country in the South Blue. Having rescued Bonney from Marie Jois he could have teleported her to his own country back in South Blue, where she later formed a Pirate Crew to make her way back to the Grand Line / New World and join the Revolutionaries again.
It would also explain why she cried during the Marine Ford War.
This was after the Pacifista’s showed up during the war and it could hint at Bonney’s regret at the price Kuma had to pay to be able to rescue her.
It could also explain why she decided to infiltrate the Reverie to look for Kuma. It’s her chance at trying to rescue him and repay the favor.
The next part involves how/why Bonney was captured in the first place and I believe Crocodile was at fault.
Let’s start with her reaction after the Marine Ford War.
She says that its all “his” fault and that she must find him at once, and thus decides to head to the New World. The later part could refer to Kuma but it doesn’t make much sense why she would go to the New World for that. Kuma was already a human weapon at this point and thus likely either kept back in Marine Ford or sent to Marie Jois after the war to serve as a rental Celestial Dragon Slave (possible for having free one of their other slaves:Bonney).
Furthermore it’s all his fault doesn’t seem likely to refer to Kuma as she seems to have allot of affection for him (her infiltrating the Reverie to find him).
However if in this case she means Crocodile it makes more sense. Crocodile was also at the Marine Ford War and likely wouldn’t hang around afterwards as an escaped prisoner. We know that he headed to the New World shortly after the war and Bonney could have come to the same conclusion.
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I have a couple of ideas on why Crocodile could be at fault for Bonney’s capture but I’ll discuss them later.
First I want to talk about Crocodile and Pluton. The main questions after the Alabasta Arc that still haven't been answered is how Crocodile found about Pluton in the first place, and how he knew it was located in Alabasta.
The most logical explanation would be the Revolutionaries.
Crocodile recruited Nico Robin because she was able to read the Poneglyphs. We also know that the Revolutionaries have been looking for Robin while she hid herself under various pirate crews and later Baroque Works / Strawhats. With Dragon’s aim to abolish the World Government and the Celestial Dragons it makes sense if he has also been researching the Poneglyphs for which he needed Nico Robin.
The only other option available at the moment would be the World Government/Cypher Phol but I don’t see them revealing this kind of information to a pirate. I also doubt Dragon would have revealed something like this to Crocodile but if Crocodile met Ivankov and maybe Bonney in his past he could have overheard a conversation about Pluton. (It’s a bit weak but it’s the best I got at the moment)
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That leaves us with the Ivankov meeting Crocodile as a rookie Pirate and Crocodile possible being at fault for Bonney’s capture. I basically have two theories on this which involves this panel in Impel Down:
There are multiple interesting things here:
1. Crocodile and Invakov met while Crocodile was still a rookie pirate.
2. Ivankov knows a weakness/secret about Crocodile that Ivankov uses to make him co-operate.
3. This weakness/secret doesn’t seem to involve his power since Ivankov was confident of suppressing Crocodile if he were to try and betray them.
4. Rather it seems to involve something embarrassing since Ivankov mentions being willing to stay quite about it to him co-operate.
Let’s start with Crocodile and Ivankov meeting while Crocodile was still a rookie Pirate. We learn from episode 0 that both Crocodile and Dragon were at the execution of Gol D. Roger in East Blue.
Crocodile was 22 during Roger’s execution and he only became a Royal Warlord in his mid-twenties, so basically he could still be called a rookie pirate during these days.
The next part would be the conversation between Ivankov and Crocodile in Impel Down. Let’s say for example Crocodile meets the Revolutionaries before/during/ or after Roger’s execution in East Blue and overhears a conversation about Pluton between Dragon and Ivankov. He could have revealed the location of the Rev’s to the World Government in exchange for the Royal Warlord title which could have resulted in Bonney’s capture. This would explain Bonney blaming him for her capture but it raises certain question marks like for example why Ivankov doesn’t seem extremely hostile to him.
Furthermore we later see Dragon, Ivankov and Kuma still in East Blue during the events of the Gao Kingdom.
If the Marines knew they were in East Blue at the time of Roger’s execution they would likely already have left during the events of Gao Kingdom. Furthermore we don’t see Bonney in this panel so she could already have been captured, which would likely have let to Kuma joining the Royal Warlord’s as I theorized earlier.
While I do see possibilities in Crocodile’s betraying the Rev’s / Bonney this way with his personality and possible not wanting any competition for Pluton. the time-frame and Ivankov blackmailing without going for this throat don’t really match up.
There’s also still the possible embarrasing secret Ivankov knows about Crocodile to keep in mind which doesn’t really fit (unless you wanna go the Crocodile was a female route but that doesn’t really match the Calico Jack link).
My second theory hits more points however and that involves Bonney leaving the Revolutionaries to join Crocodile’s crew.
Let’s start with the fact that Calico Jack and Anne Bonny used to be lovers. We also have Jewelry’s first name which is a bit weird since the only jewel she wears is a piercing below her right eye. Crocodile however wears rings on all his fingers except his ring finger. I’m not 100% confident that Crocodile and Bonney used to be lovers but it makes more sense with some points later on and why she would leave the Revolutionaries to join Crocodile’s crew.
Next would be Invakov calling Crocodile Croco-boy both in Impel Down and during the Marine Ford War.
Now this might just be a nickname, similar as to how Luffy is Strawhat-Boy but it’s interesting to think about especially if we consider Bonney’s Devil Fruit ability. For example what if Bonney met Crocodile in the past and used her Devil Fruit ability to turn him into a young boy?
Let’s say for example the Revolutionaries are back in East Blue so Dragon can watch Roger’s execution. Ivankov gets recognized and both Ivankov and Bonney escape by hiding on Crocodile’s crew for a bit. It links nicely to Mary Read and Anne Bonny being apart of Calico Jack’s crew without Ivankov and Bonney being actual true crew members of Crocodile in the past. To force Crocodile to co-operate Bonney uses her Devil Fruit ability on him which later results in Ivankov calling him Croco-boy all the time.
While I doubt it’s embarrassing enough that Ivankov can still blackmail him with it in Impel Down it would make a nice link to the conversation they had since it would be the second time Crocodile is forced to co-operate this way.
Next would be Bonney and Crocodile possibly falling in love which results to Ivankov going back to the Revolutionaries in East Blue and Bonney joining Crocodile to head to the Grand Line.
On the Grand Line Crocodile, similar to Luffy, becomes famous very fast and is invited into the Royal Warlords. Later he and Bonney head out into the New World where Crocodile decides to challenge Whitebeard.
I believe Bonney was against Crocodile challenging Whitebeard but he decides to do it anyway and is crushed by Whitebeard in the progress. This follows with his crew breaking up and Bonney being captured by the Marines. This links nicely with the white whale in Moby-Dick’s film adaptations being used mainly as a means to separate lovers. It would also explain why Bonney blames Crocodile for her capture and all the events that follow it (Kuma etc.).
So Crocodile is defeated by Whitebeard, Bonney is captured and his crew is broken up. Following this Crocodile heads back to Alabasta to start Baroque Works to find Pluton.
The reason he was after military power/Pluton could have been because that’s what he could have used to free Bonney from the World Government.
This could be the second explantion to the secret Ivankov knows. That all the things he did after his lost to Whitebeard wasn’t to become Pirate King but just so he could free Bonney from Impel Down / Marie Jois. I prefer the Bonney forcing his co-operation by constantly turning him into a kid but who knows. .
So those are basically the two theories I figured might have happened with all the links we have up till now.
What speaks for the Crocodile betraying Bonney/Rev’s to the WG is his personality in Alabasta which indicates he would want any competition for Pluton out of the way as soon as possible. However this doesn’t really fit things like his conversation with Ivankov (unless Ivankov doesn’t know) and why he went to the New World to challenge Whitebeard instead of searching for Pluton from the get-go and other stuff like the time-frame of Kuma’s actions.
The Crocodile/Bonney were lovers theory explains much more stuff time-frame wise but doesn’t really fit his personality in Alabasta.
What do you think about the possibilties? And what do you think of the Theory overall? Lemme know in the comments.
So I'm back to theorizing after some years away cuz of work and other RL stuff and due to some free time I thought about updating some old theories I had on OJ. This is an updated version of my Old Crocodile theory.
Warning: My theories tend to be quite long so a small heads-up if you're not into that.
I want to start this theory off with Crocodile and to do that I first want to look at the likely inspirations for his character. Oda often uses fictional characters and historical figures as a basis for his characters in One Piece. In the case of Crocodile I believe Oda used the following 3:
Captain Hook from the play/movie Peter Pan.
Captain Ahab from the book/movie Moby-Dick.
Calico Jack, an English pirate captain operating during the early 18th century.
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The most obvious one would be Captain Hook, the main antagonist of the play/movie Peter Pan.
Captain Hook got his pirate name from the iron hook that replaced his severed hand that was eaten by a crocodile. Its likely Crocodile got both his name and hook from this movie.
What’s more important to remember however is that the name of Hook’s pirate ship was named the Jolly Roger. A phrase also used for pirate flags.
Captain Hook was largely inspired by Captain Ahab, one of the main protagonists of the book/movie Moby-Dick.
The last inspiration would be the pirate John Rackham, also known as Calico Jack.
Its important here to remember two things:
1. Calico Jack was credited with designing the skull and crossed swords that became famous as the iconic Jolly Roger pirate flag.
2. Both Mary Read and Anne Bonny dresses as men to hide that they were females (they were cross-dressers, Okama in One Piece)
Now to start linking Calico Jack to Crocodile in One Piece.
Remember that I mentioned that Captain Hook’s ship in Peter Pan was called the Jolly Roger? Well Calico Jack can be linked to a Jolly Roger (pirate flag) that has two crossed swords and a skull instead of the bones.
1. The Red Hair Pirates.
2. The Giant Warrior Pirates.
3. The New Giant Warrior Pirates.
4. And last but not least: Baroque Works.
What hints to Crocodile and Baroque Works is the existence of Mr. 1, Daz Bonez, who has the blade-blade fruit (bones becomes blades)
What hints to Crocodile is the existence of Mr. 2, Bon Kurei, who was an Okama ( 2 Okama).
That should have established the Crocodile - Calico Jack link. If Crocodile was inspired by Calico Jack then the most likely character to be linked to Mary Read would be Emporio Ivankov.
Mary Read was apart of Calico Jack’s crew. However its unlikely that Ivankov was apart of Crocodile’s crew. I believe it to be more likely that it provides a basis for having met him when Crocodile was still a rookie pirate.
That would leave us with Anne Bonny who I believe can be linked to Jewelry Bonney (yes there’s more then only the name comparison).
Similar to Mary Read, Anne Bonny was also sent to prison after the crew was captured and Calico Jack was executed. We learn from Akainu that Bonney had escaped/ran away from the World Government.
Similar to Ivankov, I’m not saying she was apart of Crocodile’s crew, just that it provides a basis for her having met Crocodile and or Ivankov when they were younger (if she is allot older then she seems).
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On the basis that Crocodile, Ivankov and Jewelry Bonney have met in the past we can continue to speculate.
There are multiple options Oda could have went with from this point, especially Ivankov’s Devil Fruit ability opens up some interesting routes, but I went with what seems to be the most logical option for now.
Let’s start with the possibility of Bonney having been a Revolutionary in the past. With her having a past with Kuma and Crocodile having a past with Ivankov, both Kuma and Ivakov being members of the Revolutionaries under Dragon, it’s quite possible she was once a member to. Combined they make quite the useful Devil Fruit trio for Dragon to have. Bonney can change the age of a person, Ivankov can change the gender of a person, and Kuma can teleport that person to a different Island in One Piece.
It would also explain the comment Blackbeard made about her having a high bounty while her combat abilities don’t seem that great to him.
Next would be Ivankov and Kuma. Let’s say Bonney was captured by the World Government and hidden somewhere since she was part of the Revolutionaries. Dragon decides to try and save her so Kuma joins the Royal Warlords to gather information on her whereabouts but can’t find her in Marine Ford. Afterwards Ivankov gets captured is sent to Impel Down but also no signs of Bonney there. The next likely location would be Marie Jois but Royal Warlords likely aren’t allowed there.
This could then lead to Kuma volunteering for the human weapon experiment if Vegapunk is also located somewhere in Marie Jois. This could allow him to enter Marie Jois to look for Bonney there.
This would explain a couple of things:
The first would be why Bonney, as part of the Worst Generation, ended up as a pirate in South Blue.
It would also explain why she cried during the Marine Ford War.
It could also explain why she decided to infiltrate the Reverie to look for Kuma. It’s her chance at trying to rescue him and repay the favor.
The next part involves how/why Bonney was captured in the first place and I believe Crocodile was at fault.
Let’s start with her reaction after the Marine Ford War.
Furthermore it’s all his fault doesn’t seem likely to refer to Kuma as she seems to have allot of affection for him (her infiltrating the Reverie to find him).
However if in this case she means Crocodile it makes more sense. Crocodile was also at the Marine Ford War and likely wouldn’t hang around afterwards as an escaped prisoner. We know that he headed to the New World shortly after the war and Bonney could have come to the same conclusion.
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I have a couple of ideas on why Crocodile could be at fault for Bonney’s capture but I’ll discuss them later.
First I want to talk about Crocodile and Pluton. The main questions after the Alabasta Arc that still haven't been answered is how Crocodile found about Pluton in the first place, and how he knew it was located in Alabasta.
The most logical explanation would be the Revolutionaries.
The only other option available at the moment would be the World Government/Cypher Phol but I don’t see them revealing this kind of information to a pirate. I also doubt Dragon would have revealed something like this to Crocodile but if Crocodile met Ivankov and maybe Bonney in his past he could have overheard a conversation about Pluton. (It’s a bit weak but it’s the best I got at the moment)
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That leaves us with the Ivankov meeting Crocodile as a rookie Pirate and Crocodile possible being at fault for Bonney’s capture. I basically have two theories on this which involves this panel in Impel Down:
1. Crocodile and Invakov met while Crocodile was still a rookie pirate.
2. Ivankov knows a weakness/secret about Crocodile that Ivankov uses to make him co-operate.
3. This weakness/secret doesn’t seem to involve his power since Ivankov was confident of suppressing Crocodile if he were to try and betray them.
4. Rather it seems to involve something embarrassing since Ivankov mentions being willing to stay quite about it to him co-operate.
Let’s start with Crocodile and Ivankov meeting while Crocodile was still a rookie Pirate. We learn from episode 0 that both Crocodile and Dragon were at the execution of Gol D. Roger in East Blue.
The next part would be the conversation between Ivankov and Crocodile in Impel Down. Let’s say for example Crocodile meets the Revolutionaries before/during/ or after Roger’s execution in East Blue and overhears a conversation about Pluton between Dragon and Ivankov. He could have revealed the location of the Rev’s to the World Government in exchange for the Royal Warlord title which could have resulted in Bonney’s capture. This would explain Bonney blaming him for her capture but it raises certain question marks like for example why Ivankov doesn’t seem extremely hostile to him.
Furthermore we later see Dragon, Ivankov and Kuma still in East Blue during the events of the Gao Kingdom.
While I do see possibilities in Crocodile’s betraying the Rev’s / Bonney this way with his personality and possible not wanting any competition for Pluton. the time-frame and Ivankov blackmailing without going for this throat don’t really match up.
There’s also still the possible embarrasing secret Ivankov knows about Crocodile to keep in mind which doesn’t really fit (unless you wanna go the Crocodile was a female route but that doesn’t really match the Calico Jack link).
My second theory hits more points however and that involves Bonney leaving the Revolutionaries to join Crocodile’s crew.
Let’s start with the fact that Calico Jack and Anne Bonny used to be lovers. We also have Jewelry’s first name which is a bit weird since the only jewel she wears is a piercing below her right eye. Crocodile however wears rings on all his fingers except his ring finger. I’m not 100% confident that Crocodile and Bonney used to be lovers but it makes more sense with some points later on and why she would leave the Revolutionaries to join Crocodile’s crew.
Next would be Invakov calling Crocodile Croco-boy both in Impel Down and during the Marine Ford War.
While I doubt it’s embarrassing enough that Ivankov can still blackmail him with it in Impel Down it would make a nice link to the conversation they had since it would be the second time Crocodile is forced to co-operate this way.
Next would be Bonney and Crocodile possibly falling in love which results to Ivankov going back to the Revolutionaries in East Blue and Bonney joining Crocodile to head to the Grand Line.
On the Grand Line Crocodile, similar to Luffy, becomes famous very fast and is invited into the Royal Warlords. Later he and Bonney head out into the New World where Crocodile decides to challenge Whitebeard.
So Crocodile is defeated by Whitebeard, Bonney is captured and his crew is broken up. Following this Crocodile heads back to Alabasta to start Baroque Works to find Pluton.
This could be the second explantion to the secret Ivankov knows. That all the things he did after his lost to Whitebeard wasn’t to become Pirate King but just so he could free Bonney from Impel Down / Marie Jois. I prefer the Bonney forcing his co-operation by constantly turning him into a kid but who knows. .
So those are basically the two theories I figured might have happened with all the links we have up till now.
What speaks for the Crocodile betraying Bonney/Rev’s to the WG is his personality in Alabasta which indicates he would want any competition for Pluton out of the way as soon as possible. However this doesn’t really fit things like his conversation with Ivankov (unless Ivankov doesn’t know) and why he went to the New World to challenge Whitebeard instead of searching for Pluton from the get-go and other stuff like the time-frame of Kuma’s actions.
The Crocodile/Bonney were lovers theory explains much more stuff time-frame wise but doesn’t really fit his personality in Alabasta.
What do you think about the possibilties? And what do you think of the Theory overall? Lemme know in the comments.
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