"Your Majesty! Please, don't bring up the matter of abdication again!"
"Lord Doflamingo! Is what the newspaper says true? It has to be fake, right?"
Outside the royal palace, countless citizens had gathered after reading the news in the papers, pleading for Doflamingo to stay. To outsiders, Doflamingo truly seemed like a wise and benevolent king.
In reality, however, as the infamous "Joker" of the Underworld, Doflamingo had always placed great importance on his public image. Though he had personally orchestrated the bloody night in Dressrosa, as the mastermind behind the scenes, no one knew he was the one responsible.
King Riku, who had been controlled by the String-String Fruit, was the one the people believed to be the culprit of that night. Logically speaking, what Doflamingo did here was actually more outrageous than the current Wano Country timeline, but he has the Hobby-Hobby Fruit as a trump card.
Anyone turned into a toy by Sugar would be forgotten by the entire world. Parents, children, spouses, no one would remember that person ever existed.
As a nation in the New World, pirate attacks were an unavoidable threat. So, Doflamingo's identity as a Shichibukai allowed Dressrosa to avoid that danger entirely.
Dressrosa's underground economy also indirectly boosted its ordinary industries. To the average citizen, they only saw Doflamingo's good side, so naturally, they revered him deeply as their king.
The voices outside didn't affect Doflamingo. Inside, he was busy arranging his plans while also reassuring his subordinates.
In the dimly lit room, four chairs stood side by side, each marked with the symbols of spade, diamond, heart, and club. These were the seats of the four senior officers of the Donquixote Family.
At this moment, Diamante was seated in the diamond chair, his hands trembling slightly.
"Once the arena opens, Dressrosa will be more prosperous than ever."
Doflamingo's fingers moved in the air as if controlling something, while he marveled at the arena.
The Corrida Colosseum was one of Dressrosa's cornerstone industries. The revenue from ticket sales was minor; the real profit came from the casinos that thrived alongside it.
"Diamante, are you still nervous? Calm down. You're the king of the arena. You've gone through this sort of thing countless times before."
"This time is different, Doffy."
Katakuri, Marco, Ace—just knowing that these kinds of people had already been spotted at the port was enough to make Diamante nervous.
Even though Doflamingo had assured him that he wouldn't face any of those monsters before the finals, Diamante's anxiety refused to subside.
Fighting against monsters like them was too much pressure for him.
Besides, Doflamingo's real intent in doing all this was to throw the seas into chaos and then obtain greater profits.
Within the Donquixote Family, those with notable strength and talent are almost all Devil Fruit users; the others likely couldn't fully harness the power of the Quake-Quake Fruit. If a single Devil Fruit could instantly produce a combatant on the level of an Emperor of the Sea, the Four Emperors wouldn't have collapsed into a power vacuum immediately after Whitebeard's death.
Strength, influence, talent, and intimidation—none of these could be lacking. Only by establishing a sufficiently fearsome reputation, coupled with a bit of media-driven momentum, could one smoothly ascend to that position.
"Don't worry. Reliable sources say that the young miss from the Beasts Pirates has already arrived. Worst case, we just let her take the fruit."
Even if he handed the fruit directly to the Beasts Pirates, it wouldn't gain him much. Kaido was obsessed with Zoan users, and in recent years, Mythical Zoans had been increasing among their ranks, creating a bizarre situation across the seas.
They always said Mythical Zoans were rarer than Logias, yet now, the number of Mythical Zoans had already surpassed that of ordinary Zoan-types.
In order to chase greater profits, Doflamingo made an extremely risky move. The only reason he dared to bring so many monsters together was because of his cooperative relationship with the Beasts Pirates.
As long as he had the biggest monster backing him, the smaller ones weren't worth worrying about.
This event was a grand gathering even in the New World. Among the major forces, only Red Hair had no interest; he had taken his senior officers to attend a concert instead, while nearly everyone else had decided to get involved.
"Doffy, the people of Beasts Pirates have landed. I've brought this thing for you as well."
Trebol wriggled into the room like a snail, his entire body covered in an unknown mucus, holding a small box in his hand.
"Fuffuffuffu, very good. Diamante, I'll entrust this fruit to you."
"No, no, Doffy, it's better if you hold onto it yourself. That would be safer."
"No, you're the genius of the arena. I believe you can handle it."
Ordinarily, he wouldn't have refused. Diamante, being rather narcissistic, loved this kind of compliment, but this time, he truly didn't want to touch this hot potato. Who knew if some lunatic might try to snatch the Quake-Quake Fruit outright?
If it turned out to be some hidden monster, he'd be in deep trouble.
But since Doflamingo still had to deal with the threat posed by Law, and prepare for confrontation with the Marines and the World Government, the fruit ultimately ended up in Diamante's hands.
In the past, Diamante would never have gotten involved in the arena's affairs before the final battle, but this time, under Doflamingo's orders, he began fine-tuning the arrangements, personally assigning contestants to different matches.
Originally there were only five groups, but this time it was forcibly expanded to eight. The goal was to separate the monsters as much as possible and have them take down more contestants.
"Anyone staying behind to watch the ship?"
While Doflamingo and Diamante were on edge, preparing for what came next, the group aboard the Pokémon Ship looked as if they were on a sightseeing trip.
The Pokémon Ship, powered by Revavroom as its core, is inherently "alive." Even without anyone watching over it, it could take care of itself. So the real meaning behind the question was whether anyone was too lazy to travel and preferred to stay on the ship.
In the end, the answer was no. Some of them had been to Dressrosa before, but none of them had ever enjoyed a proper, leisurely visit.
The fragrance of sunflower fields, the aroma of exotic cuisine, the passionate dancers, and the strange toy culture. These were the four main attractions of Dressrosa.
After letting Revavroom find a safe spot on its own, Yamato's group set foot on the island and soon ran into a familiar face.
"Hajrudin? What are you doing here? Where are the others?"
The towering giant, standing over ten meters tall, drew plenty of attention in the streets, but Yamato didn't see any other members of the New Giant Warrior Pirates.
"Miss Oni Princess? There's no one else, I'm the only one who came here this time."
"Whitebeard's ability has apparently reappeared. If I can get my hands on that ability, I could surely unify all the giants. Your goal is the same, isn't it?"
"Uh, no… actually, yes, I came specifically for it. Yeah, that's right."
Yamato's true purpose was to escape danger, but her stated reason to the outside world was that she had come to seize the Quake-Quake Fruit, not to go sightseeing. After a light cough from Robin reminded her, she swallowed back what she had almost said aloud.
"That'll be tricky, Miss Oni Princess. But if I happen to win, it's fine if I just eat that fruit, right?"
"That doesn't matter. If you've got the ability, go ahead and do it."
Hajrudin hadn't officially joined; he was merely an affiliated mercenary, but he was considered half an ally nonetheless. So when speaking to Yamato, who was half a superior to him, he still offered the usual courtesy.
Although he had been defeated with a single move last time, his fighting spirit hadn't been extinguished. Judging by his demeanor, even if he were to face Yamato directly in the arena, he would still fight with everything he had.
"Hahaha! Things are really lively here! Mind if this old man joins in on the fun?"
An old man with a pointed head appeared, leading a group of subordinates. It was Chinjao from Kano Country.
But he was different from Hajrudin. Hajrudin was an employee Yamato had personally poached, so she was quite familiar with him. Chinjao's only connection to the Beasts Pirates was that Zeraora had once helped him restore his pointed head.
Although Chinjao had declared afterward that he would lead the Happo Navy to assist Zeraora in finding what he was searching for, the years passed without fortune ever favoring him. He never found anything.
His visit was simply because he had noticed Yamato.
"How has Sir Zeraora been? I still owe him a great debt for what he did for me back then. It's a pity I haven't seen him once in all these years."
Chinjao's logic was peculiar—his most prized possession was his pointed head. No matter what had happened before, as long as someone helped him regain the cone, that person became his benefactor.
But Zeraora himself had never cared much about the incident. It had all been a misunderstanding, and Chinjao's excessive gratitude had actually made him feel a little awkward.
He hadn't intended to bond with an old man over something so trivial, so they hadn't stayed in contact all these years. As a result, most members of the Beasts Pirates had no impression of Chinjao.
The only exception was Robin. Having wandered among various forces across the seas in those years, she had gathered bits of information about nearly everyone.
"Chinjao the Drill, leader of the Happo Navy from Kano Country. His bounty before retirement was 542 million. In his younger days, he fought against Garp. A few years ago, it seems he had some dealings with Zeraora."
While Yamato stared in confusion at the old man who had suddenly appeared, Robin quietly whispered an introduction in her ear. He was, more or less, on the same side as them.
"I see many familiar faces here," Chinjao said, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. "All of you are famous figures of the sea. If everyone's goal is the Quake-Quake Fruit, why not join forces first and drive others away?"
"Of course, I'm not personally interested in the fruit. It's just that, after all these years of failing to find what Sir Zeraora sought, I thought I could use this as a form of compensation."
"Robin, are you sure he actually fought Garp? He seems… a little too honest."
Looking at Chinjao's kindly smile, Yamato couldn't help but think he looked more like an old grandma selling tea in Hakumai than a wanted criminal. But his next words quickly changed her impression.
"However… I read in the newspaper that Straw Hat Luffy seems to have arrived here as well. If any of you happen to encounter him, please leave him to me. I'd really appreciate it."
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