Kaido and Yamato found him an eyesore, which meant they wouldn't bother with him during the fight. After dodging several shockwaves, Queen hurriedly pulled out his Rotom Phone, intending to contact Shaymin to open the door so he could run out of here.
But Shaymin, who normally responded very quickly, didn't pick up at all this time.
"Hurry up, hurry up, open the door already! What on earth are you doing?!"
Message after message was sent out by Rotom, but at this moment, Shaymin was leisurely relaxing.
"Pair of Q."
"Pair of K."
Outside in Wano Country, Shaymin, Omastar, along with Meowna and Wolff, were playing poker. Shaymin's Rotom was placed far away and left on vibrate, and the Rotom inhabiting the device was also watching the game.
"Is something ringing?"
The ears atop Meowna's head twitched, as if she'd heard something strange.
"Don't change the subject! And don't try to talk in code with your brother! We're on the same team here, focus on the game!"
"Oh, got it."
At Shaymin's words, Meowna ignored what she'd heard earlier and turned back to the game. Only Queen, alone and helpless in the Reverse World, was trying to dodge Yamato and Kaido's attacks within the cramped space.
Yamato was fine. Her mind was filled only with beating up Kaido, leaving her no time to pay attention to Queen. She chose to ignore Queen's miserable screams.
After all these years, she trusted Queen's Armament Haki. Considering the circumstances, Queen should be able to take even more beatings than Jack.
Kaido was different. He was completely immersed in the battle. Queen tried to get Kaido to be more careful, but that only disrupted Kaido's enjoyment, prompting him to deliberately use Blast Breath—a technique he rarely used on Queen—just to "greet" him.
Yamato and Kaido were locked in combat, and everyone else had their own tasks.
Apoo and Hawkins were still on their way back, and Kaido had only knocked Kid out in passing, not even interested in bringing him back. The Beasts Pirates all had their own fixed schedules, and the only ones who needed arrangements were Doflamingo's group.
"I'm just saying, I actually like the atmosphere of this country. So please behave and don't cause trouble for me, alright?"
Kuzan looked at Doflamingo before him, scratching his head with slight impatience. Before leaving, Yamato had tossed him the line "Doflamingo is yours to handle," and then immediately went off to fight Kaido.
Although more than one person had been brought back, neither Senor Pink nor Lao G nor Gladius were the root of the problem. As long as Doflamingo didn't try anything sneaky, they would behave.
In fact, even within the Donquixote Family, these three were relatively well-behaved.
However, there is a major prerequisite: they remain loyal to Doflamingo. So as long as Doflamingo himself was kept in check, they wouldn't cause trouble.
"Don't worry. I'm not crazy enough to try anything in this place."
There were at least two people here stronger than Yamato, and countless others he couldn't defeat. If Doflamingo tried scheming in Wano Country, he'd have to be completely out of his mind.
Doflamingo's mental resilience was still strong. His people were alive, which meant things weren't over yet.
He understood very well that the World Government had already decided to eliminate him. His former Celestial Dragon status was no longer a shield but a death sentence. Staying here was his only chance to plan for the future. At the very least, he needed to see those fools dragged off their pedestal before he'd be satisfied.
"You three, do as you like. I'll take a walk around with Mr. Kuzan here. No problem with that, right?"
"Of course. These three aren't strong enough to stir up trouble here. Oh, and one reminder: the hospital is over there."
Before leaving, Kuzan pointed toward the nearby Pokémon Center, giving Senor Pink directions.
"There are renowned doctors from all over the world gathered here, some even specializing in amnesia and vegetative state cases. It might be helpful for you."
In the end, Lao G and Gladius chose to continue following Doflamingo, while only Senor Pink broke off from the group, taking his wife with him toward the hospital.
His baby outfit and pacifier drew many surprised glances, but Senor Pink didn't care at all. He never denied that his wife became like this because of him, and he was willing to pay any price for her sake.
"The patient has suffered severe psychological trauma and has almost zero response to the outside world. In other words, her body is alive, but her heart is dead."
"She only reacts to you in your baby outfit. What exactly happened? If you don't tell us, we can't diagnose the case."
Two doctors examined her with instruments and quickly came to a conclusion, then began inquiring about the cause.
Senor Pink himself was reluctant to recall the matter, but for the sake of a slim hope, he recounted that rainy night once more.
"Comfey herbal bath might help, it has a calming effect. You can give it a try."
Though he couldn't understand, the doctors here still offered a brand-new treatment plan. Meanwhile, in the adjacent ward, Sister and Lami also stepped out.
Lami was only here for a routine checkup. Misu always felt it was a good thing that Lami could forget that dark part of her past, but at the same time worried about the effects of amnesia on her, so she brought her for regular examinations.
Not long after they left, they encountered Robin, who had come looking for them.
"Sister Misu, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."
"What is it?"
"You must have seen the recent newspapers, about the changes in the Shichibukai system."
"Oh, that. Is there any particularly significant impact?"
Misu glanced to the side, noticing that Senor Pink was in that ward. It wasn't that she was clueless about these things; she just wasn't very interested.
Because of Law, she had paid attention to the newspaper during this period. She still remembered who was subordinate to whom.
"There is a bit. Trafalgar Law, one of the main catalysts for this change, asked me to apologize to you on his behalf, but he says he doesn't regret it."
"Law…I understand."
"There seem to be a few little secrets between you?"
"It's not a big deal, nothing important."
Seeing that Misu didn't want to elaborate, Robin didn't pursue it further, but Lami suddenly clutched her head.
"Lami, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, just a sudden headache. That Law, I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."
Lami's impression of Law was still that of the flirtatious guy from Sabaody Archipelago. After that, Law would occasionally cause some commotion, and in recent days he appeared frequently in the newspapers, which gave Lami a strange feeling, though she didn't dwell on it.
[Law, what on earth is going through your head…?]
Law's previous instructions had puzzled Misu as well. In all the years he'd grown up alone, he seemed to have experienced too much.
After relaying Law's message, Robin went off in search of Queen.
The formula for the artificial Devil Fruit that Law provided was still in her hands. Whether it could actually be made or not, she'd have to let Queen give it a try. But after searching several times, she still hadn't seen any sign of Queen, and in the end, only managed to find Shaymin.
"Excuse me, all of you. Have you seen Sir Queen?"
"Queen? He is in the Reverse World created by Lord Arceus."
Omastar played the last card, announcing the end of the game.
"You want to go find him? If you do, I can open the door for you."
Shaymin, who was lying on the ground, stood up, and stretched a bit. At this moment, Rotom had already returned to its device.
"Roto. Detected 127 missed calls from Queen, and 69 messages."
Rotom, having just returned to the device, immediately noticed something unusual. The number of messages was excessive.
Reverse World was supposed to be very safe, so Rotom had left the device to relax, never expecting that something would happen in that short time.
"Hm? Why so many? What does that guy want?"
"Queen said, 'Open the door, open the door'... Every message is 'open the door.'"
Then everyone's gaze turned to Shaymin. She was the only one among the present, humans and Pokémon alike, who had the authority to open Reverse World.
"I'll do it now. I'm curious myself, let's see what Queen has been up to."
With that, she shot a burst of energy upward, opening a round portal. As soon as the tunnel opened, a round, unidentified object fell out.
"Uh, nice new hairstyle, Sir Queen."
At this moment, Queen's face was pitch black, protected by Haki, with clear signs of being struck by lightning, as well as the marks of deep-seated resentment. Facing the awkward silence, Robin was the first to speak and break the ice.
"...Can someone tell me why I shouted for three hours before anyone opened the door for me?"
"Roto. We were playing poker just now, so no one noticed the messages. Miss Robin was looking for you, and that's when we discovered your messages."
"So you're saying that if she hadn't come, you all might not have noticed it today?"
"Not quite. When these two went home tonight, we'd definitely have seen the messages. Weren't you in the Reverse World? It's so safe there, how did you run into trouble?"
"Hah, forget it. I don't want to recall it."
Queen didn't want to answer Omastar's question at all. He just looked at Robin, his "great benefactor."
"What do you need from me?"
"Miss Yamato's orders. This is the artificial Devil Fruit technology obtained from Trafalgar Law. The core technology and key steps are all here. You can try to cultivate it."
"I got it. Leave it there, I'll experiment with it later."
Queen didn't say much about the new task, but a cloud of resentment lingered over his head. A few minutes later, a new rule was posted in his laboratory.
[No matter what happens, communication devices must remain accessible. Under no circumstances is playing poker inside permitted.]
Laboratory rules are never just empty talk. Behind every rule lies a tragic lesson.
In the days that followed, they temporarily lost contact with Yamato and Kaido. It seemed that it would take a long time for them to finish their fight. Doflamingo also disappeared, as if he no longer cared about the outside world.
Kid and the others were brought back to Onigashima, then thrown into Udon, while outside, the Thousand Sunny's journey reached a new location.
Rumble!
Thunder rumbled, and a bolt of lightning struck not far from the ship, but not a single drop of rain fell, only snowflakes continued to drift down.
"What's going on?! Since when does it snow during a thunderstorm? What the hell is with the weather in New World!"
"It wasn't like this before. Ever since that battle, this weird weather has appeared here."
Law, who had not yet parted ways with the Straw Hats, said indifferently, then looked toward the area with the densest lightning.
"Up ahead is the spot indicated by the Log Pose—the ruins of Egghead Island."
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