First Half of the Grand Line, one of the Donquixote Pirates' secret bases.
"Nyeh, nyeh, Doffy Doffy"
A slobby-looking man wearing a light blue cloak that resembled a quilt, with a hunched but burly physique and a small pair of sunglasses, walked up to a man with a blond spiky hairstyle, a black suit, and a pink feathered coat.
These two were Donquixote Pirates' combatant Trebol and their captain, Donquixote Doflamingo.
"Nyeh, nyeh, Doffy, there's a message from the New World~~"
"Alucard is going to meet Kaido, Charlotte Linlin, and Whitebeard in Dressrosa, right? I already know." Doflamingo said, waving his hand from his lounge chair.
"Nyeh, nyeh, Doffy, do you think Alucard choosing Dressrosa is a coincidence? Or does he want to make it his territory? That's our future target, you know~" Trebol was worried because Alucard had chosen Dressrosa.
"Dressrosa, I'll take it no matter what," Doflamingo said, playing with a golden Devil Fruit he had just acquired.
It was a golden Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, but what kind of fruit was it?
Doflamingo hadn't found out yet.
"But but~"
Trebol still spoke in his annoying, drawn-out tone.
"There are countless ways to defeat an opponent stronger than yourself. Besides, it doesn't have to be Dressrosa. We have a firm foothold in Paradise now!" Doflamingo said, getting slightly agitated.
....
Dressrosa Royal Palace.
Kyros and his deputy, Taigu, had returned safe and sound today and the day before, respectively. No, it would be more accurate to say that they themselves were safe.
Taigu and the group who went to see Whitebeard didn't suffer any losses, but of the two hundred men who went with Kyros, only fifty survived.
As for the team that went to see Kaido, their fate was still unknown.
"It's good that you're back. It's good that you're back," King Riku said, quickly stepping down from his throne to help the two of them up. He then asked, "So, what were Whitebeard's and Big Mom's answers?"
"Whitebeard refused," said Taigu.
"Big Mom agreed," said Kyros.
King Riku let out a long sigh of relief. "That's a blessing in disguise. One less to deal with means less damage to our people, right?"
"King Riku, when we came back, we noticed that the residents of Dressrosa seemed…"
"Yes, those aren't the residents of Dressrosa. They've been swapped with the Marines."
Before Kyros could finish his question, King Riku gave him the answer. "A week after you left, the Marines secretly sent people to escort our people out and then migrated their own Marines in. Unfortunately, the Marines could only do so much. They only managed to get the elderly and children out first."
Kyros was stunned. He had only noticed that some people, though dressed as civilians, had the builds of trained fighters. He never expected them to be Marines.
"King Riku, how many Marines were sent in?" Taigu asked anxiously.
"About three thousand."
Kyros frowned tightly. "That's a lot. Did that Alucard in the flower field not notice? Or were the Marines' operations so discreet?"
Transferring three thousand people wasn't something that could be done quickly. Transferring them all at once would draw too much attention, and transferring them slowly would take too long.
"I don't know if he knows or not, but the transfer was successful." King Riku forced a smile. "At the very least, we got the elderly and the children out."
"This, at least, makes the situation a little better," said the Queen of Dressrosa. She then let out another sigh. "But… if he knows about this and is still choosing to ignore it… then that only means he's very confident in his own strength."
When the Queen said this, the entire room fell silent. She was right. If Alucard knew that the Marines were here and didn't care, there could only be one reason: his absolute confidence in himself.
"By the way, King Riku, why haven't I seen Scarlett-sama and Viola-sama?" Kyros suddenly asked.
King Riku's face became strained, and the Queen explained for him. "That girl Scarlett is insane. She goes to see that pirate every day. Recently, even Viola has started following her."
"…"
"Isn't that very dangerous?" Kyros and Taigu asked in shock.
"Not really. In the past month, Scarlett has just been coming back angry every day, and nothing else has happened. I tried to talk her out of it, but she says she's 'scouting'…"
At this, the Queen gave a bitter laugh. "Haha, who knows what's really going on in her mind?"
Kyros suddenly remembered the moment on the ship over a month ago when he rescued Scarlett from a pirate kidnapping. His face flushed, and he shook his head hard, a pang of bitterness flashing through his heart.
BOOM!!!
Suddenly, the ground shook violently, causing everyone in the palace to nearly fall.
King Riku steadied his wife and stumbled. "What's going on?"
A soldier looked out the window. Normally, he wouldn't be able to see what was happening from here, but this time, he could make something out.
"King Riku, there's smoke rising from the southwest coast! It could be pirates!" The soldier turned to report.
"What?!"
Kyros and the others were shocked, but King Riku quickly ran toward the palace exit. "Is it Big Mom? No, that can't be right. With Alucard here, why would she attack recklessly?"
However, before anyone could answer, a roar that seemed to carry its own shockwave pierced the eardrums of everyone in the town of Dressrosa.
"ALUCARD!!!"
After the first cry, the enraged roar continued.
"ALUCARD!! GET OUT HERE! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE!! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE… NOW!!!"
On the coast, a monster had just come ashore. The first thing he did wasn't to breathe or catch his breath, but to bellow those words.
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