Chapter 144: Wrap-Up, Doflamingo Lands on Cake Island
"Proposal?"
Brett raised an eyebrow slightly, then asked, "What proposal?"
Of course, without even guessing, he knew it would definitely be some proposal to deepen his ties with the government.
"How about becoming a new Warlord of the Sea, Brett?"
Saint Mars on the other end dropped a bombshell.
"Warlord?"
Brett was genuinely surprised this time.
"In the past, you had to depend on Jinbei as a subordinate of a Warlord."
Saint Mars said, "But we think that's no longer necessary now."
"You can completely become a new Warlord yourself."
"Is that so?" Brett's lips curved upward.
"Of course, this would also be a great thing for Fish-Man Island, wouldn't it? With two Warlords as deterrents, no blind fools would dare provoke Fish-Man Island anymore."
Saint Mars argued persuasively, "Moreover, this way Fish-Man Island and the government would become even closer, and if you encounter any trouble, the government would have more reason to help."
"Even against the Marines, or the monsters of the New World."
They really were sparing no effort to win him over.
Brett once again praised his own decision.
"Warlord, huh? Sounds quite good, but—"
Brett smiled as he answered, "I refuse."
"What?"
Saint Mars immediately asked in surprise, "Why, Brett? You should know what kind of influence it would bring you to have Fish-Man Island possess two Warlords simultaneously, right?"
"I certainly know that." Brett nodded.
"Is it because of Jinbei? Indeed, you had to depend on Jinbei when you were weak in the past, but that's no longer necessary now!"
"That's not the reason either."
Brett said calmly, "I simply want to keep a low profile."
"Low profile?"
This touched on the Five Elders' blind spot.
Fame was something the people of these seas had always pursued tirelessly.
To gain greater notoriety, pirates constantly battled across the seas.
So what did keeping a low profile mean?
"Isn't it fine as things are now?"
Brett said leisurely, "Very few people know my true capabilities. If I really encounter trouble, I can give them a surprise."
"As for Warlords, having brother Jinbei is enough."
His status right now isn't that different from a Warlord, and for the Five Elders now, he might even be more important than ordinary Warlords.
So why insist on making that title official?
"Hmph, suit yourself."
Since Brett chose to refuse, Saint Mars had nothing more to say and could only end the call in disappointment.
However, although the ultimate goal wasn't achieved, the connection between the World Government and Fish-Man Island had indeed become much closer.
In terms of raw material supply and product export, the government would engage in deeper cooperation with Fish-Man Island.
This was naturally a good thing for Fish-Man Island.
The resources controlled by the government were far more vast than those of any other force on the seas, not to mention they would also provide more technological support.
Another period of rapid development was coming.
Indeed, only the strong could live leisurely in this world.
Several days later, Tesoro's movie finally reached the wrap-up stage.
The final part to be filmed was the climactic battle at the end of the movie.
Although it was a romance film, Tesoro spared no expense in deciding to create a grand spectacle.
He actually got a large fleet from the sea, hung pirate flags on all the ships, and brought them to the deep sea outside Fish-Man Island.
Then, like a persistent salesman, he pestered Brett for several days until Brett finally agreed to let Fish-Man Island's fleet participate in the filming.
When the actual filming day arrived, the sea area outside Fish-Man Island chosen as the filming location was already surrounded by large numbers of fish-men and merfolk.
There were even many humans with simple coating bubbles mixed in among them.
Everyone had come to watch the excitement.
The first scene filmed was the battle between the male and female protagonists and the villain.
It was on a coated ship.
Since they had rehearsed many times before, the filming progressed quickly, but even so, watching the male and female leads singing and dancing while beating up the villain made Brett struggle to keep a straight face.
Would anyone really watch this thing once it was made?
Then came the final scene: the Fish-Man Island fleet's decisive battle against the pirate fleet.
Fish-Man Island's fleet was in position, with Brett standing at the bow of one of the ships.
"Is it really okay to fire directly?"
Brett asked.
"Don't spare any firepower! We want exactly this kind of realistic effect!"
Tesoro stood beside Brett, excitedly pointing at the fleet in the seawater ahead.
"There's no one on those ships, and the footage of fighting the villain will be edited in later! So just blow them to smithereens!"
The cost of making this movie was really high.
Since Tesoro had said so, Brett naturally had nothing more to say.
Then let's blow them up.
Tesoro withdrew from the warship, letting Brett enter the filming range.
Then.
"All ships, fire!"
With Brett's command.
The ten Fish-Man Island warships gathered here opened fire.
Also firing were the sea beasts serving as supporting firepower, their mounted torpedoes firing simultaneously.
The commotion was far less shocking than ships firing on the surface.
Just a series of muffled sounds, then torpedoes broke through the water, streaking like lightning toward the distant pirate fleet.
But as the first torpedo hit the leading pirate warship, the tremendous noise finally arrived.
Boom!
Even in this high-pressure deep sea, the amazing firelight from the torpedo explosion still entered the eyes of everyone witnessing this scene like a small sun.
That warship was almost instantly blown to pieces, and the aftermath even affected the neighboring warships.
Then more torpedoes hit, and more explosions occurred.
One after another, huge fireballs made the entire sea area boil.
In just an instant, the entire pirate fleet had vanished in smoke amid such violent explosions.
"This—"
All the humans who came to watch witnessed this scene and felt indescribable fear in their hearts.
Fish-Man Island's military strength had reached this level!
They absolutely couldn't make enemies of them!
Of course, there were also excellent partners of Fish-Man Island like Mr. Donald who would only feel happy about this.
This further demonstrated the precision of his judgment.
"Hahahaha! Excellent!"
Behind the camera, Tesoro was almost dancing with excitement. "Perfect footage! This movie will definitely become an unforgettable classic in the history of cinema on the seas!!"
Anyway, no matter what, this movie had finally wrapped up.
Next came post-production, and then it could be released to the seas.
Tesoro was full of confidence about this, firmly believing he would become completely famous because of this movie and become a superstar known throughout the seas.
Brett responded with a smile.
Then, at almost the same moment,
In the New World, Totto Land.
A ship quietly docked at the shore of Cake Island.
Charlotte Family's eldest son Perospero stood on the shore, looking at the man disembarking from the ship.
"Donquixote Doflamingo, what are you up to!"
"Fufufufu, there are some things I'd like to discuss with Big Mom."