Chapter 152: Before the Wedding
The entire world was caught completely off guard by this sudden turn of events.
For ordinary citizens, it was fine—both Sea Emperors and Warlords were too distant from their lives.
They were just watching for entertainment.
And for the strong ones on the seas—they were even more entertained by the spectacle.
"Kishishishishi!!"
In the perpetually fog-shrouded waters, in the Florian Triangle, on a ship as massive as an island, within a somewhat dilapidated ancient castle.
"Doflamingo really is admirably brave! I wonder if he was forced by Charlotte Linlin or simply wanted to secure the Charlotte family's power?"
"Kishishishi, either way, I have to say I admire him!!"
He wasn't completely unfamiliar with Doflamingo—they'd met many years ago in Loguetown.
That's exactly why he admired his courage.
In another country in the first half of the Grand Line, Alabasta, in a luxurious casino, a man with a cigar sneered coldly as he held the newspaper.
"Guhahaha, that idiot is probably beyond tears now, right? What a pity I can't personally go see that fool's tearless, pathetic face."
In the second half of the Grand Line, the New World, in a certain sea area, a whale-like massive ship crushed through the waves.
"Pops, Big mom is getting married again!"
Fourth Division Commander Thatch waved the newspaper in his hand, laughing heartily.
"What's so strange about that? That woman Linlin only has this one hobby in life."
Whitebeard laughed heartily.
Charlotte Linlin was only eighteen when she gave birth to her first child, and from then on had been producing almost every year.
It could be said her obsession with having children was greater than her desire for the title of Pirate King.
"But her husband is that Warlord Doflamingo—what an unlucky guy."
Thatch laughed with schadenfreude.
"Who says he's unlucky?"
A fat man in the crowd laughed, "What if he's actually enjoying himself?"
The deck of the Moby Dick instantly became a sea of joy.
Also in the New World, in another sea area, a pirate ship was sailing quietly. A pirate flag hung from the ship's mast—a skull with three scars over its left eye.
The pirates of the New World generally referred to them with such reverence:
The Red Hair Pirates.
"So Doflamingo is actually a Celestial Dragon."
At the bow of the large ship, the second-in-command of this pirate crew, Benn Beckman slowly exhaled a smoke ring, "Shanks, any thoughts?"
"A Celestial Dragon, huh?"
The captain of the pirate crew—the monster most renowned in this New World aside from the three Pirate Emperors, the man called Red Hair—casually leaned against the ship's rail, somewhat lazily gazing at the endless horizon.
His expression grew somewhat melancholic, "How troublesome."
The wedding news had already gotten all the monsters excited.
That afternoon when he saw the newspaper, Brett received another phone call.
"Brett!"
The voice on the other end couldn't be more familiar.
"You're definitely going to attend Charlotte Linlin and Doflamingo's wedding, right?"
Brett raised an eyebrow, "If you're contacting me specifically to have me rescue that guy Doflamingo, forget it."
He said mockingly, "You can't possibly not know what kind of grudge exists between us, right? You surely don't think it's possible for me to fall out with Charlotte Linlin over that guy?"
The Five Elder on the other end was momentarily speechless, and there was some silence.
Then, after about half a minute, someone else took over the Den Den Mushi, "Since you're unwilling to help, we'll leave this matter to CP to handle. But Brett, there's another matter we need you to handle."
"What matter?"
Brett was genuinely curious.
Besides asking him to help rescue Doflamingo, what else could the government need him to do at this critical juncture?
"If CP's operation to rescue Doflamingo fails, then their mission will change."
The voice was as cold as ice, "Since we can't rescue Doflamingo, then we'll kill him."
"What you need to do is, if CP's operation fails, then at least take advantage of the chaos they create to find an opportunity to eliminate Doflamingo!"
Brett was stunned. Were these guys serious?
Without exaggeration, in the original story, Doflamingo was the Warlord most protected by the government and the Five Elders, who would even play along with his act of voluntarily withdrawing from the Warlords.
But now, they were actually saying they wanted to kill Doflamingo?
But thinking about it carefully, there didn't seem to be any problem.
Doflamingo could threaten the World Government not only because he was a former Celestial Dragon, but also for another important reason—he held the secret of the Celestial Dragons' national treasure.
Now that Doflamingo was about to marry Charlotte Linlin, the Five Elders certainly wouldn't let him bring that secret as dowry to the Charlotte family.
Doflamingo had been abandoned.
Brett's smile became radiant.
"If it's this matter, then I'm certainly very happy to oblige."
Having the opportunity to eliminate Doflamingo with government support—there was no need to refuse such a chance.
However, Brett immediately added: "If there's an opportunity."
If he had to kill her new husband right in front of Charlotte Linlin, Brett would probably have to apologize.
Although he really wanted to kill Doflamingo, Brett didn't want to fall out with Charlotte Linlin over it.
He could only say, seize the opportunity.
After ending the call with the Five Elders, he made some arrangements and then set off.
The wedding was in one week. If he controlled his speed a bit, he should arrive exactly on the day of the wedding.
Having learned from his previous mistake, Brett wouldn't think of arriving early again and giving Charlotte Linlin the chance to focus all her attention on him.
He went to Dressrosa first, where Tesoro would meet up with him—strictly speaking, Tesoro and Tanaka.
Still had to be prepared for any contingency.
As for Baccarat, Tesoro said, "She needs to help me oversee the post-production of the film. Besides,"
The man aiming to be a big star looked at Brett, "you wouldn't say that you can't even buy Tanaka time to use his ability now, would you?"
Brett smiled calmly.
He felt his good friend's trust.
So he also told Tesoro some good news.
"Kill Doflamingo? Hahahaha, of course I'll help out with something like this!"
He was indeed very happy.