In his heart, Teach, of course, knew what the "cargo" Doflamingo was talking about was.
It was the Dark-Dark Fruit, a thought that now made his heart ache.
But on the surface, he naturally couldn't admit anything. He looked at Doflamingo and said in a low voice, "What cargo of yours? We haven't touched anything belonging to the Donquixote Family. Don't go looking for trouble, Doflamingo!"
"The merchant fleet you robbed earlier contained a Devil Fruit. I don't care about anything else; you will hand over that Devil Fruit!" Doflamingo said with a vicious tone.
"That Devil Fruit was yours?" Teach's eyes registered a perfectly timed expression of 'surprise,' and he spoke with disbelief.
Doflamingo frowned slightly, then said, "That's right. Consider the rest of the cargo a gift from me. Just give me back the Devil Fruit!"
"Bastard! Because of your damn Devil Fruit, our Fourth Division Commander Thatch is dead! The Fruit you're looking for is gone! It's not in our hands, go find it yourself!" Teach shouted, full of manufactured rage.
Doflamingo: ???
What kind of nonsense is this?
Wait, the Whitebeard Pirates' Fourth Division Commander is dead?
What's going on now?
Doflamingo looked around, slightly confused, then sneered, "Don't try to play dumb to this extent! Your fleet shows no signs of having been attacked! Tell that Thatch bastard to get out here! Hand over the Devil Fruit!"
The moment he finished speaking, Doflamingo raised his hand and lunged at Teach.
Teach reacted with incredible speed, sliding his feet, backing up two steps, pulling out the dagger from his waist, and assuming a defensive posture.
"Bastard, Doflamingo! The thing you want truly isn't with us!" Teach roared.
Doflamingo didn't humor Teach. He stamped his foot, his figure darting right in front of Teach, and launched a kick straight down. A faint, almost imperceptible thread had already extended between his heel and ankle.
A clang rang out. Teach's dagger, coated in Armament Haki, blocked the kick in front of him. A closer look would show that the dagger was pressing against a thin thread.
Before Teach could counterattack, his movements suddenly froze, as if he were forcibly controlled.
The next second, Doflamingo spun around and swept out another kick.
"Athlete..." Doflamingo murmured.
Just as the kick was about to land, Teach seemed to break free of the restraint. He coated his body in Haki, adopted a blocking stance, and took Doflamingo's kick head-on.
The immense force pushed him sideways, splintering the deck beneath his feet.
However, given Teach's strength, taking a kick from Doflamingo didn't cause any major damage.
Doflamingo's brow furrowed as he looked at Teach with surprise. The move that instantly restrained Teach was, naturally, his Parasite string. The fact that his successive attacks were blocked by this unknown man made Doflamingo realize things weren't simple. Perhaps he wasn't using his full strength, but the man in front of him likely wasn't, either.
This couldn't be some small fry!
"Who... are you?" Doflamingo retracted his long leg, his hands in his pockets, and his posture slightly hunched, asking in a low voice.
"Teach, Marshall D. Teach..." Teach said, rubbing the arm that took the kick.
"D...? A name I haven't heard of... Interesting." Doflamingo smiled wickedly, then continued, "It seems your words carry some weight. You just said that Thatch died? What's the situation?"
If an ordinary small fry had said this, Doflamingo wouldn't have believed it, but this Teach seemed to have some skill, lending credibility to his words. This was the privilege of the strong.
Also, the man was a D... Doflamingo, a former Celestial Dragon, paid him more attention.
Seeing that Doflamingo was no longer looking for a fight, Teach said grimly, "A traitor appeared on our ship. He seemed desperate to get that Devil Fruit. He murdered Thatch in the dark last night while everyone was drunk and stole that damn Devil Fruit of yours! Damn you! If it weren't for that Devil Fruit..."
"Fufufufu, that's surprising. The Whitebeard Pirates, renowned as the most united crew on the sea, are suffering such a melodramatic incident?" Doflamingo smiled evilly, then said directly, "Where is Thatch's body? I need to see if he's really dead!"
"Dream on! Are you trying to insult the Whitebeard Pirates?" Teach refused without hesitation.
Just then, a Den Den Mushi on Doflamingo's person rang.
Doflamingo glanced at Teach and, without bothering to step away, pulled out the Den Den Mushi. He saw it was his secretary, Monet.
He answered the call directly, "What is it?"
"Young Master, something has happened with the Whitebeard Pirates!" Monet quickly reported.
Doflamingo frowned, "Speak."
"Commander Thatch of the Whitebeard Pirates' Fourth Division, the one you are pursuing, is dead. The Whitebeard Pirates have issued a hunt and a bounty of 10 billion Berries! The entire Underworld has received the news. A man named Rob Lucci murdered Thatch and then defected from the Whitebeard Pirates..." Monet quickly explained.
She did not know that Doflamingo had already caught up with Thatch's fleet. She had reported the intelligence to Doflamingo immediately because it concerned the Fourth Division's situation.
"Rob Lucci..." Doflamingo murmured, then glanced at Teach. "Rob Lucci, the 'Killing Machine' with a bounty of 726 million Beri? The one in your Second Division who was most likely to become a Commander?"
Indeed, to the outside world, Rob Lucci was the strongest and had the highest bounty in the Second Division, so everyone believed Lucci would eventually take over as Second Division Commander. But now, a man of such high standing in the Whitebeard Pirates had killed the Fourth Division Commander and run away?
Teach didn't bother to correct him, just nodded. "It's him. Do you believe me now? Thatch is dead, and your Devil Fruit was stolen by that damned Lucci. I'm hunting him down!"
"I understand," Doflamingo replied into the Den Den Mushi and hung up.
He then rubbed his chin and looked at Teach. "I recall that Rob Lucci should be a Zoan-type user. He already has an ability, so why would he steal the Dark-Dark Fruit?"
"Dark-Dark Fruit?" Teach feigned confusion, then asked, "That Devil Fruit was the Dark-Dark Fruit? I see. Was that the one your Donquixote Family offered a 7 billion Berries bounty for? How should I know why he stole it?"
Perhaps Teach's acting was too good, or perhaps Teach really was confused about why Lucci would steal the Dark-Dark Fruit. In any case, Doflamingo didn't spot any flaws in his story.
The casual mention of the Dark-Dark Fruit was actually a test.
At least for now, Doflamingo had a rough idea of the sequence of events.
The Black Rose Merchant Fleet, carrying a large amount of expensive cargo, was spotted by the Whitebeard Pirates' Fourth Division. Faced with such a lucrative target, they couldn't resist acting. By chance, Doflamingo's Dark-Dark Fruit was also stolen in the process.
On the surface, that's what happened. In reality, it was probably all orchestrated by that man named 'Rob Lucci' from behind the scenes. From the very beginning, his target was the Dark-Dark Fruit!
The man named Teach, and the unfortunate dead man Thatch, were probably both used by that man named Lucci.
"This is a big problem..." Doflamingo murmured.
If it were an entire fleet, he could track them easily, but finding an unflagged assault ship was like searching for a needle in a haystack. How could he find him?
"You idiots have no idea how much trouble you've stirred up. Damn it, now I have to clean up this mess. Teach, Marshall D. Teach, is that right? How about a partnership? Let's find that bastard together. His life is yours; I only want the Devil Fruit!" Doflamingo proposed to Teach.
Teach began to deliberate. The way Doflamingo spoke made it sound like he was just a delivery boy for someone else. Was there a greater power behind him who needed this Dark-Dark Fruit?
Who was this big shot? The people in Mariejois? Or some other mysterious figure?
Counting himself, Lucci's side, and this third party, were three factions now eyeing the Dark-Dark Fruit? What the hell? Why did the Dark-Dark Fruit suddenly become so sought after?
However, Teach was very interested in Doflamingo's proposal for cooperation.
As far as he could tell, he had completely fooled Doflamingo. His performance of total ignorance about the Dark-Dark Fruit led Doflamingo to believe that he was merely hunting Lucci for revenge over Thatch's death.
This provided a perfect foundation for cooperation. The Whitebeard Pirates wanted the man; Doflamingo wanted the cargo. They had no conflict of interest and shared the same target.
Wasn't this the perfect partner?
As for what happens when they catch Lucci... Teach could simply stab Doflamingo in the back, seize the Dark-Dark Fruit from him, or even eat the Fruit right there and immediately overpower the bastard. He didn't think much of the Donquixote Family.
If he could leverage the Donquixote Family's vast influence and intelligence network in the Underworld, wouldn't that be a good deal?
With this thought, Teach nodded without hesitation. "First thing's first: no matter how much you hate that Lucci bastard, his life belongs to the Whitebeard Pirates!"
"Don't worry. I only want the Dark-Dark Fruit. Everything else is yours!" Doflamingo waved his hand.
…
Meanwhile, in Smoor Tobacco City.
The base of the Warlord of the Sea, the 'White Hunter' Smoker, was bustling. Smoker was looking at the intelligence report in his hand with surprise.
He had just received the news of the Whitebeard Pirates' massive move: a 10 Billion Berry bounty on Rob Lucci's head. What did that guy do? Did he dig up Whitebeard's ancestors' graves?
Others might not know, but Smoker, as Admiral Diarmuid's top informant, had traveled with Admiral Diarmuid to Jam Island and had heard him contact this 'Rob Lucci' on the way.
Therefore, Smoker was certain that this Rob Lucci was similar to him—a spy planted by the Marines in the Whitebeard Pirates. Had this spy completed his mission, or had something gone wrong, leading the Whitebeard Pirates to hunt him relentlessly?
With this thought, Smoker paused, then grinned. "That Whitebeard bastard! The more unhappy he is, the happier I am! Tell our men not to touch this Lucci. If necessary, provide him with a little assistance. I just want to embarrass the Whitebeard Pirates! Who do they think they are? Is the New World still the New World it used to be? Hmph!"
Undoubtedly, Smoker intended to help Lucci. However, due to his status, he couldn't openly say so, using his dislike for the Whitebeard Pirates as an excuse instead.
After all, a mere 10 Billion Berry bounty was nothing to him. Everyone in the New World knew that Smoker was the wealthiest man. This was simply a way to cause trouble for the Whitebeard Pirates.
His pirate subordinates didn't doubt him. They were all from Yonko crews; causing trouble for each other was completely normal, wasn't it?
In this moment, Rob Lucci, by his own actions, had stirred up the winds and clouds of the New World!