Kaido stared at the photo of Don on the newspaper in his hand, then grabbed his gourd of liquor beside him and took several large gulps.
"When is Doflamingo going to deliver what I asked for?"
Feeling the heat of the alcohol rising, Kaido narrowed his drunken eyes at King.
"It should be ready soon. We can confirm he does have the technology to produce artificial Devil Fruits. That tech may be connected to Vegapunk."
King replied, his tone unchanged.
"Send Jack to keep watch over Dressrosa. If that brat heads there, tell him to take him down."
Kaido let out a loud hiccup as he spoke.
King froze for a moment, surprise flickering in his eyes.
"Jack might not be a match for him."
He reminded Kaido.
Based on the information they currently had, this man named Don had already fought an Admiral — and was now clashing with Rayleigh.
For an opponent of that level, forget Jack — even King himself couldn't guarantee victory.
"Hmph. Then I'll go myself!"
Kaido waved his hand irritably and chugged more liquor.
Seeing this, King said nothing more and turned to leave.
If Kaido himself took action, there would be no room for failure.
Kaido was confident — but on Dressrosa, the Flamingo had completely lost his.
He never expected that a single Den Den Mushi call earlier would end up provoking an enemy like this.
Doflamingo had always kept a close eye on Don.
After all, in Doflamingo's mind, the two did have a grudge.
But now, information kept pouring in, and each new piece made Doflamingo more and more uncertain.
He originally planned to rely on Kaido to deal with Don — but that monster didn't react at all.
Someone like Kaido, if he doesn't want to move, no one can make him.
"Doffy!"
Trebol naturally noticed the young master's foul mood and also understood the reason.
"Pluton Rayleigh might be old, but his strength is definitely still there. This Don may not survive him."
Trebol offered.
"That's impossible."
Doflamingo looked at Trebol and shook his head.
"Tell Caesar to speed up. Three months — if he can't produce the first artificial Devil Fruit by then, he has no reason to exist."
Doflamingo put the newspaper aside, his expression dark and grim.
"I'll tell him. But Doffy… if Kaido won't help, can we rely on the Navy instead?"
Doflamingo was still a Warlord — and a former Celestial Dragon. His hidden ties with the World Government remained intact.
"He doesn't even have a bounty. That already says everything."
Doflamingo shook his head.
Based on what Don had done in the North Blue, even if he really was a pirate hunter, the World Government and the Navy shouldn't ignore him.
And yet?
Neither the Navy nor the Government reacted — not even a bounty poster.
Clearly, after weighing the risks and benefits, they made their decision.
"Keep people on him. Those idiots in Mary Geoise love going to the Sabaody Archipelago, don't they? Send a batch of Fish-man slaves there — and spread the information widely."
Doflamingo said after a moment of thought.
"You mean…?" Trebol immediately caught on to the idea.
"It might not work. And even if it does, the Navy still might not be able to keep him. So we'll prepare on our side as well."
Doflamingo still remembered Don saying he would come find him.
It might have sounded casual at the time — but Doflamingo had a feeling that man would come.
New World — the sea at the edge of Totto Land.
The clash of Conqueror's Haki blasted the clouds apart.
Two violent, overwhelming auras collided as the towering figure standing on thunderclouds gripped a massive sword, glaring viciously at the red-haired man before her.
"You little brat… what the hell are you trying to pull?!"
Charlotte Linlin was clearly furious to the extreme — her entire hair turning golden, blazing like golden flames.
Red-Hair didn't back down at all. Even stronger waves of Conqueror's Haki erupted from him.
The surrounding sea had been completely cleared for a massive radius. All ships and battles had been pushed to the outskirts.
Red-Hair fixed his eyes on Linlin, stepped on the air, and lunged with Gryphon in hand.
"Divine Departure!"
Gryphon swept across, black lightning infused with Conqueror's Haki crackling along its blade.
"Ikoku!"
A massive shockwave burst from Linlin's sword.
The two attacks collided head-on, black lightning detonating as it shattered Linlin's shockwave, the crackling blade cleaving into her body.
Then, a fist coated in Armament surged down at Red-Hair.
The battle resumed — exactly the same as before.
Neither could overpower the other.
Red-Hair had mobility and stronger Conqueror's Haki.
But Linlin's natural physique was simply overwhelming.
Even attacks infused with Conqueror's Haki barely injured her.
After the stalemate, Red-Hair returned to his ship.
"Captain, there's news about your former vice-captain."
Beckman shook a newspaper at him.
"There's always news about him."
Red-Hair blinked, then took the paper.
"This one's different. Looks like your old vice-captain… got beaten up."
Red-Hair froze, eyes dropping to the photo — Don and Rayleigh captured together.
"It's him!"
Red-Hair remembered Don immediately.
"That's him. And your other friend is traveling with him now."
Beckman pointed to the back page.
Red-Hair flipped it over.
It was an aerial photo — half an island carved with intersecting sword scars, a ship anchored beside it.
On the ship, Red-Hair instantly recognized the silhouette.
Hawkeye.
"This just got interesting."
Red-Hair rubbed his chin and finished the newspaper.
"No winner… but that's strange. Unless the fight was stopped on purpose."
After reading, he set it aside and looked at Beckman.
"What do you think?"
"No idea. But judging by Don's past behavior, this wasn't a life-or-death fight. More like a test or some kind of mutual purpose."
Beckman replied.
"That's your vice-captain, you know. Aren't you going to check?"
"Rayleigh is very strong."
Red-Hair answered calmly.
Most of his swordsmanship had been taught by Rayleigh.
He knew Rayleigh's strength better than most.
"But asking won't hurt."
He took out a Den Den Mushi and called Rayleigh — but couldn't get through.
"That's odd…"
He tried another person.
Crocus.
After hearing Crocus's explanation, Red-Hair fell silent.
So that's what happened?
In that case, no need to dwell on it. He should focus on the war at hand.
END OF CHAPTER
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