There was no denying that Doflamingo truly lived up to his reputation as an ambitious schemer who loved stirring chaos.
Just from a few scraps of intel, he had already guessed part of Oguro's true intentions.
"If you want weapons, then come buy them yourself. Aren't you the king of Dressrosa? Make a proper purchase like any normal person."
Unfortunately, Oguro and Doflamingo were not the same type of people at all, so he had no interest in continuing that conversation.
"Fufufufu… so cautious. You won't even leave someone a tiny bit of leverage. As expected of you."
Doflamingo laughed loudly, sounding quite pleased with Oguro's attitude.
What? What did I even say?
Oguro was speechless. He never expected the mighty Heavenly Yaksha to be such an overthinking maniac.
Oguro couldn't be bothered to keep arguing with him. After a few polite words, he hung up the Den Den Mushi.
Speaking of which, Doflamingo's Dressrosa had plenty of problems of its own.
In two years it would be toppled by Luffy and the others.
Should he get involved too?
With most of the New World already claimed by various forces, Doflamingo's territory was one of the easiest to target.
But there was no rush. Before heading to the New World, there was one major event he had to prepare for.
Marineford… the Summit War.
A war that would push the entire sea into unprecedented chaos. He had to prepare early and make sure to profit from it.
Blu-bli-bli…
The Den Den Mushi rang again.
This time it was Kalifa.
"Your Majesty," Kalifa's cool, elegant voice came through. "We've encountered CP0 in the Furant Kingdom. They seem to have some kind of plan regarding this country."
"Do you want us to avoid them for now?"
The Furant Kingdom was a small country near Water 7, mainly agricultural and famous for its rice.
Over the past two years, the elderly king had begun to decline and the princes started openly and secretly fighting for the throne.
They had purchased a large amount of weapons from Oguro, clearly ready for a fight to the death.
Oguro had sent the Shadow Dragon Guard to see if the country could be absorbed into the Holy Spirit Empire.
He hadn't expected CP0 to show up.
The empire and the World Government were currently in a state of peace, so Kalifa asked for his instructions.
"An agricultural country… enough to attract CP0?"
Oguro couldn't understand it either.
"Don't expose yourselves yet. I'll go take a look personally."
He had been idle long enough. It was time to stretch his legs.
Kalifa was naturally delighted.
The team for this trip was mostly the same as before.
Only Soifon stayed behind in Water 7, leaving only Yoruichi to accompany them.
Water 7 had changed drastically and needed someone strong enough to keep it secure.
Otherwise, any damage would be a huge loss.
Soifon was disappointed.
She wanted to stay by Oguro's side.
But duty was duty, and she couldn't disobey.
Oguro noticed her mood and made sure to comfort her thoroughly that night.
After months together, he had already won over all the summoned girls.
Only the local Nami and Robin remained untouched.
Nami was still too young, so he held back.
As for Robin… he was simply waiting for a good opportunity.
Early the next morning, Oguro woke to see Soifon's smooth, snow-white back.
It was hard to imagine that the fierce, sharp warrior on the battlefield was so sensitive in private.
It only took a few minutes before she completely melted under him.
And after all his hands-on "training," she was only getting more intense.
He kissed her forehead lightly before getting up and heading for the docks.
After being refitted by the Galley-La Company, the Desert Rose had improved massively in speed and maneuverability.
If the ship's structure allowed it, Franky would have installed a Coup de Vent as well.
A day later, the group arrived in the Furant Kingdom.
Kalifa brought them to the Shadow Dragon Guard's safe house and reported all recent intel.
"Your Majesty."
Kalifa was still dressed in her tight black suit and fishnet stockings, cold and dazzlingly seductive.
"Based on our observations, CP0 seems to be in contact with the kingdom's third prince. We don't know if they've made an agreement."
Kalifa suspected the third prince had struck a deal with the World Government, trading benefits in exchange for support to take the throne.
"That's definitely the most likely scenario."
Oguro stroked his chin.
"But the question is… what does the third prince have that the World Government would want?"
The Furant Kingdom was agricultural. There was nothing particularly special that should attract the World Government's interest.
Kalifa hadn't found the answer either.
"We discovered that CP0 will meet with the third prince tonight. We might learn their goal then." Kalifa adjusted her glasses.
"Perfect. We'll get our answer soon."
Oguro nodded. With Kalifa's Clear-Clear Fruit, infiltrating the meeting would be simple.
Night fell.
The group arrived at the meeting place, a remote farm.
It looked like any ordinary farm, but the farmers were clearly disguised soldiers.
The mixture of open and hidden guards made the place heavily fortified.
"Your Majesty, let's go."
Kalifa placed her hand on Oguro.
In the next second, both of their bodies turned transparent.
The Clear-Clear Fruit didn't only turn the user invisible. Anything they touched could be turned invisible as well.
To conserve stamina, Kalifa only turned Oguro and Yoruichi invisible.
Meanwhile, Robin scattered Eyes All Around and Ears All Around throughout the farm, searching for the third prince and CP0.
Thanks to the fruit's power, the three walked right past the guards and into the farm without hesitation.
A natural devil fruit for infiltration. It really was convenient.
Then, from the corner, a disembodied arm appeared and pointed in a direction.
"Robin found them. Let's move," Oguro whispered as they followed the signal.
Inside a warehouse, they finally located their targets.
The third prince of the Furant Kingdom, Furant Harris, was meeting with three CP0 agents in white suits.
But the next moment almost made the three invisible observers drop their jaws.
Harris fell to one knee with a fanatical expression and bowed to the CP0 leader.
"Greetings, my lord."
Oguro raised an eyebrow. That was truly unexpected.
CP0 were the dogs of the Celestial Dragons.
And a kingdom's prince calling a CP0 agent "lord"… that level of self-degradation was impressive in its own way.
The CP0 leader wore a Goat-horn demon mask and spoke in a cold voice.
"How is the situation?"
Harris immediately replied, "Just as you instructed, I leaked the news of my cooperation with CP0 to my older brothers."
"They've already formed a temporary alliance to push me out of the fight. Your plan is about to succeed."
***
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