Chapter 35: How Can One Become A Seven Warlord?
“Because of Umit?”
Prince Elus asked.
“With the King of Maritime Transport’s corpse under your feet, even the Four Emperors can’t ignore your existence.” Doflamingo said with a smile.
“Ah—! I don’t want to be stared at by those inhuman monsters!”
Prince Elus scratched his hair in great distress.
His troubled expression looked so genuine.
“There’s no way around it. Although what happened today can’t be directly published in the newspaper, by tonight, without waiting until tomorrow, all the major powers in the New World will know your name, Prince Elus, your feats, and… the birth of a new magnate. Let me offer my congratulations in advance here, Your Excellency the King of Maritime Transport of the future.”
Doflamingo raised the wine glass in his hand and toasted Prince Elus.
The fall of a magnate in the Dark World was undoubtedly big news that would shake the entire New World.
It’s just a pity that,
such a thing can’t be directly put in the newspaper. Morgans himself is one of the magnates in the Dark World. He knows very well why the Dark World is called the Dark World and the underground world—because they hide in the darkness where no light reaches.
Once it gets in the newspaper and sees the light,
the Navy won’t be able to pretend to be deaf and dumb anymore.
Even though just fighting pirates is already taxing the Navy heavily, to maintain their own ruling power, for their own justice, for the Navy’s credibility, they still have to muster enough power to deliver substantial blows and damage to the Dark World.
This is not something the magnates of the Dark World want to see,
Morgans, this big news magnate, will vigorously promote what Doflamingo has done as a Seven Warlords, what brand of toilet paper he likes to use to wipe his ass, but he will never expose Doflamingo’s identity as Joker in the newspaper.
So,
Umit’s death will inevitably stir up huge waves and massive billows in the New World.
But the newspapers sent all over the world won’t mention a dead King of Maritime Transport at all.
“Clang~~”
Wine glasses clinked,
crimson wine liquid swirled rapidly in the glass.
Prince Elus took a sip of the red wine he didn’t particularly like. He had no strong preference for alcoholic drinks, couldn’t tell good red wine from bad, paid no attention to the fine red wine in his glass. He just looked at Doflamingo standing opposite and asked:
“Not planning to take a cut? Mister Joker.”
He used the same title from their previous Den Den Mushi conversation.
“Fufufu!!!” Doflamingo laughed extremely happily. “The King of Maritime Transport’s legacy is naturally so rich it’s tempting to rush up and take a bite. However… I have no intention of becoming the next stepping stone to fall at Prince Elus’s feet. The Joker identity is enough for me right now. Too much greed will burst your stomach.”
“That’s really a pity! To be honest, the legacy Umit left behind is so vast it’s overwhelming not knowing where to start. I was hoping Mister Joker could join me as a partner to take over the New World’s maritime transport.”
Doflamingo made no response to Prince Elus’s feigned ignorance.
After witnessing the scene of Umit being defeated by Prince Elus, he had no intention whatsoever of clashing with this little monster Prince Elus. Rather than forcing himself to stick his neck out as a risky bird with no guarantee, better to first see if this new King of Maritime Transport, Prince Elus, can gain recognition from the Four Emperors.
Especially since Umit was strictly speaking one of BIG·MOM’s partners. Defeating Umit is equivalent to cutting off a major chunk of income from the BIG·MOM Pirates and a very convenient and useful supply channel. It’s still unclear what the future holds————
“By the way, one more thing to ask, Mister Joker.”
“Oh? What?”
Doflamingo looked over curiously.
“How does one become a Seven Warlords?”
“······” Hearing Prince Elus’s question, Doflamingo was stunned for a moment, but soon his eyebrows shot up high, a brilliant smile spread across his face, and he burst into extremely delighted laughter. “Fufufufufu!!!”
Prince Elus quietly listened to the loudly laughing Doflamingo, gently swirling the wine glass in his hand, his gaze always following the crimson wine liquid swirling now fast, now slow with the changing force.
“This question, ah! It’s a great question that completely caught me off guard!”
Finally,
After laughing enough, Doflamingo took a sip of wine to calm his surging emotions, regained some composure, and then said: “Prince Elus, becoming a Seven Warlords is actually very simple. As long as you are a pirate with sufficient influence and are willing to accept summons from the World Government to serve them at special times, you pretty much have all the conditions to become a Seven Warlords.”
“Right, there also needs to be a vacancy among the Seven Warlords. If it’s full, you’ll have to find a way to make one of them step down.”
“Hmm, sounds a bit troublesome!”
“It is quite a hassle. Back then, for this sign, I put in a lot of thought and effort, and barely managed to snag this reputation.”
“Do I have to go rob some Tenryuubito’s Tax too? Well, I reckon if I did that, the Three Admirals would dig up our family graves in the next second······” Prince Elus rubbed his chin, seriously pondering how to secure a Seven Warlords position.
The Tenryuubito’s Tax robbery incident had once caused a huge uproar. Anyone wanting to understand Doflamingo couldn’t avoid this major event that shook the entire world.
Doflamingo watched for over ten seconds and felt that Prince Elus didn’t seem to be acting on a momentary impulse? Could it be that this prince, who isn’t even a pirate, really plans to pursue a Seven Warlords identity?
“Prince Elus, do you really want to pursue a Seven Warlords identity?”
Doflamingo asked directly.
“Yeah!”
Prince Elus was equally straightforward.
“······Fufu! Interesting! Interesting!” Doflamingo looked at Prince Elus and increasingly felt that this prince he was meeting for the first time was really to his taste. He liked these troublemaking thorns with real ability.
It was precisely because of these thorns that the world didn’t become too boring.
Didn’t become a stagnant pool of dead water under Marie Geoise.
“The Seven Warlords are currently at full strength. Prince Elus, you’re not planning to make me step down, are you?”
“How could I?”
Prince Elus shook his head vigorously. “Even considering today’s banquet, I wouldn’t make such a heartless choice. I’m planning to have [Sea Knight] give up his spot for me.” He finally revealed the target he had chosen after deep consideration.
“Jinbe? That blue-skinned Fish-Man?”
Doflamingo narrowed his eyes and thought it over, having to admit it was indeed a great choice. Among their original batch of Seven Warlords members—Crocodile that bastard, the Empress of Amazon Lily, Moonlight·Moria that onion head, and the Tyrant that silent monster—none were in the New World. Targeting them would be troublesome in itself.
Besides that,
Hawkeye, that freak who can rival the Four Emperors, is naturally the first one not to pick. That leaves him and that blue fatty Fish-Man Jinbe.
Thinking it through like this,
[Sea Knight] Jinbe is indeed the easiest to bully.
Moreover, since he’s thought it through to this extent, it seems this Black Prince Elus has been plotting this for a long time and came prepared!
