Chapter 24: Frenetic Preparations
The commotion of Umit gathering his men could not possibly be hidden from Joker, who is the local snake.
This was not due to Pica tracking in real time.
Rather,
One transport ship after another boldly sailed into the port. If Doflamingo had not given the order promptly enough, the cadres of the Donquixote Family would probably have directly opened fire on Umit’s army. But even though it did not come to blows, both sides still remained prepared to fight at any moment.
The tense atmosphere directly spread to the streets. The originally bustling and prosperous main street instantly became deserted, and many people ran to the entrance of the Royal Palace, requesting His Majesty the King to drive away these guys who looked like nothing good at first glance.
King’s Highland, a living room in the Royal Palace.
“Dof, this old guy Umit is too arrogant. Let me go take him out.”
One of the Four Supreme Executives, the leader of the Spade Army, Diamanti draped in a red cape and dressed like a tribal native, said loudly. His right hand pressed on the sword hilt, and the surging killing intent showed that he was absolutely not joking.
“Diamanti, don’t be hasty. This matter······ we can ignore for now.”
Doflamingo gently swirled the goblet in his hand, the blood-like crimson liquor swirling intensely. “Let this old guy Umit do whatever he wants, but······ Senor, go warn that old guy that this is Dressrosa, not his sea ship. My tolerance is limited. If he dares to cross the line······ let him weigh the consequences himself.”
The glass cup holding the red wine reflected a terrifying and ferocious face full of killing intent, grinning.
Acting so recklessly in his territory, Umit’s actions had thoroughly enraged him.
However, if he moved against Umit at this time, it would be equivalent to taking the fall for that Black Prince he had never met. Such selfless acts did not fit his style, so······ he planned to wait and see after Umit and that Black Prince had a fight. If Umit lost, then he would not need to intervene.
If Umit won, then he would settle accounts with Umit at that time.
“Yes, Young Master, I’ll go right now.”
The burly man with a pacifier in his mouth, dressed like a giant infant, responded boldly. Though he looked like a pervert, the way he walked made him seem like a tough guy.
In fact, that was exactly the case.
As the family head of the Donquixote Family, Doflamingo knew the personality and abilities of every family member clearly. Senor might look like a pervert, but he was actually a iron-blooded tough guy. Many schemes and plots were not suitable for Senor to handle, but there were also some matters that were more suitable for Senor than others.
For example, this kind of messenger work, which could express his dissatisfaction toughly enough without directly tearing face with Umit and starting a fight.
“Dof, I mean, are we just going to let it go like this? Isn’t that letting that old guy off too easy?” Trebol dangled his long snot, also showing his presence as one of the family’s supreme executives.
However, Trebol’s words did resonate with quite a few people.
Many of the family members here nodded in agreement.
“I hate repeating myself, Trebol. Umit is not my prey right now.” Doflamingo took a sip of wine and continued, “For Umit’s matter, we just need to watch the show. At least until this hunter dies, we are just spectators. Remember, we are just spectators now. It’s not yet time for us to enter the fray.”
Doflamingo emphasized.
He had no intention of taking a bullet for someone, especially for that brat who rejected his trade.
————
Dressrosa’s coastline has a large number of mushroom-shaped rocks.
At this moment,
Here was occupied by Umit’s army and temporarily turned into a military camp. Fully six thousand fully armed elite warriors were stationed here, sharpening their blades and prepared for battle at any time. Moreover, the camp had not only six thousand elite warriors but also eleven pirates with bounties over 100 million.
Having obtained no useful intelligence about Sokachio Elus from Stussy, this made Umit faintly uneasy.
After weighing the options, he chose to follow his intuition, disregarding offending Joker, and decisively pulled the reserve forces hidden on the sea onto the island, preparing to concentrate all his power to defeat the challenger Sokachio Elus with overwhelming force.
Don’t underestimate these six thousand men.
If judging only by individual combat power, they naturally weren’t very useful, but when they operated large numbers of cannons, they still had some effect. At the very least, they could boost morale and hide the movements of his own strong persons amid the crowd.
He was guarding against that guy Joker selling his intelligence!
“Lord Umit, isn’t this too exaggerated? Joker will go mad.”
The bald man wearing a baseball cap followed Umit standing on an enormous mushroom-shaped rock, breathing in the salty sea breeze blowing head-on.
“Marcus, do you think what Venkura said is really true?”
“······Lord Umit, whether it’s true or false doesn’t matter anymore. At this point, we can’t afford to back down. If we retreat now, we won’t be able to mix in the New World anymore.” The bald man in the baseball cap called Marcus shrugged his shoulders.
“That’s true! It was clearly me who dug the pit for that little prince, but in the end, I’m the one getting anxious······ Haha! Am I really getting old?”
“How could that be? Your fists hurt even more when they hit people than before.”
“Do they?”
“This morning during training, that punch you landed on me—I can still feel the pain now!”
“That’s because you’ve been slacking on your training lately! Don’t play cards all day—that’s a pastime that ruins one’s ambition! To accomplish major events, you can’t let your desires control you.”
“Hehe!”
Marcus scratched his bald head under the baseball cap, chuckling foolishly without responding.
Not letting him play cards? Might as well die now.
Besides, what major event could be more enjoyable than playing cards!
“······Get lost! Stop being an eyesore here. Go watch the ones below and don’t let those bastards slack off. Don’t just think about playing cards······ And keep an eye on those bastards, don’t let them clash with Joker’s subordinates. That petty bastard Joker will really make a move if pushed too far.”
“Then why are you still doing this? If I were Joker, I’d have exploded already.”
Marcus rolled his eyes speechlessly.
“That’s why you’re just my subordinate.”
“Secretary, not subordinate.”
“······Get lost already.”
Umit was too lazy to waste words with this fool. If not for this guy’s sufficient strength and loyalty, he wouldn’t keep this card-obsessed guy by his side to use.
Marcus left the mushroom-shaped rock, leaving Umit standing here alone gazing out to the sea.
The sea wind howled, yet it could not make Umit’s figure sway even a little. His feet were like roots, fused into one with this mushroom-shaped rock, unmoving no matter the wind or rain.
