Chapter 21: Heading To Dressrosa
Dressrosa.
Land of Love, Passion, and Toys.
The territory of the man who is one of the Seven Warlords of the King, the Heavenly Yaksha, and the broker of the Dark World with the codename joker, Donquixote Doflamingo. This great pirate, who once had a bounty of 340 million Beli, transformed five years ago into the new King of Dressrosa.
When this news spread, it shattered countless people’s glasses. Who the hell could have imagined that this guy, chased around like a rabbit by Vice Admiral Tsuru of the Navy, would strut right into Navy Headquarters and obtain the title of Seven Warlords of the King.
One truly wonders what kind of mood that renowned Vice Admiral Tsuru was in when she gave up pursuing the Donquixote Family.
In any case,
starting five years ago,
the joker, who originally came from the North Blue, had no fixed abode in the New World, and roamed around like a wild dog, suddenly ascended to the throne of a magnate in the New World. Not only did he obtain the official white-path identity of the Seven Warlords of the King, but he also acquired the title of joker in the Dark World.
Just looking at joker’s rise from the North Blue to the New World, one has to say this is a man of great cunning and boldness.
Compared to BIG·MOM and Beasts, those two mad emperors whose brains often malfunction, a hegemon like Donquixote Doflamingo is more fit to be an emperor. Unfortunately, his martial power is a bit weak, and the New World is precisely the chaotic place where the strong are king. In such a godforsaken place, overwhelming force defeats skill is the unassailable truth.
King’s Highland.
This is where the Dressrosa Royal Palace is located.
By the outdoor swimming pool, a man wearing sunglasses, draped in a pink feather coat, dressed in purple-red cropped pants and pointed shoes, holding a glass of red wine in his hand, sat on an ultra-luxurious sofa, his face showing an unrestrained arrogant smile.
This man with the evil smile, clearly no good bird, is Donquixote Doflamingo.
“Young Master, I mean, about Umit over there······ do we not need to care?” A man holding a cane with a spade mark, draped in a cloak like a quilt, wearing small sunglasses, with half a booger dangling under his nose, raised the question.
This is—
Trebol.
One of the Donquixote Family’s Four Supreme Executives, the leader of the Spade Army, a Paramecia ability user of the Sticky-Sticky Fruit.
“No need to bother with him! That old thing has no good intentions, fantasizing about pulling me in to block bullets for him. He thinks too little of me······ Fufufufufu!!” Doflamingo sneered twice, his sharp gaze piercing through the sunglasses toward the blazing sun in the sky,
“Of course, if he’s willing to pay a sufficient price, it’s not impossible to help him test what kind of abilities this recently rising Black Prince has!”
Hearing the Young Master’s contradictory words, Trebol was a bit dizzy.
“I mean, this, this······ Young Master, are we helping or not?”
“Not for now. Trebol, you just watch over Sugar and the underground factory. As for that old thing Umit······ Pica, you go keep an eye on him. Don’t care what he does, just watch him. If anything happens, contact via Den Den Mushi.”
Doflamingo clearly had no intention of explaining in detail to Trebol.
No need to explain too much to Trebol; saying more is useless. Trebol······ well, although he’s a top executive of the family, he’s really just Sugar’s personal bodyguard. It looks like a major responsibility, but in truth, he’s just a bodyguard.
His brain isn’t suited for other things.
“Leave it to me! Young Master.”
A sharp, thin voice came from the floor underfoot.
Hearing this unique voice, the modern ladies standing around the pool strongly suppressed the urge to burst out laughing, not even daring to shrug their shoulders, fearing they would be seen as mocking Pica’s voice. If deemed to be mocking that big man’s voice, dying a quick and painless death would be a luxury.
No one dared to mock his own voice, which satisfied Pica hiding underground as he left King’s Highland for Lovers Avenue to find Umit, who was currently leading his subordinates shopping.
“Umit, that old thing!”
Doflamingo narrowed his eyes, speaking casually.
But he didn’t dare underestimate this mess that had come right to his doorstep at all,
He was extremely dissatisfied with Umit’s vile behavior of bringing trouble to his door, but that shameless old thing Umit just did it, without even a greeting, directly leading a huge crowd of subordinates to visit.
This squeeze left Doflamingo with no extra choices: either tear faces and clash with Umit directly, or pinch his nose and accept this mess.
The former choice was naturally unacceptable.
Not to mention anything else, just the ten great pirates with bounties over 100 million Beli that Umit brought this time, plus Umit himself—he didn’t have full confidence to take them down in a clash. Moreover, if he really did that, it would only benefit others and bring him no gain.
After weighing the options, this man not lacking in forbearance chose to pinch his nose and accept it.
However,
Not everyone can make joker swallow his anger like Beasts, swallowing broken teeth into his belly.
“Buruburu.”
A modern lady brought the ringing Den Den Mushi.
“Dof!”
As soon as Doflamingo picked up the microphone, the Den Den Mushi immediately transmitted a man’s steady yet affectionate call.
“Vergo, any results?”
“Found it. The Navy······ no, it should be said the World Government provided this information. Dof, the Eckmond Kingdom’s relationship with the World Government is deeper than we previously estimated. I just started investigating here, and the Sokachio Family on the Red Line sent over information on Sokachio Elus.”
“Sokachio? Interesting, to have such influence in the World Government. But that’s even better; the value of cooperation is higher······ Vergo, no issues on your end? Did alerting the World Government cause any situation in the Navy upper echelons?”
“No problem. As the base commander of the New World G5 branch, being familiar with New World intelligence is part of my job. Not long ago, Headquarters sent a commendation for diligent service. As for the Navy upper echelons······ no changes so far. The Three Admirals are each at their posts, Vice Admiral Garp is still in the East Blue and hasn’t returned, Vice Admiral Tsuru hasn’t left Headquarters for nearly a year······”
Vergo on the other end of the Den Den Mushi reported in detail on the Navy’s recent situations.
About half an hour passed,
and this long-distance communication finally came to an end.
The microphone was hung back on the Den Den Mushi’s shell. Doflamingo restrained the smile on his face, looked at the Den Den Mushi number recorded in his notebook, and once again carefully pondered if there were any issues with his plan, given that old thing Umit wasn’t giving him face.
He also wasn’t planning to give Umit face, so he prepared to contact Sokachio Elus.
Not necessarily to really stand on the same front line as this young Black Prince—after all, whether he could take down that cunning old thing Umit was still uncertain! But that didn’t stop him from selling intelligence on that old thing Umit. And if this Black Prince really flipped Umit,
building rapport in advance wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Thus,
his fingers returned to the dial keys on the back of the Den Den Mushi.
————
On the Sea.
The warship flying the Golden Coffee Tree Flag rode the wind and waves, speeding forward.
In the hall inside the cabin.
Elus was interrogating the captive that Dick had caught earlier—the Strangling Ghost, Farrug. This lucky guy had been locked up since Dick brought him back, forgotten until now. This time heading to Dressrosa, due to Dick’s reminder, they simply brought him along to interrogate slowly while sailing at sea.
“A pirate with a bounty of 114 million Beli······ you’re from the New World via the South Blue?”
“Yes, I’m from a small warring country in the South Blue. As a child, I was in the boy scouts. Later, the faction I was in was defeated, the boy scouts disbanded, and I wandered alone for a few months. Near starvation, I met my teacher. My strangling technique was taught by my teacher, and I also promised my teacher to spread the name of the Sallier Strangling Technique throughout the world.
So, I don’t want to die! Your Highness Elus, please give me a chance to live. Whatever you want me to do, I will, as long as I can live, I’ll do anything!”
Farrug knelt cleanly on the ground, his forehead pressed against the soft wool carpet, offering his obedience to Elus.
“······ Whatever! Dick, the guy you brought back is yours to manage. He’s your subordinate now.” After hearing the uninteresting story, Elus lost all interest in this man who liked wearing only swim trunks and directly handed him off to Dick.
“Eh? Your Highness, you’re joking, right? Such a troublesome matter shouldn’t be left to Dillon or Eschbach?”
Dick, who was sitting on the side playing cards with Dillon and Eschbach, immediately complained at being saddled with trouble. His personality was flighty, and he hated handling trivial matters the most. Training newcomers like this was especially headache-inducing.
“This is the captive you caught, so of course it’s yours to manage. And if you find it troublesome, training an assistant to handle things for you isn’t perfect?” Elus explained.
“Uh······ that makes sense.”
Dick was convinced.
If he could train an assistant to handle miscellaneous tasks for him, wouldn’t he never have to worry about the troublesome errands from His Highness again? Moreover, he had saved Farrug back then because he found the guy likable······
“Farrug, you’ll follow me from now on.”
Farrug raised his head, staring blankly at Dick standing before him, momentarily at a loss.
“Um, what kind of pledge of allegiance do I need to give?” Farrug asked cautiously.
“Pledge of allegiance? What’s that?”
Dick widened his eyes.
As the least scholarly of Elus’s four aides-de-camp, this guy was praiseworthy only for his martial power; his other academic scores were simply abysmal.
“Dick, your turn to play.”
Dillon interrupted Dick from further embarrassing himself.
He glanced at Farrug. Under that knife-like piercing gaze, Farrug shivered, then heard Dillon say: “We’re not pirates, and His Highness doesn’t need heads to decorate his sofa. As long as you offer your loyalty honestly······ that’s enough.
Loyalty is the only value you have. If you lose even that······ I don’t want to see that happen.”
The cold words stuck to him like ice blocks.
Farrug, wearing only swim trunks, felt his bones freezing stiff all over.
“Buruburu!!”
At that moment, the Den Den Mushi rang.
“Your Highness, it’s Lord Sokachio.” Fran came over holding the Den Den Mushi.
“Grandfather?”
Elus picked up the microphone.
Before he could greet, the Den Den Mushi emitted a loud, deafening voice.
“Yo! El, it’s Grandpa!”
“······Grandpa, save that greeting for Sar and Adela! I’m twenty already, not a kid!” Elus helplessly declared once again, though he knew such complaints were futile and it would be the same next time.
“Hahaha!!!”
The hearty laughter shook Elus, who instinctively dug his pinky into his ear.
“El, when are you bringing Sar and Adela to the Red Line to play? It’s been two years since I hugged Adela. She’s four this year already. If not for all these messes at the World Government tying me down, I’d have quit long ago to go home and hug my granddaughter······”
Endless complaints poured out, mixed with great regret over not witnessing his little granddaughter’s growth firsthand.
“······ Enough chit-chat. El, I’ve got serious business.”
“Serious business? What is it?”
Elus, who had been dozing off groggily, wiped his face with the cold towel Fran handed him and rallied his spirits to ask.
“Someone in the Navy is investigating your intelligence.”
“······What kind of serious business is that?” Elus was speechless. The Navy big shots investigating someone’s intel was hardly rare, right?
“It’s the base commander of the New World G5 branch, [Ghost Bamboo] Vergo. You said before this guy isn’t good. I checked discreetly and found investigating your intel was Vergo’s personal action. Navy Headquarters was just doing routine intel collection on you, so I simply sent your intel directly to Vergo to scare the guy.”
“······”
Scare?
Elus had a bit of a headache.
His grandfather had developed a tendency to let loose since retiring, always doing shocking things, like marrying a new wife younger than Elus.
But Vergo······ was that joker guy investigating him?
“Grandpa, you didn’t spill all my background, did you?”
“Your photo, Den Den Mushi number, and two years ago’s height and weight data—all sent over. Speaking of which, have you grown taller lately? I saw in Bertha’s photo you seem taller? Ah, off topic. What was I saying······ Right, if you’re going to Dressrosa this time, best not provoke Doflamingo. That guy was originally a Celestial Dragon.”
At the end, the old man’s booming voice dropped so low that Elus had to perk his ears to hear.
“Anyway, that’s it. Be careful! Oh, want to say something to your grandma······”
“Clang!”
Elus hung up the microphone with thunderous speed.
He wasn’t ready to face the terrifying reality of a ‘grandma’ two years younger than him.
“Buruburu!”
Just two seconds after hanging up, the Den Den Mushi rang again.
