"Nothing major. Page One was killed, so I came out to stretch my legs. You seem quite idle here, JOKER. Don't let that kid Jack get spoiled. The reason he was sent here back then was to protect the Devil Fruit factory. But now it seems there aren't any reckless fools around." Queen said calmly.
Could it be that Doflamingo had anticipated that the Dawn Pirates would clash with their Beasts Pirates?
Doflamingo had a smile on his lips. Although these two fellows brought him a strong sense of pressure, they were not Kaido after all, and besides, they were now allies.
Law, oh Law, I know you want to kill me, and you have indeed learned what I once taught you quite well, making the best use of the resources at hand. But you are too high-profile, making your targets so obvious.
"They will come. The Dawn Pirates have an officer who deeply hates me, and Dressrosa is so close to the entrance of the New World. There's no reason they wouldn't come."
Doflamingo walked through the air, his strings wrapping around the entire palace. From a high vantage point, he could see Viola in the royal garden, constantly using her Devil Fruit ability to survey the seas around Dressrosa. Her ability allows her to see any sight within a radius of 4,000 kilometers.
So as long as she uses her ability frequently, no ship can land on Dressrosa unnoticed. Even from far away, any approach would be detected.
If not for the many strange weather patterns and auras in the Grand Line that her eyes cannot see through, Doflamingo could even sit at home and see the situation at Marine Headquarters.
"If they come, that saves trouble. They sound somewhat strong, but it's time they saw the cruelty of the New World. An Emperor? Not just anyone qualifies for that." Queen said calmly. This time, he had brought one hundred and fifty Gifters, including several Headliners and the Flying Six.
The hierarchy of the Beasts Pirates is very clear. The Governor, Kaido of the Beasts, under him are the Three Calamities, also known as the Three All-Stars: King, Queen, Jack.
Among them, Jack calls both of them big brother and is often scolded by them.
As for Jack's strength, while he might not be able to directly confront an Admiral head-on, thanks to his immense durability, he can hold his own for a while. He is definitely an elite-level Shichibukai, and his strength is not weaker than that of a quasi-Admiral.
As for Queen and King, they are powerful pirates who can openly engage in life-and-death battles with Marine Admirals.
After the Three Calamities come the Headliners, the Numbers, the Gifters, the Pleasures, and the Waiters. The last two categories are almost negligible.
As for the Gifters, almost all are Zoan-type Devil Fruit users. Over ninety-nine percent are artificial, with a few natural ones. And many of them have already mastered Haki.
They are Kaido's strongest ability-user corps.
Any single Gifter can easily take on a hundred ordinary men. And the Numbers are the barbaric ones among these Gifters. From Queen's assessment, they are a bunch with poor drinking manners, so Queen did not bring them this time.
And the best among the Headliners are the Flying Six under Queen. As for the others, even if they haven't reached the level of the Flying Six, their individual bounties are still in the hundreds of millions of Berries.
This time, Queen brought a total of 150 Gifters and 5 Headliners, all skilled fighters with bounties exceeding 300 million Berries. Among them is one from the Flying Six. And among the 150 Gifters, quite a few have bounties reaching 100 million Berries.
Adding himself and Jack here, this force alone is enough to make several nations tremble. And this is only part of the Beasts Pirates' strength. Over the years, pirates with bounties over 100 million are as common as hairs on an ox. Generally, if they aren't Devil Fruit users, they don't accept them anyway. After all, Governor Kaido only likes Zoan-type ability users.
Besides the strength of Queen and his men, Doflamingo's own power is not to be underestimated. His subordinates' bounties have long stopped increasing, but judging from how they looked down on Bellamy, whose bounty was close to 200 million Berries, and their displayed combat abilities, there are several officers who have reached Vice Admiral-level combat power.
Trebol of the Sticky-Sticky Fruit, Pica of the Stone-Stone Fruit, Diamante of the Flutter-Flutter Fruit. If these people had their bounties reinstated, each would be at least around 300 to 400 million Berries. And if Doflamingo's bounty were reinstated, it would probably be no less than 800 million Berries.
There are also other slightly lesser officers with decent combat abilities, plus a particularly fearsome user of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit.
So the forces gathered in Dressrosa at this moment are enough to stand up to two Admirals. Even if they brought numerous Marines, including Vice Admirals and Rear Admirals, a head-on battle might not necessarily succeed in taking down Dressrosa.
And they are waiting for the Dawn Pirates.
Rosen had not yet considered this. After all, he thought his actions were fast enough. But he didn't expect that Doflamingo, relying solely on Law who was following him, could read people's minds so accurately.
"Isn't it just a pirate crew that cornered and killed a wounded Admiral? What's so great about that? I can handle them all by myself." Jack said confidently. In his view, pirates who haven't trained and fought in the New World are nothing but false reputations.
There are many ways to kill a person, even an Admiral is no exception. Moreover, Akainu was killed by a gang-up. In his view, that's hardly an impressive achievement.
"Fufufu... Jack makes sense. Let's give them a proper welcome." Seeing Jack's strong fighting spirit, Doflamingo was naturally pleased.
Although he hadn't fought that Sand Crocodile guy at Marineford, he still saw the strength he displayed. Admiral Kizaru fought him head-on for so long and yet couldn't gain any advantage at all.
That strength is no ordinary thing. Doflamingo has confidence in fighting an Admiral and also confidence in being able to escape.
But in a prolonged head-on clash, he felt that he would eventually be at a disadvantage. Those three Admirals from before were all monsters.
They were already famous during Doflamingo's formative years.
"Hopefully I haven't made a wasted trip, or else that guy King will start lecturing again." Queen said calmly, twisting his round, bouncy body to stretch.
"Big brother King won't come, will he?" Jack said a bit nervously. Every time he sees King, he can't avoid a lecture. Strong as he is, compared to King, he's far behind. He feels that big brother King is almost as strong as the Governor.
"He doesn't have time to deal with these trifles. Oh, I heard you have some kind of colosseum or something here. Since we're idle now, take me there to have some fun." Queen couldn't sit still. He is a restless, performance-loving fat man.
"No problem." Doflamingo wore a confident smile on his lips. Law, will you come? And that Sand Crocodile guy. I was hoping to partner with him on some business, but it seems that plan has fallen through now.
And to think that as soon as they arrived at Fish-Man Island, they'd clash with the Beasts Pirates. How interesting. Truly not the type to stay quiet.
"Hey, don't slack off, or don't blame me for not being gentle with the fairer sex. This matter is very important, so don't screw it up." Dellinger, with his fighting fish bloodline, stared at Viola, afraid she might pull some trick.
"Is there anyone who needs me?" Baby 5 walked around the yard.
"Since you're so idle, go to the beach at the edge of the island and buy me a drink. And remember, keep it frozen when you come back." Dellinger said to Baby 5.
"Ah~ I'm needed... I'll go right away." Baby 5 ran out of the courtyard, overflowing with happiness.
A one-legged toy soldier wandered the streets. He sensed the sense of urgency coming from the palace, as if they were dispatching troops.
Doflamingo has always been cautious and meticulous. Judging from how he dealt with Law and Luffy, he never underestimates any opponent.
"What on earth is going on?" Kyros frowned, unable to figure it out. At the same time, he couldn't help but worry. He had spent these years fleeing with Rebecca, but in the end, Rebecca was still captured.
And at that moment, in the Corrida Colosseum, as the winner achieved victory, the entire arena erupted in boos.
Rebecca bit her lip, lowered her head, and walked down from the arena. Although she had won, she was not happy. The audience was not happy either, because they hadn't seen the scene they most wanted to see.
And she was still far from winning a thousand matches. She was 14 years old this year, but Doflamingo didn't care about that. He just wanted some entertainment, and to give the ignorant commoners of this country some entertainment as well.
(End of chapter)