After Barrels finished laughing, he buried the two corpses in a hastily dug pit and wiped the blood from his blade. Now, only he knew the secret.
The Op Op Fruit was in his hands.
Only his.
"The World Government offered five billion Berries," Barrels muttered, hugging the heart shaped fruit like it was his destiny. "And the Hell Guild once put out a different price, a pure gold ring for immortality, plus one billion Berries on top."
His eyes glittered with madness.
It was enough to make any man drunk.
He could already see it, mountains of treasure, endless feasts, servants bowing, people trembling when his name was spoken. For a moment, he even hesitated.
Which side should he sell to?
Then he laughed again, louder than before.
When luck arrived, it smashed the door down. You could not stop it even if you tried.
"How do I spend five billion Berries when I'm old?" Barrels snarled. "What's the point of money if I can't live freely? No. I want both."
Immortality and Berries.
Greed stacked on greed.
"With eternal life, I'll have all the time in the world to build my own power," he whispered, voice shaking with excitement.
Barrels sprinted back to his ship, a warship turned pirate vessel, and gathered every last man under his flag.
"Listen up!" he shouted. "We're going to the World Expo in the New World! Even if we're broke, we're going to see it with our own eyes. A world class event like that, we're not missing it!"
His crew erupted in confused cheers. They didn't understand, but their captain was roaring like a man possessed, and that was enough.
Barrels hauled every scrap of treasure he owned onto the ship. Then he steered straight toward a shipbuilding company opened by the Universal Government in the North Sea.
Even if it emptied his pockets, he would buy a seastone battleship, cross the Calm Belt, and enter the New World directly.
He did not have time to sail the long route, from the North Sea down into the Grand Line, then through Fishman Island, then up into the New World. Too many variables.
Accidents.
Marines.
Pirates.
And now, something even worse.
The moment he obtained the Ope Ope Fruit, fear wrapped around his throat.
If Imu learned he had it, they would send hunters.
If Brook learned he had it, they would send armies.
Brook might even come himself.
And then it wouldn't matter how many Berries Barrels dreamed of. His life would end before he spent a single coin.
In the old timeline, this fruit had been stolen from him and fed to Law. He had died in chaos, torn apart by his own men under Doflamingo's strings.
A man like him could not hold five billion Berries and live.
Not with the World Government watching.
Not with the underworld circling.
Not with Doflamingo waiting like a vulture.
Yet Barrels still believed he was the chosen one.
…
Far away, Brook was training Nika, Kikyo, Hancock, Robin, Yamato, Kozuki Inosuke, Belo Betty, and Jack, completely unaware that the Op Op Fruit was about to stir trouble in the shadows.
If he had known, he might have laughed and called it fate.
Because the World Expo was doing exactly what it was meant to do.
It was drawing everything valuable out of hiding.
…
On the Grand Line, a member nation called the Dick Kingdom received a Devil Fruit.
A purple fruit, strange and quiet, sealed in a chest like any other tribute.
They had planned to present it to the World Government as celestial gold.
But before the tribute could be sent, a Celestial Dragon family contacted King Charles in secret.
They wanted the Dick Kingdom to join the World Expo and win a pure gold ring for them.
To prove their seriousness, the Celestial Dragon family even dispatched CP agents and escorted several top tier Devil Fruits as bargaining chips, intending to form a "national delegation" that could enter the New World openly.
With that support behind him, King Charles made a decision.
He would bring the purple fruit to the Expo auction as part of his delegation's "funds," to show loyalty and usefulness to the Celestial Dragons.
Inside the treasure chest, the purple Devil Fruit glowed faintly, a strange violet sheen, as if it had a will of its own.
And like something alive, it slipped away from the Holy Land once again.
The rubber fruit entered the New World with the Dick Kingdom's delegation.
In Mary Geoise, Imu and the Five Elders had no idea.
The Sun God Nika Fruit, the one they had hunted for generations, had brushed past their fingers yet again.
Worse, it should have been delivered to them.
If they knew the truth, they would have ordered CP to escort it back with their lives.
Instead, their own "allies," the Celestial Dragons, betrayed them without even realizing it, and the fruit vanished into the storm of the World Expo before it ever appeared in the intelligence reports.
As Otohime mermaid egg was born, precious Devil Fruits began surfacing one after another, as if the sea itself was changing its mind.
…
North Sea.
In a ruined looking town, the Donquixote Family was struggling to take root.
Doflamingo had lost Trebol and Diamante to Brook. He no longer had the same foundation, the same reach, the same machinery of fear.
Right now, he had only two newly recruited cadres at his side.
Machvise, the man who ate the Ton Ton Fruit.
And Giolla, the user of the Art Art Fruit.
Lao G was gone. Brook had taken him first.
Starting from nothing felt like chewing glass.
The North Sea was no longer the playground it once was. Everywhere Doflamingo turned, there were forces he could not casually crush.
Sakazuki's new navy.
The Vinsmoke family's Germa 66.
And the Poker Army, backed by Brook, led by the very "traitors" who once treated Doflamingo like a king.
All of them hemmed him in.
All of them watched him.
If he had not revealed himself as Brook's registered disciple, Sakazuki and Germa would have torn him apart already.
Doflamingo clenched his teeth, fury twisting in his chest.
Then the World Expo announcements spread like wildfire, and a thought formed.
A banquet where forces from all over the world would gather.
A place where treasures would surface.
A place where power could be stolen.
He wanted in.
But he was broke.
He coveted Brook's pure gold ring, yet his arrogance, his Celestial Dragon blood, and his tyrannical belief in domination meant he would never become Brook's true heir.
Then, on that very day, his men brought him something.
A fruit that reflected a faint golden shimmer.
Doflamingo stared.
Then his lips curled.
"Fufufufu," he laughed, voice trembling with delight. "Even the gods are helping me."
His subordinates had found a precious golden fruit.
The Gold Gold Fruit.
Compared to a pure gold ring that could grant immortality, the Gold Gold Fruit was still just a fruit.
But as an auction chip?
As a ticket into the Expo?
As leverage?
It was priceless.
Doflamingo already had the String String Fruit. He could not eat another. But the envy in his chest was unbearable.
Brook's two fruit powers.
Brook's pure gold ring.
Brook's influence, strength, and throne.
If Doflamingo could learn the secret of dual fruit use, if he could seize a ring, if he could twist the World Expo into his own ladder, then everything could change.
He raised the golden fruit and laughed again.
"Little ones," he declared, voice sharp as a whip. "We're going to the New World too."
With eager hunger burning in his eyes, Doflamingo boarded the seastone battleship he had obtained from Brook through endless promises and sweet words.
Then he set sail.
Toward the New World.
Toward the World Expo.
Toward a table where monsters would sit and smile, and where one mistake could cost him his head.
-------------
New World, Doragonzo Island.
A man in a black top hat strode through the bustling streets, his pace unhurried, his presence heavy enough to make the air feel sharp.
On his back rested a massive black blade, wider than his shoulders and shaped like a cross. The weapon was longer than the swordsman himself, the hilt rising above his head like a monument. Its body was inlaid with gems, lavish and arrogant, almost mismatched with the cold simplicity of the man carrying it.
Almost.
No one dared to comment.
Because he was Dracule Mihawk.
Not long ago, under Brook's arrangements, Mihawk had faced the famed dark swordsman Jubei in a fair duel deep in the New World and won by a narrow margin. The prize was a Supreme Grade blade.
Yoru.
In return, Mihawk had handed over his own greatsword, Nagaisai, to Yagyu Jubei. It was a gesture of respect, and a bit of face for a member of the Hell Guild.
Brook himself had changed Mihawk's title from "Navy Hunter" to "Hawk Eyes." Now Mihawk was the Black Warden among the Seven Wardens of the Hell Guild.
Rumor said his swordsmanship alone could already contend with the Hell King, Kozuki Oden. Some even claimed that, in pure blade skill, he might surpass Oden in the near future.
Of course, that was only in swordsmanship.
If Oden invoked the power of Yamata no Orochi, Mihawk would be overwhelmed. Mihawk was still young, and Oden was sixteen years his senior. Experience mattered, especially at the top.
Mihawk stood in the central square of Dragunzo Island, watching the crowds swell as delegations and monsters alike arrived one after another.
Then the air snapped.
A giant paw shaped bubble slammed into the plaza, carving out a bear print crater and detonating a cloud of dust across the square.
Voices erupted instantly.
"Enemy?"
"An attack?"
Curses flew. Weapons came halfway out.
From within the smoke, figures stepped forward.
Mihawk's golden eyes narrowed.
He recognized that aura. Familiar, powerful, and uncomfortably steady.
"Hee ha, Big Bear! Your travel trick is so cool!"
A shrill, delighted shout burst out of the dust, even though the speaker had clearly been dumped into the ground.
Emporio Ivankov flailed to his feet, still grinning like a madman.
More silhouettes emerged behind him, three, four, and then even a towering giant shape.
Five people, delivered at once.
What kind of ability was that?
Whispers immediately rippled through the surrounding crowd.
"Those are Revolutionary Army commanders."
"Wanted men."
"Why are they here?"
The names spread like sparks.
Dragon.
The Southern Army commander, Kuma.
The Western Army commander, Morley.
The Northern Army commander, Karasu.
And that damned demon commander of the Grand Line Army, Ivankov.
There was a brief wave of commotion in Doragonzo Island's Alan Square, but it died down almost as quickly as it rose.
No one believed the Revolutionary Army had come to invade the Hell Guild's headquarters.
Not even Imu and the Five Elders would dare march onto Doragonzo Island in the latter half of the New World.
People relaxed, then started laughing, then started talking.
"The Revolutionary Army sure knows how to make an entrance. They smashed a crater right into the square."
"Look at the underground emperors who arrived earlier. Every one of them landed politely like they were attending a royal banquet."
"Yesterday I saw the king of the Flower Kingdom in the West Sea. Escorted by officers from the island, straight into the holy island area."
"Germa 66 arrived two days ago. Those freaks from the North Sea."
"These are nothing. I saw the king of Elbaf."
That last line sparked a chain reaction.
"Elbaf? The giants?"
"I swear it. First time I've ever seen a giant king."
"This is supposed to be a simple joint meeting for the Universal Government, but it feels grander than the World Government's world conference."
"King Neptune came too."
"And do you know what scared me the most?" someone hissed, voice dropping. "I saw the old Ice Demon from the Ice Kingdom. That monster is still alive."
A Hell Guild member shivered as he spoke.
Back then, the Ice Demon had claimed he would disband the Ice Demon Pirates because he was dying.
Yet here he was, walking among the living like death had missed its appointment.
The square buzzed nonstop. People bragged about the big shots they'd seen, as if brushing shoulders with a legend made them legendary too.
In the crowd, a man with dark blue skin watched the plaza, then glanced toward Mihawk.
His gaze sharpened.
He had come here for one reason.
To find someone who could introduce him to the Seven Wardens.
Because if he stepped forward alone, he was afraid he would be beaten into the dirt by one of Brook's Hell King's and stripped of his ability on the spot.
He was Kurt Wagner.
Once a Shichibukai, vanished for years.
The former "Night Walker."
A man with the power of teleportation, a Devil Fruit ability the Hell Pirates had coveted for a long time.
Kurt had finally accepted the truth.
He could not win.
He could not escape.
So he would join.
The old Shichibukai had tried to curry favor with powerful backers before, but that path had failed. This time, he needed to choose the right boss, the one who would crush the World Government instead of kneeling to it.
And Mihawk, favored by Brook and respected within the Hell Guild, was the perfect bridge.
Kurt exhaled, then walked toward Hawkeye Mihawk.
…
Not long after, a roar shook the harbor.
A colossal island whale, three to four hundred meters long, surfaced at Doragonzo Island's dedicated port, bellowing like a child announcing its arrival.
Then it spat out something huge, a near sea king sized catch, flopping onto the docks with a wet, miserable slap.
High above, four flying dragons swept across the sky, each seventy or eighty meters long, their scales shining in different colors. Their appearance drew another wave of excitement through the square.
"That's Brook sama's companion, the island whale Laboon! It brought us food!"
"And those dragons!"
"War pets. Brook sama's, the Dragon Queen's, and the third princess Shana's."
"They fought at the Valley of Gods, the New World War, and the Dual Government War. Every one of them has a terrifying record!"
The island's administrators and the delegations from the North Sea and West Sea recognized those iconic beasts immediately.
It meant only one thing.
A true big shot was about to appear.
On the backs of the dragons, the second generation of Hell descended one after another. The princes and princesses at the front radiated pressure comparable to navy admirals. Behind them, many carried the weight of admiral candidates, their auras sharp, disciplined, and hungry.
This was why so many core nations chose Universal Government over the World Government.
The Hell Guild did not only have overwhelming strength now.
It was raising a future that the World Government could not match.
"It's Prince Hades and his group," someone said, squinting upward. "They came down from Sky Island. Looks like they're going to invite important guests up there."
Brook wanted his heirs to meet the world's true powers, to show themselves more often, to become names that people remembered.
In the crowd, Dragon watched the descending princes and princesses with a complicated, almost wistful expression.
These "cheap junior brothers and sisters" alone could crush the Revolutionary Army.
His gaze locked onto a black dragon.
Ryuga.
The dragon's silhouette carried a faint resemblance to Dragon himself. It even possessed the same dragon ability as Kaido, the King of Beasts, though its black scales were different from Kaido's azure.
Dragon's fingers tightened.
Vegapunk's Seraphim.
Cloning technology.
Artificial Devil Fruits.
Biological weapons.
Dragon had wanted those technologies for years.
.....
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