Large beads of cold sweat rolled down Doflamingo's forehead.
His expression had turned extremely ugly.
Five waves of Conqueror's Haki were violently colliding inside the hall. Among the five people present, Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki was the weakest, and he was being pushed back again and again by the other four.
If Doflamingo had not been desperately holding on, his Conqueror's Haki would have already been completely crushed.
Ryan and the others nearby were in a much better situation than Doflamingo. They did not possess Conqueror's Haki, so although they were affected by the shockwaves of the five clashing auras, they were not directly involved in the confrontation.
The main targets of those five Conqueror's Haki were each other, so the pressure borne by the bystanders was relatively limited.
But Doflamingo was different. He possessed Conqueror's Haki, so he was naturally dragged into the battlefield.
The pressure he had to endure at the center of the clash was far greater than that of anyone else.
This made Doflamingo feel utterly miserable. He was completely innocent, yet caught in the crossfire for no reason at all.
"Gurararara, that's enough. This matter isn't something that can be settled by seeing whose aura is stronger. If this continues, the people outside are going to start gossiping," Whitebeard said calmly at that moment.
As he spoke, Whitebeard was the first to retract his Conqueror's Haki.
Only a monster like Whitebeard could do something like this. His control over Conqueror's Haki had already reached a level of complete mastery, allowing him to withdraw it freely even under such circumstances.
If it were someone who lacked proper control over Conqueror's Haki, they would have no choice but to wait helplessly until their aura was exhausted before escaping such a situation.
"Heh, among people like us, Conqueror's Haki really isn't something worth showing off," Rosinante said lightly, glancing at Charlotte Linlin as he spoke, then also withdrew his Conqueror's Haki.
"Hmph!" Charlotte Linlin snorted coldly and followed suit, retracting her aura as well.
Once everyone had withdrawn their Conqueror's Haki, those around them finally let out a breath of relief.
Although the clashing auras had not been directed at them, the oppressive pressure generated by the repeated collisions of five Conqueror's Haki was still far beyond what ordinary people could endure.
Even though everyone present possessed considerable strength, they had still been pressed to the point where they dared not move an inch.
At the same time, they looked at Rosinante and the others with fear in their eyes. Just their Conqueror's Haki alone was already enough to terrify people, let alone their true combat power. They truly lived up to their status as Emperors of the Sea, the peak existence among pirates.
"Kid, since you brought this matter up face to face, you must have more to say. Tell us your plan," Whitebeard said.
Whether sooner or later, Whitebeard and the others would have found out about Nightless City's revenue and profits anyway. But if they had learned about it later, it would have already been a settled fact.
At that point, even if they knew, it would have been hard for them to apply pressure like they were doing today, sitting together like this, because they were pirates. They did not get along with one another and found it difficult to unite.
Rosinante should have known that bringing this up at such a moment was extremely unfavorable to him.
So the fact that he still chose to reveal it now meant he clearly had his own purpose, and most likely needed to make use of them.
"Rosinante, what exactly are you plotting?" Charlotte Linlin said coldly.
After a short while, Charlotte Linlin calmed down somewhat and began to see the logic behind the situation.
"This isn't something that can be solved by acting tougher than the others. If this isn't handled properly, none of us here will have it easy. The profits are too great, so great that they put us all at risk of capsizing," Rosinante said in a low voice.
"What, kid, you want me to spit out the meat I've already eaten?" Charlotte Linlin sneered.
"If my guess is correct, people from the World Government are already on their way to Nightless City," Rosinante said calmly.
At first, Rosinante himself had not anticipated Nightless City's revenue becoming this insane, so he had not planned to hide anything. With the World Government's intelligence capabilities, they should already know about Nightless City's revenue and profits.
Harvesting the world's wealth on such a massive scale was practically like carving flesh directly off the World Government.
Although the money being spent came from wealthy merchants and nobles, making it seem unrelated to the World Government, in the end the party truly losing was the World Government itself.
Moreover, such an enormous amount of wealth concentrated in one place was frightening even to the World Government. If mishandled, it would pose a tremendous threat to them.
"And the one coming is very likely to be one of the Five Elders," Rosinante said.
If the Five Elders did not still hold a share in Nightless City, if there were no room left for negotiation, the World Government would have already sent naval artillery to wipe the place out.
So the ones coming to negotiate were most likely the Five Elders. After all, only the Five Elders were qualified to sit at the table and negotiate with Rosinante and the four Emperors of the Sea.