On the deck, Doflamingo put down the Den Den Mushi. The veins on his forehead bulged, making his expression fierce.
"Doffy, what's wrong?"
An exceptionally tall and burly man, noticing his expression, spoke in a strangely high-pitched voice.
"The Witch Haruno Sakura has taken control of Spider Miles. Diego, who was stationed there, has also fallen into her hands."
"Now she's demanding a Devil Fruit as compensation, otherwise she'll expose our layout at the base."
A man wearing a fur-lined cap, with two face markings, dressed in a red cloak like a native tribesman, provided the answer.
Silence fell over everyone on the ship.
As the Donquixote Family's only base in the North Blue, Spider Miles could be considered their stronghold.
But now... their home had been robbed, and they couldn't get back in time.
"So, Doffy, what should we do?"
Trebol, the Beta Beta no Mi User, stepped forward, dragging his comforter-like cloak. (T/N: Sticky-Sticky Fruit.)
"Fufufu... If she wants it, give it to her! And haven't we just 'encountered' one?"
Thin threads collided between Doflamingo's rising and falling fingers, rubbing to produce tiny sparks.
The executives' faces showed ambitious smiles. Each one was clearly ready for a big fight.
"The Celestial Tribute!"
The tall, burly man who spoke first murmured in his high-pitched voice.
"Spider Miles isn't important at all! In this era about to run wild, the fundamental goal is to quickly enter the New World and secure a place for ourselves!"
"So, there's only one thing to do now: make those high and mighty trash in Mary Geoise have no choice but to listen to my voice!"
Dark clouds in the sky suddenly began to swirl. Lightning weaved through the gloom. Large raindrops began to fall. The long-brewing storm had arrived.
The man cloaked in pink feathers leaped onto the figurehead of the large flamingo-prowed ship. His sunglasses reflected the World Government's transport ship escorted by several battleships.
"Fufufu... Haruno Sakura, your appetite is huge, isn't it? Let's see if you can stomach this bite!"
The large ship rode the wind and waves, smashing through the swells, and boldly charged towards the ship laden with the Celestial Tribute. The battle erupted in an instant.
Screams and blood rose from the ship, staining the treasures that were meant as offerings to the gods.
Meanwhile, on a small island not far from Spider Miles, Marine Branch 177.
The Captain stationed at the branch was currently tied up tightly and hung from the beam of his own office door.
Across from him, at the office desk, a pink-haired young woman was flipping through various 'confidential' Marine documents.
"Wow! So this is how your power and money trades work?"
In the Great Pirate Era, collusion between pirates and Marines wasn't exactly news. Look no further than the peaceful East Blue, where a Marine Captain embezzled enough money to erect a statue of himself.
But being as brazen as Marine Branch 177, where from top to bottom they were practically all Donquixote Family's members, and even openly running a weapons trade den here… this was Sakura's first time seeing something like this.
'Also, these guys were way too honest. They even did their transaction records through the official accounts.'
"You think if this got out, would Marine Headquarters go after Flamingo?"
Holding up the account book and shaking it at the Marine in front of her, Sakura pulled out the Marine internal specialized Den Den Mushi from the drawer.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
The Marine Captain hanging from the door widened his eyes, his whole body writhing like a worm.
On the base's plaza, the hearts of the Marine soldiers and weapons dealers, all gagged, also raced to the extreme.
"Hehe, just kidding!" Sakura's eyes curved into smiles as she tossed the Den Den Mushi back into the drawer.
Anyway, as a wanted criminal of the World Government, even if she contacted Marine Headquarters, they probably wouldn't believe her story.
Not to mention, the messy business involving weapons trafficking was a complete tangled web. Sakura, who just wanted to travel around and pick fights with strong people, couldn't be bothered to get involved.
"Anyway, as leverage, I'll be taking this account book."
With that, Sakura pushed open the window and leaped out.
Driving the Leviathan floating mid-air, she headed towards the pre-arranged meeting point with Doflamingo.
Thanks to the coating, the Leviathan's underwater speed was extremely fast.
A normal ship would take a day to sail from Spider Miles to Flevance, but Sakura could arrive in just three hours.
"I'll have to find a chance to properly thank Dan-san someday."
Landing on the coast on the east side of the island, Sakura used a method of nesting a large storage scroll inside a small one to store her Leviathan.
The round-trip cost for the scrolls was less than 50 achievement points. This clever idea had also successfully allowed Sakura to exploit a loophole from the system.
[Tch!]
'Hehe, getting impatient?'
After her daily teasing of the system, Sakura passed through the dense jungle. A town made entirely of Platinum appeared before her eyes.
The White City: Flevance!
The ground and trees should have been as pure and flawless as a fairy tale world's kingdom of ice and snow. The citizens who once lived here should have been as prosperous as if they were in an earthly paradise.
However... the current Flevance was nothing but ruins. Collapsed houses were everywhere. Plants twisted and climbed over the broken walls and remnants, slowly clearing away the traces of human existence for nature.
"Spooky and creepy. Don't tell me Doflamingo is naive enough to think he can use the Amber Lead here to kill me?"
Finding a high point, Sakura crouched on it, using binoculars to look around. Just then, two small dots billowing black smoke on the distant sea caught her attention.
On the sea to the right front, two large ships sailed side by side.
A very strange combination: one was a damaged battleship, the other was a pirate ship.
The pirate flag flying from the mast of the pirate ship depicted a grinning, round clown face, with a line running from the top right to the bottom left.
"Fufufu, you actually dared to show up. But just as well!"
Standing on the giant flamingo head, Doflamingo could naturally see Sakura far away at the highest point of Flevance.
He bent his fingers, and transparent threads shimmered, binding to his body, the other end connected to the floating clouds in the sky.
Then he swung his left arm downward. The threads pulled his body, lifting him into the air like a large bird, darting towards Sakura in the town!
Sky's Path!
"Haruno Sakura!!"
"Doflamingo!"
When kings meet, they start with Conqueror's Haki!
Amidst the thunderous roar, it sounded as if some colossal entities had collided.
Where the two auras intertwined, space seemed to distort. Dark lightning surged wildly.
The shockwave stirred up earth-shaking turbulence. The ground trembled and cracked. Bricks, stones, and tiles were all blown away under the storm.
On the distant pirate ship, one eye behind sunglasses and one emerald-green eye simultaneously appeared in everyone's minds.
Those without the will to directly face the Conqueror's Haki fainted on the spot.
"What? A clash of Conqueror's Haki? That girl has it too? Someone like that actually has it?!"
Trebol, resisting the storm, widened his eyes, mucus splattering everywhere from his body.
He desperately shielded his face with his hands, but was finally swept up by the Conqueror's aura, tumbling and crashing towards the stern.
"Attacking my territory? Quite bold, Witch!"
"Heh, I didn't even expose your dirty laundry, and you won't even say thank you? Flamingo!"
The two opposing figures' eyes narrowed simultaneously. Then they both chose the pirate way to resolve things.
Enough blabbering, let's fight!