However, changes always come faster than plans. Before he could execute his plan, Doflamingo's call had already come through, for a very simple reason: Doflamingo had found the whereabouts of the Op-Op Fruit.
This fruit, after passing through many hands, finally ended up with a band of pirates who didn't know the true value of the fruit.
To them, the Op-Op Fruit was merely a fruit worth five billion Belly.
They didn't want to become any famous doctors; faced with that price, they agreed to the deal without hesitation, even if the deal was with the Navy.
But Doflamingo knew what this fruit meant. It was a pathway to immortality.
Even though he knew that the World Government was behind this, he still decided to take the risk and find a way to obtain this fruit.
The method to achieve immortality with the Op-Op Fruit was through a procedure called the Eternal Life Surgery, the price of which was the death of the fruit's holder. Finding someone willing to die for him was no easy task.
Ultimately, Doflamingo chose Rosinante, wanting his own brother to die for him.
But that was exactly the biggest issue.
Knock, knock, knock...
Rosinante tapped on the stone in front of the Radio Snail. It was his way of responding to Doflamingo. In the Donquixote family, he played the role of a mute and had already eaten a Devil Fruit.
Paramecia-type: Calm-Calm Fruit.
When the user activates this ability, it creates a soundproof barrier within a certain range around them. As long as one is within this barrier, all sounds made by people or objects will be absorbed by this barrier and won't be transmitted outside.
The soundproof barrier can even activate while the user is asleep, eliminating all noises during sleep and achieving the effect of "improving sleep quality."
It's also the ability he used when reporting information, ensuring that no enemies could overhear.
If he hadn't already eaten a Devil Fruit, he wouldn't have minded continuing undercover beside Doflamingo, but it's common knowledge on The Sea now that eating two fruits means certain death.
Going back, he would be exposed; not going back, he would still be exposed. Besides, the reason Doflamingo sent a message to Rosinante asking him to return was to verify this matter.
During his absence, Tsuru's tracking had completely disappeared, making Doflamingo suspect that Rosinante was the mole.
For Rosinante, returning to the Navy now was the safest move. With Sengoku around, Doflamingo couldn't do much, but because of Law, he still chose to take this risky move and launched an operation targeting the Op-Op Fruit.
The efficacy of the Hundred Beasts' medicine was a mystery, as was the truth about the Nun. To him, the Op-Op Fruit was the most realistic way to solve the problem.
Braving the storm, Rosinante and Law reached the meeting place, but he failed. Although he managed to have Law eat the Op-Op Fruit, he exposed himself.
Law took his information and sought assistance, but since Vergo had successfully infiltrated the Navy, Law mistakenly delivered the information to Vergo, ultimately sacrificing his own life to ensure Law's successful escape.
Meanwhile, the former Navy officer turned pirate, Diez Barrels' son, Drake, was taken away by the Navy, and everything continued to unfold as it always had.
The Op-Op Fruit was not the primary target of the Hundred Beasts crew. Though this fruit had a bug-like Rule Type ability, it was rather useless to them. Kaidou was a Zoan fanatic, and Arceus wouldn't actively search for Devil Fruits.
Unless it was convenient, otherwise, it would be more fruitful to search for Plates. Currently, he's still navigating the West Sea.
Due to geographical reasons, the Hundred Beasts crew often appeared in the North Sea and the West Sea, as they are located on either side of the New World, with ships embedded with Seastone, allowing them to cross the Windless Zone directly to their target sea area.
While Arceus was exploring the West Sea, members of the Hundred Beasts crew were vacationing in the North Sea, like Zeraora and Setsuna, who brought Perona and the bear-clad Kuma to Joy Town on Swallow Island.
Unlike Joy Street controlled by Stress, this Joy Town was a very proper town. It was named so because of the hopes and expectations the townspeople had for it.
Most residents were not natives, as the place had been attacked by pirates before, nearly destroyed in the assault. It was through the help of many that the town was rebuilt.
Bringing happiness, warmth, and inclusivity is the town's creed, so whether one belongs to a minority race or is a regular person with disabilities, they face no discrimination on this island.
This atmosphere also stimulated the development of tourism here. Tourists often visited to experience the local customs and culture.
However, it was not very famous, more like a countryside town known within certain circles.
There were ready-made inns on the island, but Zeraora and the others chose not to stay there, opting instead to camp in the nearby woods.
Setsuna casually snapped a wrist-thick sapling, quickly setting up a simple tent—something she had learned on Zou. Meanwhile, Perona and the bear-clad Kuma gathered firewood in the forest.
More accurately, she lay on Kuma's head, watching Kuma gather the firewood on its own, occasionally assisted by the Negative Ghosts in finding new dry branches.
With Kuma's strength, uprooting a large tree posed no challenge, but such trees wouldn't burn well. To avoid being choked by smoke, it was essential to find dry wood.
Zeraora and Setsuna weren't worried about her safety. Besides, they were just nearby. Perona's Negative Ghosts, combined with the bear-clad Kuma's Machamp strength, would make it hard for any ordinary opponent to stand against this duo.
Perona would leave the opponent wide open, and the bear-clad Kuma would deliver a fatal blow. The two had long established this synergy. Yet, as Kuma was gathering firewood, it discovered something peculiar.
It saw a dead, hollow tree, and to save time, it thought of just hauling the entire tree back. Unexpectedly, a white object fell out from the hollow inside, accompanied by a shriek.
Perona instinctively directed a Negative Ghost to pass through the creature, but it had no effect. The white creature continued to stand dumbfounded, staring blankly at Kuma, its gaze slightly vacant. Upon closer inspection, Perona realized the creature's face was blushing.
"What are you?! Why doesn't the Negative Ghost work on you?"
"I'm... I'm sorry, I don't know either..."
Instead of answering Perona's question, the creature began to apologize. That's when she noticed that before her seemed to be a young white bear cub.