At present, it seems that Caesar's abilities still hold some meaning for Doflamingo.
Although Doflamingo will not treat Caesar like a family member, he will still give him some status.
The fruits, surely to be experimented on before delivery, have shown bizarre abilities that Doflamingo has witnessed before; he is unsure if Kaidou will take an interest in them.
Now that the people have arrived, it at least indicates that they have some interest, which is ultimately good.
Since there is interest, they would not kill Caesar; as long as they don't kill him, a beating is nothing.
To him, Caesar is important but depends on who he's compared to; if it's compared to the Hundred Beasts, then Caesar counts as nothing.
As for why there is talk of holding a celebration, he can't exactly tell Caesar that someone wants to give him a beating, and he must come over.
Now, he hasn't reopened the Punk Hazard laboratory, only working on nearby grounds, and was quickly called over by Doflamingo.
"Shoo-ro-ro-ro, I hear you're holding a celebration? Looks like they are quite satisfied with the goods?"
At this time, Caesar did not know what would happen next, so his face was full of joy.
"Fa-fla-fla-fla-fla, how should I put it, they have some interest in this thing, but the specifics still need discussion, so they sent someone over to talk details, and this person is eager to meet you, the creator, I suppose you will have some common topics."
No matter how Caesar asked afterward, Doflamingo didn't tell him who it actually was.
His impression of Queen remained from the MADS period when Queen did not have the title of the universal assistant, and it was good enough that the two could maintain a non-confrontational state, so Caesar didn't make this association.
While Caesar and Doflamingo waited, Queen's Banana Brachiosaurus was in transit, the bow depicting the appearance of Tropius, though the style of the entire ship was more akin to the BIG MOM Pirates than the Hundred Beasts Pirates.
Rory and Harper were also pulled onto the ship by Queen. Their lives changed dramatically due to overtime.
As experiment personnel, they gained new abilities and were temporarily reassigned to Queen's direct unit, currently tasked with a government-paid trip.
The atmosphere on Queen's ship was generally merry, with Queen, as the leading figure, spearheading song and dance performances, his hobby, so much so that everyone on his ship could dance a bit.
Whether it's good or not doesn't matter, what's important is that Queen enjoys the vibe.
Rory and Harper quickly integrated into this group, even though they were not previously under Queen, Quee's awkward dance is a regular event on Ghost Island every year.
"Brother Queen, what exactly do you want us to do?"
"Yeah, is there a new mission?"
Originally, they thought that becoming a part of the Divine Favorer was impossible, given their age and lack of talent, having not accumulated any achievements over time, pondering which island they would be assigned to post-retirement.
But two fruits gave them new hope; now, obtaining regular fruits, the next step might make them bestowed ones, and if luck were better, they might even become Divine Favorers.
Once desire begins, it's hard to stop; now they have more fantasies about the future.
"No, you just need to familiarize yourselves with your abilities and show some guys what your abilities are like."
In an era full of blame, even Vegapunk and Judge had self-doubt, but Caesar persisted in his conviction, believing Queen certainly didn't have such abilities.
As old rivals, Caesar knew Queen inside out, even if faced with countless "evidence," he still believed it to be rumor.
Similarly, Queen also knew how capable Caesar was. These two fruits were completed by Arceus; Queen was convinced the original fruit couldn't have such effects.
As a creator, Caesar surely knew what he had made.
Apart from giving him a beating, this was Queen's purpose, to strike him brutally in the area he was most proud of.
As for how to strike...
He's shouldered so much blame, showing off a little is no problem.
...
"Alright, folks, enjoy yourselves at will, these few days' expenses are all on me, but don't forget what you should pay attention to!"
Emphasizing the rules to be followed, Queen dismissed his underlings, letting them freely play while he took Rory and Harper to King's Highland.
Meanwhile, in King's Highland, Doflamingo was also watching Queen's every move.
"Doffy, they're here, heading this way, leading them is the Plague Disaster... he seems to have noticed me."
A woman was reporting to Doflamingo about what she saw; she was Violet, now an assassin of the Donquixote family, but originally the daughter of King Riku.
She had eaten the Glare-Glare Fruit, making her a person of vision, with her most basic ability being the Thousand-Mile Eye, allowing her vision to expand up to 4000 kilometers, covering the entire Dressrosa and its surrounding seas.
At that time, Doflamingo took a fancy to her ability, and ultimately she joined the Donquixote family with Doflamingo's promise to protect King Riku's life as the premise.
Doflamingo instructed her to monitor when Queen would arrive, but for some reason, she always felt Queen had already noticed her presence.
"Such strong intuition... never mind, the guests have arrived, no need to offend; Pika, you go greet the guests."
Doflamingo didn't find it strange that a 2.7 billion bounty criminal noticed being watched; on the contrary, he found it reasonable, as one could not hold a High-Level Official position in the Hundred Beasts without some strength.
Doflamingo prepared thoroughly, but alas, Queen dealt him a blow upon meeting.
Faced with Doflamingo's 20 million Belly price offer, Queen also extended two fingers.
"What does this mean?"
"Two million, the price we can offer, just this much."
The usual Devil Fruit base price is a hundred million, and if the specific type can be determined, the price would climb further; Caesar's Artificial Fruit couldn't match the original, so the price is halved, plus the high failure probability, so it needs another cut.
Twenty million Belly was already a reasonable final offer in Doflamingo's mind.
He figured the price was negotiable, but didn't expect Queen to directly slash off a zero.
"That's way too low."
"Joker, if this stuff had a 100% success rate, then it might barely be worth twenty million, but its success rate is only one-tenth, so it's only worth this price."
"According to the rules of The Sea, the risk of such failure is normally shared by the buyer as well."
Doflamingo wasn't wrong; typically, goods with potential failure risks involve both parties sharing the risk.
For example, certain experiments prone to failure wouldn't base material prices solely on high failure chances; he's already given up quite some profit, but unfortunately, the one he's trading with is a New World monster.
"Muhahaha, Joker, as an intermediary, aren't you overestimating yourself?
This belongs to an underground New World dealing, and you're trading not with Hundred Beasts Fruit, but the Hundred Beasts Pirates.
At times like this, we don't hold to rules, or rather, here, we are the rules."