"Young Master, these are the items he wants to auction."
"Fufufu…"
Doflamingo leaned back in his chair, a grin spreading across his face.
"Well done, Harry. The family won't forget your contribution."
"It was all for the family. But, Young Master…"
"Hm? What is it?"
"He seems to know someone is backing me."
The smile on Doflamingo's lips thinned.
"Does he know it's me?"
"Probably not. But he told me to pass along a message. He said… you'd better not interfere with him."
"Fufufu…"
Doflamingo's grin turned cold.
"How interesting. I got it. Go back and keep doing your job."
"Yes, Young Master."
After the call ended, Doflamingo's expression darkened.
He was a pirate, yes—but he was no fool.
He already had everything planned out.
The season for transporting the Heavenly Tribute was coming soon. Once that shipment was on the move, he intended to seize part of it. Then, with the secret he held over the World Government, he would force his way into the position of Warlord of the Sea.
Once he became a Warlord, the Marines would stop hunting him.
And once that happened…
He could head to Dressrosa openly and begin the plan he had been laying out for years.
For that future, he had planted countless pieces across the underworld.
Doflamingo picked up Kurogane Ren's wanted poster and stared at it for a moment.
"Pica. Diamante."
He tossed the poster onto the table.
"Go to Sabaody. Bring me everything this man is carrying."
"Yes, Young Master."
Harry had already warned him not to provoke Ren, but Doflamingo had never been the type to listen when someone told him what not to do.
Tell him to chase monkeys, and he would go kick dogs instead.
Tell him to head east, and he would walk west just to spite you.
Besides, the things in Ren's hands were simply too tempting.
Hundreds of blades comparable to Grade Swords.
Storage rings.
And who knew what else.
The bait was just too good.
Doflamingo could only tell himself it wasn't that his willpower was weak.
It was that Ren's goods were too delicious.
…
By now, word of Ren's reappearance had already reached the World Government, the Marines, and the major pirate powers.
After all, Ren had made no effort to hide himself in the auction house.
There had been spies in the audience from every side imaginable.
For the moment, though, none of those great powers had made a move.
And the man all of them were watching had finally arrived in Area 24.
Following Xu Nian's directions, Ren searched through restaurant after restaurant before finally finding the three women.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw them surrounded.
A swarm of pests buzzed around their table like flies around honey.
Young men in expensive clothes crowded close, each one trying harder than the next to show off.
Ren didn't go over right away.
Instead, he calmly swept his gaze across the restaurant.
He was checking which decorations looked expensive.
If a fight broke out in the next minute, he needed to know what was worth saving first.
As his eyes moved across the room, something on the wine shelf caught his attention.
Among rows of expensive-looking wine bottles sat a wooden barrel.
It looked absurdly out of place.
"Captain, over here!"
Xu Nian was the first to spot him and wave him over.
Esdeath and Dinisha turned as well.
At the same time, Ren felt dozens of hostile gazes lock onto him.
If looks could kill, he would have already been chopped into minced meat.
But Ren didn't care in the slightest.
He walked over at an easy pace and sat down beside them as if the entire room didn't exist.
The moment he sat, Dinisha pushed a mug of beer toward him.
"Captain, try this. It tastes pretty good."
Ren picked it up and took a sip.
Then he froze.
That taste…
Dinisha glanced at him. "Well?"
Ren smacked his lips.
"Not bad."
Dinisha nodded. "Of course it's good. This is beer from Kaninga Island. One glass costs ten thousand Belly."
Kaninga Island?
Ren froze again.
That was the same beer those lunatics at the auction house had fought over.
And then it hit him.
He finally remembered why that name sounded so familiar.
Because this was his beer.
Back when he'd opened that little restaurant, he had brewed it himself. Later, he'd sold the recipe to Jababa.
And Kaninga Island…
That was the island the locals used to mention all the time.
No wonder the name had sounded familiar.
The moment the truth sank in, Ren nearly coughed blood.
One glass sold for ten thousand Belly.
That meant each jin of beer was worth several thousand.
He had missed out on a mountain of money.
"No…"
His face twisted with grief so deep it looked like someone had carved his heart out.
Esdeath, Xu Nian, and Dinisha all stared at him.
None of them could understand how one sip of beer had turned him into this.
Just then, a slick-haired young noble swaggered over.
"Ladies," he said with a polished smile, "I own a five-thousand-square-meter villa, a twenty-thousand-square-meter garden, a hundred maids, and more money than I can spend. The only thing missing is three mistresses of the house. What do you say?"
As he spoke, he pulled over a chair and began to sit.
Esdeath didn't even bother moving from her seat.
She only glanced at him.
The chair froze solid in an instant.
Then she said one word.
"Scram."
The man's face went white.
"Y-Yes. I'll scram right away."
He fled on the spot.
The others scattered just as fast the moment they saw her ice ability.
Once the pests were gone, Ren finally settled down and started eating with the three women.
After they finished, he was about to head over and pay when Dinisha casually tugged him away from the counter.
"It's already been paid."
Ren immediately thought of the crowd of peacocks from earlier.
One of those fools must have picked up the bill.
For a brief moment, Ren seriously considered making a habit of eating with these three.
Having someone else pay really was a beautiful thing.
But just as they stepped outside, Ren noticed something strange.
The entire street had dropped to its knees.
Everyone on both sides had their heads lowered, faces pale.
The moment he saw that, only one answer came to mind.
A Celestial Dragon.
And right on cue, voices drifted from around the corner.
"Saint Roswald, just ahead."
"Hmph. If they aren't true beauties, I'll make you stand guard outside my house like a dog."
"Please rest assured, Saint Roswald. They're absolute stunners. And there are three of them."
A moment later, a Celestial Dragon carried by four long-arm tribe slaves appeared around the corner.
The instant the people on the street saw him, they lowered their heads even more.
Roswald's eyes locked onto Esdeath, Xu Nian, and Dinisha at once.
His face twisted with delight.
"Wonderful! Truly wonderful! Three exquisite beauties!"
He pointed at them immediately.
"Arrange for them to be sent to the Holy Land. They'll become my twenty-third, twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth wives."
The black-suited bodyguard at his side bowed without expression.
"As you command, Saint Roswald."
Bang!
Xu Nian fired before the man could even take another step.
"Shave!"
"Iron Body!"
One of the bodyguards blurred forward and blocked the shot with Iron Body, but even so, the impact smashed him backward and sent him crashing to the ground.
Roswald himself was still blank-faced.
He hadn't even understood what had just happened.
But his guards reacted instantly.
They rushed to form a wall around him.
"Saint Roswald, please retreat! It's dangerous here!"
The man had barely finished speaking when Dinisha appeared in front of them.
He tried to draw his weapon—
Then suddenly his vision spun.
Why… am I looking at Saint Roswald's back?
Wasn't I standing in front of him just now?
That was his last thought.
In the time it took to blink, Dinisha cut down every one of Roswald's guards.
Seeing her raise her sword toward the Celestial Dragon, Ren shouted immediately,
"Don't kill him yet!"
At his words, Dinisha changed her strike at the last second.
Instead of slashing, she smacked him with the flat of the blade, pulling back most of her strength.
Even so—
Boom!
Roswald flew like a rag doll, smashed through a nearby building, and shattered the glass bubble on his head.
The surrounding crowd saw what had happened and completely lost their minds.
"Run! Someone attacked a Celestial Dragon!"
"Run!"
"Get away from here!"
The street exploded into chaos.
People trampled over one another trying to escape.
Shopkeepers slammed their doors shut.
The air itself seemed to freeze.
Because everyone on Sabaody knew exactly what it meant the moment a Celestial Dragon was struck.
Hell was coming.