"Hehe, it's nothing. Have a good chat."
Nami said with a giggle. Under the baffled gazes of the people at the table, she turned around and walked back to sit beside Allen at the bar.
The men turned back to continue drinking, but upon seeing the empty table, question marks popped up over their heads.
"Eh? Where's the newspaper?"
"I don't know. Check if it fell on the floor?"
"Weird, wasn't it just here?"
On the other side, Nami placed the swiped newspaper on the bar counter, her gaze falling earnestly upon it.
A massive black-and-white headline was printed on the newspaper, accompanied by a group photo of a battle scene below it. The background featured floating bubbles and giant mangroves painted with numbers.
"The photo looks like it was taken at the Sabaody Archipelago. Look, Allen! Luffy and the others are really still alive!"
Nami said to him in pleasant surprise, then lowered her head to seriously read the contents of the report.
Allen cast a sidelong glance at the newspaper, taking in all the text.
The report read: A few days ago, members of the Straw Hat Crew, who had been missing for two years, were suspected to have appeared at the Sabaody Archipelago.
The Marines received the information and went to ambush them, but unexpectedly, the entire Straw Hat Pirates, led by Straw Hat Luffy, had assembled.
After two years, the strength of every member of the Straw Hat Crew had massively improved. After defeating numerous Marines, they fled the Sabaody Archipelago and headed for Fish-Man Island. It is expected that they will soon enter the New World...
The news introduced a lot of information about the Straw Hat Crew's resurrection and return, hyping them up immensely. It wasn't hard to tell that the person who edited the article was quite fond of them.
"Although the news only reached here today, looking at the date, it was written three days ago. And since the islands in the New World only take half a day to fully store their magnetic fields, plus the sailing time..."
Nami began counting on her fingers, speaking excitedly, "Calculating the time, if they're fast, they're probably already somewhere in the New World right now."
"The first half of the New World is almost entirely our territory, and I haven't heard of any disturbances anywhere. That shouldn't be right; those guys aren't exactly low-profile people."
Allen stroked his chin, pondering, "Could they have sunk at Fish-Man Island?"
Hearing this, Nami's movements stiffened, and her expression instantly turned speechless.
At this moment, Robin walked in from outside the tavern holding a Transponder Snail, smiling as she said, "They might have also been eaten by wild beasts. After all, on the uninhabited islands of the New World, those large beasts are unusually ferocious."
Nami gave the two of them a deadpan, speechless look. "Stop jinxing it, you two. Can't you say something nice?"
"Allen, it's a call from Donquixote Doflamingo."
Robin smiled faintly, placed the Transponder Snail in her hand onto the bar counter, and then sat down on Allen's other side.
"Doffy?"
Allen cast a strange look at the Transponder Snail wearing red sunglasses. He picked up the receiver to connect the call, while simultaneously reaching for his wine glass, tilting his head back, and downing it in one gulp.
*Thud.*
"Ah—!"
Allen exhaled a heavy breath of alcohol. Barely two seconds later, the call connected, and Doffy's voice came through.
"Fuffuffuffu~ Long time no see."
"Your laugh is still as awful as ever, Doffy. What do you want?"
"Did you see today's newspaper? A minor incident happened on my end recently, and Kaido might take some action because of it. It's just about time for our plan to begin."
"Plan? Ah, you mean the crusade against Kaido. Well, let's just call it our plan. Tell me the situation."
Allen asked in return, casually taking the glass of wine Robin had poured for him.
Doffy's voice continued from the red-sunglasses-wearing Transponder Snail, "My SAD factory on Punk Hazard was destroyed by a guy called Straw Hat kid. You should still remember him, right? From the Summit War. Anyway."
"That was the raw material for producing SMILE Fruits for Kaido. As long as we tell him the Straw Hat kid's location, Kaido will very likely leave Wano Country to find them."
"This is a perfect opportunity to crusade against Kaido. With your strength, you can face even the so-called Strongest Creature head-on. Coupled with our siege, the chances of killing him will be incredibly high!"
Doffy said with an icy tone.
But hearing this, the corner of Allen's eye twitched twice, and he inexplicably felt a bad premonition.
"Hey, this minor incident you mentioned might not be so minor for you. When did the Straw Hat Crew leave Punk Hazard?"
"Yesterday. Why, are you interested in him too?"
The Transponder Snail mimicked Doffy's expression, displaying confusion.
Allen couldn't be bothered to explain it to him and said directly, "You could say I'm a bit interested. You said you were going to tell Kaido their location. Do you know where they are right now?"
"I don't know, but if I'm not mistaken, they should be on their way to Dressrosa right now. I estimate they'll arrive within two days."
Doffy laughed with a mocking tone, "Fuffuffuffu~ He's just a little pirate. To think that traitor Law would actually seek out this kind of guy to cooperate with in an attempt to deal with me."
Allen: "..."
'You're still laughing! They're coming to collect you!'
Allen did not want to go to Impel Down to fish Doffy out.
"Forget it, I can't explain it clearly to you. You'd better not make a move regarding Kaido just yet. I'll be there soon."
After saying that, Allen impatiently hung up the Transponder Snail, turned his head to look at Nami, and said, "We're setting off right now. How long will it take to get to Dressrosa from here?"
"Eh? Let me see. If the weather is favorable, it'll probably take until the afternoon of the day after tomorrow to arrive."
Nami was slightly surprised, but she quickly calculated the route. However, the timeframe was clearly a bit tight, so she changed her tune and added, "However, there's a Sea Train connected between here and the Rainbow Kingdom. If we transfer lines from there, we can arrive at the Dressrosa station by tomorrow morning."
"That's enough time. Notify the people on the island to gather at the train station. Have the Third Division stay behind to sail the ship over."
Allen ordered. He picked up his wine glass, tilted his head back, and downed it in one gulp, then casually grabbed the remaining half-bottle of wine and walked toward the door.
"Let's go."
"Weird."
Nami looked at Allen's back with a puzzled gaze, quickly quickening her pace to catch up.
"Although I don't know what kind of friction happened between them, if possible, I don't want them to be defeated by Doffy either. But you, you actually want to protect them?"
Nami couldn't help but ask.
Allen: "..."
'How should I put this... is it possible that I'm going to protect that clown Doffy?'
'Forget it, I can't explain it clearly to her either.'
'If I don't go to Dressrosa, Doffy will be going to Impel Down to become the Newspaper-Reading King in two days.'
'Thinking about it now, I can suddenly understand how Doffy felt in prison when he saw Luffy become one of the Four Emperors.'
'Three days ago, they caused a ruckus at the Sabaody Archipelago and entered the Grand Line. Two days later, they destroyed the SAD factory on Punk Hazard. And they're expected to arrive at Dressrosa the day after tomorrow...'
'Are they riding a rocket?!'
'Who wouldn't be dizzy seeing this? They're sailing the Thousand Sunny, not the Shenzhou 1!'