Some pirate crews have very distinct styles. Most of the members of the Big Mom Pirates loved food, especially sweets, and among them, many of Charlotte Linlin's biological children place great importance on afternoon tea.
Within the Beasts Pirates, most are close-combat Zoan-type brutes, their whole theme being essentially a zoo system.
The Whitebeard Pirates' adopted sons each have their own peculiar traits, the Red Hair crew is a mix of the old, weak, sick, and disabled, while Buggy's subordinates are defined by their bizarre habit of overthinking and their knack for self-delusion.
No matter what Buggy does, they always manage to make it sound reasonable. Aside from the fact that Buggy himself never actually thinks that deeply, everything else seems perfectly fine.
Back then, Buggy never even saw the Quake-Quake Fruit. His men simply acted first and told him later, showing him a picture of the fruit along with the cash they got from selling it. And yet, even so, this still managed to move his subordinates to tears.
For example, right now, Buggy's men once again entered into a tearful, emotional state.
"Captain Buggy, you've kept quiet all this time for the sake of our pride, never exposing the truth."
"That's right, even though this brought such a huge loss to Buggy's Delivery, not only did you not punish us, you even encouraged us. Your generosity is truly immense."
Amidst this wave of over-the-top praise, Buggy gradually began to lose himself, while in the background, the former Buggy Pirates together with Mr. 3 were still mercilessly ridiculing him.
"Wasn't he just tricked?"
"Yeah, Doflamingo's people directly raised the price to two hundred million berries. They must have recognized the fruit right away. If we had known from the start that it was the Quake-Quake Fruit, the base price would've been at least over a billion."
As veterans of the Buggy Pirates, Mohji and Cabaji also shared in Buggy's windfall. Even though they were originally nothing but cannon fodder in the New World, they managed to climb up into the ranks of big shots, their bodies visibly swelling with fat.
"Heh, these guys must've been locked up in Impel Down for too long, their brains are fried. Otherwise, they wouldn't be this stupid. I've got a feeling Buggy's going to do something reckless again."
Taking a sip of his coffee, Mr. 3 seemed to have already resigned himself to it all. He was used to it by now.
And sure enough, things unfolded exactly as he predicted.
What was originally just selling a fruit cheaply because they didn't recognize it, in the end turned into this grand tale: the great Captain Buggy had seen through everything long ago. He didn't hold Joker accountable for it at all, because Buggy wanted to demonstrate his own power.
The heroic Buggy would take back the fruit in the arena openly and honorably, making Doflamingo lose the money he spent in vain.
The rumor snowballed right in front of Buggy's eyes, to the point that he couldn't stop it anymore. Before he could even intervene, the news had already spread throughout Buggy's Delivery.
"Th-that's right! Prepare to set sail! Boys, let's show Doflamingo what we're made of! The Quake-Quake Fruit belongs to us!"
Buggy, having no way out, acted recklessly and immediately declared that he would personally lead the team to participate in the tournament.
"Hey, Buggy, are you really going to enter the tournament?"
"Yeah, I heard that in Dressrosa's Corrida Colosseum, it's common for people to die."
As soon as Buggy finished his overblown declaration, he was immediately met with doubts from his trusted men.
"It's fine, this tournament will definitely draw countless monsters. Those monsters will all fight each other, so all we need to do is look for an opportunity. Now, let's draft a plan.
I've decided to name it… the Super Invincible Magnificent Lord Buggy's Secret Grand Strategy!"
Karai Bari Island began drafting a mysterious battle plan, while on Mariejois, the five old men who bore the title of "Warrior Gods," but never did anything other than hold meetings no matter what happened, also gathered again to discuss this incident.
"Doflamingo has stirred up quite a mess this time. Just what is that guy planning?"
Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro was holding his sword as usual; although he was the Warrior God of Finance, he was the only one among the Five Elders who never parted with his weapon.
"He still knows the rules. This sort of thing isn't the first time, it's just that the reward this time is a bit big. The monsters out on the sea all seem to be getting restless because of it."
Compared with completely lawless pirates, Doflamingo did adhere to a certain order, so Saturn could accept his behavior. At least the consequences caused by Doflamingo were, relative to his actions, within an acceptable range.
But in any case, the Shichibukai was not an organization of total order.
"Knows the rules? He does know the rules, he used heavenly tribute and that secret to seize the title of Shichibukai. If that Quake-Quake Fruit were to fall into the hands of another pirate and create another Whitebeard. No, a monster on Whitebeard's level is hard to replicate, but even with half of Whitebeard's strength, whoever obtains that ability could create unimaginable disturbance."
"This year's harvest wasn't great; Mariejois' food reserves are already worse than in previous years.
"Levely is coming up soon too. If something major happens at this time, it won't be good news."
The blonde-haired Elder, the World Government's Warrior God of Agriculture, Shepherd Ju Peter, voiced his opinion.
"Although he carries the blood of a Celestial Dragon and it wouldn't be good for him to die out there, if he really did die, wouldn't that solve some problems? It would be a legally proper way to make him disappear."
The bald Elder with the handlebar mustache rather hoped Doflamingo would disappear, that way they'd have one less uncontrollable ticking bomb.
The World Government's laws may look like a joke, but that doesn't stop them from having a Warrior God of Justice — Topman Warcury handled legal affairs among the Five Elders.
"There's no need. He's still a balancing node. But the Quake-Quake Fruit's effect on the environment is significant; we should still send people.
"Those monsters won't accept the result even if they lost, maybe we can retrieve the fruit in the chaos.
"Aren't Vegapunk's two satellites working on improving some things? Send CP0 along to try."
The long-haired, long-bearded Elder, Warrior God of Environment • Marcus Mars, offered the final suggestion, and a team of CP0 was therefore dispatched to carry out this extremely dangerous mission.
"Speaking of which, what about the Marines?"
"The Marines? They won't stand idly by. Order them to assist CP0. However, Sakazuki might not execute this order perfectly. Was it a mistake to put him in charge?"
"Probably not. His stance on justice is quite firm; he just has too much ego. Personally, I think that Ryokugyu is a better fit."
The Quake-Quake Fruit did pose a significant threat, but not enough to mobilize all of them at once. In the end, it was only CP0 who had to suffer the hardship.
Meanwhile, Marines' reaction was about what the Five Elders expected: another desk was destroyed in Akainu's office. Marine logistics had already started considering replacing the wooden desk with a new desk made of heat-resistant stone.
Knocking on the desk was one thing, but whenever Akainu lost his temper his arm tended to turn into magma, which greatly increased the desk's destruction rate.
"That b*stard Whitebeard, even in death he won't let people be. The Shichibukai too, all these pirates deserve to die."
With the Levely approaching, he found himself constrained by his identity as Fleet Admiral and unable to act freely. He could only arrange new tasks based on the mission schedules of other Marine officers.
But not every major force was interested in this matter. For example, at the Red Hair Pirates' base, when Shanks heard the news he merely smiled faintly and then continued his banquet.
"Boss, that's Whitebeard's ability we're talking about. Are we really just going to watch it fall into someone else's hands?"
"It doesn't matter. It's just a fruit. Come on, drink, drink! What's the Quake-Quake Fruit compared to drinking? Even without the Quake-Quake Fruit, Newgate would still be an unbelievably powerful monster.
The fruit is important, but it's not everything."
"By the way, Shanks, Uta is holding a new concert soon. The venue is on the Grey Island not far from here. Want to go see it in person?" [TN: Don't know which island author is talking about here. ]
"Not a bad idea, but let's take a boat. For an Emperor of the Sea to show up openly at a concert wouldn't be a good thing."
For Shanks, the Quake-Quake Fruit wasn't anything significant at all; it was far less important than his daughter.
As the news continued to spread, Doflamingo, being both the organizer and an underworld broker, naturally began to receive bits and pieces of information.
Doflamingo wasn't a philanthropist. The prize was nothing more than an attraction, essentially just a lure to draw people in.
After all, beneath Dressrosa there also lay a dark underworld.
On the surface, Dressrosa was a Land of Love and Passion with no illegal districts, but in the unseen places, there existed Doflamingo's underground kingdom.
Ports and factories for illegal trade were here, and within them countless toy laborers.
All of this labor force came from Sugar's Hobby-Hobby Fruit.
Having eaten the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, Sugar could transform any living being she touched with her hands into a toy. At the moment of transformation, the entire world would lose its memory of that person. Only records like photos and written texts remained.
Sugar could command these toys, sign contracts with them, and order them to carry out mechanical work. Doflamingo's colosseum was also a way to replenish his supply of toys.
He would lure people in under the pretense of healing their wounds, then have Sugar transform them into toys.
As the host, the Corrida Colosseum had no shortage of dark dealings. Diamante had always served as its champion, but now he was nervous, sweat constantly dripping from his forehead.
"Phoenix Marco. Fire Fist Ace. Diamond Jozu.
The Three Sweet Commanders, Katakuri, Oven and Daifuku.
Buggy the Clown, well, that one doesn't matter. But these other monsters…
Doffy, aren't you overestimating me?"
Looking at Doflamingo in the center of the hall, Diamante even felt as though the man wanted to get rid of him. Though he considered himself strong, against any of those monsters—aside from Buggy—he'd be in serious trouble.
Now, with so many of them gathered all at once, Diamante especially wanted to know how he was supposed to protect the colosseum.
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