On the surface, Doflamingo's identity as a Shichibukai gave him the backing of the World Government, making him a "legal pirate," but behind the scenes, his connections with the Beasts Pirates allowed him to thrive in the Underworld.
Without severing Doflamingo's ties with these forces, Law's revenge plan would never succeed.
In the process, Law would use many things. Rosinante's death was a heavy burden on his heart, so other than death itself, nothing could make him stop.
With their own hidden agendas, Law and Doflamingo had temporarily reached a deal, but the sound of Law making a call had drawn the attention of the others aboard the Sunny.
"Who were you just on the phone with, Law-chan?"
"Please don't call me that, okama-ya."
A reindeer, an okama, a pervert, a beetle, a skeleton — this ship's crew was far too diverse. Law was already starting to regret boarding it.
He came to this ship partly because he thought Luffy's strength was decent, someone who could be manipulated and used, and partly because he found Luffy easy to fool. After all, it took less than three sentences for Luffy to agree to the pirate alliance.
"It was Doflamingo on the call. That guy also has connections with the Emperors of the Sea.
Our alliance's battle plan is to make the sea recognize our strength, to earn the title of Emperor of the Sea, to become a new Emperor of the Sea and fill the throne left vacant after Whitebeard's death, and then recruit forces.
Defeating Doflamingo is a good way to prove ourselves and increase our reputation. Even though he has ties with the Emperors of the Sea, I already have a way to replace him.
With that, we'll also be able to establish contact with them."
Law's real intention was to make them think that Doflamingo wasn't the final boss, just a small boss. But in order to defeat the true final boss, they had to give their all right from the start.
If they couldn't even take down Doflamingo, then there was no hope for what came after.
"Why do we need to recruit people?"
"Of course it's to gather the Red Poneglyphs. Otherwise, how would we reach Laugh Tale?"
"Red Poneglyphs? What are those?"
"Straw Hat captain, are you… serious?"
Seeing that not a single person on this ship understood the importance of this matter, Law could barely keep his composure.
"You don't even know this, and you still want to be Pirate King??"
At this moment, Robin was drinking coffee aboard Yamato's ship, meaning there wasn't a single member of the Straw Hats who understood Poneglyphs. Rayleigh did know the details, but he was a "free-range" kind of teacher. It was already good enough that he gave Luffy a general explanation; he never explained it in detail.
So it wasn't until today that the Straw Hat crew finally understood the way to reach Laugh Tale through Law's explanation. Up until now, their only plan for reaching the Final Island was relying on Zoro's steering.
"That's why we need the Red Poneglyphs, need to build our forces, need fame. And that starts with defeating Doflamingo."
The situation was different now, so naturally Law changed his words. In the original timeline, his line should have been, "I have a plan that can bring Kaido down."
But this time, someone interrupted Law's words.
"Red Poneglyphs? I know where one of those is."
The one who spoke was none other than Kin'emon. After escaping from Wano with Kanjuro, they hadn't drifted to Dressrosa.
Instead, having lost much of their strength, they accidentally boarded a human trafficker's ship connected to Caesar. On that ship, they were drugged and, in a daze, ended up at Punk Hazard, where they eventually left together with Luffy.
Their purpose in leaving Wano was to seek outside help. In Kin'emon and Kanjuro's eyes, Law and Luffy's group were strong enough, and since they were also aiming to challenge for the position of Emperor of the Sea like Kaido, they had the idea of deceiving them as well.
They still remembered how Oden had once returned to Wano Country to make a rubbing of the Poneglyph, so they simply spoke it out directly.
"Hm? You actually know? Where is it?"
"In Wano Country, which, as you call it, is occupied by the Emperor of the Sea, the Kaido of the Beasts."
"Ah, so Kaido has it, huh. So in the end, to become Pirate King, I really have to defeat him? Or rather, defeat the entire Beasts Pirates?"
At those words, the whole ship suddenly fell silent. Law's shock, Kin'emon and Kanjuro's happiness, Hercules' helplessness, Caesar's mockery; many gazes instantly turned toward Luffy's face.
"Shurorororo! Straw Hat boy, do you even know what you're saying? Defeat Kaido? Defeat the Beasts Pirates?? What nonsense is this? That's absolutely impossible. Don't hit my face! Wait… I was wrong, stop!"
Caesar's sneers earned him a beating. Under the threat of beating, Caesar chose to shut up his mouth. While Chopper treated Caesar's injuries, Law couldn't hold back anymore; there seemed to be a problem with this alliance.
"Strawhat-ya, you said you want to defeat Kaido. Are you serious?"
"Yeah, of course. He wants to be Pirate King too, right? But the one who'll be Pirate King is me. And since that red stone is in his hands, then of course we'll have to fight him."
Hearing Luffy's bold declaration, Kin'emon and Kanjuro grew more and more excited, but they didn't immediately reveal that they were from Wano Country. They wanted to observe a bit longer.
"Your current bounty is four hundred million berries. That's because you participated in the Summit War. But do you know what Kaido's bounty is?"
"Uh… I don't really remember. Is it really high?"
"You're certainly brave. You don't even know the strength of your enemy, yet you dare to make him your foe. Kaido of the Beasts, bounty of 5,511,100,000 berries, Governor-General of the Beasts Pirates, the world's strongest creature. That is the man you want to challenge."
Because of Lami, Law had deeply studied the Beasts Pirates, knowing far more about them than Luffy and the others. He even pulled out a stack of bounty posters from his backpack.
"Fi-five billion five hundred million…"
The bounty, which was even more terrifying than the one from back then, was enough to make Nami and Usopp huddle together for comfort. And yet, this was only the beginning.
"That's right, 5.5 billion. But do you think that's all? Even back when Whitebeard was alive, the Beasts Pirates had already become the strongest pirate crew. Besides Kaido, you'll also have to face his even more terrifying officers."
"Oni Princess Yamato, Kaido's biological daughter, Bounty: 2,963,000,000 berries."
"She's Kaido's daughter. If you want to defeat Kaido, there's no way she'll just stand by."
"Ah, that horned woman, I've seen her before. Her bounty is amazing."
The others grew nervous, but Luffy, unlike what Law expected, didn't show any nervousness at all. He even laughed. That made Law feel something was wrong, but he still continued.
"You think that's everything? Conflagration, Plague, Phantom, Drought—the four calamity-class officers under Kaido, called the All-Stars, are his right-hand men. Even the lowest bounty among them already exceeds one billion berries!
And beneath them, there are over a hundred officers known as the Numbers. The smaller the number, the stronger they are. Even the one ranked ninth has a bounty equal to yours!"
Law's reason for allying with Luffy had been the hope that he would lend a hand in defeating Doflamingo, not bring upon him an even more terrifying monster.
One of the purposes of obtaining the SAD was also to appease Kaido's wrath afterward. In Law's view, as long as someone could perfectly replace Doflamingo, then Doflamingo's existence itself wasn't important.
Seeing Luffy remain silent, Law assumed he had been intimidated, so he decided to add more fuel to the fire.
"Moreover, the Beasts Pirates are an extremely special pirate crew. Within them exists another force, Divine Punisher • Arceus, with a bounty exceeding six billion berries, a mysterious Zoan-type devil fruit user, and currently the pirate with the highest bounty.
If you choose to stand against Kaido, you must defeat all of them. Even so, will you still insist on your idea?"
At the side, Hercules nodded, as if agreeing with Law's words, and then solemnly helped Law put away Arceus's bounty poster.
Zoro and Sanji listened with serious expressions as Law laid out the intelligence. Brook and Franky remained relatively calm. Chopper was busy giving first aid to Usopp, who had fainted from shock after being unable to breath from the shocking news.
Watching the still-silent Luffy, Law assumed his words had sunk in, and he continued:
"If Kaido had already gathered all the red Poneglyphs, he would already be the Pirate King. That means he hasn't collected them all. Our target is to defeat Doflamingo, not to provoke Kaido. Got that?!"
"Yeah, but if I want to be Pirate King, don't I still have to defeat him?"
"You…you didn't listen to a single word I said?! From here on out, listen to my commands. Any objections?!"
Seeing Luffy's completely unyielding attitude, Law gave up on him entirely. From the looks of it, even if he gave up half his life, he would never be able to convince Luffy.
Thus, Law decided to seize command of the alliance, planning to part ways with Luffy as soon as Doflamingo was defeated.
"Oh, no problem. I'll listen to you. Sanji, I'm hungry, time to cook!"
Law had gained command, but he felt no joy in it. And in the days to come, Luffy would show Law what it truly meant to "listen to command."
For now, however, the Straw Hats calmly strolled into the kitchen, casually calling out dish names. Gradually assimilated into their flow, the last thing Law shouted, shifting from giving orders and reminders, was a complaint that he hated bread.
As Law's mental state approached collapse, and he himself was slowly being assimilated by the Straw Hats, Doflamingo was facing the greatest crisis of his life.
Many of the experiments at Punk Hazard could not be revealed to the World Government or the Marines, as that would jeopardize Doflamingo's plans. Starting with the Marines stationed here at the G5 base, Doflamingo hadn't intended to let a single one escape.
As a Vice Admiral whose battle record was as bad as Zero-Win-Rate Beast, Smoker was no match for Doflamingo. His Logia powers only increased the area he could be attacked. Under Doflamingo's skilled use of Haki, he was quickly pressed down onto the ground.
Just then, accompanied by the sound of chains turning, Kuzan appeared, riding in on a pink bicycle.
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