"You're back, and it's perfect timing. Doflamingo and Tesoro will be here in a week, so you'll accompany me to meet them," Aeridar stated directly.
"Doflamingo and Tesoro, huh... No problem," Oliver nodded.
Pere pere pere... Pere pere pere...
Suddenly, another red and blue Den Den Mushi on the coffee table began to ring.
"Huh? Something else already?" Aeridar's brow furrowed. This was the contact Den Den Mushi for the Palace Entertainment City's main hall, but it rarely rang unless it was something major.
"What a bother!" Oliver scratched his head, lazily propping his legs on the coffee table.
Click~
Aeridar rolled his eyes at Oliver, then answered the Den Den Mushi, saying, "This is Aeridar. What is it?"
"Your Majesty! Millie-san asked me to inform you that Jack the Drought, one of the Three Calamities and a signature commander of the Yonko Kaido's Beasts Pirates, has arrived!" A slightly breathless voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, but the content was astounding.
"Nani?!"
Aeridar, Oliver, and Mina were all startled, immediately straightening up.
"I'll be right down. Make sure they're well-received."
Click~
Aeridar calmly instructed, then hung up the Den Den Mushi.
Then, the three of them stood up together.
"Jack the Drought, huh... I'd like to see what kind of bigshot he is," Oliver's lips curved slightly.
"Mina, I'll leave the investigation into Tesoro to you. Oliver and I will go see what that guy wants," Aeridar told Mina. After all, this was a trusted commander of the formidable Yonko Kaido. When someone of that caliber arrived, Aeridar definitely needed to find out the reason.
"Understood~" Mina nodded.
...
Ground Floor of the Central Tower.
The hall was brightly lit and incredibly spacious. The decor and furnishings were extraordinarily ornate, shimmering with gold and splendor. Sixteen massive support pillars, each wide enough for two people to embrace, were adorned with exquisite reliefs.
An exceptionally tall, powerfully built man strode into the hall, followed by a dozen subordinates wearing horned helmets and leather armor, each exuding an untamed aura.
The leading strongman wore a metal jaw restraint, and his hair was tied in a ponytail with two braided pigtails. Two ivory-like decorations were on his head and shoulders, studded with sharp spikes, and he wore a feather-like coat.
This was indeed Jack the Drought, Kaido's confidant, a signature commander of the Beasts Pirates, captain of the Mammoth from Kaido's three great fleets, and one of the Three Calamities.
"Jack-sama, please follow me. Our Captain will arrive shortly." A tall, beautiful woman, much resembling Mina, smiled charmingly as she led the way before Jack.
This woman, dressed in a black business suit with six-centimeter black high heels on her feet and short black hair, looked extremely capable.
She was Millie, the manager of the Palace Entertainment City.
"Whoa, am I seeing this right?"
"The madman of the Beasts Pirates."
"One of the Three Calamities under the Four Emperors Kaido, Jack the Drought!"
"Even a big shot like him is here! That man has incredible pull!"
Countless guests in suits and ties around them immediately recognized Jack and his crew, expressing utter astonishment. They never expected even a Yonko's confidant to show up. What kind of connections did this man have?
"This is quite a nice place. It would be very satisfying to destroy it," Jack followed behind Millie, looking around, yet his words sent shivers down Millie's spine.
The group took the elevator directly to the nineteenth floor and entered a luxurious reception room.
The Central Tower housed a VIP casino and auction house, spanning twenty-one floors.
The first floor was the main hall.
Floors two to five were for entry-level VIPs, requiring over ten million Berries in spending.
Floors six and seven were for dining and temporary resting areas.
Floors eight to eleven were for mid-level VIPs, requiring over fifty million Berries in spending.
Floors twelve to fifteen were for high-level VIPs, requiring over one hundred million Berries in spending.
The sixteenth floor was a gathering point for animated creature guards, serving as the Central Tower's defense and not open to the public.
Floors seventeen and eighteen were combined to form the auction house.
The nineteenth floor was for VIP reception, and the twentieth and twenty-first floors were private areas, also not open to the public.
Inside the Reception Room.
Aeridar saw Jack the Drought, who was very similar to his anime counterpart, except this was a real person and not a drawing. His aura was intense, radiating extreme ferocity; ordinary people would probably not dare to stand before him.
'He's so tall!' Oliver exclaimed inwardly, thinking Jack was like a small giant.
"You're the one who defeated that old ghost Syrons?" Jack walked into the meeting room and, without ceremony, sat on the sofa. He first glanced at Oliver beside him, frowned slightly, then looked down at Aeridar on the opposite sofa.
Syrons, as a veteran Marine Vice Admiral, had subdued many pirates, and Jack himself had suffered no small loss at Syrons's hands back in the day.
He never expected that old ghost to be defeated by a newcomer, even retiring from the Marines. This not only surprised Jack but also infuriated him.
"Jack the Drought, a pleasure to finally meet you. As for Syrons, I wouldn't say I defeated him; it was a mutually destructive battle," Aeridar said, looking at the large man before him, acting quite modest, though he was also speaking the truth.
Moreover, this guy was a lunatic.
In the original story, during his first appearance, he attacked a Marine fleet carrying Admiral Fujitora, former Fleet Admiral Sengoku the Buddha, and Chief-of-Staff Tsuru, without hesitation, displaying extreme madness, decisiveness, and bravery.
However, he was nearly beaten to death and had nightmares after being rescued.
Of course, Aeridar didn't want to provoke this lunatic into a fight, not out of fear, but because if a battle broke out, the entire Palace Entertainment City would be ruined, resulting in devastating losses.
And who would dare to come visit afterward if he fought a Yonko's confidant?
"Tch, I'm not here to fight you. There'll be plenty of opportunities for that later," Jack scoffed disdainfully, understanding Aeridar's meaning.
But he wasn't here to fight today; he had an important matter to discuss.
So, Jack directly stated, "My Captain wants SS Agent. A thousand doses every year."
"SS Agent! A thousand doses?!"
Aeridar and Oliver nearly had their eyes pop out. 'Damn it, that's a huge appetite!'
"Impossible, I don't have that much," Aeridar directly refused. A thousand doses of SS Agent? Was it just common cabbage?
SS Agent, also known as the Super Soldier Agent, was the result of Switch Dalt's research. It was a serum created by studying the genetic structure of fierce beasts and then using their genes combined with precious medicinal ingredients.
It had numerous effects, comprehensively enhancing human strength, agility, nerve reactions, and more, all without any side effects.
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