Wano Country, Onigashima.
Three large sailing ships, each flying the Beasts Pirates' flag, were docked at the port of the ox-head skull.
Soon, slaves wearing metal shackles and collars were driven down the gangway.
Doflamingo, wearing a pink feather coat, cropped pants, and ox horn decorations on his head, walked down the gangway with his hands in his pockets and an arrogant stride.
King, wearing a black leather coat, a black hood, and black wings on his back, stood on the port with his arms crossed. He glanced at the more than a thousand slaves being herded together, then spoke.
"The number of slaves you brought back this time is much less. It won't keep up with the factory's consumption..."
"Fufufufufu—!"
Doflamingo burst into laughter. After a few seconds, he shrugged, looking a bit helpless.
"Red-Haired Shanks suddenly emerged and rose to prominence, bringing many islands in the New World under his command, which cut off several of my slave capture supply channels... Now, it's already good that I can bring back so many! Next, I will try to expand new channels in the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line. However, I think instead of me bringing back more slaves, it would be better to change the operating model of the slave factory to make those slaves live longer and thus generate more value..."
"You need to discuss this matter with Mr. Kaido yourself."
"Fufufufufu—! No problem, I'll go now..."
Doflamingo laughed heartily, nodded, and walked toward the interior of Onigashima.
When he reached the second floor, he met Vergo, who was wearing a white coat, ox horn decorations on his head, and a string of white dango on his left cheek.
"How is it? Have you fully adapted to the Uma Uma no Mi, Mythical Zoan, Pegasus form that I gave you a few days ago...!?"
Vergo's face was expressionless as he nodded slightly.
"Yes! I have roughly mastered the power of this fruit, and my overall strength has improved by a notch compared to before."
Doflamingo extended his right hand and patted Vergo's shoulder, saying earnestly, "Fufufufufu—! That's good... Some time ago, when we clashed with the Red Hair Pirates, Beckman killed Queen Lauren, leaving one of the three Queen positions vacant. This position will need to be filled by someone sooner or later. Therefore, you must take this opportunity to rise from the Tobi Roppo to a Queen!"
In the Beasts Pirates, strength is paramount. The greater your ability, the higher your position. Any disagreements are resolved with fists!
Four years ago, Doflamingo, relying on his own strength, secured the position of a Queen. Among his former Donquixote Family executives, Vergo, Lao G, Pica, and Diamante all became Tobi Roppo, while the others became Headliners.
Perhaps because they didn't want him to completely trample them, Pica and Diamante, the men who had betrayed him, had desperately improved their strength in recent years, constantly showing their loyalty to Kaido.
But…
Limited by their talent, they were ultimately unable to surpass him!
Since the news of Doflamingo joining the Beasts Pirates spread, his position as a Shichibukai was naturally revoked.
However, as things stood, he felt there was nothing to regret!
Doflamingo thought that instead of dwelling on the past, it was better to look forward and think about how to get back what he had lost, multiplied…
Soon, Doflamingo walked into a grand pavilion. He saw Kaido sitting on a couch, chugging from a sake barrel, and a newcomer: Jack the Giant Grouper Fishman, who had recently joined the Beasts Pirates but had risen to the position of a Tobi Roppo with his powerful strength.
Kaido took several large gulps of sake until he finished the entire barrel. Then, he casually threw the wooden barrel into a corner of the room and said with a laugh,
"Worororororororo-!
Jack, quickly give me the photo you took and let me see if that thing is really a poneglyph!"
"Okay!"
Hearing this, Jack quickly nodded. He took a photo from his pocket and handed it to Kaido.
Not long ago, while bored, he had swum down to the bottom of Mount Tengu in Wano Country's inland sea.
However…
Unexpectedly, he accidentally discovered the red Road Poneglyph stone monument that he had heard Kaido mention a few times!
As a newcomer who had just joined the Pirates, Jack the Fishman naturally yearned to make contributions and prove himself to gain Kaido's recognition.
So, he quickly took a photo, found Kaido, and told him about the matter.
After reaching out and taking the photo, Kaido's drunken eyes widened. After staring for a while, he finally confirmed that the red cubic stone monument in the photo was indeed one of the four red Road Poneglyphs that guided the way to Laugh Tale.
Kaido laughed and said,
"Worororororororo-! Jack, you're good, well done! I've decided, the vacant Queen position will be yours!"
Hearing this, Jack immediately hesitated, scratching his head.
"Ah! Mr. Kaido, I'm just a newcomer who just joined the Pirates. Can I really take the Queen position?"
Before Kaido could speak, Doflamingo's eyes rolled, as if he had thought of something, and he said with a wild laugh,
"Fufufufufufu—!
Of course, there's no problem. Our Beasts Pirates follow the principle of strength above all else. As long as you can use your strength to subdue the other Tobi Roppo, you can take the Queen position!"
"Okay! I understand, I will defeat them…"
Hearing this, a hint of confidence couldn't help but show in Jack's tone.
The current members of the Tobi Roppo, besides him, are Vergo, Lao G, Sasaki, Diamante, and Pica.
Jack considered Vergo the most challenging opponent of the five. He felt they were probably evenly matched, but he knew he could win!
Hmm! I heard that old man Lao G has a special qi gong that can restore him to his prime during battle, and his strength shouldn't be underestimated.
But...
Jack thought, that old man looks skinny. Even if he gets his youthful strength back, he definitely won't be that strong!
"Hmm! With your current strength, it is indeed a bit difficult to firmly hold the Queen position.
Let me think... I seem to still have an Ancient Zoan, the Mammoth fruit. I'll give that fruit to you as a reward!"
Saying this, Kaido stood up from the couch and walked out of the pavilion with somewhat unsteady steps, leading Jack and Doflamingo to the Pirates' treasure house.
From inside, he took out a Devil Fruit with a gray skin covered in spiral patterns and gave it to Jack.
"Oh right, Doflamingo, what do you need from me?"
After seeing Jack eat the Mammoth fruit, Kaido looked at Doflamingo with a confused expression.
"Fufufufufufu—! Mr. Kaido, I want to talk to you about replenishing the population of the slave factory. That guy, Red-Haired Shanks, is constantly expanding his territory, bringing many islands under his command, which has almost cut off my slave trade channels in the New World. As a result, it is now difficult for me to continuously replenish slaves. Next, I plan to expand the slave trade in the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line to replenish the consumption of the slave factory."
Kaido walked toward his residential pavilion, nodding as he went:
"Hmm! I'm very confident in entrusting you with external business matters!"
Among the current Beasts Pirates, King is in charge of Oni Island headquarters, while Doflamingo is responsible for external trade...
A few years ago, after Queen's death, the Beasts Pirates, who could have competed with the Umbrella Corporation in weapon development, gradually lost more and more market share due to their lack of high-tech weapons and were on the verge of being reduced to just making a living by exporting and processing Sea Stone.
However...
Doflamingo volunteered and took over the external trade business!
He used Wano Country's Sea Stone resources as bait, coupled with his early cooperation with the Celestial Dragons, to negotiate with the World Government's higher-ups, thereby securing large annual weapon orders for the World Government's army.
This led to a very strange phenomenon: the standard-issue weapons of the World Government's forces were clearly inferior to those of national armies that procured weapons from the Umbrella Corporation.
Among the forces under the World Government, the Marine were the most vocal about the outdated weapons they were using...
Pirates were starting to arm themselves with heavy firepower weapons from the Umbrella Corporation. It was one thing if the Marines didn't get advanced weapons, but at least give them weapons of the same standard!
But...
The World Government actually equipped the Marines with obviously outdated, standard-issue weapons. The Marines' firepower was often suppressed when they encountered large pirate crews with superior weaponry!
Some Marines even discarded their standard equipment and switched to using Umbrella Corporation weapons captured from pirates.
The regular army's weapons weren't even as good as the pirates'…
This was truly disheartening, and many civilians who wanted to join the Marines chose to back down after seeing this situation.
After Doflamingo demonstrated his business acumen, Kaido handed over all matters of the Beasts Pirates' foreign trade to him.
Even though Kaido knew that Doflamingo always had other intentions, like taking his old subordinates and breaking free from Kaido's control.
But...
Kaido didn't care!
Most of the Beasts Pirates' previous Headliners and Tobi Roppo, and even Queen, had been subdued by Kaido's violence!
As long as his strength was sufficient, he believed he could keep those subordinates with ulterior motives in check...
Doflamingo's eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, narrowed slightly, and he laughed maniacally:
"Fufufufufu—! Establishing new, stable slave trade channels would take at least two or three years... However, people are dying in our slave factories almost every day, averaging tens of thousands of deaths per year, and last year it reached over 56,000. This rate is a bit too exaggerated... If this continues, before I fully establish new channels, our factory's production capacity will definitely experience a cliff-like decline, and we won't be able to continue supplying the World Government army's fire orders."
After Doflamingo joined the Beasts Pirates, thanks to his extensive experience in the underworld, he quickly trained a group of specialists who knew how to use various methods to force Wano Country residents into the slave factories to work.
In just two or three years, all residents of Wano Country, except for those in the Flower Capital, were forced into slave factories for survival, regardless of gender, age, or youth!
But...
Under prolonged heavy physical labor with insufficient food every day, the elderly and children would basically be worked to death in the factories very quickly, except for the young and strong. Even the young people would be worn out after two or three years.
Hearing this, Kaido frowned, and he said in a deep voice:
"Then what do you say we should do?"
Doflamingo had an evil smile on his face and said with a confident tone:
"This is very simple, just reform the existing slave factories..."
"This way, although the factory's operating costs will increase slightly each year, it will extend the usage time of the slaves in the factory by several times, and they won't be worn out so easily."
After listening to Doflamingo's general plan, Kaido nodded slightly.
"Okay, then I'll leave this matter to you!"
"No problem, Mr. Kaido! However, before the slave factories are reformed, we will need to replenish about 100,000 slaves at once."
"That many...? Where am I going to find that many people for you?"
"Fufufufufu—! In Flower Capital of Wano Country, there are over 200,000 people. If we can bring all of them into the slave factories, the reform can be completed smoothly..."
As the two spoke, they had already returned to the attic. Kaido picked up another sake barrel, opened the lid, and started gulping it down.
After a while, Kaido exhaled heavily, his tone teasing.
"Flower Capital is Orochi's territory. He won't agree to hand over all the residents in his territory to be thrown into slave factories. Once the residents of Flower Capital are gone, he, the General of Wano Country, will become a mere figurehead..."
Hearing this, Doflamingo directly saw through Kaido's thoughts, and he smiled sinisterly.
"Fufufufufu—! Mr. Kaido, Orochi is just your puppet! You kept him before to help you force more Wano Country residents into the slave factories. Now, except for Flower Capital, there's basically no one left in Wano Country... So, a disobedient and very self-important Orochi, isn't he no longer of any use to you?"
Kaido stared at Doflamingo, implying his agreement.
"Although that's true, in the world of Pirates, there's also a sense of righteousness... I can't just eliminate Orochi for no reason, can I!?"
Although Kaido was covered in muscles and had a large, sturdy build, making him look like a brute.
But...
Having trained for many years in the Rocks Pirates, he still knew how to play dirty tricks...
The recklessness and thoughtlessness he usually displayed were just a disguise!
Of course, this is when he's not drinking...
"Fufufufufu—! That's right, but... What if there's an internal conflict in Wano Country, Orochi is killed by his own subordinates, and Mr. Kaido steps in to quell the rebellion?"
Hearing this, Kaido's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he said with interest:
"Oh!? Tell me more..."
.........
The next day, a sensational major event occurred in Wano Country.
Orochi's subordinate, Kojiro, turned out to be a remnant of the Kozuki family, who had endured for many years, constantly improving his strength.
After his swordsmanship greatly improved, he immediately rose up, one person and one sword, cutting his way from the east gate to the west gate of the Generals Mansion. Even Fukurokuju and others of the Orochi Oniwabanshu were no match for him, and were all cut down before they could even react!
The Den Den Mushi in the Generals Mansion recorded Kojiro's awe-inspiring moments, causing many residents of Flower Capital to sigh, thinking even Kozuki Oden in his prime might not have been so valiant.
Finally, Kaido, who was far away on Oni Island, heard the bad news and rushed back, instantly killing this Kozuki remnant with a "Thunder Bagua."
Heartbroken, Kaido used a straw mat and a pile of wood to burn Orochi's body to ashes, announcing that Flower Capital would henceforth be under his rule. Except for combat personnel, everyone else would enjoy the 715 blessing until death.
As for the fact that Orochi, unable to move, had his head cut eight times by Kojiro's sword, because this matter was too insignificant, basically no one knew about it except for Doflamingo and Kaido.
A week after this incident, the Beasts Pirates began the Queen selection, and the current Tobi Roppo engaged in fierce battles as a result.
Jack, who had eaten the Mammoth Devil Fruit and was full of confidence, thinking the Queen position was within his grasp, was beaten to a pulp by Lao G, who had returned to his prime, and was utterly defeated on the spot.
After several rounds of fighting, Vergo and Lao G competed for the Queen position.
Ultimately, Vergo, who had obtained the Mythical Zoan Heavenly Horse Devil Fruit ability, won with an overwhelming dominance, and took the position of Queen.