Faced with Kaido's sudden surge of rage, Doflamingo could only offer an awkward smile—there was nothing else he could do.
'What now?'
'Could it be that i should join this father whose children have been completely led astray in verbally condemning Michael?'
'What good would that do! Would Michael lose a piece of flesh or something?'
At this moment, a sinister smile crept onto Doflamingo's lips.
"Ahem, Kaido, I know you're very angry right now, but I advise you not to be just yet," Doflamingo cleared his throat and continued.
"If this already makes you furious, then there are even more infuriating things waiting for you."
"Do you know who was behind the scenes, hinting to Wano Country to ambush the Beasts Pirates and the Gecko Pirates?"
After Doflamingo finished speaking with a smile, Kaido froze in place.
Then an even more terrifying aura erupted from within him.
His eyes, filled with savage ferocity, locked tightly onto Doflamingo.
"Are you saying... this man..... Michael is the one who ruined my plan to seize Wano Country?"
"This is probably information only I could dig up from the depths of the world," Doflamingo said, though his back was already drenched in sweat, his expression remained relaxed.
"No one would notice that the aerial headquarters of the World Economic News once stopped briefly in Kuri... And both before and after heading to Kuri, they had approached Garp's flagship."
"And the person who was on the same ship as Garp at that time was none other than Michael, who was a Marine Headquarters Lieutenant commanders at that time."
Kaido stared intently at Doflamingo's face, trying to detect any additional information...
But unfortunately, since everything he said was the truth, Doflamingo was exceptionally clear of conscience at this moment.
"If you had successfully dealt with Kozuki Oden and taken over Wano Country... why would you need to recuperate on this Thunder God Island now?"
"All of this... is because of that bastard Michael."
Hearing this, Kaido suddenly closed his eyes and took several deep breaths in succession.
When he opened them again, calmness had suppressed the previous rage he felt.
"You're deliberately steering my hatred towards Michael... What do you want to gain from this?"
"What do I want to gain?" Doflamingo scoffed. "Of course, it's to no longer be controlled by others! To regain my unrestricted freedom... That's why I chose to cooperate with you. Didn't you obtain part of the Vinsmoke Family's Lineage Factor technology? And I know that in Vegapunk's research team, there's another person who, along with Vegapunk, studies Lineage Factor technology, focusing mainly on artificial Devil Fruits, human gigantification and large-scale weapons of mass destruction... named 'Caesar Clown.'"
"Do you... want to get your hands on him?"
"I can extract him from under the World Government's surveillance..."
Doflamingo finally revealed his ultimate goal.
For years, he had been constantly thinking about breaking free from Michael's control.
"How... confident are you?"
"One hundred percent," Doflamingo answered without hesitation.
"Caesar Clown will become the shared asset of the Beasts Pirates and the Warlord of the Sea, Donquixote Doflamingo... Believe it won't be long before the true 'Beasts' Pirates you envision will fully take shape."
"And what about you? To cooperate with me, you'll at least need to establish a foothold in the New World, right?"
"There's no need for you to worry about that... I've had my eye on that place called 'Pleasure District' for a long time."
In the year 1506 of the Sea Calendar, Doflamingo and Kaido met in secret, forming an alliance before both entering a period of dormancy...
Once this dormancy ended, it would stir up even greater storms across the entire New World.
******
Sabaody Archipelago.
"Vice Admiral Michael, Stella, welcome back."
Robin saluted Michael with a naval gesture before cheerfully stepping forward.
At twelve years old, Robin had completely shed her previous malnourished and frail appearance.
Through continuous training and ample nutrition, she had grown beyond childhood, blossoming into a youthful young girl.
Michael smiled knowingly.
This was the joy of watching "the girl next door grow up"!
"And where are the members of the SWORD? Don't tell me they've slacked off again!"
"Uh, they probably aren't slacking... right?" Robin offered a somewhat forced smile.
"Personally, I don't think they'd slack off. Yeah, definitely not."
"Enough, no need to cover for them." Michael ruffled Robin's hair. "Come with me to the SWORD base."
"But I still have to handle the administrative affairs of Sabaody... Ever since taking over a large portion of the Fish-Man Island's logistics, the archipelago has become even more prosperous than before." Robin hesitated.
"And Vice Admiral Momousagi... well, she's never been good with these things."
"Let Momousagi deal with her own headaches for once—consider it a lesson." Michael chuckled and, without another word, pulled Robin along with him.
As they passed several major intersections, Michael couldn't help but recall the days when he and Momousagi had carried out the great purge of Sabaody...
Those were truly bloody times.
The low-lying areas had pooled into one blood-soaked pit after another, staining the earth crimson once dried.
The SWORD Classified Special Forces base wasn't far from the naval headquarters on Sabaody.
As soon as they entered the estate, the sound of agonized screams echoed from the training grounds in the rear garden.
Michael's brow arched, and he quickened his pace with Robin in tow, arriving at the training field.
There, an old man with his beard twisted into braids had discarded his usually dignified and imposing admiral attire, laughing boisterously as he charged at the SWORD members.
Meanwhile, the legendary "Hero of the Marines" tossed aside his bag of Dials and joined the fray.
Just two men had surrounded the entire SWORD forces.
Soon, the only ones left standing were Stella, Crocodile, Enel, and Hawkeye.
But even these four could barely hold their own against the combined might of the sole remaining admiral and the Marine Hero.
"Wahahaha! Michael, forget everything else—when it comes to recruiting, you're truly unmatched! Where in the world did you dig up such prodigies?"
"Indeed impressive... And to even find a user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, truly beyond my expectations."
As Sengoku and Garp praised, they swiftly brought the battle to an end.
In the current environment, under the combined assault of these two veterans, no one stood a chance.
Let alone these young talents still in their growth phase.
"Alright, you two old men, had enough of bullying my people?"
Michael stepped forward, picking up the Admiral's coat and handing it to Sengoku.
"Why did you come all the way to Sabaody Archipelago specifically to find me this time?"
Sengoku took the coat, draped it over his shoulders, and his expression grew more serious.
"My promotion to Fleet Admiral, along with the ceremonies for Borsalino, Sakazuki, and Kuzan's promotions to Admiral... have been moved up."
"In five days."
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