Seeing the tarot cards hanging at Sharon's waist and the name "Divination Club," Yuno quickly pieced things together.
He wasn't entirely certain at first, but upon sensing a faint emotional fluctuation from the scarecrow, Yuno's suspicion solidified.
There was no doubt—the man behind the Divination Club was Basil Hawkins.
The Tarot cards granted divination abilities—being able to foresee one's chances of survival or predict outcomes was a rare and dangerous skill.
He figured the earlier restraint shown by the Divination Club had likely stemmed from Hawkins using his powers to search for a safe outcome.
"You can divine, so why would you still walk into this?" Yuno murmured. It was a rhetorical question laced with amusement, his subtle way of revealing Hawkins's identity.
Yuno found it fun—taunting those who thought they were pulling the strings.
...
With the Dia Mafia wiped out, the island's power dynamics began to shift rapidly. As one of the two dominant forces, Dia's fall sent shockwaves through the underworld.
And now, with their members dead and headquarters abandoned, chaos and greed bloomed.
Some ambitious individuals hoped to seize the mafia's assets—or loot their lucrative auction house. They rushed to the ruins.
But none of them came back.
"What's happening? Did someone take over the Dia Mafia's base? Why hasn't anyone returned?"
"You fools! Haven't you heard the rumors? The Dia Mafia was backed by the Don Quixote Family!"
"What?! You serious?! Doflamingo's crew? He's one of the Seven Warlords!"
Panic swept through the underground networks of the island. Whispers turned to shouts. The name Don Quixote had that effect.
In a dimly lit chamber, Basil Hawkins furrowed his brows. He remained calm as always, but his voice betrayed a flicker of understanding.
"No wonder... Every time I divined before attacking the Dia Mafia, the odds of death were fifty-fifty."
"A connection to the Don Quixote Family explains it."
And then, his thoughts shifted to Yuno.
"That bounty hunter... could he be targeting someone from Doflamingo's inner circle?"
Curious, Hawkins pulled out his cards again and began a new divination.
This time, his expression subtly changed—there was no misfortune in his reading. On the contrary, it foretold growth and power.
...
Elsewhere, Yuno turned over a strangely shaped fruit in his hand, studying its swirls.
"A Devil Fruit... but what kind?"
He had no Devil Fruit encyclopedia, no way to identify it. Its bizarre shape and mysterious aura gave away little.
He had found it inside a treasure chest seized from Barofia—clearly part of a deal between two of the Dark World's kings.
A Devil Fruit valuable enough to be exchanged between two underworld lords... it had to be something special.
If he remembered right, Doflamingo—being a Celestial Dragon—should have had access to the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. That meant he likely knew exactly what this fruit could do.
And he had entrusted the Shipping King, Umit, to deliver it.
Too bad for him—Yuno had intercepted it.
'Could this be one of the fruits eaten by the Don Quixote officers in the original story...?'
The thought flashed across Yuno's mind.
The Floating Fruit...
The Weapon Fruit...
The Spinning Fruit...
The Sticky Fruit...
The Stone-Stone Fruit...
The Swimming Fruit...
…and the Hobi Hobi no Mi Fruit.
Could it be one of those?
He shook the Devil Fruit again, a glint in his eye. A smile tugged at his lips.
"If it's the Hobi Hobi no Mi Fruit... then, heh..."
That one was crucial to Doflamingo's operations. Losing it would be a massive blow.
Sugar, the user of the Hobi Hobi no Mi Fruit, had played a pivotal role in Doflamingo's swift domination of Dressrosa in the original story.
However, Yuno remained uncertain. In the canon timeline, Sugar had consumed the fruit at around ten years old, halting both her growth and mental development from that moment on.
Yuno didn't know how far along the current timeline was compared to the original. So he couldn't draw any solid conclusions yet.
'We'll have to see how the Don Quixote family reacts,' he thought.
He tucked the fruit away and vanished in a flash of motion.
His destination: the Dia Mafia's headquarters.
Yuno wasn't about to sit back and wait for the enemy to make a move. He had to seize the initiative, uncover who was hiding within the compound.
Were they remnants of the Don Quixote Family? Or pawns of some pirate group?
He also had another objective—to test the true power of Shun Hong after its proficiency had reached level 65.
That boost in strength would prove pivotal for his next plan.
The Dia Mafia's headquarters doubled as an auction house, with a casino, bar, and other operations running in its underground levels.
Ordinarily, the place would be bustling at this time of day—but now, it stood eerily silent, not a single soul in sight.
Only one man walked forward, calmly.
Since Dia's death, the leaderless underlings had fled, leaving the entire estate unguarded.
That absence of order had attracted scavengers—fools who thought they could plunder what remained.
But they'd been ruthlessly exterminated by the hidden Don Quixote operatives inside.
Yuno's perception swept across the facility. There weren't many enemies, but the auras he sensed were far more powerful than Barofia's.
One of them, in particular, radiated an oppressive presence—on par with Rear Admiral Cage!
During his time with the navy, Yuno had compared himself to other instructors to gauge his progress.
And by now, unleashing his full power, Yuno felt confident he could defeat even Major General Cage.
And Cage wasn't weak—he was among the stronger of the Rear Admirals.
Within the navy, rank often correlated with raw strength.
So if Yuno could surpass Cage…
He was already at the level of a Vice Admiral!
Not to mention, his Shunko skill had recently increased by 10 points. While it didn't seem like much, every point added another layer to his advantage.
'Heh, anyone this strong has to be a cadre of the Don Quixote family.'
Yuno's eyes gleamed with sharp intent.
"I have a Devil Fruit in hand and the life of a Don Quixote cadre—this isn't a cheap bargain, Doflamingo. Let's see how you respond… heh…"
He stepped inside without hiding his presence. Anyone strong enough to survive in the New World would, at minimum, wield both Armament and Observation Haki.
Sure enough, his entrance was immediately detected.
"Hmph. Half a day's passed, and there are still greedy rats crawling in here?" sneered a one-eyed underling, thin and crooked. He assumed Yuno was just another thug looking for easy spoils.
Raising his sword, he approached with a smirk. "Greed really is the ugliest human trait!"
But before he could strike, a voice thundered out—
"Idiot! Retreat!"
It was Diamante's voice.
"Retreat? Why—?"
That was the last coherent thought the underling had.
He felt a sudden, sharp pain pierce his chest.
Looking down in confusion, he saw a gaping hole where his heart had been. The blood had already begun to cook, seared by intense heat. His thoughts scattered, his limbs went limp—
—and then everything went black.
He crumpled to the ground, dead before he could even realize it.