Next Bonus, 100!!
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Dressrosa.
Doflamingo sat alone on a windowsill, looking out at the town and the sea, a sinister, plotting smile on his face.
There was only one thing that could bring this group together: the arms trade.
After taking over Wano, Kaido had built a massive network of weapons factories, both there and on the other islands under his control. He was one of the main sources of illegal arms in the world. And Doflamingo was his "middleman" in the underworld. Their partnership had always been a smooth one.
Until...
"My plan is to take out G-5," Doflamingo said. "Wipe it off the map, just like Punk Hazard."
Ever since Jin had influenced the personnel change at G-5, the base had become a thorn in his side, a fish bone stuck in his throat.
On the sea chart, G-5, Dressrosa, and Punk Hazard formed a strategic triangle. G-5 controlled a safe, fast shipping lane.
The seas may have looked wide open, but they were full of hidden dangers. The waters near islands and landmasses were the only safe routes. If you sailed into the deep sea, you could easily get lost. Not to mention the treacherous weather, the storms, the tsunamis...
And the New World was even worse.
There were very few truly safe shipping lanes.
The Marines' brilliance lay in the fact that, although they didn't control the New World, they had built their bases in key strategic locations.
Doflamingo had invested heavily in Vergo, "feeding" him resources and information, to get him promoted to the position of G-5's commander.
Now that he was gone, not only was that investment a total loss, but his and Kaido's arms trade had taken a massive hit.
Gion wasn't your average Vice Admiral. She was an Admiral candidate. She couldn't be bought off with a few small favors.
Last year, she had focused on reorganizing and training the G-5 forces.
This year, she had begun to strike.
She had already destroyed two of Doflamingo's pirate crews and confiscated a massive cache of weapons. He and Kaido had suffered heavy losses.
Kaido had been furious, and had demanded that Doflamingo come up with a solution, or he'd have his head.
And so, here they were.
Doflamingo knew how terrifying Kaido could be. And he was genuinely enraged by the hit to his business. After thinking it over... to hell with it.
If you can't solve the problem, you solve the person making the problem.
"Destroy G-5?" King's voice was low. "What about the retaliation from the Marines and the World Government?"
"Hey, hey," Doflamingo said. "This is the New World. Do the Marines and the World Government really have that much power here? Besides... fuffuffuffu... I have inside information. The Five Elders have ordered a joint operation between the Marines, the CIU, and Cipher Pol to deal with the Revolutionary Army. They don't have the manpower to spare for the New World."
His information had come from Vergo.
"If that's the case," Queen said, taking a drag from his cigarette, "then this is the perfect time to solve our little problem. You're talking about using that lethal poison gas from Punk Hazard, the one that's been renamed 'H2S,' right?"
"That's right," Doflamingo said. "I've already ordered Caesar Clown to collect the poison gas on Punk Hazard."
"Will this affect the construction of the SMILE factory on Punk Hazard?" Kaido demanded.
"Of course not," Doflamingo said with a laugh. "Fuffuffu. There's still a ring of poison gas around the outer perimeter of the island. No one will find it."
"Then do it," Kaido said. "Eliminate the obstacle. But..."
Doflamingo paused.
"Hm? But what?" Kaido asked.
"Jin's forces are in the town at G-5," Doflamingo said. "This might provoke a response from him."
"Worororo..." Kaido laughed. "You think I'm afraid of him, Joker? I've been wanting a real fight with him for a long time! Last time, that meddling Red-Hair got in the way! You think he'll dare to show his face this time?"
The incident from over a month ago had been a great loss of face for him. He was still simmering with rage.
Me, Kaido, avoid a fight??
With Kaido's assurance, Doflamingo laughed. "Fuffuffuffuffu. I'll make the arrangements at once."
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After leaving Elbaf, Jin dropped Galette off at the Gran Tesoro.
He then arrived at Punk Hazard.
The outer perimeter of the island was still surrounded by a ring of poison gas, a lingering haze. There were no birds, no plants.
The timing of the gas leak was too coincidental.
Jin had his suspicions.
It was a warning from the World Government to any member nations who were trying to dabble in advanced technology.
And it was also a way to hand over Caesar Clown, who was needed for forbidden experiments, to a Yonko and Doflamingo.
They could do the experiments, take the blame, and the World Government could get the data while keeping their hands "clean."
After the Summit War, Kuzan and Sakazuki had their duel here. The fact that they hadn't discovered Caesar's research facility was also highly suspicious.
Jin suited up in a full hazmat suit, complete with an oxygen tank and a crow-like gas mask.
He stepped onto the island and cut a path through the poison gas with a shockwave. After about four or five hundred meters, the gas thinned out.
Before him was a barren, desolate island, littered with the skeletal remains of those who had been consumed by the gas. The trees were all withered and dead.
The strange, half-ice, half-fire landscape had not yet been created.
"Kozuki Momonosuke hasn't traveled through time yet, has he?" Jin thought. "According to the timeline, that won't happen for another three years. That little brat... he's even worse than Oden."
The mere thought of him was infuriating.
In the fan community, if you asked whether Whitebeard or Akainu was stronger, you'd get a heated debate.
But if you asked who the most hated character was... the answer was unanimous.
Momonosuke and Koby were pretty much tied for first place.
Even Oden, who had practically cooked himself, wasn't as bad.
"Momonosuke must die" was practically a mantra.
It wasn't just because of how he acted around Nami and Robin. Lust was normal in the world of One Piece. Sanji was a pervert. But Sanji had his code of chivalry. He would never intentionally take advantage of someone. Momonosuke, on the other hand, was constantly using his "child" status to be a lecherous little creep.
And that wasn't even the worst of it.
It was his arrogant, self-important attitude, just like a Celestial Dragon, that was so infuriating. He had no manners, no sense of gratitude. He just ordered people around, using his age as an excuse.
And when faced with adversity... he was the son of Oden, and after traveling through time, he had the mind of an adult, but he was always hiding behind others. He had no sense of responsibility, no backbone.
His so-called "Bushido" spirit was a joke.
He had inherited none of Oden's good qualities, only his bad ones.
Vivi, who had gone through a similar ordeal at around the same age, had swallowed her pride and apologized to Wapol for the sake of her country's peace. She had infiltrated an enemy organization to gather intelligence.
Even a villain like Doflamingo, who had fallen from grace as a child, had clawed his way back to the top on his own.
Maybe that's why Kaido had looked at him and asked, "Whose son are you, really?"
Even Kaido must have been shocked that the son of his great rival, a man he had only been able to defeat through trickery, was such a pathetic weakling.
If Kaido had just smashed Momonosuke's head in during the Wano war, the fans would have deified him.
"Although Momonosuke hasn't arrived yet," Jin thought, "I remember that the artificial Devil Fruit has already been created."
The artificial Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon.
It had been created from the lineage factor extracted from Kaido. It was the first successful artificial Devil Fruit.
The only difference was that the dragon scales of its transformed state were pink, not blue.
And so, Vegapunk had deemed it a failure and had thrown it away.
In fact, its abilities were identical to the real Azure Dragon fruit. It could fly, create flame clouds, and so on.
Jin suspected that either it had some other defect, or Vegapunk had intentionally discarded it, not wanting the World Government to get their hands on such a powerful fruit.
And the appearance of artificial Devil Fruits had broken the "one of a kind" rule of the Devil Fruits.
"Or maybe there's a difference between the real and the fake," he mused. "The fake fruits are more like clones, copies of the real thing."
He couldn't figure it out.
And he didn't care to.
He would leave the scientific research to Judge and the others.
He spread out his Observation Haki and, in the silence, heard a strange sound. He quickly moved toward it.
Soon, he saw a group of people in hazmat suits, using some kind of tool to absorb the poison gas.
"Hey, I thought we were done with this. Why are we back at it again?"
"I don't know."
"Are you questioning Caesar-sama?"
"No! Of course not..."
"Don't forget, Caesar-sama saved our lives. Now get back to work."
"Yes, sir!"
Jin used his Observation Haki to read their minds and learned the location of the research facility. He slipped in, unnoticed.
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