New World, outskirts of Onigashima, Blade's Edge Rock supply island.
As night fell, this island filled with the stench of rust and blood did not sink into sleep. Instead, it revealed an even filthier side of itself.
In a narrow alley behind the port, an underground tavern called "Broken Tooth" was bustling with noise.
This was a place where outer members of the Beasts Pirates, smugglers, and bounty hunters mingled.
The air was thick with the smell of cheap rum, sweat, and an indescribable sense of anxiety.
In a corner, a man cloaked in gray pulled his hat low.
He appeared to be drinking, but in reality, his eyes were scanning the surroundings with vigilance.
He was a senior intelligence agent under Donquixote Doflamingo, from the Donquixote Family, codename "Suzume."
"Listen," Suzume said in a low voice, tapping the table lightly with his finger as he spoke to the one-eyed smuggler sitting across from him.
"The young master is serious this time. We don't care where the goods come from, and we don't care if they're stolen."
He pulled out a thick stack of Berries from his coat, revealing just a corner of it. The smell of money instantly made the smuggler's lone eye light up.
"As long as it's information about a Devil Fruit, even just a lead, if it's verified, this is your deposit."
Suzume's voice was soft, but every word struck like a hammer:
"If you can deliver the actual fruit… especially a Logia or an Ancient Zoan, the Donquixote Family is willing to pay this amount."
He raised five fingers.
"F-five hundred million?!" the smuggler gasped, his voice trembling.
"Shh, ! Do you want to die?"
Suzume's gaze sharpened as he slammed his hand down on the other man's wrist.
"Five hundred million is just the starting price. If the fruit is rare enough, the young master can even arrange a new identity for you, send you to the West Blue or North Blue and let you live the rest of your life like a king."
The smuggler swallowed hard, greed overcoming fear.
"But… this is Governor Kaido's territory. If the Gifters find out we're trading fruits instead of handing them over…"
"That's why we stay low-key."
Suzume said coldly, though a thin layer of sweat had already formed on his forehead.
"Listen carefully. Recently, Joker's relationship with Governor Kaido… has become a bit tense. If this blows up, we'll all be turned into beast feed. What we need is a silent transaction."
"Spread the word, but only within this black market."
Suzume pushed the money across the table.
"Tell the bottom-tier laborers, scavengers, even those failed 'Pleasures.' If they find a strange fruit, don't stupidly hand it in for scraps of reward. Give it to us, and they can exchange it for a lifetime of wealth and glory."
"Understood… understood…" The smuggler stuffed the money into his coat, gambler's greed gleaming in his eye.
Watching him leave, Suzume let out a long breath and dRehnd his drink in one gulp.
His hands were trembling slightly.
This was a dance on the edge of a blade.
If Kaido's men discovered them before they found a top-tier fruit, he would be dead for sure.
But there was no choice. The young master's orders were absolute.
…
At the same time, New World, Dressrosa.
Doflamingo sat alone in the vast palace hall. No lights were on, only moonlight streamed through the tall windows, casting his long shadow and making him look particularly sinister.
In his hand was a golden Den Den Mushi, its expression mirroring his own twisted smile.
"Fufufufu… Shogun, long time no see. How have you been lately?"
On the other end came a shrill, vulgar laugh, that of Kurozumi Orochi, ruler of Wano Country.
"Gufufu I was wondering who it was, so it's Joker!"
In the background, the sound of shamisen music and courtesans laughing could be heard. Clearly, Orochi was enjoying a lavish banquet in the Flower Capital.
"What is it this time? Something about SMILE fruits? Isn't that Kaido's business? Why come to me, the shogun?"
A vein twitched on Doflamingo's forehead, but he forced himself to remain calm.
"No, no. Business is handled according to rules. This time, I'm calling as a private friend, to ask the Shogun for a small favor."
"Oh? A favor? Gufufu! You, an emperor of the underworld, need my help?"
"To be honest…"
Doflamingo gritted his teeth slightly, deciding to reveal a bit.
"I urgently need a… high-quality Devil Fruit. Wano may be closed off, but it is the origin of Seastone. And as far as I know, when ability users die here, their fruits may reincarnate within the country…"
"You control everything in Wano. If your treasury has any powerful fruits to spare, I'm willing to pay a high price. Weapons, gold, even beautiful slaves from overseas, just name it."
There was a brief silence, then an even harsher burst of laughter.
"Gufufu! Joker, are you begging me? The arrogant Joker, begging me?"
Orochi's voice was filled with mockery and arrogance.
"Devil Fruits, huh…" he deliberately dragged out his words. "I do have quite a few. Zoans, Paramecia… even rumors of Mythical Zoans have reached me."
Doflamingo's eyes flashed behind his sunglasses. His breathing quickened.
"Really?! If you could-"
"But," Orochi's tone turned cold.
"Why should I give them to you?"
"…!"
Doflamingo's grip on the receiver tightened, nearly crushing it.
"Joker, understand this."
Orochi spoke while stuffing sushi into his mouth.
"If I have truly powerful fruits, why wouldn't I give them to my own men? Give them to you? So you can grow stronger and threaten my position? Gufufu, I'm not a fool."
Though incompetent, Orochi possessed a petty cunning when it came to power.
Top-tier Devil Fruits were strategic weapons, he would never trade them lightly.
"We are allies, Shogun…" Doflamingo's voice turned colder.
"Allies? That's only because of Kaido."
Orochi cut him off bluntly.
"And I hear you've been getting close to that lazy Marine Sdmiral recently? Kaido is very unhappy about that. Searching everywhere for powerful fruits at a time like this… planning to betray him?"
The words struck like a blade.
"Of course not…" Doflamingo forced a stiff smile. "Just… self-preservation. The seas are dangerous."
"Enough. I'm not interested."
Orochi lost interest.
"I don't have what you want. And even if I did, I wouldn't sell it. But…"
His eyes gleamed greedily.
"If you send me two more ships of that 'premium rum' and those new cannons next time, I might keep an ear out for rumors among the common folk. Wano is big, sometimes a farmer might stumble upon a strange fruit."
A blatant extortion.
No real promise, just demands.
Doflamingo took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to crawl through the Den Den Mushi and strangle him.
"Then… I'll leave it to you, Shogun. The liquor and weapons will arrive next week."
"Gufufu! That's more like it! Sensible! Now then, I'm going back to watch the dancing!"
Click.
The call ended.
"Bastard!!!"
BOOM!!
Doflamingo finally exploded.
His Conqueror's Haki surged through the hall, instantly shattering every glass window. Shards fell like rain.
"Kurozumi Orochi… you short-sighted pig!!"
He panted heavily, clutching his feather coat.
He had been humiliated.
By that useless, scheming parasite.
But he couldn't retaliate.
Because he was trapped, pressed from both sides.
Ahead was the unfathomable abyss named Renzo.
Behind was the ever-unstable beast, Kaido.
Caught in between, he needed a breakthrough.
"That fruit… the fruit that can satisfy Renzo… is the only way out."
Calming himself, Doflamingo adjusted his sunglasses, his gaze turning colder than a viper's.
"Orochi may be useless, but he said one thing right."
"The common folk."
"The truly valuable things are rarely in the hands of the powerful. They're hidden in obscure corners, treated as trash by the ignorant."
He picked up another Den Den Mushi and dialed Suzume.
"Listen. Increase the bounty."
His voice was chillingly low.
"Expand the search to Udon prison mines and all labor camps."
"Tell those insects, even if they have to steal, even if they have to rob, if they bring me the fruit, I'll give them… freedom."
"To survive, these insects will do anything."
…
Back on Blade's Edge Rock.
Inside the abandoned warehouse filled with the smell of oil and rotting fruit,
"Achoo!"
Aji sneezed, still wearing that stiff smile.
"Ahahaha… so cold… who's talking about me…"
He crouched beside the oil barrel, gnawing on a piece of moldy bread while watching his surroundings carefully.
Earlier, when he passed the back alley of the "Broken Tooth" tavern, he had overheard a few key words:
"Donquixote Family…"
"High price…"
"Devil Fruit…"
"Change fate…"
His heart had nearly stopped at that moment.
It felt like the opportunity he had been waiting for, like an olive branch from death itself, had finally fallen into his hands.
He lowered his head and looked at the pitch-black oil barrel.
Inside it lay his future.
"Joker's men… are on this island… ahahaha…"
A trace of madness flashed in Aji's eyes.
He knew how dangerous this was.
If the Beasts Pirates discovered he had hidden a fruit and planned to sell it, he would be flayed alive.
But if he didn't gamble, he would laugh himself to death in this hell.
"Can't go to the tavern directly… too many eyes…"
"I need a way… to make the buyer come to me… or meet somewhere safe…"
He bit into the moldy bread. It tasted bitter, but to him, it carried a hint of freedom.
He was just a lowly nobody.
But he was also a weed that had survived in the harshest cracks.
And weeds are best at growing through the smallest gaps.
"Hey, Aji! What are you grinning at?! Get over here and move this scrap metal!" the overseer's whip cracked in the distance.
"Coming! Ahahaha! Right away!"
Aji immediately stood and ran over, wearing that humble smile.
But as he turned, he cast one last glance at the oil barrel,
And in his eyes was a resolve he had never shown before.
....
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