Fortunately, he had not carried the antidote on his own person, so there was no need to worry that it had been rendered useless after being soaked in seawater.
Following the directions given by Queen as he regained a measure of clarity, El located the antidote and immediately prepared to administer it to Baby 5 and Buffalo.
"Captain…" Doflamingo raised a hand to stop him.
"We cannot be certain that this is truly the antidote…" As he spoke, Doflamingo cast a sharp, wary glance at Queen.
"That man is exceedingly cunning, and we must not trust him lightly."
El nodded in agreement—there was certainly no harm in being cautious.
Then he looked again at Queen, who was slumped over in Seastone handcuffs, appearing utterly weak and drained.
"Would he dare deceive us now?" El asked. Even so, caution was still the wiser course.
"Perhaps we should have him take some himself first, to observe its effect?"
"That will not work," Doflamingo shook his head.
"Our crews have had dealings in the past, so I know a fair amount about top fighters like him. I am certain Queen has thoroughly modified his own body—poisons and antidotes alike likely have very little effect on him at all."
Doflamingo's suspicion was not unfounded; the extensive alterations Queen had made to his own frame were plainly visible to the naked eye.
It was entirely possible that he had made himself immune to all toxins, or at the very least developed immense resistance to the poisons he created and their matching cures.
Testing the substance on him would yield no reliable result.
"In that case…" El's gaze shifted toward the ordinary crew members of the Beasts Pirates.
Every one of them shuddered in fear—none wanted to act as test subjects, yet none had the strength to defy El and his companions.
After a long, hesitant silence, a few men finally stepped forward; delay any longer, and Doflamingo would have forced their hands anyway.
Thankfully, Queen did not dare attempt any further deception; the vial he had provided was indeed the real antidote.
After several rounds of testing to confirm its safety and effectiveness, El instructed Doflamingo to give the proper dose to his two subordinates.
"Now then—what exactly are you doing all the way out here in Dressrosa?"
El asked, finally free to address the question that mattered most.
The Beasts Pirates operated primarily out of Wano Country, a great distance away—there was no logical reason for them to drift so far from their usual territory.
Queen and Jack exchanged a wary look with one another; their mission was highly confidential, which was exactly why two All‑Stars had been dispatched in person.
They had no wish to reveal the details, but they had witnessed El's overwhelming power firsthand, and knew better than anyone that he would find a way to make them speak.
"We came to Dressrosa for the Artificial Zoan Devil Fruits," Queen admitted at last.
The Beasts Pirates' relentless pursuit of Zoan‑type Devil Fruit users was an open secret across the New World, and almost every capable Zoan user dreamed of joining their ranks.
Yet even in the New World, Devil Fruits were an exceedingly rare luxury—even Zoans, the most common type, were in short supply.
Simply recruiting naturally gifted users would take longer than anyone could imagine to fulfill Kaido's goal: an entire crew composed entirely of elite Zoan‑type fighters.
Time was precious, and Kaido sought a shortcut: Artificial Devil Fruits.
At present, only Zoan variants could be reliably synthesized, as their biological structure was the most thoroughly researched.
The vast majority of trade between the Donquixote Family and the Beasts Pirates had centered on this very supply.
But since Doflamingo had joined El's crew, that steady source had been cut off.
This mission was meant to resolve the matter once and for all—if Doflamingo would no longer sell, the Beasts Pirates would take control of production themselves.
They had hoped to move in total secrecy, only to cross paths with El and his crew.
It was truly the worst possible luck; Queen and Jack were consumed by regret, having run straight into an obstacle they could never have anticipated.
"So this is all about Artificial Devil Fruits…" El murmured softly.
He was genuinely curious—not because he needed to build an army of users, but because the idea of artificially replicating such a profound force of nature seemed nothing short of miraculous.
And right now, the opportunity to seize that technology was presenting itself directly.
"By the way, Doflamingo," El turned to his subordinate, "you still have the researchers and facilities capable of producing Artificial Devil Fruits, do you not?"
Doflamingo did not dare hide the truth. "That is correct," he replied quickly.
"We still have the staff and equipment required. Building those facilities cost the Donquixote Family immense resources and effort, and their location remains undiscovered. I suspect that is precisely why you seized my men—you wanted the exact coordinates to our research lab."
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