North Sea.
Next to a regular port town, there was a house away from everyone else.
The Donquixote Family, temporary base!
Right now, all the leaders of the Donquixote Family, except for those who couldn't get away because of things they couldn't control, were gathered here because the family leader, Donquixote Doflamingo, told them to.
Not counting Doflamingo himself, there were twelve people.
They were sitting around a table in a meeting room, and there was a newspaper on the table.
They already knew what was in the newspaper.
Doflamingo sat at the head of the table, with his back to the others, looking out the window at the sky, and picked up a glass of red wine.
He drank the wine, and Doflamingo's calm voice filled the room.
"Have you all seen today's news?"
Everyone nodded.
"Fuffuffuffuffu..."
The man's typical low laugh filled the room. "Tell me what you think."
People with Lead Poisoning Disease showed up in Alabasta on the Grand Line.
On the other hand, Corazon, one of their Donquixote Family leaders, was traveling the world with Law, who had Lead Poisoning Disease, to find a cure.
Could there be such a coincidence?
Diamante, a swordsman with the code name "Diamond," and one of the family's four top leaders, spoke first.
"Wu ha ha ha ha, is it a coincidence?"
He ate the Flutter-Flutter Fruit and was a flag man. He was pretty casual with the people in the family. "Don't worry too much, Doffy. Maybe it's not Corazon and Law at all!"
"Be he he he he he, I say, I say..."
A slimy laugh came from a messy-looking middle-aged man.
He was also one of the Donquixote Family's top leaders and a family elder, the Sticky-Sticky Fruit user -- Trebol.
"I say, that's not likely. No one's alive in 'White Town' Flevance anymore. Law is the last person alive with Lead Poisoning Disease, be he he he!"
Hearing this, a little girl in a maid outfit nearby became worried.
She was also one of the family leaders, a Weapon Fruit user who joined the Donquixote Family as a child -- Baby-5.
Even though Corazon often treated her badly to get her to leave, Baby-5 still cared about Corazon a lot.
Or rather, Baby-5 cared about everyone in the Donquixote Family.
"Oh no! Did Alabasta catch Corazon and Law?"
"Hey, no way!"
Buffalo, who was also a child, said in surprise, "Leaving Law aside, Corazon is really strong. He wouldn't get caught!"
Machvise, a strong man with the Ton-Press Fruit, scratched his head. "If it's Lead Poisoning Disease, there can't be anyone else besides Law. Corazon probably left that kid and ran away himself, oink!"
"No, Corazon wouldn't run away and not contact us, knowing his personality."
Doflamingo denied Machvise's guess. "There are only two possibilities. He was caught, or he's dead."
Trebol thought for a moment. "I say, I say, could Alabasta be lying?"
Doflamingo shook his head. "No, there are too many clever lies. They don't need to use one that's so easy to see through, so they must have someone with Lead Poisoning Disease."
A really funny, high-pitched voice came from the other side.
It was a huge, strong man named Pica, who was the Stone-Stone Fruit user. As one of the top leaders, he hated it when people talked about his voice.
"Could it be that Corazon betrayed us?"
"Don't forget, ever since he left the family six months ago, the Marines have found us a lot less often. Even Vice Admiral Tsuru has a hard time finding us."
"I bet that guy has been giving our information to the Marines!"
Hearing this, Diamante laughed loudly, "Wu ha ha ha ha, maybe it's just a coincidence!"
Doflamingo nodded slightly, but a dark smile spread across his face.
"--That's what I hope too. I don't want to suspect... my own brother!"
After all, Corazon still needed to eat the Operation Fruit.
...Huh?
Wait!
Doflamingo suddenly thought of something and crushed the glass in his hand.
"Get the map!"
Doflamingo spread out the map, and his face grew darker.
Trebol leaned in and said in confusion, "I say, Doffy, what's wrong?"
Bang!
Doflamingo slammed his fist on the table, and a scary smile appeared on his face.
"Fuffuffuffuffu, I see. They said they were 'sending medical help to the North Sea.' There's no such thing as a good person like that in the world. They just wanted a 'reason' to cross the Red Line!"
"What do you mean?"
Everyone looked confused.
Doflamingo told everyone his guess.
It was almost exactly what Tsuru had figured out, with only a few small differences.
The two of them had fought each other many times, and even though Doflamingo was always one step behind Tsuru, this wasn't a very complicated matter, so it was easy to figure out.
"Corazon got my message while he and Law were on their way back to the North Sea. They passed through Alabasta and were stopped."
"That guy who died eight hundred years ago knew that Lead Poisoning Disease was a lie from the World Government, but he used the Lead Poisoning Disease on Law to create a reason that everyone would notice, so he could cross the Red Line and come to the North Sea without looking suspicious."
Hearing this, Trebol still looked confused. "I say, I say, Doffy, what's his goal?"
Doflamingo smiled coldly. "Fuffuffuffuffu, who knows? Maybe he wants the Operation Fruit, just like we do?"
That was the worst-case guess.
Trebol clearly didn't believe it. "I say, that's impossible. Law doesn't know about it, and Corazon can't talk. He couldn't have told anyone about the Operation Fruit!"
"Fuffuffuffuffu, you're right, Trebol."
Doflamingo grinned, but added quietly:
"That's if my brother hasn't betrayed me."
He said this in a normal tone, but it made the family leaders shiver.
"Anyway, a guest is coming to the North Sea."
Doflamingo grinned and said slowly, "And it's a 'guest' who doesn't want to sneak around. He wants everyone to know what he's doing."
He waved his hand, telling everyone to leave.
"Get ready. I don't want anything to go wrong with the Operation Fruit this time."
After everyone left, Doflamingo took out a purple Den Den Mushi.
Brrr brrr brrr... Brrr brrr brrr...
Click!
The Den Den Mushi connected, and a high-pitched laugh came from the other end.
"Shurorororororo! JOKER, why are you calling me all of a sudden?"
JOKER was Doflamingo's nickname in the underworld.
And if Rowan were there, he would have recognized that the person on the other end of the Den Den Mushi was Caesar Clown, one of the current Marine scientists who was obsessed with weapons that could kill a lot of people!
Doflamingo grinned.
"Hey, Caesar, didn't you say you invented a new type of weapon that was really interesting?"
Caesar laughed. "Yes! And the World Government has agreed to test it. I guarantee it's a hundred times better than the boring machines that Vegapunk invented!"
"That's good."
Doflamingo smiled coldly. "Tell the World Government that I've found them a place to test it, and I can help them test it in the name of JOKER -- but there's a condition."
Caesar understood that Doflamingo was ruthless, so he asked cautiously, "What's the condition?"
"I'm risking exposing my real identity, so I want a 'favor' from the World Government."
Doflamingo grinned coldly:
"A favor that will let me join the Royal Seven Warlords."
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