After more than twenty days of sailing, Doflamingo and the others finally arrived at the naval base near Beast-Dragon Island.
To be honest, this was practically the outermost edge of the Navy's reach. Piracy here had become rampant to the extreme.
No, perhaps they could no longer be called pirates. They should have been called enemy forces.
Other than flying pirate flags, they were entirely unlike ordinary pirates. These pirates moved in organized groups. Rather than robbing and looting, they collected taxes from every island and recruited strong, able-bodied people.
This was completely the way governments and armies operated. And Doflamingo sadly realized that, if these pirates were excluded, public order in these waters might actually have been a little better than in the vast majority of countries under the World Government.
If not for how cruel these Great Pirates were, and how excessively they exploited the civilians beneath them, life here might even have been better than under the World Government!
But thinking about it carefully, the countries under the World Government did not seem much better when collecting the Heavenly Tribute. Doflamingo could only sigh helplessly. This truly was a world where everyone competed to see who was less rotten.
Yet after arriving here, these pirates no longer clashed with the Navy. Instead, they trailed them at a neither-too-near-nor-too-far distance, then immediately turned back once Doflamingo left their waters.
The pirates' behavior was already exactly like a nation's active defense. They neither wished to clash with the Navy nor lowered their guard against it.
It was not until Doflamingo reached the vicinity of Beast-Dragon Island that the pirates finally vanished without a trace. Clearly, this place had been deemed Navy territory, so the pirates did not enter.
It could be said that all the pirates of the New