New World

A week passed quickly. Doflamingo and the Marines under his command set sail once again.

On the warship, Doflamingo lounged in a deck chair, wearing an expression as though contemplating life itself.

The energetic Kikyo's eyes lit up when she saw Doflamingo, and tears of excitement at their long-awaited reunion streamed from the corner of her mouth.

After sharply inhaling a mouthful of saliva-scented cold air, she sauntered over as if she did not care much. "Captain, how was your week? Did you develop any new dishes? ...Ahem, I mean, did you get to eat any new dishes?"

Doflamingo rolled his eyes. He could see straight through his little Navigator's intentions of mooching a meal. "I neither ate nor developed any new dishes, but I did come across quite a few new moves."

"We were supposed to be resting up at Headquarters, so why do I feel more tired than when we're sailing the seas and fighting pirates?"

With a sigh, Doflamingo realized that even at Navy Headquarters, he could not bring himself to stop and rest. Instead, he trained relentlessly every day and often sparred with Gion and Tokikake. It was even more exhausting than being at sea!

Still, the sense of fulfillment that came from growing stronger through training was indeed wonderful. Doflamingo stretched out his hand, looked at the calluses on the web between his thumb and forefinger, and suddenly smiled with relief.

Since he had already decided to become the enemy of the world, he naturally could not afford to slack off.

Then, let's make this a big one!

"Heading to the New World!?" Kikyo looked utterly shocked by Doflamingo's proposal.

It was not just her. Every Marine aboard the small warship wore the same stunned expression.

"That's right. The first half of the Grand Line no longer poses a challenge to me, so I want to have some fun in the New World." Doflamingo crossed his arms as he spoke, his eyes sweeping over his subordinates.

The New World's level of competition was nowhere near comparable to the first half of the Grand Line. If any of these crewmen were timid, this was the perfect time to let them disembark.

However, Doflamingo seemed to have underestimated the nerves of steel and sheer audacity of people in the Pirate World. His crew was only stunned for a moment before they began whispering excitedly among themselves.

"The New World! I hear there are all sorts of strange races there."

"And all kinds of unbelievable weather! Not only does it hail from the sky, it can even rain lightning and meteors."

"Really? Then does it rain gold too?"

No, no, no. Gold raining from the sky would be a little too absurd.

"I heard the New World is in the middle of a huge war. The Great Pirate Gol D. Roger is said to be close to becoming the One Piece!"

"Ooh! If we can capture him..."

Come on, I'm not Navy Hero Garp. If I actually run into Roger, I'll definitely have to run!

"The New World! My idol, Vice Admiral Garp, is stationed there!"

"If we get to take part in battles against Great Pirates, maybe our names will go down in history too!"

Ah, I just wanted to go to the New World and pick on some easy targets. I never intended to fight Great Pirates!

In any case, after Doflamingo announced his desire to head to the New World, not one of these Marines showed any sign of backing down. They always loved adding dramatic scenes to their own stories, but that was not really a problem... right?

And so, Doflamingo's Little Hummingbird warship—named by Kikyo—sailed toward the New World.

In truth, Doflamingo had not decided to go to the New World on a whim. After all, he had buried quite a few treasures on the Red Line.

He felt that Chidori was no longer particularly comfortable to use. With his current strength, he could now wield a Great Grade Sword, so naturally, he had to go dig up his treasure!

Conveniently, Marines heading to the New World had to cross the Red Line and switch ships. He could dig up the treasure he had left behind and get himself a new Great Grade Sword while he was at it.

In theory, ships were free to go wherever they wished during the assessment period. But the New World was a terrifying place, after all, so Doflamingo took out a Den Den Mushi and informed Instructor Zephyr.

Zephyr did not object. With Doflamingo's current strength, he could get by in the New World as long as he did not run into any Great Pirates. Besides, the Navy had some forces stationed in the New World as well.

He only warned Doflamingo not to venture too deeply into the New World. With Roger nearing the completion of the Grand Line, that area had nearly turned into a complete mess.

There were quite a few Great Pirates coveting the coordinates of Final Island. While their primary targets were the Roger Pirates, dealing with a few ordinary Marines along the way was no trouble at all for them.

Yet because of that, the first half of the New World was actually much safer—the strong had all rushed to the islands farther in, and some had even abandoned their own bases. As a result, the first half of the New World was currently dominated only by pirates with bounties of four or five hundred million.

Of course, there were also Great Pirates who had not followed Roger, but either they had important matters to finish or they simply lacked ambition. As long as Doflamingo did not go out of his way to provoke them and court death, there would not be much danger.

A few days later, Doflamingo had upgraded his equipment, replaced his weapon with a Great Grade Sword, and boarded a ship on the other side of the Red Line.

There was no need to elaborate on his trip across the Red Line. Doflamingo felt nothing but hatred for Mary Geoise and had no desire to stay there any longer than necessary. Once he had completed the procedures and dug up his treasure, he left immediately.

As for the origins of the Great Grade Sword in his hand, Narikitsune, Doflamingo casually made up a story. He claimed that an old beggar had seen a ray of light shooting from the top of his head and noticed his extraordinary physique, then gifted it to him so that he could protect world peace.

This kind of lie, which could only fool a three-year-old in the real world and would not even convince a four-year-old, easily deceived every one of his subordinates. They all stared at him with sparkling eyes, as if they regarded him as some kind of savior.

Those idiot subordinates had apparently never considered that Mary Geoise did not have beggars at all!

All Doflamingo could say was, thankfully, I'm used to it by now.

The New World's weather was far harsher than that of the first half of the Grand Line. Fortunately, after years of operating in the New World, the Navy had drawn a rudimentary sea chart. At least the route to G1 Base was relatively safe.

And although Kikyo was young, her navigational skills were truly exceptional. Half a month later, they arrived safely at Navy G1 Base without incident.

"We've finally reached a Navy base! The weather along the way was seriously insane."

Doflamingo let out a breath of relief. On the way here, when they encountered dangerous weather, even he had needed to step in to protect the Tiny Little Hummingbird beneath his feet—Kikyo's new name for it—such as by slicing apart enormous hailstones or boulders.

Fortunately, they had finally arrived.