In the end, King Riku agreed to Doflamingo's ultimatum, only asking for some time to gather the nation's money.
Little did he know that this was exactly what Doflamingo wanted. Naturally, he agreed without hesitation.
"Fufufufufu, what a fool. Everything is proceeding exactly as planned. He's completely in the palm of my hand."
The next morning, Doflamingo watched King Riku go door to door, begging the citizens to lend him money, a smile on his lips.
"Has the World Government protected him too well? He doesn't look like someone who grew up in the brutal New World at all. Without the Marines and the World Government's protection, this country would probably be swallowed whole by those Great Pirates in an instant."
"Hehehehe, that's why it's only natural for Young Master to become the king of Dressrosa. Only someone like Young Master can truly protect Dressrosa, isn't that right?"
A middle-aged man who gave off a sticky feeling from head to toe spoke up, then sniffed back his snot.
He was Trebol, one of the earliest veterans of the Donquixote Family and the user of the Sticker-Sticker Fruit.
"Don't flatter me." Doflamingo swirled a glass of red wine and said coldly, "Protecting Dressrosa... what does that have to do with me? I only want to take this country for myself... no matter what becomes of it!"
"Anything that belongs to our Donquixote Family, no matter what it is, I will take it back!"
As he said this, even with his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, the Heavenly Yaksha's expression was incomparably savage. Veins bulged across his face, making him look like a demon.
Doflamingo's subordinates all lowered their heads and fell silent. They knew very well that he was not speaking only of Dressrosa.
But while Doflamingo, a discarded Celestial Dragon, could say such things, his subordinates could not discuss them.
Doflamingo's plan went extremely smoothly. That very night, King Riku, having cast aside his royal dignity and collected over ten billion Berries, along with his guards, was controlled by Doflamingo using the String-String Fruit and made to slaughter the residents of the royal capital.
Then the Doflamingo Pirates appeared as saviors and "defeated" King Riku and his guards. It killed two birds with one stone: they won the people's support while eliminating the influence of King Riku and his men.
At this time, Katakuri's fleet was only a few hours away from Dressrosa.
"What? You're saying Doflamingo stole Dressrosa's throne?" Katakuri asked with a frown.
"That's right. I couldn't hear anything, but that's what I saw through Clairvoyance," Minos told Katakuri.
"Hahaha, what a brainless pirate. That's how these Supernovas are," Charlotte Oven laughed, his hair blazing red like flames.
"Did he think such a foolish scheme could deceive the Marines, or the World Government? In a few days, we'll probably have to visit this king in Impel Down."
Katakuri frowned and shook his head. "I've investigated Doflamingo. He's already begun to make a name for himself in the underground world, known for his ruthlessness, vast connections, and cunning. He's definitely not the kind of person who would launch a Coup Plan on impulse without doing any investigation."
"There must be something we've overlooked, something that makes Doflamingo believe the World Government and the Marines will tolerate such brazen behavior!"
"Why think so much about it?" Charlotte Daifuku said as he took a bite of dessert and chewed.
"We're the Charlotte Pirates, not the Marines or the World Government!"
Hearing that, Katakuri nodded lightly. "That's true, but our primary target this time may be difficult to get our hands on now."
As he spoke, Katakuri glanced at Minos. Minos merely shrugged indifferently.
Katakuri believed that, given the Charlotte Pirates' current status, if they asked Doflamingo for the Glint-Glint Fruit, Doflamingo would certainly do them that favor.
But a powerful support fruit like the Glint-Glint Fruit did not require a particularly suitable user. Once Doflamingo got it, he would surely have one of his subordinates eat it. By then, no amount of face from the Charlotte Pirates would matter.
Meanwhile, Violet, the user of the Glint-Glint Fruit, was begging Doflamingo to spare her father's life.
It was precisely because of the chaos during this period that neither Doflamingo nor Violet noticed Katakuri's fleet silently approaching Dressrosa.
"We're here. This is Dressrosa? It doesn't look like much."
Talon, now already four meters tall, jumped onto the harbor and looked around. He did not see even a single guard at the port, much less any ordinary civilians.
The harbor was small and shabby, with most of the buildings being ordinary wooden houses. There were only a few filthy, disorderly taverns. Compared with the prosperity of Whole Cake Island, Dressrosa was far inferior.
After all, aside from collecting soul taxes and demanding tribute in the form of specialty foods, Whole Cake Island did not make many other demands. At the very least, it was far easier than the Heavenly Gold required of World Government member nations.
Although Charlotte Linlin was temperamental and suffered from Craving Syndrome, making her far from a truly wise ruler, she was not the sort of tyrant who would desperately exploit the nations under her control like the Hundred Beast Pirates.
To put it plainly, among the Four Emperors, aside from Kaido, the nations ruled by the other three were generally far more prosperous than World Government member nations.
Dressrosa was one of the World Government's original twenty member nations, yet it still had to pay Heavenly Gold. On top of that, it stood at the entrance to the New World. Even if the other Four Emperor-level forces did not provoke it, the pirates newly entering the New World would never pass up the chance to extort it.
Under such circumstances, Dressrosa naturally had no way to develop. No wonder it had become known as a poor country under King Riku's rule.
"What do we do next?" Talon said blankly after looking around. "This country doesn't seem to have any defenses at all!"
"It's not that there are no defenses." Minos narrowed his eyes, using Clairvoyance to look into the distance as he spoke. "The Doflamingo Pirates have overthrown the Riku Royal Family, and the country is in chaos right now. Almost everyone is at the royal palace, so naturally no one is guarding this place."
Before you continue