570 The Deal

"What exactly is going on?" With the battle against the Beasts Pirates imminent, Sengoku wanted to develop peacefully on the Grand Line for a while longer.

I never expected something like this to happen in the New World.

An accident occurred in Pond Hasaak, causing a leak of some kind of toxic gas that spread throughout the island, leaving few survivors.

Of the three thousand navy personnel who remained, only one in ten survived, dying so easily from the poison gas. Even their bodies were corroded by the gas, some becoming unrecognizable.

This pained Sengoku. It would have been better if he had died in the war, but this senseless sacrifice was hard for him to accept.

Three thousand naval warriors, the elite among them, represent a formidable force for the modern navy.

All the prisoners used in the experiment died.

Sengoku knew about Pond Hasaak, but he didn't know what they were researching. The sacrifice of hundreds of valuable researchers angered the Navy and the World Government.

"Akainu Admiral has dispatched an investigation team to Pond Hasaak Island. After a thorough search, we discovered that the cause of the accident was a poison gas leak, originating from a special weapon belonging to Caesar, the scientist in charge of the research base."

"However, based on our speculation, this is likely not an accident."

"Twelve researchers, including scientist Caesar, have gone missing, and all Surveillance Den Den Mushi and monitoring equipment were shut down at the time of the incident. In addition, a large portion of the research data stored within the base was lost. This could be a premeditated escape, deliberately causing this incident."

The intelligence personnel on one side relayed the information coming from the New World.

"Another troublesome matter." Sengoku didn't know why this was happening, but it was likely related to the World Government's decision to abandon the Pond Hasaak research base.

A considerable amount of items were taken away, and it would have been impossible for twelve scientists to carry them all away on their own. Once they appeared in the waters surrounding Pond Hasaak, they would certainly attract attention, and the navy would quickly receive the news.

However, there is currently no information available, which suggests that there must be a force outside assisting Caesar, and they must have been in contact long ago.

Based on this speculation, analyzing Caesar's recent actions and behavior does indeed reveal some strange aspects.

Sengoku quickly guessed the answer to about 80-90% of the problem, but what he was wondering was, which force was behind it?

The Night Pirates? That was the first thing that popped into Sengoku's mind. But then he quickly realized that the Night Pirates were unlikely. He reasoned that if it were the Night Pirates, they wouldn't be so greedy; they would definitely take all the researchers in the research base, along with all the valuable experimental equipment.

Taking away only twelve people and some documents seems rather stingy.

The Beasts Pirates? Doflamingo? Various possible faction names flashed through Sengoku's mind.

All of these are possibilities, and it is precisely because they are all possibilities that they are difficult to guess and require more evidence.

In Sengoku's view, Doflamingo is still a strong possibility, since Dressrosa is not far from here.

These days, due to the chaos in the Underworld and the division of profits, Doflamingo should be quite busy, so Sengoku couldn't be sure.

If it really is Doflamingo, then the Navy has a strong need to take action. Although Doflamingo's identity is special and he poses a great threat, his status Shichibukai cannot provide Doflamingo with much protection.

In the current state of the seas, the Shichibukai have not been able to exert their full power to balance the seas.

Moreover, the Shichibukai are not yet all present, and their thoughts are divided.

Currently, there are only four members of the Shichibukai: "Tyrant" Kuma, "Heavenly Yaksha" Doflamingo, "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk, and "Sand Crocodile"Crocodile.

Despite its powerful deterrent effect, it failed to play its due role, essentially taking advantage of the chaos during the Battle of Mary Geoise and not demonstrating much influence.

Crocodile has his own plans. Doflamingo's power is immense, located in the New World, and with his special status and the support of the Night Pirates, he is not afraid of the Navy at all and does whatever he wants.

Hawk Eyes Mihawk roams the New World, ignoring orders from the Navy and the World Government, challenging and defeating powerful swordsmen, especially those ranked higher than him in kendo tournaments.

He prepares to further hone his sword before challenging the World's Number One Swordsman, Kiyotsune Kuniichi.

Compared to the pursuit of swordsmanship, the orders from the Navy and the World Government are insignificant; even having a bounty on one's head is just a bit of a hassle.

The further rise of "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk has attracted much attention. He was too young in the kendo tournament and had not yet reached his peak, so his ranking was somewhat low, which was a great pity for many people.

If Mihawk were to challenge Kiyotsune Kuniichi Tsuyoshi, the "World's Number One Swordsman," it would undoubtedly be a major event that captures global attention.

Since Kiyotsune Kuniichi became the "World's Number One Swordsman" and obtained the supreme greatsword "Twilight," his strength has undoubtedly improved further. After all, a good sword has a spirit.

It is quite common for a Swordmaster to gain a significant boost in strength by acquiring a Famous Sword.

Over the years, several powerful swordsmen have challenged Kiyotsune Kuniichi, but all of them have been defeated, and no one has been able to shake Kiyotsune Kuniichi's position.

The most likely candidates now are "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk, who has shown amazing swordsmanship talent, and Red-Haired Shanks, the New World overlord who is hailed as having received the true teachings of "Pluton" Rayleigh.

It wasn't just within the Navy that there was resistance to the Seven Warlords of the Sea system; even the World Government, which proposed the system, was somewhat dissatisfied with them.

However, abolishing the Shichibukai is extremely difficult, as it would mean giving the Navy and the World Government four more powerful enemies. They do not want to do so until they possess the power to replace the Shichibukai.

Because these Shichibukai are truly powerful, each of them has the strength to become the ruler of the sea, even if they are slightly less powerful, they are not by much.

Currently, under Vegapunk's leadership, the Naval Science Department has begun research and development on powerful humanoid weapons called "Pacifista."

If successful and mass production begins, the pressure on the Navy and the World Government will certainly be much less, and the deterrent effect will be greatly increased.

"Send a copy of this intelligence to the World Government. Also, put a bounty on Caesar facing the sea, with a reward of 200 million Beli. The other researchers will be considered accomplices, with a bounty of 30 million Beli."

The World Government also dispatched intelligence personnel to investigate, and their conclusions may differ somewhat from those of the Navy, allowing them to complement each other.

Given such a grave mistake, offering a reward is absolutely necessary.

Even with the bounty offered, Sengoku knew it wouldn't be very effective. As a scientist, he would definitely be hidden away and protected, and they could only wait for him to expose himself later.

On the other side, Doflamingo first entertained Caesar, then took him to the research base he had set up for him, located in Green Bit, an isolated island north of Dressrosa.

Connected to the main island by only a steel suspension bridge, the local residents used to be able to cross the bridge safely. However, two hundred years ago, schools of ferocious fighting fish began to appear around the waters around the suspension bridge. These fish could easily capsize passing boats, making it impossible for boats to pass. Even on the suspension bridge, boats could be attacked by the fighting fish.

Greenland is now an uninhabited island, undisturbed, which is perfect for Caesar to do his research.

Of course, the research base established by Doflamingo is nowhere near the scale of the research base established by the World Government, but it is enough for Caesar's use.

Various advanced equipment were transported here through connections in the Underworld.

Caesar was very satisfied with the research base, and it could be further expanded and renovated as needed.

They had discussed some things beforehand, Doflamingo had already prepared them so that they could begin studying them as soon as Caesar arrived.

Under Doflamingo's leadership, after many years of development, the Dressrosa Kingdom has become very prosperous, and the people live a wealthy life, a stark contrast to the past.

Regardless of how Doflamingo acts in public, Doflamingo is undoubtedly a very competent king to the kingdom, having transformed the entire kingdom in a short period of time.

With the former King Riku King and the kingdom's strongest warrior Kyros already dead, no one could stop Doflamingo. Furthermore, his ascension to the throne was entirely legitimate, and he accepted Queen Violet's abdication when the Riku King's prestige had plummeted.

Princess Scarlet has gone into seclusion and lived as a commoner. Violet, as an important subordinate of Doflamingo, is highly valued by Doflamingo for her ability of the Glint-Glint Fruit.

Working under Doflamingo, I naturally witnessed many dark things, but so what? As long as it doesn't harm Dressrosa, that's fine. Doflamingo is a pirate after all.

Dressrosa is doing well now, but if something happens to Doflamingo, Dressrosa won't be much better off. This is something Violet doesn't want to see, and he can only follow Doflamingo down a dark path.

Moreover, after some physical contact, coupled with Doflamingo's unique charm, Violet had already transformed into Doflamingo's shape.

Despite its formidable power, Dressrosa was also transformed into an impenetrable fortress by Doflamingo. The overpowered abilities of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit turned the members of various forces that invaded Dressrosa into toys, causing their existence to be forgotten by the world.

At the same time, the appearance of toys will not be questioned by anyone. This is the power of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, which can alter the consciousness of others. Dressrosa is now known as the "Land of Love, Passion, and Toys".

It took some time to make two copies of the data Caesar brought back. Both copies contained research data on Artificial Devil Fruit. One copy was less comprehensive and was the data that Doflamingo wanted to trade with the Beasts Pirates.

The other, larger document contained other technologies from the research base, research data on the World Government's gigantification experiments, and failed attempts at Artificial Devil Fruit. This was what Doflamingo intended to give to the Night Pirates.

Most of the research data and technology were rather useless to Doflamingo; he didn't value them and couldn't use them himself, so he figured he might as well do a favor and give them to the Night Pirates.

Aside from a few essential techniques, Doflamingo also found them very useful, and besides, the Night Pirates might not even be interested in them.

The Night Pirates already possessed formidable technological capabilities, and now they have further absorbed technology from the technologically advanced Germa Kingdom.

It wasn't that Doflamingo was being sycophantic; rather, the difference in strength between the two sides was simply too great. The Night Pirates possessed the power to easily take everything from him.

There was no affection between them, only a transaction of interests. Only by continuously demonstrating benefits could he firmly stand on the side of the Night Pirates.

"Is that the Joker? What's up?"

"Research data on the World Government's Artificial Devil Fruit? How do you have such a thing?"

The Beasts Pirates were quite surprised when they received the message from Doflamingo.

Artificial Devil Fruit —this is a technology their pirate crew is currently secretly researching. They never expected someone would send them something like this, which could greatly accelerate their research progress.

In addition, their internal information was leaked, indicating that they had intelligence agents on their side who knew about the other side's research into Artificial Devil Fruit.

"Baboon, baboon, this kind of thing isn't important, is it? As long as you know that what I have is genuine." He didn't want to answer the Beasts Pirates' questions; he knew that the Beasts Pirates couldn't refuse this deal.

"Why are you looking for us? I remember you're quite close to the Night Pirates, aren't you?" Jin's voice came from behind. Although this information was very helpful to them, Doflamingo's sudden visits made them suspect that he was plotting against them.

"Don't worry, the Night Pirates also have a copy of this information. This is just a transaction."

"Speak, what do you want?" Doflamingo's words lowered their guard. They exchanged a glance with Krell and then spoke.

"Baboon, we've collaborated several times already. This data represents years of research by the World Government and should shorten your timeline by several years. I don't need much; just three billion Beli."

Thirty billion Beli, shortening research time by several years, is indeed not expensive. Although it sounds like a lot, the Beasts Pirates can easily afford it now.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Let's trade a portion first, one billion Beli. We need to verify the authenticity of the information. If you dare to lie to us, you know the consequences." He threatened, still somewhat distrustful of Doflamingo; this level of vigilance was necessary.

The governor is not currently at headquarters and we don't know where he is training. We'll have them notify him when the navy goes to war again.

The Navy's preparations for war were naturally not kept secret from the Beasts Pirates; just as the Navy was preparing for war, so were the Beasts Pirates.

Since Kaido is not here, they will make the decisions on the major matters.

"No problem, prepare the funds, we'll proceed with the transaction of some materials first." With real weapons in hand, Doflamingo had nothing to worry about.

"Notify Mr. Queen to check the authenticity and purpose of the documents once they arrive," Krell said to Jin after the Den Den Mushi ended.

Only Queen could understand these materials.