The Fourth Direction

Things have developed to this point, and the situation has become increasingly perplexing.

More and more people have become involved.

At first, I thought the one provoking Wapol was just an ordinary arms dealer, purely looking to profit from war.

However, with Dalton's arrival, Lindsey and Crocodile discovered that the so-called "war profiteer" was actually a member of the Donquixote Family!

What is the Donquixote Family?

As of now, the Donquixote Family is a pirate crew active in the North Blue.

Their young master, and the captain of this pirate crew, is the one who will be famously known as the [Heavenly Yaksha] in the future—Donquixote Doflamingo!

Across the entire sea, with countless extraordinary individuals, it is still difficult to find an "anomaly" like Doflamingo.

His family was once part of the Celestial Dragons, but his father voluntarily gave up their Celestial Dragon status, ultimately leading to the destruction of his family.

Doflamingo was enraged, shot his father, and returned to Mary Geoise with his father's head, yet he was still ostracized by the Celestial Dragons.

Finally, surrounded by several executives like Trebol, Doflamingo chose to walk down that dark path and establish the Donquixote Family.

And in the not-too-distant future, Doflamingo will orchestrate the theft of the "Celestial Gold" and, by this opportunity, successfully obtain a legitimate seat among the Shichibukai!

Then comes the coup d'état in Dressrosa.

However, for now, the Donquixote Family has only two main identities—

On one hand, they are pirates chased by Grandma Tsuru, the [Chief Officer];

On the other hand, they are Donquixote Doflamingo's second identity in the underworld, namely [JOKER]!

Doflamingo is an anomaly, and also a schemer.

While managing his pirate crew, he also operates in the underworld under the name [JOKER], developing his influence.

By the time he became one of the Shichibukai, [JOKER] was already considered the "Emperor" of the underworld, holding an extremely high position.

And now, although [JOKER] has not yet ruled the underworld, he is already a renowned arms dealer and war merchant.

The shadow of [JOKER] can be seen in many of the wars in the New World!

It is also worth mentioning that Doflamingo greatly valued Crocodile's strength and had tried to recruit him multiple times, but never received a response.

"[JOKER], that guy..."

Crocodile's expression was grim as he muttered:

"He deliberately exposed his identity to me!"

"He was likely targeting me for a long time, so as soon as I left Alabasta, he immediately made his move."

This made sense.

But what bothered Crocodile was whether Doflamingo knew the whereabouts of the Poneglyph.

Perhaps he had already heard the news.

However, everything Crocodile had done so far was not in vain.

He had worked hard in Alabasta for years, building excellent relationships with Cobra and the royal family, which allowed him to openly utter the words "Poneglyph" in front of them!

Alabasta is, after all, a member nation of the World Government.

If Doflamingo were to come, he would likely be met with a joint encirclement by the World Government and the Navy!

"What is his objective?"

Crocodile paced back and forth in the hospital room.

Too many questions swirled in his mind, leaving him no time to pay attention to those around him.

If that bastard Doflamingo leaked the news of the Poneglyph, then everything he had built up would turn to dust.

Crocodile would never allow anyone to block his path!

"He wants the Poneglyph? But how could that small place like the Drum Kingdom possibly achieve that?"

"Waiting for an opportunity? Possible, but unlikely, too vague..."

"Tsk!"

Crocodile's prolonged thinking yielded no results, and he felt a sense of irritation.

If it were an ordinary war profiteer, he might be able to scare them away with sheer strength.

But if it were that madman [JOKER], the outcome would only be worse!

Report it to the World Government?

That would be even worse!

If the news of the Poneglyph were to leak, even though Alabasta wouldn't suffer a nation-destroying disaster, that Poneglyph would be impossible to keep. It would inevitably fall into the hands of the World Government...

"..."

"Hm?"

Thinking this, Crocodile suddenly froze.

That's right, it's the World Government!

"Doflamingo intends to use the Drum Kingdom's influence to confirm the Poneglyph's information, and then use it to connect with the World Government."

"The Poneglyph is his offering. What he wants is a seat among the Shichibukai!"

Crocodile's pupils constricted as he realized the crux of the matter. He also heard Lindsey next to him clapping repeatedly.

As expected of the [Sand Crocodile] Crocodile.

Doflamingo had indeed coveted a seat among the Shichibukai for a long time. Only by doing so could he gain a legitimate identity and then head to Dressrosa to begin his coup.

To deduce this much without any additional intelligence was enough to show that Crocodile's strategic vision was indeed sharp.

"Hehehehe, very good. Does he really have the guts?"

Crocodile sneered repeatedly, already formulating a counter-plan in his mind.

"..."

But at the same time, Lindsey took a marked map from Dalton.

He glanced at it and asked, "Are you sure?"

Dalton nodded.

So Lindsey combined that map with the one he held and handed them both to Crocodile.

"What is this?"

"The location of the sea where the attack occurred."

Lindsey replied, "One is what the Drum Kingdom believes, and the other is what we believe."

"..."

Crocodile took the two maps and looked at them, discovering a discrepancy.

The locations marked on these two maps were vastly different.

Besides some overlapping areas, both the Drum Kingdom and Alabasta had several unrelated places added!

"What on earth is going on?"

Crocodile was stunned.

Even if the Donquixote Family was stirring up trouble, there shouldn't be discrepancies on both sides!

So the greater probability is...

"There's a third... no, a fourth force?!"

Drum Island, Vergo's room.

As one of the Donquixote Family's top executives, Vergo had quite a few subordinates he could mobilize.

To guard against that mysterious "fourth force," Vergo had long ordered people to secretly investigate the location of the unknown attack.

It was only now that a reply had finally come.

His subordinates had found some wreckage in the sea where the unknown attack occurred.

Although they had been soaked by seawater, the traces on them were still very clear.

Vergo observed the wreckage himself.

It was a palm-sized piece of wood, covered in burn marks, but the edges of the cut were incredibly neat, as if it had been sliced by something sharp.

Slashes and burning?

The attacker was clearly not Crocodile, and Aven Lindsey hadn't exhibited "flame" properties during combat.

"Hmm, as the Young Master ordered, let's try probing Alabasta first."

"..."

Vergo destroyed the wreckage and then went to Wapol, proposing to the foolish king:

"Your Majesty, our deterrence against Alabasta is sufficient. It's time to consider the next step."

Wapol, while munching on wood, asked, "Oh? Speak quickly, what is it?"

"..."

Vergo paused and slowly uttered two words:

"Peace talks."