Ten Years

"Is this the Royal Palace?"

Zoro pushed open the wall door and curiously looked around before turning to his companions behind him and calling out, "Nobody's here, everyone come out."

As he spoke, Zoro walked a little further forward, intending to observe the situation in the distance once more.

Upon hearing this, the others quickly rushed out from the back exit and came to Zoro's side.

"Let's go," Luffy said.

"Please wait a moment," Violet called out quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"Could you please close this for me?"

Violet pointed to the exit behind her. This was a very important secret of the Riku Family, and they didn't want the Donquixote Family to see it, so it was better to close it for now.

Without asking why, Luffy nodded and helped the other person carry the incredibly heavy Great Gate back inside.

Violet breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, the other person was strong enough.

"Is it okay now?"

"Can."

"Let's go then."

Luffy smiled, then quickly caught up with Xi Yan and the others who had arrived ahead.

Then, Luffy noticed the enormous Great Gate in front of him.

"Is that the entrance to the Royal Palace?"

"Shh..."

Violet first gestured for Luffy to lower his voice, then explained, "We're still on the lower level of the Royal Palace, which is the entrance to the Outer Wall Tower."

"Lower level?"

"Um."

Violet nodded and said, "If we want to get to the top floor to find Doflamingo, we need to keep going up."

"Your house is really big."

Hearing Luffy's wistful voice, Violet said somewhat helplessly, "After all, it's the Royal Palace."

Although the Riku Family has always lived a relatively poor life, they are still Royal Family, so their residence is naturally very large.

"Let's go in!"

Luffy rolled up his sleeves, looking ready to fight, which startled Violet.

What are you going to do?

"Of course we'll fight our way in," Luffy said matter-of-factly.

"No need."

Violet quickly added, "The Outer Wall Tower also has secret entrances; you can enter the Royal Palace from there."

"Let's go, but be careful not to get spotted by the security guards, otherwise they'll report the situation to the higher-ups, and then we won't be able to move."

"Especially if a man named Pica finds you, you can forget about going to Doflamingo's place."

With that, Violet beckoned to the group, then turned and walked towards the back, intending to lead them through the secret passage into the Royal Palace.

Seeing this, Xi Yan and his two companions followed. Since they could sneak in secretly, there was no need to attack directly.

Just then, Xi Yan realized something was wrong. Where was Luffy?

"Um?"

Turning his head to look at Xi Yan behind him, several question marks immediately popped into his head: Where did this kid go again?

"What's wrong?"

Luffy is missing.

Xi Yan stopped speaking abruptly, then turned sharply back to look in the direction of the Great Gate they had just passed, and continued, "Could it be that guy...?"

"He's there!"

Perona, who was floating in mid-air, quickly pointed towards the Great Gate and said, "That guy rushed over!"

"Rubber..."

"Hey, someone's running this way!"

The henchmen at the door were immediately taken aback when they saw the man charging towards them.

Who is this guy?

Enemy?

But how did the enemy manage to reach the Outer Wall Tower of the Royal Palace?

"Wait, this guy is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Straw Hat!!"

Seeing the man's arm rapidly growing larger, the henchman looked horrified and asked, "Why is he here?"

"What?! Report this to... immediately!"

"Giant Pistol!!!"

"Boom!!"

Without giving them a chance to report, Luffy slammed a powerful punch into them, smashing the Great Gate behind them to pieces in the process!

"Huh?"

"Eh!!!"

The group of people who witnessed Luffy's masterpiece were all dumbfounded.

What are you doing?!

Hehe~

Luffy dusted off his hands, then turned to the group with a bright smile and said, "It's activated!"

"Start my foot!"

Zoro roared, opening his shark-like mouth, "Doesn't this expose us directly?!"

I had originally planned to sneak in secretly so I could directly engage the enemy's high-level combatants.

Now look what's happened; they've been exposed before they even saw anyone.

"How could this happen...?"

Violet covered her mouth, never expecting Luffy to actually blast the Royal Palace Great Gate open.

This is different from her original plan.

"Are you an idiot!" Vika yelled back.

"Why."

Xi Yan sighed and said, "It seems unlikely that Luffy will behave himself."

That's true. Given Luffy's personality, it's a miracle he's managed to hold out this long.

"Alright, since we've already started fighting, there's nothing more to say." Violet himself and said, "Let's go, let's go in from here, it'll be faster that way."

There's nothing more to say now, just go in.

"Wouldn't it have been better to do this earlier?"

Luffy grinned, then quickly followed Violet and ran deeper into the Great Gate.

"Hateful..."

The henchman in the monitoring room, looking grim, said to the monitor, "Why is Straw Hat here?"

No, he needs to inform the officials about the situation here immediately.

With that in mind, he quickly dialed the public reporting channel and simultaneously sounded the alarm.

"Drop!"

"Drop!"

"Drop!"

"Report! The main gate of the Outer Wall Tower has been breached! The intruder is Luffy, the Straw Hat Luffy!"

"Ah?"

Doflamingo, who was watching Sabo's match, suddenly had several question marks popping up above his head. Who was this kid talking about?

Straw Hat?

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Doflamingo frowned.

Wasn't the Straw Hat at his Bullfighting Arena? How could he possibly be at the Outer Wall Tower?

Is that guy who reported the situation out of his mind?

"Is there really an intruder?" Baby 5 asked, picking up the Den Den Mushi. "Or is it in the Outer Wall Tower...?"

It's important to know that it's impossible to get to the Outer Wall Tower without permission, since there are guards at the elevator.

"It's true," the henchman quickly said, "The Straw Hat smashed the door."

"You must have seen wrong."

baby5 glanced at the live stream of the Bullfighting Arena and said, "Straw Hat is currently competing in the Bullfighting Arena as Lucy."

"But the man who came to the main gate used the power of the Gum-Gum Fruit!"

"Varied...?!"

Baby 5's pupils contracted sharply. The power of the Gum-Gum Fruit?

So, the guy who came to the main gate really was Straw Hat himself.

So here's the question... who is this guy participating in the competition?

Doflamingo clearly realized this too; he'd been tricked!

Thinking of this, veins bulged on his face.

"This is the B-2 Outer Wall Tower's main dining hall." Another man's voice rang out on the public channel, anxiously saying, "There's no mistake, the intruder is Straw Hat Luffy!"

"He was accompanied by three other Straw Hat Crew: Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro, the Sunglasses Man, and... Lady Violet?"

By the end, a look of obvious confusion appeared on the man's face. Why would a member of their family be with that other person?

Clearly, this guy who was staying near the kitchen was unaware that Violet had betrayed him.

"Asshole!"

Doflamingo roared, "If the intruder is Straw Hat, then who is this guy participating in the competition?!"

This feeling of being out of control filled him with immense anger.

"It seems your plan isn't perfect," King Riku said calmly.

"Shut up!"

Doflamingo glared angrily at King Riku. Was this guy really not afraid that he would kill him right now?

Unfortunately, this reaction did not frighten King Riku at all, since he had already disregarded his own life and death.

Seeing this, Doflamingo didn't bother with the guy anymore; after all, in his eyes, the guy was already a dead man.

Then, he picked up the Den Den Mushi and contacted Pica.

"Although I don't know exactly what happened, but..." Doflamingo said coldly, "I don't want them to appear before me."

"Pica, take care of them."

"Okay, Doflamingo."

Pica knew this wasn't the time to waste, so he quickly activated his Devil Fruit ability and infiltrated the rocks below, intending to use his power to eliminate all these Highland fools.

"I don't know how you did it, but you must die!"

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way, all of you!"

Luffy roared and unleashed the power of his Gum-Gum Fruit, sending all the enemies blocking his Luffy flying.

"Bump!"

"Bump!"

"Bump!"

"Quick, kill them!"

The men who rushed up again raised their Flintlock and launched an attack.

Seeing this, Zoro rushed forward without hesitation, drew the two swords from his waist, and slashed at them.

"Puff!"

With a single shot, the incoming bullets were shredded into pieces.

"Varied...?!"

Upon realizing Zoro's terrifying power, the henchmen were immediately filled with horror. Was this really the Straw Hat Crew's swordsman?

That's terrifying!

Then, before they could do anything else, Zoro rushed over and knocked them to the ground.

"You despicable invaders, die!"

Several men ran out from another corridor, raised their cannons, and launched an attack.

"Bump!"

As the shell drew ever closer, Xi Yan snorted and used an Instant Body Technique to grab it, then threw it in with a vengeance.

"Here you go~"

"Boom!!"

"Ah!"

The horrific explosion engulfed the group behind them, wiping them all out.

'What a terrifying bunch,' Violet thought, swallowing hard. 'But the stronger they are, the better for me!'

After all... that means they can take down Doflamingo!

Thinking of this, Violet's lips unconsciously began to curl upwards.

"Now that I'm here, I should be leaving," Vika said.

"Leave?"

Back with the others, Xi Yan looked at Vika with a puzzled expression and said, "Weren't you here to fight Doflamingo with us?"

What does it mean to leave?

"I was originally going to participate in SOP Operation, but I came with you guys because I was worried this guy would get lost."

"Who would get lost!" Zoro protested.

Unfortunately, their protests were pointless, since the guy was indeed terrible with directions.

"I don't know what this SOP Operation you're talking about is, but since you're going, go for it," Luffy said. "Leave this to us."

Luffy clearly didn't understand what Vika meant by SOP Operation), but he did understand that she was going to fight elsewhere, so he chose to respect her decision.

"Profound!"

"Then be careful."

After saying that, Vika jumped off Zoro and ran away as fast as she could.

This wasn't her first time here, so she knew exactly how to get to the Toy House.

Zoro frowned as he watched the other person leave, asking, "Is it really okay for this guy to go alone?"

"Don't underestimate Vika," Perona said. "Don't forget how strong they are."

"Besides... she knows this place better than we do."

Even if the other party could see Vika, they wouldn't be able to defeat the little one, so Perona wasn't worried about Vika's safety at all.

As for getting lost?

This kind of thing only happens to Zoro.

Seeing that Perona had already said that, Zoro didn't say anything more.

Just like Perona said, Vika knew this place better than they did.

"Let's go, let's not waste any more time here," Xi Yan said. "I reckon the enemy's officers are already on their way."

They've caused such a commotion here, Doflamingo must already know, so it's perfectly normal for him to send his officers to intercept them.

'I wonder how Doflamingo will feel after he finds out we tricked him,' Xi Yan muttered to himself. 'He'll probably be furious.'

Thinking of this, Xi Yan couldn't help but laugh.

It has to be said, Sabo's move was really something.

"Where do we go now?" Luffy asked.

"Go to the left."

Violet pointed to the area on the left and said, "This is the fastest way to get to our destination."

At that moment, a glimmer of hope ignited in Violet's heart.

If she can successfully deliver these people to Doflamingo, she can defeat Doflamingo!

In this way... Dressrosa will regain its light!

Thinking of this, Violet's arms trembled with excitement.

She had been looking forward to this day for ten years!

"There's no one guarding this place." Reaching the corner, Luffy surveyed the area and said, "Looks like we can charge right through."

"Wait for me, Mingo!"