De Island Mission Arc (1)

Inside the royal palace on the King's Plateau in Dressrosa.

King Riku, the current ruler of Dressrosa, was deeply troubled. One day ago, the island had been attacked by the notorious "Ghost Mask Pirates" from the New World. Although they had repelled the assault of the pirates' officers under the leadership of his son-in-law, Kyros, that officer had threatened to return with their main force the following night.

The kingdom's long-standing military weakness meant they were utterly incapable of resisting another attack from the Ghost Mask Pirates. One had to realize that the captain of the Ghost Mask Pirates, Yiwen, was a great pirate of the New World with a bounty of 200 million berries! Merely repelling the vanguard led by his high-ranking officer had exhausted the kingdom's elite forces.

Just as he was at his wit's end, the newly risen great pirate and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, "Heavenly Yaksha" Doflamingo, approached him, offering to protect the kingdom in exchange for a payment of 10 billion berries.

For the royal family of Dressrosa, 10 billion berries was an unbearable price. Yet, if they could not produce this sum, the island would be consumed by the flames of war. Given the Ghost Mask Pirates' history of brutality, the consequences were too dire to contemplate. King Riku sighed deeply and summoned his second daughter, Viola.

The nineteen-year-old Viola was a user of the Paramecia-type Glare-Glare Fruit, capable of seeing through objects and reading people's hearts; even her tears could be used as weapons. She had always been deeply trusted by the King.

Looking at his graceful second daughter, King Riku offered a kind smile before instructing her sternly, "Viola, Captain Taigu will escort you to the nearest Marine G5 branch. You are to represent the Riku royal family and plead for the Marines' assistance. Ask them to dispatch troops to drive back the Ghost Mask Pirates as quickly as possible. If the kingdom falls before reinforcements arrive, do not return—run as far away as you can!"

Viola replied excitedly, "Father, didn't the Warlord Heavenly Yaksha promise to help our royal family? The Warlords are affiliated with the World Government! With his strength, he should be able to hold off the Ghost Mask Pirates."

At this time, Viola was still a naive princess, not the exiled royal who would later spend years surviving within the Donquixote Family while bearing the weight of her nation's ruin and her family's vendetta. Her heart was still innocent.

"Viola! Do not forget that the Warlords are still pirates, and the Donquixote Family were the royals of Dressrosa 800 years ago. They likely harbor ill intentions! This is no time for you to be willful!"

After King Riku finished speaking, he had a maid take Viola away. Of course, he did not know that the green-haired maid at his side had quietly dialed a Den Den Mushi after stepping out.

"Purupurupuru~" Once connected, the Den Den Mushi took on the appearance of a figure wearing flamboyant sunglasses and a pink feather coat.

"Monet, any news from the palace?"

"Young Master, King Riku has secretly sent his second daughter, Viola, to the G5 base to seek help from the Marines!"

This maid, who had been undercover in the palace, was none other than the Donquixote Family officer and Logia-type Snow-Snow Fruit user—Monet!

"Fufufufufufu, the G5 base, is it? This old fool is truly walking right into a trap~" A haughty laugh echoed from the Den Den Mushi. "Let him go. I will let him fill himself with hope before plunging him into despair! Keep a close watch on him; he should be preparing to raise the money now."

"Understood, Young Master!"

On the other side, the reincarnators in Dressrosa also began their move.

Orochimaru and Hoshigaki Kisame acted together, disguised as a fat and a thin gambler, and swaggered into a Donquixote Family casino.

In the casino office, the Donquixote Family officer in charge of security, Buffalo, was sleeping until he was woken up by his subordinates.

"What? Someone dares to cause trouble on our turf?" Buffalo, still grumpy from being woken up, prepared to go and capture the troublemakers to teach them a lesson.

"Bang!" The office door was kicked open from the outside.

"No need to trouble yourself, we've come to you."

Following the arrogant voice, Orochimaru and Hoshigaki Kisame, disguised via transformation jutsu, entered the office without invitation.

Buffalo sneered, "You're really courting death, daring to cause trouble on Donquixote Family territory."

The leader, Orochimaru, flicked his long, thin tongue across his lips. "What a coincidence, the Donquixote Family is exactly who we were looking for." He then signaled to Kisame, and both struck simultaneously.

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique." Orochimaru's genjutsu and Kisame's kunai attack descended upon Buffalo at the same time.

Although Buffalo was a Paramecia-type Spin-Spin Fruit user, his Haki was lackluster, and his strength ranked near the bottom of the Donquixote Family officers—roughly at a mid-tier second-stage level. Caught between the third-stage Orochimaru and the quasi-third-stage Kisame, he was unsurprisingly taken out in a single exchange and knocked unconscious on the spot.

Orochimaru transformed into Buffalo's likeness and said, "He is yours. I trust the techniques of the Kirigakure Anbu."

"To have the trust of Lord Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, is a great honor for our Kirigakure," Hoshigaki Kisame replied with a smirk, dragging Buffalo into the shadows.

A few hours later, in a conference room inside the casino.

The group, having split into two, reunited to discuss their plan.

"The leader of the Donquixote Family is Donquixote Doflamingo. He is the strongest combatant in the family, and he commands four major armies..."

Hoshigaki Kisame explained in detail the intelligence gathered from Buffalo, while the other team, led by Pakura, shared the information they had obtained from infiltrating the palace.

After the intelligence exchange, Orochimaru said with a hint of disdain, "It seems the Donquixote Family intends to use an external enemy to force the King into submission. Regardless of whether King Riku can produce the 10 billion berries, Doflamingo will not let him live. He only needs a legitimate excuse to take over the kingdom."

Although Orochimaru did not like politics, it was not that he did not understand them; he simply held them in contempt.

"King Riku will hold a public speech tonight, supposedly to raise funds from the populace. If Doflamingo intends to act, this is the perfect opportunity," Raikage A said in a deep voice.

"However, we must be aware that this world possesses magical Devil Fruits. Those who consume them gain special abilities, and the extent to which they amplify the combat power of an ordinary person is currently unclear."

Hoshigaki Kisame added, "The Buffalo we captured is a Paramecia-type Spin-Spin Fruit user. His special ability is to turn any part of his body into a propeller, granting him flight. His strength is estimated to be between a Jonin and an Elite Jonin. According to his intel, Doflamingo possesses the Paramecia-type String-String Fruit, which allows him to manifest strings from his body and freely manipulate them to attack or control enemies."

Hearing this, Raikage A could not help but feel a bit dismissive. "Sounds like a useless ability. If things go smoothly tonight, let's just kill the Donquixote Family members, and we should be able to leave this godforsaken place."

"Devil Fruits are truly interesting," Orochimaru noted, a look of intrigue in his eyes.

The group deliberated for a while before dispersing to rest and prepare for the night ahead.

That night, a large crowd gathered in the central plaza of Dressrosa.

King Riku was delivering an emotional speech. "My people, our kingdom has been attacked by the Ghost Mask Pirates. Although our brave soldiers repelled them, it did not force them to retreat; the pirates have threatened to return with their entire fleet tomorrow night to conquer us. Fortunately, Lord Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea under the World Government, has offered to lend us his aid."

Standing nearby, surrounded by his family officers, Doflamingo gave the King a wicked, charming smile.

"But there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. We need to pay a reward of 10 billion berries. Even after emptying the entire national treasury, we are still far from that figure. Here, I, your incompetent king, implore you all to lend your wealth to the royal family. Once we have weathered this crisis together, the royal family will return every cent with interest," King Riku said, bowing deeply to his people.

"Your Majesty, we stand with the royal family!"

"I am willing to lend my money to the crown!"

"Count me in!"

Thanks to the Riku royal family's long history of diligent and benevolent rule, they held a certain degree of public support, and the citizens now opened their purses generously. Seeing the many people who supported him, King Riku shed tears of gratitude.

"Thank you, thank you all!"

The citizens lined up to place their money into the collection boxes prepared beforehand. Watching the coins pile up in the boxes, King Riku and the palace staff were deeply moved.

Doflamingo sneered from the sidelines and said to the family executives beside him, "Tell Yiwen he can begin."

Just as King Riku was busy thanking the crowd, he suddenly found his body beyond his control, as if being manipulated by someone else. He snatched a sword from a nearby guard and thrust it straight through a female civilian who had been donating money.

"Good heavens! King Riku!"

"Your Majesty!"

The surrounding crowd was stunned by this sudden turn of events, and the scene fell into an eerie silence. Yet, King Riku's face was streaming with tears, his expression twisted in agony as he tried to speak but could not utter a single word, forced to watch helplessly as his own body, under the control of another, slaughtered his own subjects!

"King Riku has gone mad!"

"You devil!"

"The King tricked us out of our money and is now trying to silence us!"

Chaos erupted among the crowd.

Doflamingo watched his script unfold with satisfaction. Just as he prepared to step forward to "stop King Riku" and become the hero who saved the nation, a familiar figure appeared at the King's side a step ahead of him.

The man wore a pink feather coat and heart-shaped sunglasses, his short blonde hair styled sharply as he strode forward with an arrogant gait and kicked King Riku flying with a single blow.

"Fufufufufu, despair, you ants! This was all my doing, Doflamingo! I will be the king of this country! The 10 billion berry reward, the repelling of the pirates—it was all my lie!"

"Doflamingo" spread his arms wide and laughed wantonly.

The surrounding citizens were stunned by this revelation, unable to believe that the Shichibukai who had been the embodiment of a savior a moment ago had now transformed into a demon! Once they realized what was happening, they screamed and scrambled to flee in every direction.

[Main Mission 1 "Snipe the Heavenly Yaksha" complete! Main Mission 2 "Survive" initiated. Mission objective: Escape the pursuit of the Donquixote Family!

Mission Reward: 2000 points

Mission Failure Penalty: None]