"So, you want to gain power!"
"Do you want to take control of your own destiny?"
"Yes!" Sugar nodded quickly. "I've wanted to beat up a scumbag like Leonard for ages!"
Monet said nothing, but Gray could already tell what she had decided from the look in her eyes.
"Then come with me!"
"I'll show you the wind of fate!"
"Big sister!" Gray's invitation made Sugar eager to go with him, but when she thought of her sister Monet, she could only wait for her to decide.
Monet gently patted Sugar on the head, her thoughts in turmoil. At seventeen, she was already an adult.
As the eldest, she was like a mother to Sugar. Every decision she made would affect their future.
"Should I go with him?"
After asking herself that, Monet already had her answer. "At least things can't get any worse than they are now."
She watched Gray casually and confidently suppress Leonard and his men with a wave of his hand.
He had a confidence she had never known.
Monet couldn't deny what she felt: she was envious.
"All right. We'll go with you!"
"Give us a moment to pack!" With that, Monet took Sugar to the room at the back to gather the things they wanted to bring.
"No problem!"
The sisters went inside to pack their clothes, leaving only Gray's group and Leonard's men at the scene.
"Now it's your turn!"
Leonard knew the moment that would decide their fate had arrived. "Sir, I have money. Lots of money!"
"I'll pay you to spare our lives!"
"Boring!" If Leonard hadn't said that, Gray might have been content to teach him a lesson. But now that he had, Gray thought about how Leonard would recoup his losses from the common people after they left.
Gray wasn't a good person himself, but he had no interest in the common people and even less fondness for those who exploited them.
If someone happened to upset him, he could just crush them on the spot.
That was exactly what Gray did.
"Gravity Crush: Hell Trip!"
He swept a finger downward. The force field spun faster, and even more crushing gravity bore down on Leonard and his men.
They didn't even have time to scream before the immense gravity crushed them to death.
Gray didn't have to wait long before Monet came out with Sugar, carrying packed clothes and their Beli.
"Let's go!"
"Okay!" They had seen what happened to Leonard and his men. For some reason, instead of feeling afraid, Monet and Sugar felt a sense of satisfaction.
As he led the sisters toward the shore, Gray explained their situation. "I'm currently a member of the Donquixote Family."
"You'll be joining us. Don't worry about anything else for now. Just train hard and work on getting stronger."
After a brief explanation, they reached the ship, and Gray left the two sisters in Baby 5's care.
"Baby 5, find them a room. Starting tomorrow, have them work on their physical training. I'm going to discuss something with Doffy."
"Sure! Leave it to me!" Baby 5 promised, thumping her chest. As Gray turned away, she clasped her cheeks in rapture. "Ah! Gray-sama needs me again!"
Knock, knock!
"Come in!"
Gray opened the door to the captain's quarters. Doflamingo stood by the window, holding a glass of red wine and gazing out at the distant sea.
"Fufufu... Gray, it's you!" Doflamingo turned to look at him, then asked curiously, "What is it?"
Gray said, "I wanted to talk to you about something."
"We've clashed with Tsuru several times. I think the Six Powers are impressive. Could you find a way to get your hands on the techniques so we can train in them?"
Doflamingo thought it over. "No problem. I'll find a way."
Doflamingo wasn't about to refuse a family member who wanted to learn and grow stronger.
"Sorry for the trouble!" Gray was glad that he could finally start acquiring the Six Powers techniques. One thing he'd been thinking about was finally taken care of.
"There's one more thing. I just met a pair of sisters on the island who have potential, and I've invited them aboard."
"As for whether they join the Donquixote Family later, I'll leave that to you." Gray was still in no position to overstep, especially when he wanted to get the Snow-Snow and Hobby-Hobby Fruits from the original story for free.
"Fufufu. Since you invited them aboard, I'll have to take a good look at their potential." Gray was a family executive, and this was the first time he had invited anyone aboard.
Doflamingo would naturally take his opinion into consideration. Besides, this would give the family more strength, so there was no reason to refuse.
"All right, I'll head back to training!" Having finished his business and cleared his head, Gray went back to continue the assessment he hadn't finished.
After Gray left, Trebol entered Doflamingo's room.
"Doffy! We've got trouble!"
"What is it, Trebol?"
"Didn't you recently want to break into the auction market on the Sabaody Archipelago?"
"Right! And?"
"The Gild-Gild Fruit the family left there to build up our reputation was stolen during a fire someone started!"
At that, veins bulged on Doflamingo's forehead. "Fufufu... Do we know who took it?"
"Not yet. Whoever took the fruit never showed their face to anyone from the family. The underlings who saw them have all been killed!"
"Fufufu... Looks like this was planned!" Doflamingo had never intended to sell the fruit. He'd only meant to use it to make a name for the auction house. During the auction, he would have one of his underlings secretly buy it.
That way, the fruit would pass from one hand to the other, giving the auction house a reputation without letting a powerful Devil Fruit fall into the enemy's hands.
Everything had been going so well!
Then, right before the auction, this happened. The original plan had gone up in smoke, and they didn't even know who had taken the powerful Gild-Gild Fruit.
"Losing both the wife and the betrothal gift" didn't even begin to describe it!
This year had been the worst one yet for the Donquixote Family.
The Op-Op Fruit and Luo were gone, and Doflamingo had killed his own younger brother, Corazon. Then he'd fought Tsuru, and Kizaru was still pursuing him.
He'd thought, You chase us all you want, and the Donquixote Family will quietly develop. We'll stay out of each other's way.
But the auction house on the Sabaody Archipelago had been a vital part of their expansion. It had barely opened before suffering a major blow. They'd lost both the Devil Fruit and the auction house.
The more Doflamingo thought about it, the angrier he got. "We can't complain about a Marine Admiral pursuing us. But some nobody dares to steal a Devil Fruit from the Donquixote Family? They must have no idea how to spell 'death'!"
"Trebol, keep an eye on the powerful names making waves across the seas. The strength of the Gild-Gild Fruit will make its new owner unwilling to stay out of the spotlight."
"Let me know when you find out who it is. No one can steal from us and get away with it."
"Got it, Doffy!" Trebol, his nose running, lumbered out in his blanket-like coat to tell the family's underlings to focus their intelligence gathering on the powerful newcomers making a name for themselves.
Before you continue