Donquixote Doflamingo

"So this is your personal business? Ia~ia~~" The greasy, fat middle-aged man resembled a wild boar whose belly could never be filled—not an omnivore, but a carnivore, one who wished he could eat twenty-four hours a day. Tearing into a bloody steak, he curiously studied the sleeping Altair in Bred's arms and teased, "Cute little thing. Did you adopt her? You're quite compassionate."

By ship, airship, and car, changing between several means of transportation, Bred reached Mary Geoise at the fastest possible speed.

Then, naturally, Bred reported to his immediate superior, Minister Honest, the highest-ranking official of Cipher Pol.

"Mm, on my way back, I met with Chairman Netero of the Hunter Association. The Hunter Association's reaction to what I did was faster and more forceful than I expected, s~ I had even less energy to care for Altair, so I could only send her home and ask Aunt Xue Fazi to help..." Bred's delicate brows were tightly furrowed. In the end, unable to suppress his inner impulse, he reminded him unhappily, "Sorry, sir, you're standing too close."

Minister Honest was taken aback, then immediately realized that the oil and meat scraps smeared around his mouth, given his poor table manners, were about to drip onto Altair's tender little face. Laughing, he moved back. "Fine, fine! What did you talk about?"

"He didn't expose my identity as a Cipher Pol agent, but he latched onto my identity as a licensed Hunter and informed me that I must be ready to accept an investigation by the Hunter Association's review committee at any time." Bred sat down on the sofa. "Troublesome. That guy I drove to death—the one researching the Poneglyphs and the Void Century—was also a Hunter. There's suspicion that I violated the Hunter's Ten Articles. Had I known, I would've picked someone else to test."

Minister Honest gulped down several mouthfuls of red wine. "You're confident the Hunter Association won't find any clues?"

"The most perfect murder is making the victim commit suicide. What could they possibly find?" Bred stood. "My report is complete. Bye-bye, sir! I need to arrange a wet nurse for Altair as soon as possible, so she won't wake up hungry and start crying again."

"Wait." Minister Honest leaned over the desk beside the dining table and laboriously searched through it for two sheets of paper. "Sign your name. You'll become a member of Cipher Pol-AIGIS0. Also, this is proof that you may choose any one item from the Holy Land Treasure Vault."

Bred quickly signed his name and took the certificate.

At that moment.

"Crash!"

"Minister Honest!"

"P-P-Pangaea Castle is in trouble! Please, come quickly and take a look..."

Ignoring all etiquette, the newcomer violently slammed open the door, stumbled onto the floor from inertia, and cried out in panicked gasps.

"Calm down, lad." Minister Honest was utterly imposing and unhurried. "Pangaea Castle is guarded by heavy troops. What could possibly happen?"

The man adjusted his ragged breathing. "Donquixote has returned to the Holy Land!"

"Bang!"

Minister Honest dropped onto the floor on his ass, then scrambled up and dragged his bloated body into a frantic run.

"Donquixote?" Bred's eyes shifted. "Returned to the Holy Land... Donquixote Doflamingo?"

Bred saw Doflamingo before Minister Honest did. As Mosquito Girl flew while carrying him, with Altair in his arms, he looked down—

Ten-year-old Doflamingo was short, thin, and weak. His clothes were filthy, he wore a pair of sunglasses, and he carried a bleeding bundle in his hand.

From two or three hundred meters away, Bred could see all that clearly. More than that, he could directly sense Doflamingo's anger—no, not anger, but rage. The rage of a king, even if he currently looked like a beggar.

Bred did not linger. He had no interest in the internal disputes of the Celestial Dragons.

Not long after.

"Aunt Xue Fazi." Bred greeted her with a smile.

Xue Fazi found Bred's sudden appearance utterly unbelievable. Covering her mouth, tears of joy welled in her eyes.

Bred maintained his smile. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"A whole year without a word... bad child... you might as well never have come back!" Xue Fazi complained through choked sobs, though she still reached out to get him a pair of slippers.

Holding Altair up, Bred handed her toward Xue Fazi and joked, "A gift for you."

"Wow~!" Pulling aside a corner of the loose swaddling around Altair, Xue Fazi saw the baby girl restlessly sucking on her lips and immediately broke into a smile through her tears. "Whose child is this? She's so beautiful!"

Raschi and Xue Fazi had been married for many years. Raschi especially spent most of his time away on assassination missions, leaving Xue Fazi alone at home and inevitably lonely. She had grown increasingly eager to have a child for companionship, but unfortunately, they had never had one.

"I found her. She's an orphan," Bred said. "I came back specifically to ask you to take care of her."

Xue Fazi seemed at a loss. She wanted to take Altair, yet feared that she might hurt her, hesitating again and again.

"Altair. That's her name." Knowing how Xue Fazi felt, Bred said, "If you don't know how to care for her yet, you can hire a wet nurse and a nanny to learn from. They can also keep you company and chat with you."

"That's right! Great idea!" Xue Fazi was overjoyed and hurried off to make a phone call.

Bred felt utterly helpless. Once Altair had been settled, he called out, "Aunt Xue Fazi? I'm leaving."

"Huh?" Xue Fazi froze.

Bred spread his hands. "Evil leaders always love exploiting their subordinates! Even if I'm child labor."

After taking his leave of Xue Fazi, Bred walked for a while.

Suddenly, Bred said, "Joanna? Should we go to the Holy Land Treasure Vault first, or visit Tornado first?"

Just as Xue Fazi had complained, Bred had been "without a word for an entire year." Not only had he failed to contact Xue Fazi, his relative, he had also failed to contact Tornado, his friend. When the mission had suddenly begun, he had only had time to leave Tornado a letter; once the mission had stabilized, he still had not contacted her because he had no way to—he had a phone, but Tornado did not. Given Tornado's willfulness, she probably would not care about any of those reasons. So, Bred was a little afraid of seeing Tornado again and having her blow up at him.

Of course, putting it off and choosing not to see Tornado now... would have even worse consequences. That irritable shorty would probably go beyond merely blowing up.

Mosquito Girl considered it carefully. "Go to the Holy Land Treasure Vault first."

"Hm?" Bred asked.

Having been Tornado's roommate and knowing her temper, Mosquito Girl said seriously, "Heh heh~~~ When Bred gets beaten up, he'll have a little more strength to fight back."

"..." Bred fell silent.

"Joanna will protect Bred too!" Mosquito Girl added.

Thus.

The Holy Land Treasure Vault.

True to its name, the Holy Land Treasure Vault stockpiled an immense quantity of treasures. It was the World Government's "candy house" for rewarding personnel from all subordinate organizations—provided they had earned enough merit to deserve any "candy."

Rumor had it that the Holy Land Treasure Vault contained treasures of every kind, most of them items that directly or indirectly granted power: Devil Fruits, Teigu, famed blades and swords, and other special-function tools; written and illustrated materials such as analyses of martial arts, ninjutsu, and Nen abilities; even semi-finished materials like the remains of super-dangerous magical beasts and unknown mysterious flora and fauna. Its vast variety symbolized the deep foundation of the World Government, which had dominated the world for nearly eight hundred years.

Rumors were still only rumors. Bred believed only what he saw before his eyes.

PS1: Please vote with recommendation tickets. This book got pushed off the new releases ranking. (╥﹏╥)

PS: Thanks to readers [I Am the One Who Devours Braised Red Fish] and [That Rain Soaked the First Night] for their 100-point coin tips each. Thank you.