The Shichibukai Roundtable Meeting, Part One

The Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

The place at the very center of the world was home to the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.

Red Port lay directly below Mary Geoise. Bubble lifts carried people up the Red Line from there, and a meeting was about to begin in Mary Geoise.

"Donquixote Doflamingo of the Shichibukai and former Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma have arrived in Mary Geoise," a woman announced.

Doflamingo and Kuma stepped off the lift and made their way into Mary Geoise through Pangaea Castle.

"Heh heh heh. I didn't expect you to come too. Your experiments must be in their final stage," Doflamingo said with a grin.

Kuma said nothing and followed behind him.

"Looks like they've nearly finished modifying you. You wouldn't react like this otherwise. What a shame." Doflamingo laughed.

The Marines had arranged for four vice admirals to wait for them.

"Oh, I really didn't want to see you." As soon as Doflamingo entered, he spotted the white-haired woman sitting to one side.

"Doflamingo," Vice Admiral Tsuru said, giving him a cool glance.

She was the person Doflamingo feared most: the chief strategist of Marine Headquarters and one of the Marines' three pillars. In their younger days, she, Garp, and Sengoku had been close comrades-in-arms.

Kuma sat to one side. They had not planned to summon him this time, but Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai, was at the center of the matter. With a seat now vacant, the Marines might want Kuma to return, so they had called him in as well.

More importantly, the experiments on Kuma had reached their final stage. Only his head remained. Vegapunk needed time to prepare, but once he began working on Kuma's brain, Kuma would become a machine—a weapon.

They seemed to have arrived a little early.