Shakky's Bar, Dark King Rayleigh

Hearing the sound from outside,

Shakky felt utterly speechless.

He usually came back so late.

Yet today, of all days, he came back this early. Was he doing it on purpose?!

Thinking that, Shakky stopped pretending.

She pointed directly at the white-haired old man who had just entered the bar and said, "He's Dark King Rayleigh. Go talk to him!"

With that, Shakky casually took out a ladies' cigarette and lit it. Wisps of smoke slowly rose into the air.

Roya turned around and looked at Rayleigh.

He had long, curly hair and a beard on his chin, both silver-white. He wore glasses, and a vertical scar ran over his right eye.

He looked fierce, yet he did not seem gloomy in the slightest. Instead, he gave off something of a sunny impression.

Rayleigh looked at Roya, who wore a cloak of justice, and casually set the tools in his hand on the bar counter.

Rayleigh looked at Roya and smiled. "Admiral White Dove of the Marines, what does an old man like me owe you? Don't tell me you're here to arrest me?"

"If I were here to arrest you, I wouldn't have come alone today. Besides me, no one else even knows that Dark King Rayleigh is working as a coating mechanic in the Sabaody Archipelago."

"You didn't come all this way just to chat with me, did you?"

Curiosity flashed through Rayleigh and Shakky's eyes.

They were well aware of Admiral White Dove's reputation.

Naturally, they knew that Admiral White Dove was one of the Marines' top combat forces.

But in terms of fame, he even eclipsed the other two admirals.

"Of course not. To make a long story short, I want to hire you to coat my ship, and I need it done within a day!"

Hearing Roya's words, Dark King Rayleigh instinctively said, "That's all?!"

"What else did you think I came here for?!"

A smile played on Roya's lips as he spoke to Dark King Rayleigh.

Dark King Rayleigh stared into Roya's eyes, constantly pondering Roya's true purpose.

But no matter how he considered it, he found no answer.

So Rayleigh said, "Aren't you afraid I'll tamper with the coating and send you to your death at sea? You should know we're on opposing sides."

"If you were the kind of man to do that, you wouldn't be called Dark King Rayleigh!"

As soon as those words fell, an exceptionally sharp gleam filled Rayleigh's eyes.

The two of them immediately burst into laughter.

Rayleigh promptly said to Shakky, "Shakky, get White Dove a drink too. It's on me!"

"You already owe me no less than ten thousand Beli. What are you going to use to pay for the drinks?!"

"Isn't Admiral White Dove right here? Besides, getting a ship coated within a day is very expensive."

"It's fine. The Fleet Admiral will reimburse all of it."

As he spoke, Roya sat down beside Rayleigh.

The two chatted away happily.

Sabaody Archipelago.

Grove 1.

Human Auction House.

Doflamingo stood on the highest floor, looking down at the auction below.

His brows were tightly furrowed, and waves of cold malice radiated from him.

"Have you found any reliable information on the Op-Op Fruit?!"

"Young Master, we haven't found anything. That fruit seems to have vanished into thin air without a trace!"

Trebol said from Doflamingo's side.

Ever since the Op-Op Fruit had been snatched away by that mysterious man on Seagull Island, he had grown increasingly furious.

Although the mysterious man's strength had continuously shocked the world, Doflamingo remained unwilling to accept it.

As long as that mysterious man had not revealed the abilities of the Op-Op Fruit, Doflamingo would not give up!

As long as he was given the chance, even if he had to pay a terrible price, he would seize the Op-Op Fruit for himself.

He would never flee in disgrace like last time!

This would be the shame of his life.

Because of this incident, he had nearly lost his prestige in the underworld.

That only made Doflamingo hate the mysterious man even more.

"Keep investigating. Find out everything you can about the organization that mysterious man belongs to!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

Trebol had just finished speaking and was about to leave.

When several subordinates came rushing in from outside in a panic.

"Young Master, this is bad, this is bad! The slaves we just captured were intercepted by a female Marine!"

"A female Marine? What happened?"

Already in a foul mood, Doflamingo's rage was instantly ignited upon hearing his subordinate's words.

"We had just returned from capturing slaves and had already reached Grove 1, but one bitch named Stella actually escaped from her cage. She happened to run into a Marine, and all the slaves we had just captured were seized by her!"

"Trash. Since you lost the slaves, there's no need for you to keep living!"

Doflamingo curled his fingers and suddenly flicked out a thread.

The tough thread sliced through the air, severing the heads of those useless subordinates with a shriek.

Their heads fell to the ground, blood splattering everywhere.

Like a fountain.

"Have someone clean this up. Let's go see which Marine dared to seize my goods!"

Doflamingo's face turned icy as he headed toward Grove 1 with Trebol.

Human trafficking was an extremely common sight in the Sabaody Archipelago.

There was even Doflamingo's own human auction house.

But that did not mean it was a legitimate business. Once discovered by the Marines, it would still be shut down.

However, ever since Doflamingo had become JOKER in the underworld, no one had dared touch his goods again.

If he did not deal with this properly, he was certain that such incidents would only become more frequent in the future.

After all, none of those people in the underworld were easy to deal with!

Elsewhere.

Ain helped Stella up from the ground.

Using the katana at her waist, she cut apart all their shackles and chains.

"Are you all right?"

"We're fine now. Thank you for saving us."

"This is what we Marines should do. I'd long heard that lawlessness ran rampant in the Sabaody Archipelago, but I never expected them to transport slaves in broad daylight! I absolutely cannot forgive such behavior!"

"Who can't you forgive?!"

Doflamingo had already arrived at the scene and happened to see Ain freeing those slaves.

His rage surged even higher.

The veins on his forehead were already bulging.

His eyes, hidden beneath orange-red sunglasses, glared viciously at Ain.

When Ain saw Doflamingo appear before her, her expression turned stern, and she looked valiant and heroic.

She shielded Stella and the others behind her, raised her sword, and slashed at Doflamingo.

Brimming with righteousness, she declared, "I cannot forgive any criminal!"