Hearing the sound from outside,
Shakky felt utterly speechless.
Usually, he came back so late.
Yet today, he had returned this early. Was he doing it on purpose?!
Thinking that, Shakky stopped putting on an act.
She pointed directly at the white-haired old man who had just entered the bar and said, "He's Dark King Rayleigh. Go find him!"
With that, Shakky casually took out a lady's cigarette and lit it. Wisps of smoke slowly curled upward.
Roya turned around and looked at Rayleigh.
The man 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 feel gloomy in the slightest. If anything, he gave off a somewhat sunny impression.
Rayleigh looked at Roya, who wore a cloak of justice, and casually set the tools in his hand on the bar counter.
Looking at Roya, Rayleigh smiled. "Admiral White Dove of the Navy, what business do you have with an old man like me? 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 craftsman 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 both well aware of Admiral White Dove's reputation.
Naturally, they knew that Admiral White Dove was one of the Navy's top combat forces.
In terms of fame, however, he even surpassed the other two admirals.
"Of course not. To make a long story short, I want you to coat my ship and finish within one day!"
Hearing Roya's words, Dark King Rayleigh blurted out, "That's it?!"
"What else did you think I came here for?!"
With a smile at the corner of his lips, Roya spoke to Dark King Rayleigh.
Dark King Rayleigh stared into Roya's eyes, constantly pondering his true purpose.
But no matter how he thought it over, he found no answer.
So Rayleigh said again, "Aren't you afraid I'll tamper with the coating and send you to your death in the sea? You know we're enemies."
"If you were the kind of man who would do that, you wouldn't be called Dark King Rayleigh!"
As soon as those words fell,
Rayleigh's eyes shone with an exceptionally sharp light.
Then both men burst out laughing.
Rayleigh immediately said to Shakky, "Shakky, get White Dove a drink too. It's on me!"
"You already owe me no less than ten thousand Berry. What are you using to pay for the drinks?!"
"Isn't Admiral White Dove right here? You should know that 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 of them chatted amiably there.
Sabaody Archipelago.
Island 1.
Human auction house.
Doflamingo stood on the highest floor, looking down at the auction below.
His brows were tightly furrowed, and an icy aura radiated from him.
"Have you found any reliable information about 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 beside Doflamingo.
Ever since the Op-Op Fruit had been snatched away by that mysterious person on Seagull Island, he had grown increasingly furious.
Although the mysterious person's strength had continuously shocked the world, Doflamingo remained unwilling to accept it.
As long as that mysterious person had not revealed the Op-Op Fruit's powers, Doflamingo would not give up!
So long as he had the opportunity, even if he had to pay a terrible price, he would seize the Op-Op Fruit for himself.
He would never flee in humiliation as he had last time!
That would be the shame of his life.
Because of that incident, he had nearly lost his prestige in the underworld.
For that reason, Doflamingo hated the mysterious person even more.
"Keep investigating. Find out everything you can about the organization this mysterious person belongs to!"
"Yes, Young Master!"
As soon as Trebol finished speaking, he was about to leave.
But at that moment, several subordinates rushed in from outside in a bedraggled state.
"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 fury was instantly ignited upon hearing his subordinate's report.
"We had just returned from catching slaves and had already reached District 1, but a bitch named Stella escaped from her cage. She happened to run into a Marine, and all the slaves we had just captured were seized by her!"
"Useless trash. Since you lost the slaves, you don't need to keep living either!"
Doflamingo curled his fingers and violently flicked out a thread.
The tough thread sliced through the air with a whistle, severing the heads of those useless subordinates.
Their heads fell to the floor, blood splattering everywhere.
Like fountains.
"Have someone clean this up. Let's go see which Marine dares to seize my merchandise!"
Doflamingo's face was frosty as he led Trebol toward District 1.
Human trafficking was an extremely common sight in the Sabaody Archipelago.
There was even a human auction house run by Doflamingo.
But that did not mean it was a legitimate business. Once discovered by the Marines, it would still be shut down.
Yet ever since Doflamingo had become Joker in the underworld, no one had dared touch his goods.
If he did not handle this properly, he was sure 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!
Meanwhile.
Ain helped Stella up from the ground.
Using the katana at her waist, she cut through all of their handcuffs and shackles.
"Are you all alright?"
"We're fine now. Thank you for saving us."
"This is what we Marines should do. I had long heard that lawlessness ran rampant throughout the Sabaody Archipelago, but I never expected them to transport slaves in broad daylight! I absolutely cannot forgive this!"
"Cannot forgive whom?!"
Doflamingo had already arrived at the scene. He happened to see Ain freeing the slaves.
His anger surged even higher.
The veins on his forehead were already bulging.
His eyes, hidden behind 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 righteous resolve, she declared, "I cannot forgive any criminal!"