Here's to the day we bring down the Celestial Dragons!

"To think you picked such an insignificant gang boss as your assassination target."

Dill tossed the food over, his eyes behind the mask full of mockery:

"And you still failed. How embarrassing."

The castle giant caught the food, sent it inside his body, then retorted:

"If you hadn't had information on me, how could I have failed?"

"Failure is failure. Only the weak make excuses."

Dill sat cross-legged, meeting the castle giant's eyes:

"Besides, your assassination target was far too small-time. Interested in working together on something big?"

"With you? A coward who won't even show his face?"

Bege looked disdainful. Judging by his build, this fellow was clearly a brat, yet he had the gall to talk about working together:

"You're not qualified, brat."

"Bege, I'm the boss."

Dill removed his mask, revealing a youthful, delicate face, and picked up the Den Den Mushi to give an order:

"Gunpowder, take everyone back five hundred meters and stand guard."

"Roger!"

Click.

The call ended, and a shout soon rang out nearby:

"Everyone, fall back five hundred meters and stand guard!"

Led by Boren and the others, the surrounding gang members began withdrawing in an orderly fashion.

The morning sun blazed down, radiating heat freely. On the pockmarked ground, the giant and the boy sat facing each other.

Dill raised his head, his gaze fixed on the castle giant:

"Now, do you believe me?"

Three hours later.

The eight-meter-tall castle shrank into human form.

Bege lit a cigar, grinned, and held out his hand:

"What a crazy idea."

Dill took his hand and used it to pull himself to his feet, coaxing:

"The Celestial Dragons are the true masters of this world;

since you like assassinating bosses, naturally, you should pick the biggest boss of all."

"Not bad. I'm in. Here's to a happy partnership."

Bege took two wineglasses out of his body, along with a bottle of red wine.

Dill hurriedly waved his hands:

"Make mine milk. Minors can't drink."

Bege: "..."

Clink.

The glass of red wine and the glass of milk touched with a clear ring.

The two spoke in unison:

"Here's to the day we bring down the Celestial Dragons!"

Robin, who had jogged over, froze on the spot.

What happened?

Why were they suddenly going to fight the Celestial Dragons?

She had seen the castle turn into a human earlier and decided to come check on things, only to hear these treasonous words as soon as she arrived.

"Oh, your person's here."

Bege noticed Robin's arrival and tactfully put away the glasses, turning to leave:

"I'll be going, then. Call me on the Den Den Mushi if you need anything."

"All right. I'll leave Gunpowder and the others to you."

Dill waved goodbye with a broad smile. Once Bege was far away, his smile faded, and he said weakly:

"Quick, hold me up. My legs have gone weak."

Robin hurried to support him, asking quietly:

"How did you end up like this again? And what was that you were saying about the Celestial Dragons?"

Dill put his mask on and explained in a muffled voice:

"People are different;

some people don't have much of a bottom line and are easy to hypnotize, while others have strong wills and are very difficult to hypnotize;

deep in Capone Bege's subconscious, he has always held to one principle: no one gets to be his boss!"

Not even the future Emperor Big Mom could make him truly submit. He only joined her to make assassinating her easier.

"I couldn't shake that principle, so I tried a different approach."

"I portrayed the Celestial Dragons as the biggest bosses of the world's biggest organization, then stirred up his desire to assassinate them, getting him interested in overthrowing the World Government."

"And I'm his ally in assassinating the Celestial Dragons;

until the World Government's rule is completely overthrown, we'll be the staunchest of allies."

Behind her mask, Robin's gaze grew somewhat conflicted.

The World Government was responsible for destroying Ohara. If it were possible, she naturally hoped to overthrow it completely.

But she also feared the World Government's power, and the Buster Call was a shadow she could never shake off.

Now, hearing Dill say he would overthrow the Celestial Dragons left her with complicated feelings.

"What are you thinking about? Come on, let's head back and eat."

Dill leaned close to Robin's ear and urged her quietly.

Overthrow the World Government?

Whoever wanted to could go right ahead.

He worked hard to grow stronger only to protect himself and Robin, ensuring they could travel around the world more smoothly.

Not to fight five old monsters to the death.

Counting the years, the future Sun God would be born soon. In twenty-odd years at most, the World Government would fall on its own.

When the time came, he wouldn't mind kicking Imu a couple of times to lend a hand.

But have him lead the charge?

Forget that.

Brrr, brrr, brrr.

Click.

"Gunpowder, take everyone and leave. It's over."

"Understood."

After hanging up, Dill called the Den Den Mushi of the person in charge of the port:

"Kono, how many ships are scheduled to leave this afternoon?"

"Three passenger ships and one cargo ship."

"Not enough. Find a way to delay things and keep the ships scheduled to leave at noon until the afternoon.

At least ten ships need to leave this afternoon. If there aren't enough, arrange for some subordinates to take ships to the neighboring island for a holiday."

Click.

The call ended, and Robin immediately understood Dill's plan:

"Are we leaving?"

"That's right. We made too much noise this time."

Dill nodded. With gunfire going on for half an hour, even if the townspeople were idiots, they would have heard it.

Besides, to hypnotize Bege, he had taken off his mask and revealed his face. Some sharp-eyed gang member might have recognized him.

Just to be safe, he and Robin were better off leaving first.

"Why not have that Bege take us away?"

Robin was puzzled. "Didn't you say he could take us out of the West Blue?"

"Of course he can, but we have to keep his identity clean;

if we hide inside his body to get to the next island, and we happen to be spotted there, the World Government will investigate;

oh, this Bege has shown up on the same island as the Devil Child again. Could they be accomplices?

Besides, the World Government has a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. We probably can't hide the Castle-Castle Fruit's abilities from them;

having Bege take us straight out of the West Blue won't work either. If an ability user who can hide people inside his body rushes to leave the West Blue right after coming into contact with the Devil Child, the World Government is bound to grow suspicious."

"So we still need to run on our own for a while and draw a clear line between us and Bege. Only then can we safely leave the West Blue."

Could gangsters pass through Mary Geoise?

Dill wasn't worried about that.

With an affiliated nation's backing, even wanted criminals could enter Mary Geoise.

Like Sai of the Flower Country in the future.

The mafia wasn't on the same level as pirates. They might not even need an affiliated nation's backing and could simply pay to pass through.

"Let's go. We'll eat at a restaurant first, then do something big!"

At noon today, a serious incident occurred in the town on Cologne Island.

The Devil Child and Kali Dill seized a restaurant by force.

During the fighting, Kali Dill displayed considerable combat prowess, causing extensive damage to the town's buildings.

According to reports, he wielded the power of flames and openly set the armory ablaze, triggering a massive explosion that inflicted devastating losses on the Black Fire Organization.

At this critical moment, the Black Fire Organization's leader, Gunpowder, disappeared along with his deputy, Boren, bringing the entire Black Fire Organization to a standstill.

Karin, a girl of just fifteen, fearlessly stepped forward at this crucial moment and earned the Black Fire Organization's trust.

Under her leadership, the Black Fire Organization successfully drove back the Devil Child, protecting the lives of the townspeople.

Amid the townspeople's cheers, Karin became the new mayor. The Black Fire Organization was renamed the Public Security Bureau, with Captain Geno placed in charge.

Due to the terrorist incident, the port was temporarily closed, and no one was permitted to leave.

After the incident ended, the person in charge of the port personally boarded the ships and delivered food and fresh water as an apology.

The ten ships held up at the port did not linger, setting sail immediately for their respective destinations.

"Oh, this is very well written. Is it a news report?"

"You're too close, mister. Hina doesn't like it."