Shichibukai Alliance (continued)

"I know what you want to ask. The power of my Lord far exceeds your imagination. Don't use your foolish brain to contemplate the greatness of my Lord, humankind."

Sabaody Archipelago.

Leaving the red-light district, Uta hummed a little tune and skipped along behind Dimon.

"My benefactor... oh no, Big Eye Lord, let's go to the amusement Paradise!"

"Are you a child? All you do is play, play, play."

Uta proudly put her hands on her hips. "I'm just a kid! I'm only 16!"

What's there to be proud of?

Dimon shook his head helplessly, feeling as if he were raising a mischievous little sister.

Speaking of which, before he transmigrated, he also had a younger sister in junior high school. Younger sisters are mostly annoying creatures, not cute at all.

They only like to call me "brother" when they are cubs; once they grow up a little, they become completely different.

"Um?"

Suddenly, Dimon stopped in his tracks and looked to his left. Hundreds of meters away, he saw a familiar face.

Doflamingo? What's this guy doing here?

Uta didn't notice that Dimon had stopped and bumped into his back.

She rubbed her nose and looked in the direction of his gaze, puzzled.

"Who's that arrogant guy who walks around like that?"

At the same time,

Doflamingo walked slowly with his hands in his pockets, legs spread wide, swaying as his pink feather coat bounced, a wild smile playing on his lips.

He quickly arrived at Zone 1 and went straight into the population auction venue.

The security guard on duty at the entrance stepped forward to stop him, but was startled when he saw the other person's face.

"Dover... Doflamingo- sama!"

"Where's Disco?"

"Disco is in the reception room!"

"Let him come see me."

Leaving behind a single sentence, Doflamingo walked straight into the auction house.

As soon as he entered, the auctioneer, a flamboyantly dressed man, quickly came to greet him.

"Lord Doflamingo! I never expected to see you! Oh dear, I'm so sorry for not greeting you properly!"

Have my guests arrived?

"We're here, we're here. They're all in the reception area. Please follow me."

Reception room.

The enormous dining table was laden with an abundance of food, and young, beautiful maids kept bringing more and more delicacies until the table was completely overflowing.

Crocodile, with a cigar dangling from his mouth, showed no interest in the food before him.

"Hmph, how long am I supposed to wait? They said they had important intelligence to share, but where are they?"

The maids were startled and quickly bowed their heads in apology.

"Hehehehe... What's the point of getting angry at them?"

Moria devoured the food without a care for appearances.

In fact, he had no image to speak of. He had taken a hit from Rocks's Conqueror's Coating on Enies Lobby and was still injured. His whole body was wrapped in bandages, with only his mouth and eyes showing.

At that moment, the door was pushed open, Doflamingo entered with a low laugh.

"Fufufu... I've kept you waiting. Is it just the two of you?"

Jinbe's a bit of a shame Hawk-Eye didn't come. Why didn't Jinbe come either?

Seemingly sensing his thoughts, Moria curled his lip and said, "Jinbe the Fish-Man, that guy went back to Fish-Man Island."

Doflamingo grinned, took his seat, and arrogantly crossed his legs.

"Fufufu..."

"Why are you laughing?"

Crocodile's expression darkened. "What exactly do you want from us?"

"Crocodile, you're about to die, do you know that?" Doflamingo said with a forced smile, "I know all about the shady things you've been up to in Alabasta."

"What did you say?"

"You want to steal state power and overthrow the Alabasta Kingdom, right?" Doflamingo sneered, shaking his leg.

"You probably don't know this, but over the past few months, the Alabasta royal family, King Nefertari Cobra, has repeatedly reported you to the World Government."

How is that possible?

Crocodile's expression changed drastically. His operations in Alabasta were very secretive and should not have been discovered so early.

Even if the king sensed something was wrong, he could only trace it back to the criminal organization Baroque Works. How could it possibly be connected to him, the "hero of Alabasta"?

Someone betrayed me!

Crocodile's killing intent was palpable; only one person knew his true identity.

Nico Robin, the Devil Child!

But why?

That woman is a thorn in the side of the World Government; what benefit would she gain from betraying him?

A moment of kindness?

Crocodile was brainstorming when he was caught off guard by this news.

"Fufufu... fufu..."

Doflamingo admired Crocodile's expression, his smile growing even brighter.

He said slowly:

"Alabasta is a major power and Affiliated Nation. Even the World Government cannot ignore the King's report."

"Why?" Crocodile gritted his teeth, staring at the other person. "Since you've already reported it, why haven't you taken any action?"

"Of course, it's because the World Government has other purposes."

Doflamingo twitched his fingers slightly, and an invisible thread hooked a grape, which he then put into his mouth.

"Do you think things are really that simple? The World Government has suddenly summoned the Shichibukai to Enies Lobby to serve as examiners for the second round of selections."

He paused, giving the other person no time to think, and continued:

"The World Government's true purpose is to collect the 'Lineage Factors' from us Shichibukai. They have a plan called 'Humanoid Weapons' to replace the Shichibukai with artificial humans."

Upon hearing this, Crocodile and Moria, who was enjoying a delicious meal, were both taken aback.

Assuming this is true...

The two exchanged a glance, their expressions turning extremely grim.

Nobody's stupid; with just a little thought, they can immediately guess the result.

If the World Government's plan succeeds and androids replace the Shichibukai, what will happen to the original Shichibukai?

There is only one answer.

Arrest them!

"You're so kind as to tell me all this?" Crocodile narrowed his eyes.

"Don't think too badly of me, we are colleagues after all..."

Doflamingo chuckled, then abruptly stopped, as the two men clearly didn't believe such a bizarre explanation.

"Let's get straight to the point. Besides telling you this, there's another reason I invited you here."

"Enough with the nonsense, Doflamingo," Moria snapped.

"It's very simple. You've probably heard the rumors circulating these past few days: the Whitebeard Pirates found Roger's One Piece and obtained a treasure called the [Wine of Immortality!]."

At this point, Doflamingo dropped his playful grin and spoke in a low voice:

"I can tell you with certainty that it's true, at least the Wine of Immortality is real, Whitebeard has indeed regained his youth!"

"And I would like to invite you to join forces, how about that?"

"The drinks we snatched... we'll split them!"

Please take one day off.

I've been staying up late these past few days watching the League of Legends World Championship, my sleep schedule is completely messed up, I can't take it anymore, I need to take a day off. Orz