In the end, Caesar was taken away by the furious Straw Hat Pirates.
The Seagull King simply watched.
When the Seagull King flew off, Nami, Usopp, and the others noticed him and quickly recalled something.
"That's that giant bird!"
"The one we met in Loguetown!"
Unfortunately, the Seagull King paid them no attention. Instead, he flew toward the distance.
...
And so, at this very moment,
just like Crocodile, the Seagull King actually looked down on Doffy quite a bit.
He spent all day doing messy, crooked things, yet he did not put enough effort into his own strength or ambition.
It could be said that he had wasted the dual traits of Celestial Dragon bloodline and Conqueror's Haki.
Although, with Ozz's help, he had successfully learned the advanced Armament Haki technique, Ryuo, he had gone through too few life and death battles.
Even Kuina, who had only just eaten the Pink Dragon Fruit, could clash briefly with Doflamingo at this stage without being instantly defeated.
Yet Doffy himself did not seem to care about that. Most of his energy went into painstakingly running his businesses and being a king.
"Fufufufufu... Speaking of which, Lord Ozz really is generous~"
He looked at Kuina standing at the rear, swinging her black blade against the wild wind, then at the Seagull King soaring through the storm with spread wings.
"To think he can casually bring out the rarest type among Zoan Devil Fruits, a Mythical Zoan~"
In truth, there were times when Doflamingo secretly wavered.
Had he made the wrong choice back then by listening to Trebol and the others and casually eating the String-String Fruit?
Now, as the greatest broker in the Underworld, with businesses spread across the seas, he had naturally handled many powerful Devil Fruits.
Ozz naturally knew this as well.
If Doflamingo had eaten the Pink Dragon Fruit, then even if he could not quite reach the emperor tier, reaching the level of an emperor's top commander would not be a problem.
Given his unique talent for developing Devil Fruit abilities, it would not even be impossible for him to compete for the title of strongest beneath the emperor tier.
But the reason Ozz did not help him was very clear.
His spirit was too lacking.
There really was not much room left to cultivate him.
So he could just obediently serve as a high-level soldier.
Ozz shook his head. Then he took a sip of orange juice and looked at Doflamingo.
"Right. Vergo didn't die. I sent him to handle something for me."
Doflamingo was a little surprised when he heard this, but he still smiled.
"Is that so~ Vergo isn't dead. That's good."
He understood the implication, so he did not ask further.
From now on, Vergo would be working for Ozz. In other words, the lord and vassal relationship between them had been dissolved.
Ozz had nothing to hide. Saying it aloud was not because he felt guilty. He had simply remembered it.
He had sent Vergo to serve as the old man's bodyguard, and to continue polishing his Haki along the way.
"There's one more thing."
"Speaking of which, how are the Devil Fruits I recently asked you to keep an eye on?"
Hearing this, Doflamingo, whose smile had just faded a little, became interested again.
He came to Ozz's side and licked the corner of his mouth, as if there was a hint of pride in his smile.
"Of the Devil Fruits you previously told me to watch for, many have sunk into some forgotten corner of the sea, hard for ordinary people to find. Fruits like the More-More Fruit, for example."
"That movie arc can be skipped. There's no real need."
"But..."
After a slight pause, Doffy gave Ozz a surprise.
"We've already found the Paramecia Float-Float Fruit!"
"Oh?!"
Ozz had been lying on a lounge chair with his eyes closed, but they opened instantly. He looked at Doffy.
As expected of a Devil Fruit wholesaler. He always managed to bring him a little surprise.
"Interesting~"
Ozz interlaced his fingers, propped his chin on both hands, and slowly raised his face.
"I also heard Dressrosa has a traditional event involving a colosseum, right?"
"You mean..."
Doffy froze for a moment, then seemed to realize something. The corners of his mouth widened.
"Of course, a battle. It's a colosseum, after all~"
Ozz looked as though it were only natural. His eyes even grew more and more excited, as if they were shining.
"And colosseum fights are definitely going to be interesting, right?"
Doflamingo was also the type who feared the world would not be chaotic enough. After hearing this, he began laughing with his usual fufufu.
Their laughter even made Kuina glance over with cold sweat on her face.
"But to hold a truly exciting gladiator tournament, we'll need a prize attractive enough, won't we?"
Doflamingo spoke with hidden meaning.
He thought the Float-Float Fruit would make an excellent bait.
They could pretend to offer it as the prize, then have one of their own take it in the end, or arrange for someone to intercept it afterward.
The sinister Doffy had planned it well.
But Ozz clearly found that too boring.
The Float-Float Fruit was good, but that was all.
"That won't cause enough of a sensation. In my opinion, we should bring out something even more explosive."
"More... explosive?"
"Yeah~"
Ozz nodded, as though it still was not exciting enough.
"If we want to attract strong fighters into a massive brawl, one Devil Fruit is too low a stake. For something crazier..."
"How about one favor from me? Or one hundred billion Berries? Or the throne of a small country..."
If he had not promised Captain Roger that he would not actually give the One Piece pointer to someone else, he would have wanted to use even that as the prize.
"This..."
Hearing one prize after another grow more ridiculous, even including one favor from Ozz himself, Doflamingo's previously excited smile vanished at once. A few drops of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Hey, hey... If we really do that, Dressrosa will definitely be destroyed, won't it?"
He did not even dare imagine what would happen if the strong people who had participated in the Summit War learned that the prize was a favor from Black Gun.
Would they beat each other's brains out?
But one thing he did know.
Dressrosa would definitely be destroyed.
Reference point: Marineford during the Summit War.
"Oh... boring."
Ozz immediately lost interest.
Though in truth, he also felt it was a little too early to hold an event like that now. Many of the key actors had not prepared themselves yet.
"Still, even with only the Float-Float Fruit, I believe the tournament will be very interesting."
"I sincerely invite you to come and watch~"
Doflamingo laughed fufufu, already planning how to eliminate Law and the others in Dressrosa.
...
Meanwhile, in another sea region of the New World,
a small boat was slowly approaching Dressrosa.
Two young men stood against the sea breeze, gazing at the island ahead.
There was no flag hanging from the boat.
"Luffy should be arriving soon too, right, Sabo?"
"Yeah, he should be~"
...
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