Back when he was still in the North Blue, Doflamingo had already been in contact with some clients on the Grand Line.
Not long after entering the Grand Line, Doflamingo reestablished contact with those people and began developing his dark empire.
For Doflamingo, the Grand Line was the perfect untapped market.
Nereus had even indirectly helped Doflamingo out.
Those involved in slave hunting, human trafficking, and similar businesses had suffered devastating losses under the Ryugu Kingdom’s crackdowns.
But in this environment, these people were like weeds. Unless their roots were dealt with, they would grow back before long.
Each new cycle of growth stirred up the undercurrents of the Underworld, as though the deck were being reshuffled.
Doflamingo had successfully moved in during one of these gaps.
“Doflamingo… I see. So the guy who stole the Heavenly Tribute is this Joker.”
Not long ago, Doflamingo had pulled off another major incident.
Doflamingo and his men had stolen the Heavenly Tribute that an affiliated nation intended to hand over to the World Government. He then used it as leverage for a new round of negotiations with the World Government, obtaining a position among the Shichibukai.
This filled the final vacancy in the Shichibukai system and allowed Doflamingo to use this position to expand his business.
His status as a former Celestial Dragon gave him access to things ordinary people knew nothing about, further strengthening his influence.
Several Devil Fruit auctions had earned him a reputation. Even great pirates of the New World like Kaido had heard of him.
But Bullet did not care about any of that. In his eyes, the great pirates of the New World were all people Roger had defeated. At best, they had only managed to fight Roger to a draw.
As for the Shichibukai?
They were merely the World Government’s lapdogs. If Nereus wanted him to eliminate this Shichibukai, Bullet would set out immediately and show Doflamingo just how easily his family members could be crushed.
“What an ignorant fool. There should be plenty of people on Fishman Island who can handle him, right? With such a high proportion of Devil Fruit users, how could they possibly stand a chance against you at sea?”
Doflamingo’s ability to turn nearly every member of his family into a Devil Fruit user was an achievement in itself. Against most enemies, an additional Devil Fruit user often meant a better chance of victory.
The miraculous powers of Devil Fruits could sometimes turn the tide of a war. But against Fish-Men at sea, unless those powers allowed the user to fly or freeze the ocean, they could actually become a weakness.
“You guessed wrong. Your task isn’t to kill him. Before Doflamingo appeared, quite a few people on the Grand Line had been frightened into hiding by all the killing.
They hid themselves and acted cautiously. Sometimes, even I couldn’t find any trace of them.
But now, these people are coming out of hiding because of this Joker. He’s excellent bait. All you need to do is kill the people he lures out.”
“Sounds like a pretty troublesome job.”
Weak opponents, scattered far and wide, some of whom would even take time to find. Still, Bullet did not refuse.
After all, he could not beat Nereus. Since he was no match for him, there was nothing wrong with working under his orders.
After receiving a list, Bullet returned to his Catapult and resumed his solitary voyage.
Although the name Joker had already appeared in the Underworld, Doflamingo’s life was not nearly as comfortable as outsiders imagined.
Naturally, Doflamingo had done some research before getting involved in the Grand Line’s businesses. In a sense, to avoid the risks, he really was just a broker.
Those slave traders, human auctions, and the like had no direct connection to him. They merely brought him indirect profits.
Although he was no longer a Celestial Dragon, Doflamingo possessed every one of their vices. He was simply using some lowly people to make money for him, and he had no intention of passing up those profits.
His enterprise needed money, but he also had little desire to provoke a monster like Nereus, so he had chosen this compromise.
Even if people were hunted down, it would never reach him. At most, he would have to abandon a few followers who did not even qualify as subordinates. As long as there were profits to be made, ambitious people would soon take their places.
After becoming a Shichibukai, Doflamingo gained access to even more channels. His status allowed him to circumvent many rules.
Some of his goods could even pass directly through Mariejois, bypassing numerous inspections and taxes. Being able to avoid traveling through Fishman Island like everyone else was another advantage for Doflamingo.
But this small advantage was not enough to make up for certain shortcomings. In particular, once Bullet began moving, the pressure on Doflamingo increased considerably.
“Doffy, something’s wrong. Someone seems to be targeting us. Several of our partners have been killed!”
“Is it that Mink again? Or those guys from Fishman Island?”
After becoming a Shichibukai, the person who gave Doflamingo the biggest headache was actually Luna. After all, Luna and her people were openly doing much the same thing as Nereus, just on a smaller scale.
Doflamingo had tried to negotiate with her, but Luna had no intention of talking to him. Doflamingo felt that if his status as a Shichibukai had not held her back, Luna would have come knocking at his door long ago.
“Neither. Those people couldn’t clearly describe the attacker’s appearance, but judging by their descriptions… his ability seems somewhat similar to Pica’s…”
With his ability to merge inorganic matter and turn into a giant, Bullet was exceptionally good at crushing weak opponents, so he had defeated nearly all of them using the same method.
And as the user of the Stone-Stone Fruit, Pica could also merge his body with rock and become a stone giant, making him Trebol’s point of comparison.
“What was the reason for the attacks?”
“Unclear, but that person seems to have a list. Bill, Carat… all of these people were attacked.”
Hearing Trebol recite the names startled Rosinante, who was sitting nearby. The cigarette butt he had been about to put in the ashtray landed on his trousers instead.
After burning his thigh, he accidentally dropped the cigarette butt onto the rug, nearly starting a major fire. Although no fire broke out, he still ended up in a sorry state.
[Damn it, isn’t that the list I haven’t sent out yet… How are they targeting them so precisely?!]
This reminded Rosinante of what had happened in the North Blue. After his list went missing, those people had suffered devastating blows.
But this time was different. Rosinante had not even written the list yet, so there was absolutely no way anyone could have stolen it. Thinking of it that way, this time it all seemed to be a coincidence.
But a coincidence this precise made no sense to Rosinante. He kept feeling that something was wrong, but he had no evidence.
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