Chapter 1204: Treacherous Teammates, Chaotic Upgrades

The Pokemon Ship’s convenience allows it to be maneuvered without many people. Sorlithia steers the ship while Speed maps the route, simultaneously serving as a lookout and navigator. The two ensure the ship sails smoothly.

The dangerous sea currents outside Wano Kuni pose no threat to the Pokemon Ship, and neither does Kaidou within Wano Kuni.

“Phew, all set. How long until that Bullfighting Arena starts, again?”

“Don’t worry, Miss. We still have some time, we’ll definitely make it.”

In the ship’s kitchen, Mizerka is busy preparing desserts, surrounded by many of Robin’s arms passing her things.

“Robin, the coffee beans you like are in the cabinet at the top, the seventh jar from the left. Could you please get them for me? Thank you.”

Compared to combat, the Flower-Flower Fruit proves much more convenient in daily life.

Coffee, smoothies, fries, and some drinks and sweets quickly appear on the table.

Kuzan and Robin are capable of doing things themselves, but with a professional cook right in front of them, there’s no need to challenge the craft.

“Robin, would you like to add some spices?”

“No need, plain is fine. But… are you making porridge now?”

Miltank’s milk is being heated by Mizerka on the stove. A kind of Berry leaves used as tea leaves are added. After boiling and filtering out the residue, the fridge Rotom instantly chills it, completing an ordinary milk tea.

However, if Robin’s coffee is considered minimalistic, this milk tea is avant-garde, with more and more ingredients added. Even the ingredients for the ice smoothie held by Kuzan don’t compare to this.

The ordinary drink was transformed into a concoction.

“Um… Miss Yamato likes it, so I made it this way.”

As a cook, Mizerka doesn’t have much of her own opinion and won’t insist on strictly following recipes. She simply makes whatever her Miss likes.

Years ago, Mizerka and the others used to call her Lady Ghost Princess. As their relationship became increasingly close, the title changed to Miss, and according to Wano Kuni’s logic, the three of them now seemed to Yamato like household attendants.

The voyage was generally quite monotonous. Robin was writing, Page One was fishing, and Ulti was roaming around the ship with Yamato, commonly known as making mischief.

After a while, Kuzan was the first to leave the Pokemon Ship, as their paths diverged next.

“Remember to bring back the bicycle! It’s just on loan to you, don’t break it!”

Rather than a pirate ship, the Pokemon Ship is more like a travel ship, featuring all sorts of strange things.

Even Kuzan was surprised to find a bicycle in the ship’s warehouse. Although it’s a women’s bicycle, it compensated for his lack of transportation.

“Ah, alright. But… why is this bicycle named Shadow, and why does it have such fancy features?”

While adjusting the bike seat’s height, Kuzan found an instruction manual.

[Shadow Bicycle has a uniform speed, strong balance, capable of mountain climbing, aerial jumps, and other difficult stunts]

It’s more of a stunt bike than one for travel.

“I don’t know all the ins and outs. Back then, Father prepared two of them. Perhaps you can try the one across from me for its wind speed?”

“Forget it, that one’s a bit too small. This one’s fine.”

Both bicycles were custom-made based on Yamato’s body structure, otherwise, Kuzan couldn’t use them even at maximum seat height. The wind-speed bicycle was more slender, making it difficult for Kuzan to adjust to that style.

Assuring he’d bring the bike back, Kuzan created an ice-road over the sea surface and rode away.

Only after Kuzan’s figure disappeared over the horizon did Ulti raise a question.

“Are you really letting him leave just like that? He was a former Admiral and stayed on Ghost Island for a long time. What if there’s a leak?”

“Doesn’t matter; he can’t attract Father’s attention, and is therefore of no use to me. Perhaps this is better; it might anger that jerk, dad, and he might chase after Kuzan himself. This’d give me a break.”

After the Ice Substitute plan failed, Yamato’s interest in Kuzan plummeted. If Kuzan indeed did such, she could delight in that.

“No, in that case, it’d likely be Master Arceus who gets angry since he dislikes such matters. Kuzan being brought here was your doing. If something does happen, Master Arceus might not even go personally, but he might stop caring about Mister Kaidou. In that case… well, you get it.”

Robin mercilessly shattered Yamato’s fantasy, offering a vivid picture of the most terrifying aftermath.

“So, even if he really causes trouble, you’d have to deal with him yourself; otherwise, your headache might only worsen. Of course, even if you do clean up Kuzan yourself, some things remain unavoidable.”

“Well… I think his character is trustworthy, considering… he didn’t take even a pet from Wano Kuni.”

Though her words were affirmative, a hint of doubt crept in Yamato’s tone. Yet it didn’t last long; she swiftly pushed the matter aside as the journey progressed.

…

As the competition day draws closer, within Dressrosa, members of the Donquixote Clan are bustling around.

“Doflamingo, is it really meaningful to cause such a huge commotion? Wouldn’t it be better to distribute the fruits to family members or secretly sell them to the Hundred Beasts?”

Trebol didn’t quite understand Doflamingo’s approach, he was just simply executing his orders.

“Fufufufufu, Trebol, don’t just look at the immediate benefits, you’ve seen the weapons orders over the past few days, they’ve increased several times. Chaos breeds war, the newcomers have limited abilities, only when those monsters in the New World are fully engaged can the Sea become even more turbulent, and weapons will have better sales. To get these monsters moving, you need bait with enough weight, and the Quake-Quake Fruit is undoubtedly the best choice. Instead of the direct benefits it can bring, this is how we can gain even more benefits.”

Doflamingo was very satisfied with the business orders these days, plus the addition of toy workers later, no matter who ends up with the Quake-Quake Fruit, he wouldn’t be the one losing out.

However, not everything went as smoothly as he imagined; just as he was confidently envisioning the future, bad news came from Punk Hazard one after another.

…

After the Nun and Tiger visited Punk Hazard once, Doflamingo no longer publicly transported personnel for experiments there, only periodically shipping materials.

Yet Caesar was still alive; he didn’t stop the experiments just because the children were taken away. Even if he thought the experiments wouldn’t succeed, he still continued with the facade.

It’s not difficult to abduct a few children on this Sea, with Caesar as the source, Punk Hazard soon resumed its previous state.

After Smoker returned all the children to their hometowns, he didn’t follow Vergo’s instructions but continued to investigate the matter, ultimately tracing it back to Punk Hazard.

The Straw Hat Gang, having just arrived in the New World, also, due to Luffy’s reason, ended up at Punk Hazard.

Under Law’s plan, several forces engaged in a melee, Law defeated his first enemy, Vergo, and seized something very important from Monet.

At this moment, Monet was communicating with Doflamingo.

“Young master… Sorry… During the chaos, I managed to get the final process of SAD, but… but Law suddenly appeared and took it away.”

“What?”

“The key to making SAD, as well as Caesar… are now in Law’s hands.”

“Monet, this matter is my oversight, but now there’s something very important I need you to do. In Punk Hazard, there’s actually a terrifying weapon; once detonated, apart from Caesar, no one will survive.”

Doflamingo values his family members, yet doesn’t mind sacrificing one at a critical moment. Hearing Doflamingo’s words, Monet didn’t argue back.

“Young master, that’s exactly what I planned to do.”

However, Doflamingo’s plan still couldn’t be smoothly carried out; with Caesar’s foolish cooperation, Monet couldn’t press the detonation button and died of a heart rupture.

Doflamingo also rushed to Punk Hazard as quickly as possible.

…

Previously sent by Doflamingo to Dressrosa, baby-5 and Buffalo were still alive, but their bodies had been separated from their heads by Law’s ability. Perhaps because of their time together during childhood, or maybe for his future plans, Law didn’t kill them.

Instead, he started negotiating with Doflamingo right in front of them.

“Doflamingo, let’s make a deal.”

“Fufufufufu, Law, I advise you to calm down, kid shouldn’t mimic adult actions. Where are you now? Don’t completely piss me off.”

“Heh, your trade status in the Underworld relies on the Hundred Beasts, SMILE is your crucial commodity. And SAD is its important raw material, now Caesar is in my hands, and the SAD production process that Monet hadn’t yet handed over to you is also with me. Doflamingo, the destruction of the Punk Hazard Factory can’t be concealed. If Kaidou knew you’ve lost the factory and research personnel and the formula is in my hands, would he replace you with another partner?”

“Law, do you know what you’re saying? Do you think you can replace me like this?!”

“Why can’t I? You used a similar method to eliminate the previous distributor to gain your current position, the Underworld trade only considers benefits; what you can do, I can do too, so why can’t I replace you?”

Law thought he had grasped Doflamingo’s key weakness, yet he forgot he couldn’t replicate Doflamingo’s original Heavenly Celestial Dragon status, nor did he know the secret between Doflamingo and Queen.

The Artificial Fruit was already a semi-finished product, those perfect ones were derived from the Hundred Beasts processing.

Compared to SAD, Doflamingo’s network and channels built up in the Underworld for many years were far more important, but Doflamingo didn’t intend to directly give up the advantage SAD provided.

Moreover, Law had clearly betrayed him, so Doflamingo naturally wouldn’t let Law, who consumed the Op-Op Fruit, continue like this, pretending to be threatened while chatting with Law.

“What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to publish in the newspaper that you’re relinquishing your position as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the deadline is tomorrow.”

Doflamingo had secrets unknown to Law, and Law had thoughts unknown to Doflamingo.

Law never wanted to replace Doflamingo as a subordinate of the Hundred Beasts, he just wanted revenge on Doflamingo. Everything he did was just about weakening Doflamingo’s backing in both the black and white worlds…