Dimensional Chat Group: Speed-o'-Light

A few days later, a piece of news that shocked the world spread like wildfire across the seas.

The Beasts Pirates had become a subordinate crew under the Dark Matter Pirates.

And their captain, Kaido of the Beasts, had officially joined the Dark Matter Pirates as a top-level combatant.

The initial reaction from most who received the news was disbelief—either they had misread it, or the paper had made a mistake. If it said the Beasts Pirates had gained a new subordinate crew, that would've made more sense.

But the report came from the World Economic Journal, the newspaper renowned for publishing breaking news. Ever since it had covered the Summit War in full, its readership had skyrocketed to an unbelievable level.

As its boss, Morgans had done his job well. He never stooped to clickbait tricks for the sake of hype, and because of that, many saw the World Economic Journal as more reliable than even the World Government's official bulletins.

And yet this time, the paper was saying that the Beasts Pirates had been absorbed by some unknown pirate crew—and that Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, had become someone else's underling?!

This kind of "fake news" just sounded too absurd!

"You've got to be kidding me! No way that's real!"

A pirate aboard the last surviving Moby Dick screamed in panic after reading the paper.

"What's going on?"

Marco, now fully healed, scratched his head as he walked out of the cabin. He was still struggling to adjust to life without Pops.

That morning, he'd even woken up and instinctively gone to check on Whitebeard's health—fortunately, no one saw it happen. Otherwise, they might've ended up just as heartbroken as him.

"What's going on, Marco?"

Ace stepped out, a bit unaccustomed to wearing the captain's hat—he was now the second captain of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Originally, Ace had wanted Marco to take over as captain, but Marco had refused without hesitation.

His reason was that he lacked leadership skills and was better suited to be the captain's right-hand man.

"I don't know either. I just came out... Hey, hey, hey! This has to be a joke, right?!"

Marco casually took the newspaper and glanced at it, but his eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

The other pirates, unable to suppress their curiosity, gathered around. But with just one look, all of them couldn't help but shout in shock.

Beast Kaido had actually become someone else's subordinate.

Even when Whitebeard was still alive, not even he could have pulled that off!

As one of the Four Emperors' pirate crews, the Whitebeard Pirates had clashed with the Beasts Pirates more than once.

Which was precisely why they found it all the more unbelievable—that Kaido, of all people, would ever willingly bow his head to anyone!

Just as shocked as the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates were the Red-Haired Pirates, who had only just begun to recover from the grief of losing their crewmates, and the Big Mom Pirates, who had been preparing to form an alliance with Kaido.

"Hiss... It's really hard to believe. That Beast would actually submit to someone?"

Ben Beckman, now with only one arm, furrowed his brow deeply, trying to find some clue between the lines of the article that might explain Kaido's surrender.

"This is gonna be real troublesome... Oh well, no use overthinking it. Let's just throw a party first!"

Shanks, still wrapped in bandages, had a flicker of unease in his eyes. But the possibility he suspected was too absurd, so he kept it to himself, not wanting to dampen his crewmates' spirits.

After all, everyone had only just started to crawl out of their sorrow, and there was no need to drag them all to Wano on a hunch.

If that mysterious figure had truly tamed Kaido, he likely wouldn't remain in Wano for long.

"Mamamama... What the hell is that idiot Kaido doing? Don't tell me he's actually become someone's lackey?"

Upon receiving the news, Charlotte Linlin instinctively suspected that Kaido was up to some kind of scheme.

Although, knowing Kaido's character, that seemed unlikely—but compared to him becoming someone's subordinate, she'd rather believe the brute had changed his nature.

"Lick~ Our people have already started investigating that Dark Matter Pirates crew. If all goes well, we should be able to uncover their background very soon."

Perospero licked his candy cane staff with his long tongue. Though his combat strength couldn't compare to his younger brother Katakuri, the face of the Big Mom Pirates...

...Perospero could still be considered Charlotte Linlin's most trusted aide—in a way, the strategist of the Big Mom Pirates.

"Are we still going ahead with our previous plan? Taking advantage of Whitebeard's death and the Red-Haired Pirates' heavy losses, and grabbing as much territory in the New World as we can...?"

"Of course we continue! Mama~! More territory means more delicious treats! And more tea parties! It's decided—call a tea party! Invite all our guests!"

Charlotte Linlin cackled shrilly. She didn't believe such an absurd rumor for a second—and she definitely wasn't going to back down just because of a newspaper article.

Now that Whitebeard was dead, and Red-Hair had retreated to recover, if she didn't expand now, when would she ever become the Pirate King?

"…Boros."

Katakuri leaned silently against a doorframe. For some reason, just seeing that name made his heart skip.

It reminded him of the time he'd desperately tried to stop his mother from attacking a Marine base—and nearly got killed for it.

Only later did he learn that stationed at that base was none other than Kizaru, one of the Navy's monsters.

Now this "Boros"… gave him an even worse feeling than Borsalino did back then.

Unfortunately, even with his future sight, there were limits. He couldn't see that far ahead.

---

New World — Dressrosa Kingdom

"Young Master! We've got a problem!"

Buffalo waddled into the palace like an oversized penguin, his body wrapped in thick chains and a heavy coat.

In his hand was a freshly bought newspaper—its headline enough to shock the world.

"You're late, Buffalo."

To his surprise, the palace was already filled with the core members of the Donquixote Family, including their leader Doflamingo, all deep in strategy talks.

As the infamous underworld broker "Joker," Doflamingo had received word almost as fast as Morgan's World Economy News.

"D…Doffy, if it really comes to it… maybe… maybe we should agree to their terms?"

Trebol, sniffling as usual, spoke up nervously. Through the underground network, they'd just pieced together what had happened in Wano.

At the same time, a group calling themselves the "Dark Matter Pirates from Space" had used Kaido's old contact line to reach out.

They didn't need artificial Devil Fruits anymore—but they demanded the Donquixote Family hand over at least twenty Zoan-type Devil Fruits as a protection fee.

For Doflamingo, that number wasn't impossible—but gathering twenty Zoan fruits in a short time was another story.

"Even if I wanted to give them the fruits… I couldn't possibly find that many that quickly."

Doflamingo frowned deeply. Zoan fruits weren't as valuable as Logia or Paramecia, but all the ones he'd had had already been handed over to Kaido.

Even if he pulled every string in the underworld and military arms market, it would be near impossible to gather what the Dark Matter Pirates demanded.

"Doffy, did the Beasts Pirates really join that Cosmic Dark Matter Pirate Crew? Even Kaido wasn't a match for them?"

Pica's shrill voice was grating, but since everyone present was a member of the Donquixote Family, no one dared laugh at the giant right now.

"Fufufufu… I wish it were just a rumor too. But unfortunately, knowing Kaido's nature—if he's been this quiet for so long—it's probably true..."

Doflamingo sat on the main seat, one hand covering his forehead, his expression dark and shifting as he spoke.

"Damn it! Where the hell did this Cosmic Dark Matter Pirate Crew come from?"

Diamante couldn't help but curse. Waking up to find their biggest backer had suddenly vanished—who could take that calmly?

Don't be fooled by Doflamingo's status as both a Warlord and "Joker." Without Kaido backing him, staying afloat in the underworld wasn't going to be easy.

The most likely scenario was their business share being ruthlessly carved up—until all that was left was what the Donquixote Family could barely hold onto.

"Tell our people to suspend business for now. We'll wait until the heat dies down."

Doflamingo had no choice but to painfully tighten operations. At the very least, they needed to reach a deal with the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates before they could resume their "business."

"What about the Devil Fruits..."

Trebol sniffled hard. Twenty Zoan-type Devil Fruits—regardless of how hard they were to collect—were already a fortune in themselves.

If that was the price for buying peace, there wasn't much to hesitate about. But the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirates still hadn't made any kind of statement.

No one knew if they'd take the "gift" and turn on them anyway. The Donquixote Family had pulled those kinds of stunts countless times themselves. Naturally, they weren't counting on other pirates to have any honor.

"Keep collecting. Tell Caesar to halt production for now. Find a way to contact our new clients—figure out what they really want..."

Doflamingo spoke gloomily. Even as a Warlord and former Celestial Dragon, he looked powerless in the face of such a mess.

And while Doflamingo was racking his brains on where to find that many Zoan-type Devil Fruits, Marine Headquarters—busy preparing for the Fleet Admiral promotion ceremony—also convened an emergency meeting to discuss how to respond to the Cosmic Dark Matter Pirate Crew.

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