One Piece: Crown of Darkness

"Young Master still isn't back yet, wooow~" Giolla was dispirited, like a leaf scorched by the blazing sun, completely listless and in no mood for her usual jokes.

It wasn't just Giolla. Aside from Pica, who stubbornly continued the training regimen Doflamingo had set, even Vergo seemed distracted. And as for Trebol and Diamante, it went without saying.

Though their material living standards were far better than before, thanks to Doflamingo, their food and drink tasted like sawdust, they couldn't sleep soundly, and they barely bothered with their appearance...

Doflamingo had been gone for half a month, and the members of the Donquixote Family, having lost their backbone, felt incredibly miserable. Without realizing it, they had grown accustomed to being led, directed, and commanded by Doflamingo. Once deprived of this, they would unconsciously become agitated.

"Bang!" Giolla slammed the table in frustration and snapped at Trebol, "You lazy, sloppy old man! Aren't you the lookout? Go check the crow's nest again!"

Trebol, leaning on his cane, turned to meet Giolla's gaze, saying nothing.

"Trust... trust Doffy," Diamante awkwardly tried to mediate, but his tone lacked conviction. He told others to trust Doflamingo, yet he himself couldn't, given that Doflamingo had gone to deal with what he considered the most capricious, willful, vicious, and terrifying monster in the world, Big Mom.

Silence, breeding irritation.

After an unknown period.

"I'm a ship~~~ I'm a ship~~~"

A whimsical singing voice floated over.

"That's..." Trebol stretched his neck. When he saw the flashy and eerie ship, he couldn't help but shiver. "The singing ship... B-B-Big Mom Pirates?!"

Giolla suddenly sprang up, exclaiming in delight, "Young Master is back!?"

"Let's be happy once we're sure," Diamante understood why Trebol was shivering. The presence of a Big Mom Pirates ship near Arinland might not just mean Doflamingo successfully gained the Big Mom Pirates' support. It could also mean Doflamingo angered them, leading them to furiously seek to eliminate the Donquixote Family as well.

It wasn't until the singing ship docked alongside the Donquixote Family's vessel, and Doflamingo swaggered confidently forward, that Trebol and Diamante finally relaxed.

"Fufufufu~ My beloved family, how have you all been?" Doflamingo greeted them with a smile.

"Doffy~~~"

Trebol was surprisingly the most emotional. The feeling of lost hope being recovered, not turning into despair, made him try to rush towards Doflamingo, tears and snot streaming.

Clang~

A flash of light appeared between Doflamingo and Trebol, stopping Trebol from daring to cross the line.

"You disgusting man, don't touch Doffy!" It was Smoothie. She immediately remembered this wasn't the Big Mom Pirates' territory, but the Donquixote Family's, and the one in charge wasn't Big Mom, but Doflamingo. She returned her sword to its sheath and hastily explained, "S-Sorry, Doffy, I didn't mean to..."

"Fufufufu~ It's alright," Doflamingo first comforted the overreactive Smoothie, then warned, "But don't ever draw your weapon on my family again, Smoothie! That's my rule, my fiancée."

Smoothie's face instantly flushed red, steaming, and she quickly turned away in embarrassment.

"Fiancée?!!!"

The family members were greatly stunned.

"Allow me to introduce you all to Smoothie, Charlotte Smoothie! Big Mom's fourteenth daughter, the most dazzling flower of the Big Mom Pirates! Fufufufu~" Doflamingo then pointed to Daifuku, who had just disembarked. "Big Mom's third son, a valiant warrior of the Big Mom Pirates, Charlotte Daifuku-san!"

"Behehehehe~ As expected of Doffy! Well done! Nyeh, nyehh, you had us worried for nothing!"

"Young Master's fiancée? That means she's Young Master's Lady, oh~ hohohoho~"

"It's so good to have you back, Doffy!"

"..."

The family members cheered boisterously, speaking over each other.

"Alright, we're tired from the journey; we need some rest," Doflamingo gestured for Giolla to settle Daifuku and Smoothie, while he himself remained in place.

Once Giolla had led Daifuku and Smoothie away.

"How are things in Arinland? I've been gone so long, Peclo hasn't had any inappropriate thoughts, has he?" Doflamingo leaned back against the ship's railing.

Trebol swayed from side to side. "Behehehe~ Nyeh. nyehh, that bastard has been very well-behaved!"

"Good," Doflamingo mused for a moment, then said, "Next, I'll be raising funds for the Big Mom Pirates. That's one of the conditions for their support."

Diamante hesitated. "Doffy, if the Big Mom Pirates take all our earnings, how will we grow and expand?"

"No rush," Doflamingo waved his hand, interrupting Diamante, and chuckled, "That's what I wanted to tell you all! Fufufufu~ My plan is not to engage in any actual economic businesses, neither arms dealing nor commercial operations. No black market, no legitimate businesses! What we'll do is leverage the Big Mom Pirates' flag to swiftly weave a network of contacts across all industries worldwide, purely for me, then help them connect and earn brokerage commissions."

"Don't worry about the small gains."

"Smoothie is one of us, but Daifuku isn't. Be careful what you say; we have a long road ahead."

"..."

Doflamingo, out of caution, meticulously gave many instructions.

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