"Is that the place?"
Looking at the massive island in the distance, a smile appeared on Perona's face as she said, "Dressrosa~"
"That's right, that's it."
As he spoke, Law carefully observed the coastline of Dressrosa. After confirming that no suspicious ships were in sight, he continued, "Let's go, we'll land at the shoreline."
"Doflamingo won't be waiting for us up ahead, will he?" Nami asked worriedly.
Doflamingo knew they were coming to Dressrosa, so... would he be lying in wait nearby?
If that were the case, they would be in serious danger.
"Most likely not," Law said. "After all, that guy knows the consequences of playing petty tricks."
He had specified that the trade would take place at Green Bit at three in the afternoon!
If the other party came looking for them early, he wouldn't hesitate to crush Caesar's heart!
He believed Doflamingo could figure that out as well, so there was a high probability he wouldn't resort to such small maneuvers.
"I definitely don't see anyone on the coastline," said Usopp, who was looking through his binoculars.
The moment the island came into view, he had picked up his binoculars to observe the situation, but he hadn't spotted any suspicious personnel.
"Even if there's no one on the shoreline, there will be people elsewhere," Meiser said calmly. "Don't take Doflamingo for a fool."
He didn't believe for a second that a guy like Doflamingo would leave his territory unguarded.
"Then let's use disguises when we go in," Nico Robin suggested.
The others nodded in agreement. They did indeed need to disguise themselves properly.
This would lower the probability of being discovered early.
Afterward, Kin'emon used his Devil Fruit ability to provide everyone with a transformation.
Subconsciously touching the beard on his face, Meiser said, "You can even conjure up beards?"
Wasn't this guy a Cloth-Cloth Fruit ability user?
How could he even make beards appear?
"This humble one's sorcery can indeed conjure decorations," Kin'emon said. "Things like beards, sunglasses, and jewelry can all be manifested."
This was why he had confidently accepted the task just now.
Meiser smiled and said, "Your ability is quite convenient."
In a sense, this guy's ability was perfect for infiltration.
"By the way, is this outfit alright?" Perona said, looking down at the clothes on her body. "Will it give us away?"
If the clothes didn't match the local fashion of Dressrosa, they would stand out far too much.
Upon hearing those words, Kin'emon's eyes suddenly lit up.
He gave a slight cough and said, "The attire of Dressrosa is indeed somewhat different from ours."
"Different?"
Seeing everyone turn their gaze toward him, beads of sweat appeared on Kin'emon's face, clearly showing his nervousness.
But for the sake of his own selfish desires, he braced himself and nodded. "Yes, different."
"In what way?"
"The men of Dressrosa prefer wearing things like suits," Kin'emon said. "Whereas the women need to be a bit more... un..."
THUD!
Without giving Kin'emon a chance to finish his nonsense, Nami slammed her fist into Kin'emon's head, immediately raising a large bump.
"Do you take us for fools!" Nami roared with a Shark Mouth, pointing at the drawing Kin'emon had pulled out. "How could there possibly be such a rule?!"
This guy's perverted thoughts were written all over his face, dammit!
"Ac... actually, it's true..."
THUD!
Punching the words back down Kin'emon's throat, Nami let out a dissatisfied huff, her eyes turning dangerous.
Her expression seemed to say: If you dare say something like that again, I don't mind sending you on your way early.
Seeing this, Kin'emon wisely chose to shut his mouth.
"Ah... so it was fake," Sanji said with a look of disappointment.
"What a shame," Brook added, equally dejected.
Nami: ??
What the hell was wrong with these two bastards?
Vroom~
In the next moment, several Negative Spirits appeared beside the two of them, instantly bringing them to their knees.
"I... I am just human scum..."
"As a mere collection of bones, I actually thought of such things. I'm sorry..."
"Hmph."
Seeing the two of them flattened, Perona snorted.
Sometimes you really couldn't blame Nami; these guys truly deserved a beating.
Then, Perona turned her gaze toward the others, her eyes seemingly asking: Do you guys want to see it too?
Meiser rolled his eyes at the sight. Only those three perverts would even voice such a thing.
Law's mouth twitched, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Seeing that the others weren't like Kin'emon and the other two, Perona showed a satisfied expression. As expected, the only scum were those three.
"Alright, since we're finished dressing up, let's get ashore quickly." Luffy looked toward the distant island with anticipation. "I wonder if there's any good food in Dressrosa~"
As he spoke, Luffy recalled what Doflamingo had said before.
The taste of that meat must... be delicious!
"Oh!"
"Leave it to me!" Merry shouted loudly.
With that, she activated her ability to create a gust of wind, pushing the pirate ship rapidly toward the distant island. They soon reached the target area and successfully docked.
"Ahahaha~"
After jumping off the ship, Luffy shouted happily, "We're finally here, Dressrosa!"
"This uncle is feeling SUPER great this week~"
Franky also jumped down and yelled, "The factory or whatever, watch me blow it to pieces!"
"Hey, don't go shouting and screaming," Usopp said nervously. "This is already enemy territory!"
But unfortunately, Luffy didn't care about such things at all, instead laughing happily.
Usopp: ...
So, are you guys actually taking this seriously or not?
"There's no need to be so nervous," Zoro said, walking up to Usopp. "If they can really hear us from here, it means there are already enemies nearby, and we wouldn't have been able to sneak in silently anyway."
So shouting a few times didn't really matter.
"That might be true, but..." Usopp said, pained. "This is the enemy's headquarters, after all."
If possible, he really didn't want to have a direct confrontation with a guy like Doflamingo.
After all... it was just too dangerous.
"What's the point of saying that now?" Sanji said from the side, nursing a head full of bumps. "Just get down here quietly."
Even if they were afraid, they had to see this plan through to the end!
Usopp understood this logic, so after letting out a sigh, he followed them onto the shore as if accepting his fate.
"Anyway..." Luffy turned to look at his companions and said, "We need to sneak into the town first, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Law said, "But whatever you do, don't be careless, understood?!"
"Once the plan to destroy the factory fails, everything else goes down the drain."
"Oh!"
"Got it!"
Looking at Luffy, who was grinning at him, Law fell silent.
Does he really know?
"Don't worry, we'll destroy the factory," Franky said.
Although they didn't know where the factory was yet, as long as they could find its location, they could tear it down!
Seeing that even Franky said so, Law temporarily suppressed the nagging thoughts in his mind.
No matter what, he had no other choice now, so he could only trust the Straw Hat Crew.
Then, he turned to look at Nami and said, "Nami-ya, if something unexpected happens on our end, you guys head to Zou ahead of us."
"Something unexpected?"
Nami's expression changed instantly. Could it be that something extremely dangerous was going to happen this time?
That was definitely not good news.
Usopp's face also turned pale as he asked, "What kind of unexpected event are you talking about?"
"Who knows."
Usopp: ??
What kind of answer is that?
"The opponent is Doflamingo, after all. He won't just do nothing," Law said. "So we need to be on high alert."
Nami bit her lip, becoming a bit nervous as well.
If possible... she hoped no accidents would occur.
Usopp had a pained expression; if possible, he also hoped everything would go smoothly.
Law didn't pay much attention to their reactions. He had said what needed to be said; whether they acted on it was up to them.
Then, he reached down and pulled out a map, spreading it out on the ground.
"What's this?" Luffy asked curiously.
"This is a map drawn by my companion."
"A map?"
Hearing the word "map," Nami leaned over to take a look, then made a disgusted face. "This is drawn so poorly..."
It only showed the rough outline of the island without any details... no, that wasn't entirely true.
Staring at the drawing more closely, Nami muttered to herself, "At least the outline of the coastline is drawn."
But in her eyes, this kind of drawing was a completely substandard map!
"Being able to draw it like this is already quite impressive," Law explained helplessly. "Don't forget, this is the enemy's headquarters."
Even this much had been drawn by his companion while risking discovery.
Since Law put it that way, Nami suppressed her disgust for the moment.
True, this is the enemy's headquarters, Nami thought.
So there was no point being picky; they'd just have to make do.
"This is our current location."
Law pointed to a spot and said, "Located on the west coast of Dressrosa."
"Doflamingo's palace is located in the exact center of Dressrosa, right here."
After saying that, Law paused before continuing, "And our target for this mission, the SMILE manufacturing factory, is somewhere on this island."
"Time is limited, so your destruction team must act fast."
Meiser, who was crouching in front of Law staring at the map, subconsciously rubbed his chin.
He felt like Law's map was practically useless.
But since this was something the other man's companion had risked their life to draw, he couldn't say much.
"What about us?" Usopp asked.
"The team responsible for escorting Caesar needs to cross Dressrosa and take the long bridge extending to the north."
Law pointed to a drawing that looked like a bridge and said, "From here, we can reach Green Bit."
And that was the mission objective for their escort team!
"Why do we have to go through Dressrosa?" Usopp asked, confused. "Can't we just take the ship there?"
Crossing through someone else's headquarters was a very dangerous thing to do.
"I'd like to just take the ship too, but that place is inaccessible by boat," Law explained. "So we have to go through Dressrosa."
That was also what his companion had told him.
Usopp fell silent. Inaccessible by boat?
In other words, they had to cross the extremely dangerous Dressrosa to reach their destination?
Thinking of this, Usopp became nervous. They wouldn't be intercepted by Doflamingo on the way, would they?!
Meanwhile, a smile appeared on Nico Robin's face as she said, "My, my~"
"Now I'm actually looking forward to it~"
An infiltration mission?
Come to think of it, she hadn't been on an operation like this in a long time~
Thinking of this, Nico Robin's smile widened.
"Um..."
Caesar, standing to the side, gave a slight cough and said, "Please, you must ensure my safety."
He didn't want to be killed by these guys before Doflamingo could get him back.
"Don't worry."
Law glanced at Caesar and said, "You are our important bargaining chip. We won't let you be killed prematurely."
Caesar: ??
As soon as those words were spoken, several question marks appeared over Caesar's head.
"What do you mean 'won't be killed prematurely,' hey!"
Did that mean he was still going to be killed eventually?
The thought made Caesar's hair stand on end.
"Who knows," Law said flatly.
Clearly, he had no intention of explaining further to Caesar.
Caesar: ...
Explain yourself, you bastard!
Seeing that Caesar was about to start another fuss, Nami backhanded a punch right into Caesar's face, knocking him flat.
"Shut up!"
"I wasn't saying anything!"
Caesar lay on the ground, tears streaming down his face. What was going on?
Joker, hurry up and save me... Caesar cried out in his heart. I really can't stand these bastards anymore!
"Hey, Nami, don't kill him," Usopp said nervously.
If this guy were killed early, they would have no bargaining chip left to trade with Doflamingo.
When that time came... what awaited them would be Doflamingo's insane pursuit!
"Don't worry, I know how hard to hit," Nami said.
It was just a simple punch; it wouldn't kill him.
Seeing Nami say that, Usopp couldn't say anything more.
"Damn it, you just wait!" Caesar muttered under his breath. "When I..."
"Hmm?"
Hearing Caesar's voice, Nami immediately flashed a "kind" smile and asked, "What did you say?"
"N-nothing."
THUD!
"IT... IT HURTS!!"