The Five Elders immediately passed their brief meeting with a high vote of distrust. They did not believe Donflamingo was truly coincidental!
Otherwise...
How could that guy know some of the inside information about the hunting game? Merely colluding with the Konoha Pirates, wanting to gain benefits from both sides!
"It's time to get rid of him..."
"Get rid of him once this incident is over..."
"The Konoha Pirates are more dangerous than the Hundred Beast Pirates, absolutely no one can be allowed to collude with the Konoha Pirates!"
The Five Elders' attitude towards the Konoha Pirates was resolute, which was also the intention of Lord Imu, absolutely not allowing uncontrollable forces to appear at sea!
Evidently...
The power of the Konoha Pirates has already spiraled out of control!
Gaya Island, Demon Valley Town.
This small town was unusually lively.
Because Bellamy, who was entrenched on this island, was defeated by a newcomer called Straw Hat Luffy, which attracted the attention of many pirates.
The Straw Hat Pirates suddenly became the new stars of Demon Valley Town.
However, the Straw Hat Pirates didn't care much about this; Straw Hat Luffy was merely here to retrieve the gold blocks that were taken by Bellamy, the owner of which was an uncle who would help them pirate up to Sky Island.
After leaving Alabasta, the Straw Hat Pirates gained a new member, Nico Robin. During their journey, they discovered a ship falling from the sky, out of curiosity about the sky island, they came to Gaya Island to gather information.
Obviously.
The pirates of Demon Valley Town had never seen any sky island.
However, the pirates here knew that sky islands exist in this world. After the Alabasta incident revealed the historical truth of human origins, everyone in the world knows there really are Sky People, and even Sky People evolved from land people.
Fortunately, an uncle who had been searching for the Land of Gold on Gaya Island understood some information about Sky Island and was willing to help them ascend to it.
This uncle's name was Montblanc Kurokite, a descendant of Montblanc Noland, a great liar from four hundred years ago who claimed to have found the Land of Gold on Gaya Island; he always firmly believed his ancestor was correct.
As a result, Montblanc Kurokite stayed on Gaya Island for a long time, just to find the Land of Gold, so he's very familiar with Gaya Island's weather: "Recently there will be an upwelling current, just let your pirate ship enter the upwelling current and you'll definitely be able to reach Sky Island..."
"Let's hope our luck is a bit better..."
Nami, the navigator on the ship, could only hope sorrowfully that no great danger would appear this time, and preferably it would be a thrilling but safe journey.
To fly up to Sky Island...
The danger of such an action is very high.
However, what the Straw Hat Pirates absolutely didn't expect was, while they were searching for ways to ascend Sky Island here, there were others also eager to ascend Sky Island.
For example...
The one wronged, Donflamingo.
Donflamingo himself merely wanted to come to Gaya Island to deal with the defeated Bellamy and his crew, but he was wrongfully accused of coming to Gaya Island to participate in the hunting game.
To clear his name...
To give an explanation to the Five Elders...
Donflamingo had to speed up his journey, desperately wanting to investigate the intelligence of the hunting game from the Demon Valley Town on Gaya Island.
However...
Bellamy, this small-time pirate was clearly useless.
After staying on Gaya Island for so long, he was completely unaware of the hunting game, and hadn't even discovered the traces of the Konoha Pirates.
"Truly a useless waste..."
Donflamingo sat in a bar in Demon Valley Town, looking at Bellamy before him, wishing to kill him on the spot: "Forget it, prepare something for me, accompany me to ascend Sky Island..."
Since it's about gathering intelligence...
Naturally, it's also necessary to ascend the sky island above Gaya Island.
Unable to gather any information here, Donflamingo naturally could only head to Sky Island to investigate intelligence, he could only use the String-String Fruit's ability to tie the clouds above for flight, since he didn't possess any flying capability.
However...
There are ways to ascend to Sky Island all over the world.
Places like Gaya Island surely have methods to ascend Sky Island.
"I..."
"I don't know how to ascend to Sky Island..."
Bellamy said with fear, lowering his head, being the local bully in Demon Valley Town, yet not knowing about this small matter, scared him to the point of trembling on his knees.
"Don't know?"
Donflamingo was so enraged he was almost speechless, he laughed instead: "Fufufufu... Then I don't know either, what meaning is there in keeping you alive in this world, Bellamy..."
"Straw Hat Luffy!"
"The Straw Hat crew is searching for ways to ascend Sky Island!"
Bellamy remembered when the Straw Hat Pirates first came to Demon Valley Town, they were looking for ways to ascend Sky Island: "They must have found a way to ascend Sky Island!"
"But I recall you lost to them..."
A shadow fell over Donflamingo's face as he began to teasingly question Bellamy with a silk thread emerging from his fingertip: "How are you going to make them reveal the way to ascend Sky Island? Fufufufu... Bellamy, would you kneel on the ground carrying Donquixote's flag begging them to tell you?"
"I... I won't lose again!"
Bellamy gritted his teeth to express his stance towards Donflamingo.
However, Donflamingo chuckled lightly, not believing him at all, merely raising his finger as a thread appeared on his fingertip!
"I no longer trust you... Bellamy..."