"A thousand?!"
Doflamingo's loud voice echoed through the conference hall, and every member of the Donquixote Family wore expressions of shock upon hearing it.
After all, this was a thousand Pirate heads—no small number.
Even if the Donquixote Family wanted to attack a major Pirate Crew in a short time, it would be impossible.
Although Dressrosa is a large country where many Pirates come to resupply, that doesn't mean there are many Pirates within Dressrosa itself.
At most, there are only two or three thousand Pirates, and most of them are not weak.
After all, these are Pirates who have made their way here from the Four Blues—the weaker ones have long been eliminated.
Moreover, although the Donquixote Family has grown rapidly, they have only accumulated about fifteen hundred combat personnel so far.
Raleigh's order essentially demanded that the Donquixote Family members risk their lives to fulfill it.
"No, I refuse!" Doflamingo rejected it without a second thought.
He was afraid of Raleigh taking action against him, but he had been free from Raleigh's control for a long time and believed that his status as a Seven Warlord of the Sea and a former Celestial Dragon would deter Raleigh from acting.
"If it were five hundred Pirate heads, our Donquixote Family could manage it."
Afraid of pushing Raleigh too far, Doflamingo softened his stance after the refusal.
"Hahahahahaha!"
The corners of Raleigh's mouth slowly curved into a smile, growing wider and wider.
His unrestrained laughter made the expressions of all the Donquixote Family members in the room turn grim.
Doflamingo also wore a look of discomfort.
After his laughter subsided, Raleigh looked at Doflamingo and said mockingly.
"What do you think you are? Just a filthy, evil Pirate! If you didn't have the status of a Seven Warlord of the Sea, I would have killed you long ago. You and your Donquixote Family have no right to bargain. If you can't do it, then I can consider that you have failed the task assigned to you by the World Government—the Donquixote Family is a useless family."
A mocking expression returned to Raleigh's face as he continued. "In this world, all power and dignity come from strength. If you're useless, then there's no need for you to live in this world. Trash should be swept into the dustbin."
Doflamingo's face flushed crimson, his eyes almost blazing with fire.
A surge of Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body, sweeping through the entire space.
Raleigh sat motionless in his office chair, not even bothering to lift an eyelid.
Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki might be oppressive to others, but Raleigh was someone who had clashed with Roger.
At present, no one could match Roger's mastery of Conqueror's Haki—not even the young Shanks.
"So you can't hold back when I call you useless? It seems you've made almost no progress over the years. It's one thing if your temper hasn't improved, but how come your strength hasn't grown either?"
Raleigh propped his legs up on the desk, seemingly unafraid that Doflamingo might attack him.
In fact, Doflamingo indeed didn't dare to make a move.
Although he had mentally overcome his fear of Raleigh, Raleigh was an Admiral.
The consequences of attacking an Admiral were something the Donquixote Family couldn't bear.
By then, his status as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea would certainly be lost.
Moreover, although Doflamingo hadn't encountered Raleigh in a long time and didn't know exactly how far Raleigh had progressed, based on his position as Admiral and his formidable past combat prowess, Raleigh could undoubtedly annihilate him in an instant.
"Can you be more lenient? Eight hundred pirate heads," Doflamingo said through gritted teeth.
Raleigh took out a nail clipper from his pocket and began trimming his nails, casually remarking.
"Originally, you had twenty-six hours left. Now, because of your foolishness, you only have twenty-five and a half. A friendly reminder: the less time you have, the more urgent your task becomes. So I advise you to either kill me or go kill a thousand pirates."
Raleigh was completely defenseless, as if he looked down on Doflamingo entirely.
"All members of the Donquixote Family, set out immediately and round up every pirate in the Kingdom of Dressrosa!"
Doflamingo's bloodshot eyes seemed ready to devour someone.
Suppressing the fury in his heart, he decided to launch the most ferocious attack on the pirates of Dressrosa.
Even if many of these pirates were his partners, there could be no exceptions.
When faced with survival, most people would abandon their companions without hesitation, all for their own sake.
If the Donquixote Family wanted to survive, they had to obey Raleigh's orders.
Otherwise, Raleigh could take action against the Donquixote Family.
Doflamingo considered contacting World Government officials, but he understood in his heart that underhanded tactics wouldn't work against Raleigh.
The World Government officials couldn't find fault with Raleigh in this matter because he was indeed acting according to regulations.
Moreover, if this matter escalated, it would only unite the Navy in pressuring the Seven Warlords of the Sea, demanding that they fulfill their duties.
As for the thousand pirate heads Raleigh mentioned, Doflamingo had figured it out after leaving—it was the number of pirate heads he owed from the years since he took over as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Relying on his former identity as a Celestial Dragon and his connections with World Government officials, he had often disregarded this, and no one in the Navy had seriously investigated the matter.
The newspaper Raleigh threw earlier, featuring Crocodile slaughtering pirates, made Doflamingo realize something.
Crocodile was no honest man either, and Doflamingo understood his ambitions.
It seemed Crocodile had also been threatened by Raleigh, otherwise, he would never have been so obedient.
Doflamingo took a deep breath.
He couldn't afford to give Raleigh any leverage now, or he would undoubtedly lose his position as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
He had no choice but to lead the Donquixote Family members to confront those pirates.
Fortunately, the Donquixote Family was strong, and with its executives, they could definitely accomplish this task.