Tsuru did not indulge him at all. After mocking him, she directly turned her head. "It's time to go!"
"Please wait a moment."
Faced with Tsuru's urging, Doflamingo appeared unhurried. He even turned his head and smiled at the still-wailing Teach behind him. "Then see you again at the public execution, Marshall D. Teach. I believe your public execution will definitely be even more lively than the King of the Pirates' back then."
With that, ignoring Teach's furious curses behind him, he followed behind Tsuru with a smile while slowly walking outward.
And after that... Doflamingo made no extra moves, merely walking leisurely with a smile.
Until he reached outside, as if he had not seen sunlight for a long time, at the moment he suddenly stepped out, Doflamingo closed his eyes, but quickly recovered.
Then he spread his arms and took a deep breath. "The smell of freedom, it's been a long time since I've smelled it. Tsuru-chan, do you smell it?"
"All I smell is something nauseating. A disgusting guy like you only deserves to sniff the stench in Impel Down!"
"Fufufufu, that's really a pity. Inside is extremely boring, and outside..."
These mocking words did not make Doflamingo care in the slightest. He looked at the sea in front of him with a smile. "... Seems to be getting more and more interesting."
His eyes flickered slightly, carrying a meaningful smile. "The new era has already arrived. I can feel it. The times are already smiling at me. I don't want to miss this new era!"
…
The time of the public execution was drawing closer and closer, yet Ian's side instead became more peaceful.
No, it would be more accurate to say that aside from the atmosphere being somewhat oppressive, the entire sea had been extremely calm these past few days.
Even the daily newspapers had become much more boring. Aside from slightly predicting the outcome of the Summit War and the fate of the Rocks' blood, everything else was just reports of some pirate crew attacking a marine warship, attacking an affiliated country, or attacking some island.
As for events that could affect the overall structure of the sea, there was not a single one reported in the newspapers.
And on the Umbrella Corporation's side... aside from Zephyr taking Ace and Binz out to wander around, everyone else continued doing whatever they were supposed to do.
Since the slave-catching incident ended, there were basically no forces in the West Blue that dared to provoke the Umbrella Corporation anymore, and even affiliated countries were the same.
Although affiliated countries paid protection fees to the World Government, when facing a behemoth like the Umbrella Corporation... Unless an Admiral personally stepped in, it would be useless, no matter how many other marines came.
As for actually having an Admiral come to help... Don't joke around.
With Umbrella Corporation's current strength, unless a full-scale war were initiated, even an Admiral would have to come with a dark expression to negotiate.
If you gave them a face, it would be fine, but if you didn't, who knew, maybe an Admiral would leave on the front foot, and on the back foot, someone would come to settle accounts.
You had to know, Umbrella Corporation... It was a force that dared to directly confront a Buster Call, seize Celestial Dragon slaves at the Sabaody Archipelago, and even release those Celestial Dragon slaves!
Although the World Government announced that all of this was done by the Straw Hat Pirates, the royal families of affiliated countries, especially those in the West Blue, knew more or less the truth.
Even the Marine Headquarters did not dare to lightly declare war on the Umbrella Corporation at this time!
So what did the face of a mere Admiral amount to?
Therefore, since that was the case, it was better not to provoke them. After all, Umbrella Corporation did not provoke them either; at most, they just entered and exited their seas.
It could be said that, just as the rumor on the sea, they are the King of the West Blue!
As for Grado's side... It was comparatively much busier.
Just as they had expected, not long after the Sabaody Archipelago incident ended, the North Blue's Hogen Family was wiped out.
It was said that a mysterious force acted in secret, killing every single member of the Hogen Family, not even sparing the family members of their cadres.
It's extremely tragic!
Although rumors across the sea claimed it was the work of a brutal pirate crew, those who knew understood clearly... Aside from those suit-wearing jackals under the World Government, there were probably no other forces that would handle things so cleanly.
In any case, Grado had not even made a move before the matter was over, and at that time, countless forces in the North Blue swarmed out, beginning to carve up the Hogen Family's territory and businesses.
As an outsider, Grado also took a share of the spoils, directly swallowing the Hogen Family's wine business in the North Blue.
It had to be said that, as an old-established underworld force in the North Blue, the Hogen Family could be considered the overlord of the North Blue wine industry, occupying most of the liquor market there.
Even Umbrella Corporation's famous wines were not as popular in the North Blue as the Hogen Family's wine.
But in terms of reputation across the sea... The Hogen Family was not on the same level as the Umbrella Corporation.
And as time passed and with black market hype, Umbrella Corporation's wine became more and more famous in the North Blue, gradually eating away at the Hogen Family's wine business there.
After hearing Gini talk about these things, Ian roughly understood why, despite clearly knowing the Umbrella Corporation's strength, the Hogen Family still dared to secretly provoke them.
In the end, it was all about business!
The Hogen Family probably hoped to use Gerd to gain the favor of a Celestial Dragon, and then, by relying on a Celestial Dragon, block Umbrella Corporation's wine business from encroaching on the North Blue.
But they never expected that in the end they would completely mess it up, even playing themselves into extinction.
And from then on, the Hogen Family's wine businesses, like the Brando Family's wine businesses at the West Blue back then, became a part of the Umbrella Corporation.