After that day, Yamato often spent her time with Haruko on Jack's pirate ship. In just over a year, Jack had wiped out more than a dozen pirate crews, absorbing their survivors into their own ranks. Now, the total strength of the Beasts Pirates numbered over ten thousand men.
"The Whitebeard Pirates are making big moves too. They are expanding their fleet so much that Portgas D. Ace has already become a commander," Yamato said. She looked at the newspaper in her hand with a cigarette dangling from her mouth.
Jack let out a rough snort. "That is only because you let him go back then. Otherwise, he would be long dead by now."
Yamato lifted her eyelids slightly and blew out a puff of smoke. "Why be so bloodthirsty? You should have some bearing and magnanimity. The stronger the enemy is, the better. That way, when you finally surpass them, the sense of accomplishment is even greater."
"That is all nonsense. The stronger the enemy, the greater the threat they pose to us. There is no benefit to that whatsoever," Jack replied, completely disagreeing with her reasoning.
"Alright, talking to you is a waste of breath. I knew it was pointless to argue with you; a simpleton like you couldn't grasp anything complex anyway," Yamato sighed.
Haruko could understand Yamato's point, but she knew the truth of the situation. When Yamato said things like that, it sounded fine because of her strength. If anyone else tried to use that logic, it wouldn't hold water for a second.
"However, according to the established course of events, Whitebeard doesn't have much time left. I wonder if my teachings as his teacher actually had any effect?" Yamato thought as she rubbed her chin.
In another year, it would be time for the Marineford War to erupt, though it was still uncertain if it would happen exactly as before. If the war did happen, it would mean Yamato's teachings weren't very effective, or perhaps fate was simply hard to change.
"After all, it's not my own fate; the world doesn't revolve around my will. Changing the destiny of others wouldn't be easy," Yamato thought it over carefully and found it no longer strange.
"Lord Jack, there is a communication from Onigashima. It is Lord King!" at that moment, a subordinate approached them carrying a Transponder Snail.
Jack took the Transponder Snail and spoke into it. "Second Brother, what is the matter?"
"It is like this: Joker's Artificial Devil Fruits have been produced. Although the current quantity is limited, they are perfect to use as trial samples. You need to go to Dressrosa, liaise with Joker, and bring back that batch of Artificial Devil Fruit trial samples," King explained.
Hearing this, Jack was astonished. "They are already produced? The Artificial Devil Fruits?"
"Yes, that is what Joker says. But we will only know how effective his Artificial Devil Fruits truly are after we test them. That will help us set the price," King nodded.
"Alright, I understand. Leave it to me. I will complete the handover as soon as possible and bring back this batch of trial samples," Jack responded.
Then, Jack ordered the fleet to change course, heading for their new destination: Dressrosa.
"Dressrosa... that should be a World Government-affiliated nation, right? Why set the transaction location there? Won't they be discovered?" Haruko asked, looking puzzled.
Jack glanced at her. "You know Joker is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Donquixote Doflamingo. But there is another thing you don't know: he is also the King of Dressrosa."
"The King of Dressrosa?!" Haruko was shocked.
A great pirate who was also a Warlord had actually become the king of a World Government-affiliated nation. That was too outrageous. What was the World Government thinking, allowing such a thing to happen? With their intelligence capabilities, they couldn't possibly have failed to uncover the truth. A notorious pirate becoming the king of a nation was a scandal; such news would be a laughingstock if it ever got out. Wasn't the World Government afraid this would ruin their reputation?
"Could it be because of Joker's identity as a Celestial Dragon?" Haruko thought again and hit upon this point.
"Probably. Apart from that, I can't think of any other reason," Jack agreed.
At that moment, Yamato's voice chimed in, beginning to clear up their confusion. "Dressrosa was, long ago, the nation of the Donquixote family of the Celestial Dragons. Later, the Donquixote family moved to Mary Geoise, and Dressrosa got a new king. Doflamingo clearly knew this history, which is why he seized Dressrosa back and made himself king. It gives him a headquarters in the New World."
Hearing Yamato's explanation, both Haruko and Jack wore expressions of sudden realization. "So that is the reason."
No wonder Doflamingo could become the King of Dressrosa. Besides his identity as a Celestial Dragon, there was this even more important historical reason.
"Yamato, how do you know all this?" both Jack and Haruko asked, feeling very curious.
Such a secretive matter was not common knowledge. How could Yamato know? It was a bit unbelievable.
"Of course I learned it from books. Reading a lot has great benefits," Yamato chuckled.
"Nonsense. What book would write about such secrets? You really think you can fool people so easily, huh?" Jack snorted. If she didn't want to say, that was fine, but she had to make up such a flimsy excuse full of holes.
"Haha, Jack, you've gotten smarter. I knew I couldn't fool you," Yamato admitted directly.
Seeing Yamato's smiling face, Jack's eye twitched uncontrollably. He really felt like punching her.
Half a month passed quickly. Ahead of them, a huge island came into view. It looked like a yellowish-brown flower blooming from the sea, with its edges rising like ramparts.
"Dressrosa, we are finally here. The meeting place is on the east coast. Head over there now," Jack ordered.
"Yes, Lord Jack!" the crew immediately steered the pirate ship, heading towards the east coast of Dressrosa.
Meanwhile, at the east coast entrance of Dressrosa, a group of people had been waiting for some time. Clearly, these were Doflamingo's subordinates, waiting for Jack and his group to arrive.
"I see it! It's Jack's pirate ship!" a flying figure in the air reported to the people below. Clearly, this person was a Devil Fruit user.
Hearing the report, the people on the ground immediately stood up and looked out to sea. "They are here. It is definitely Jack. Everyone, be on your best behavior!"
The speaker was a bald old man wearing tight-fitting combat gear with a 'G' symbol on the front. His name was Lao G, one of Doflamingo's most trusted top executives.
"Yes, sir!" his subordinates all became serious.
The one coming was an important figure of the Beasts Pirates, a great pirate with a bounty of
1,000,000,000
Berries—Jack the Drought. No one dared to be negligent. Furthermore, this transaction was extremely important. Doflamingo had repeatedly emphasized that they must not break protocol or displease their trading partner.
"They are here," someone noted.
At that moment, the pirate ship docked. A group of people disembarked from the vessel. The burly Jack walked in front, followed by Yamato and the others. Soon, the two groups met on the shore.
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