"I'm really sorry."
Even though Cain was still holding his hand, Ace pressed Cain's head down along with his own and apologized to the two of them on both their behalf.
Then he said, "If it's a Log Pose you need, I have a spare. Consider it an apology gift for crashing into you."
As Ace spoke, he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a Log Pose.
The bag had been strapped to him earlier, so in a sense, it had counted as part of him.
Because of that, when he turned into flames, it had transformed along with his clothes, which was how it had avoided being destroyed.
Looking at the Log Pose Ace handed over, Baby-5 saw its shiny appearance and, in her eyes, it looked exactly like an engagement ring!
Her eyes instantly turned into hearts, and a bright blush bloomed across her cheeks.
She raised one foot, already about to rush over as she shouted, "Waaah—you're proposing to me? I accept! I'll marry you right now!"
"Stop messing around, Baby-5!"
The moment Buffalo saw her old habit flare up again, his soul nearly left his body.
He hurriedly grabbed the back of her collar and desperately dragged her back.
"We still have a mission! The Young Master is waiting for us, we don't have time to fool around here!"
After finally stopping Baby-5, who had been clamoring about getting married, Buffalo accepted the Log Pose from Ace.
He had just stuffed it into his pocket when a sudden pururururu rang out from inside.
Buffalo hurriedly pulled out a Den Den Mushi.
Fortunately, he had kept the thing in his pocket the whole time and had not lost it during the fall.
Otherwise, they would have completely lost contact with the Young Master.
Then he glanced at Cain and Ace, dragged Baby-5 a short distance away, and answered the call.
The instant the Den Den Mushi connected, a pair of distinctive markings like Doflamingo's glasses appeared on its face.
"Where are you now?"
Doflamingo's voice came from the other end, carrying a smile that somehow made people feel cold.
"According to the information sent by our informant, 'that person' has already returned to Marine Headquarters. However, the 'target' has also appeared."
"In a few days, there will be a pirate suppression operation. 'That person' won't be going along. The location is… That will be your best chance to act. Understand? Though even if you fail, it doesn't matter. Just come back safely."
"Yes, Young Master!"
Buffalo instantly composed himself and answered respectfully.
"We've already reached the Grand Line. We'll head to the location you mentioned right away!"
After hanging up, Buffalo walked back over to Cain and Ace.
He grinned, glanced at Cain still holding Ace's hand, and prepared to say goodbye.
"You two brothers sure are close."
Leaving behind those teasing words, he dragged Baby-5, who was still reluctantly looking back at Ace, activated the power of his Spin-Spin Fruit and flew into the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the two of them vanished beyond the horizon.
"Cain, seriously, can you maybe not be so reckless next time?"
Ace rubbed his aching wrist, which had been gripped painfully tight, and shot Cain an annoyed glance.
"Now that they're gone, you can let go of my hand, right?"
"Nope. Not happening."
Cain showed no intention of loosening his grip at all.
"I have to stop you here. Don't even think about running off to provoke Blackbeard."
CRACK—
A crisp shattering sound rang out.
Ace suddenly froze and glared at Cain.
"Wait. What did you just do?!"
"I didn't do anything. I've just been holding your hand the whole time."
Cain spread his hands with an innocent expression.
When he looked down, he finally noticed that the Log Pose on Ace's wrist had somehow been crushed to pieces in his grip!
"Ehe… Maybe I used too much strength?"
Ace's spare Log Pose had just been given away, and now his last one had been destroyed!
Perfect.
If Ace wanted to sail the sea now, forget finding Blackbeard. Whether he could even run into an island would depend entirely on his luck!
Looking at the shattered remains of the Log Pose, Cain could not stop the smug smile from curling at the corner of his mouth.
Now, even if he did not forcibly drag Ace back, Ace would not be able to run anywhere for the time being.
"YOU ABSOLUTELY DID THAT ON PURPOSE, DIDN'T YOU?!"
Ace was so angry he jumped in place, pointing at Cain's nose as he roared.
"It didn't break even when we fell from thousands of meters in the sky, but the moment it's in your hand, it breaks?! You dare say that wasn't deliberate?!"
"Hehe. Not at all, not at all. Pure accident. Just an accident."
Cain rubbed his nose, smiling like a sly fox.
But inwardly, he was thinking, 'Why did those two Doflamingo subordinates suddenly appear in this airspace? Did they really investigate something?'
...
Meanwhile, high in the sky, Buffalo glanced at Baby-5 and asked,
"Baby-5, you noticed it earlier too, right?"
"Yeah. Although he wasn't the 'target' we were looking for, he's definitely someone worth recruiting. After all, he's a Zoan Devil Fruit user," Baby-5 answered.
"Do you remember his name?"
"I think it was… Chad Cain."
....
More than twenty days earlier.
"Hey, Joker."
The Den Den Mushi imitated the fierce voice of Kaido, one of the Four Emperors of the New World.
His tone was filled with unquestionable pressure, making the receiver buzz.
"The goods I asked for won't have any problems, right? The Marines have been making quite a few moves lately… Punk Hazard. Caesar is on that island, isn't he?"
Fine beads of cold sweat seeped from Doflamingo's forehead.
Forcing down the tension and dread in his heart, he grinned at the Den Den Mushi, though his tone lacked some of its usual confidence.
"Kaido-san, I'm truly sorry. The quantity of this batch of goods may be somewhat lower than planned. My people are already thinking of ways to fish Caesar out. As for what happened this time… after all, the opponent was that legendary Marine Hero. By the time I received the news and rushed over, it was already too late. But please rest assured, I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer."
Facing a trading partner like Kaido, who filled him with both dread and headaches, even the usually arrogant and domineering Doflamingo rarely looked this constrained.
"Urp—"
A muffled grunt thick with the smell of alcohol came from the other end of the call. The displeasure in Kaido's tone almost seemed to spill straight through the Den Den Mushi.
"This matter can't just be brushed aside, Joker."
"I was thinking the same thing, Kaido-san."
Doflamingo's gaze fell on the newspaper lying at the corner of his desk from a few weeks earlier.
The corner of his mouth slowly curled into a sinister, cold smile.
The photo on the newspaper was clearly a selfie taken by Garp.
Behind him, collapsed on the ground in a Marine uniform, was Cain.
"We can't touch the Marine Hero for now, but the boy beside him should be one of that old bastard Garp's men, right?"
A trace of cruelty entered Doflamingo's voice.
"We can capture him and hand him over for you to deal with."
Monet, the secretary he had planted beside Caesar as a spy, had only just returned a few weeks ago to submit the goods list and surveillance report.
Then, right after that, Caesar had been captured.
Afterward, Doflamingo immediately contacted Vergo, the mole he had planted inside the Marines, and told him to deal with Caesar's situation.
Even if Vergo could not rescue him, he at least had to create an opportunity for Caesar to escape.
"Let's go with that for now."
Kaido's voice sounded again, carrying an order that allowed no refusal.
"Use your connections and get me a few real Zoan Devil Fruits. Or recruit a few Zoan ability users. Consider it your apology for this time."
The moment his words fell, the Den Den Mushi went completely silent.
The call had been cut off directly.
Doflamingo let out a long breath, his back already soaked with cold sweat.
Judging from Kaido's voice just now, he probably was drunk.... again.
Fortunately, he had not been in a state of furious rage.
Otherwise, the price Doflamingo would have had to pay would have been far more than a few Devil Fruits.
After pondering for a moment, a ruthless glint flashed through Doflamingo's eyes.
He immediately mobilized every connection he had in the underworld, frantically gathering every piece of information related to Zoan Devil Fruits.
...
Doflamingo had handed over all of his inventory to Kaido, but it was still far from enough.
Although Caesar had managed to escape thanks to the chaos Vergo had secretly created, the factory on Punk Hazard had now been completely cleared out by the Marines.
Producing those artificial Devil Fruits again in a short period of time would still require quite some time.
As for genuine Zoan Devil Fruits, there were still no leads at all.
The promise he had made to Kaido about capturing someone had now become nothing more than a temporary measure to keep Kaido stable.
Therefore, Doflamingo sent out Buffalo, who had aerial combat capabilities, and Baby-5, who could transform her body into all sorts of weapons, to take action.
Both of them possessed extremely strong aerial mobility.
Even if they failed, they could quickly escape.
As long as they launched a surprise attack while the target was off guard, capturing a rookie Marine should not be difficult.
The only problem was that Cain's figure in the newspaper was far too small, so his exact appearance could not be seen at all.
In the end, Doflamingo simply gave one order: kidnap the pink-haired boy beside Garp.
As a result, Buffalo and the others could only search using key clues like a Marine, pink hair, and someone who had been seen beside Garp.
....
The present.
Inside the training grounds of Marine Headquarters, the undercover agent Vergo blended into the crowd while dressed in a Marine uniform.
Officially, he was a member of the G-5 branch, and he was currently using his position to remain temporarily at headquarters.
His eyes were fixed on the "target" training on the field.
The "that person" Doflamingo had mentioned in the call referred to the Marine Hero, Garp.
And the so-called "target" referred to Cain, who had appeared beside Garp in the newspaper.
Unfortunately, Cain had long since left.
The information had also been sealed off, and the facts had already deviated from what they believed.
This was something Vergo did not know.
Just now, he had already passed the information he had gathered to Doflamingo.
Based on the important clues Doflamingo provided—pink hair, being beside Garp, and so on—he had already deduced exactly who the person they needed to capture in this plan was.
The disciple Garp had taken in.
A boy with pink hair.
---------
Read 30 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator