Rendezvous

Dressrosa’s Royal City.

Guided by Sugar’s toy army, which covered all of Dressrosa, Monet had no chance of escaping. Of course, as one of Doflamingo’s most fanatically loyal subordinates, Monet had no intention of running away in the first place.

The moment Yota entered the Royal City, Monet, transformed into a raging blizzard, charged at him.

Then…

"Kotoamatsukami!"

A few hours later, Queen, Ulti, and Page One had all arrived at Dressrosa’s Royal City at Yota’s summons.

"Captain, I caught two of Doflamingo’s subordinates too."

Queen grinned as he carried Buffalo and Baby 5, both tightly bound. "These two little ones were even planning to treat me to a feast. I gave them a little of my special anesthetic, and they both went down."

In terms of strength, Doflamingo himself was the only one in the entire Donquixote Family who could put up a fight against Queen. People like Buffalo and Baby 5 would be no match for Queen even in a fair fight.

But given Queen’s personality, it would have been stranger if he fought fairly. For him, the easiest method was naturally the best one.

Poor little things. How could they have imagined that a Great Pirate as famous as Queen would use poison against them? Naturally, they had been captured with ease.

"Damn it, let us go!" Baby 5 snarled through gritted teeth after waking from the anesthetic. Buffalo swept his gaze over their surroundings, his face turning pale.

He had already recognized this place as Dressrosa’s Royal City. The enemy had reached the Royal City itself—Buffalo did not dare imagine what had happened to the other members of the Donquixote Family.

Yota could not be bothered with them. He shot them both a glare, activated Kotoamatsukami, and they immediately quieted down.

Seeing Yota’s move, Queen’s eyes held a faint trace of fear. This kind of ability that could completely control and brainwash others was far more terrifying than straightforward destructive power.

That was precisely why Yota had never used this ability while he was with Ace and Yamato, or during his time with the Whitebeard Pirates. Given their personalities, they probably would not have cared much, but the human heart was not something that should be tested.

As for Queen and the others, it did not matter—people like them feared power but did not value virtue. The stronger, more forceful, and more frightening you appeared, the less they dared betray you.

"Captain, you really took control of Dressrosa in such a short time?" Seeing that the atmosphere had grown somewhat heavy, Page One spoke up.

Yota shook his head and raised a hand. Dark Space unfolded, and soon Doflamingo’s group was released.

"Master!"

The group lowered their heads as they addressed Yota, their faces filled with respect.

Only then did Yota speak leisurely. "Dressrosa itself means little to me… What is truly useful is the Donquixote Family’s status as Dark King."

Dressrosa appeared prosperous, but most of that prosperity had been driven by Doflamingo’s underworld dealings. Otherwise, while the island had its own distinctive features, it could never have become this wealthy.

Besides, Yota had no need for territory. How could being a king compare to being a Great Pirate? He would not need to manage anything, yet with enough strength, he could still enjoy immense power.

And if he was going to be a pirate, Doflamingo’s underground operations would naturally be of much greater help to him.

Seeing the Donquixote Family acting so respectfully, Queen and the others immediately felt a huge sense of danger hanging over their heads.

If this lord valued Doflamingo’s group of subordinates more, then their positions would be in jeopardy.

Even more worrying was the possibility that he might think this method of controlling others was quite useful and decide to give each of the three of them a Kotoamatsukami.

After all… even if the three of them claimed they were loyal, someone had to believe it.

Did you believe them? They certainly did not believe themselves.

Especially Queen. If Ulti and Page One still had some loyalty toward Yota, then Queen had essentially sought shelter under Yota’s strength only because he had nowhere else to go.

"Queen!" Yota frowned as he looked at the absent-minded Queen and called out to him several times.

"Ah!? Sir, what are your orders?" Queen snapped back to attention, a fawning smile appearing on his face.

"I have something for you to do. You know Caesar, right?"

"Caesar? That idiot who does nothing but brag and has no idea of his own limits?" Queen thought for a moment, then spoke with disdain.

"Hmm?!" Yota had heard that Queen, Caesar, and Vinsmoke Judge had all once joined Vegapunk’s laboratory.

But it seemed Queen did not think highly of Caesar at all.

Noticing Yota’s gaze, Queen said, "Sir, you know that all of us once worked in Vegapunk’s laboratory. Among us, I specialized in machinery and viruses. Vinsmoke Judge specialized in the heredity of Lineage Factor. As for that Caesar fellow…"

"What he is best at is imitation, and the inferior kind at that!"

"Most importantly, with his trash-level skills, he actually wanted to compete with Vegapunk!"

Hmm…

After hearing Queen’s words, Yota was somewhat speechless as well.

Yota had long since examined the artificial Devil Fruits Caesar made.

Setting aside their astonishingly high failure rate, even the successful subjects had a ninety-percent chance of turning into bizarre freaks.

Then there was the effect of the Mythical Zoan-type Artificial Azure Dragon Fruit Vegapunk had created decades ago…

Comparing himself to Vegapunk? That guy was ugly, but he sure dreamed big!

"Caesar is currently at Punk Hazard, where we were originally headed. I’ll leave him to you. Can you handle it?"

"Oh, and he must be captured alive. There’s also a prototype artificial Devil Fruit made by Vegapunk there. Bring that back for me as well. Once you complete these tasks, you can go to Punk Hazard and conduct research for me."

Hearing Yota’s orders, Queen nodded, a flicker of delight passing over his face.

Queen was rather conflicted now. On one hand, he felt it was best to stay as far away from someone as dangerous as Yota as possible. On the other hand, without Yota’s protection, his former employers, the Marines, and all the people he had offended might tear him to pieces.

Hearing that he could leave Yota while still using his reputation for protection was undoubtedly the best possible choice for Queen.