[I've taken Caesar. Since Mr. Luffy has chosen to defeat Doflamingo himself, I won't interfere. However, as a small apology for taking Caesar, I feel I should inform you all... Doflamingo is on his way here. So... if you don't want to run into him, you'd best leave quickly.]
The group exchanged glances. Law looked up at the heavy, gray sky, his expression just as grim as the clouds overhead. He held a clenched fist for a long moment before slowly relaxing it. He turned to Luffy. "Straw Hat-ya, whether what that guy said is true or not, we need to get to Dressrosa as fast as we can."
"Yeah," Luffy said, tipping his hat down with a serious nod.
Without another moment's delay, the group departed from Punk Hazard, setting a course for Dressrosa.
Not long after they left, the ground where they had been standing stirred. A hole the size of a fist opened in the ice and snow, and swamp bubbled up, coalescing into a human form.
Wilder watched the direction they had gone, a smirk playing on his lips. "It's almost time..." he murmured to himself. "Things are about to get interesting."
"Time to go back and deploy the troops."
With that, Wilder's body dissolved back into swamp and sank beneath the ground.
Silence returned to the area. Aside from the ruined corridor, which stood as a testament to the battle that had just occurred, it was as if Wilder had never been there. Not a single trace of swamp remained on the ground.
A quiet calm settled over Morass. The island's citizens went about their daily lives, completely unaware of the internal changes and military deployments their leader had set in motion.
Back in his palace, Wilder sat on a sofa, a faint smile on his face as he sipped from a glass of fine wine.
On the table before him, a Den Den Mushi was in the middle of a call, its purupurupuru ringing incessantly.
Finally, with a click, the call connected. Dana's voice, full of mature charm, came through. "Boss."
"How are things progressing?" Wilder asked, getting straight to the point. He crossed one leg over the other, his expression placid as he watched the Den Den Mushi mimic Dana's features.
"Yes, Boss. I just finished organizing the last batch of files and was about to report to you when you called. We've finished gathering all the intel on Doflamingo's enterprises."
"We've also mapped out the entire network of underground buyers and sellers who have dealings with him."
Wilder was pleased with her answer, but also a little surprised by the efficiency of Dana and Kaneshiro. "So quickly? Excellent."
It had been less than two days since he had given them the order.
While they had been working on this task before, the information they could gather had been limited. Wilder hadn't provided them with significant support. But now, with the official establishment of the Lurking Serpent Department, intelligence gathering had become much easier and more systematic.
Still, to complete the assignment in just two days showed an exceptional level of competence.
I suppose it's to be expected, Wilder thought. Dana did grow up in the world of intelligence, after all.
"We wouldn't have been this fast on our own," Dana said with a hint of modesty, though her tone held a quiet joy at his praise. "A large part of it was due to the information we had already accumulated, as well as intel provided by the Monitoring Unit. Pooling all of that, plus the fact that the personnel you assigned to the Lurking Serpent Department are all top-tier professionals, is what made this efficiency possible."
"Mm," Wilder nodded, his tone growing serious. "Give me the details. The distribution of Doflamingo's businesses and his connections to the underworld."
Hearing the shift in his voice, Dana composed herself and began her report. "Yes, Boss."
"Aside from his main base of operations in Dressrosa—the artificial Devil Fruit factory, armories, and so on—Doflamingo's businesses in the New World, under his 'Joker' persona, are primarily focused on two channels: the slave trade and arms dealing."
"Beyond those, he has various other channels of different sizes, including the acquisition and sale of Devil Fruits, trade in rare treasures and exotic animals, and auction houses."
"The locations?" Wilder took a miniature Den Den Mushi from his pocket. This one was specifically for recording. It would capture everything Dana said, which he would then use to issue orders to his subordinates.
"There's an auction house on Rosapeth Island, an armory on Chichigor Island, and a slave trading post and another auction house in Manswei."
"The Koriusu Kingdom has one slave trading post, one arms depot, and one auction house."
"In Binsgrey, there is..."
"In Hasadi, there is..."
As Dana continued to list Doflamingo's operations scattered across the New World, the miniature Den Den Mushi recorded her every word.
Wilder's face remained calm, but inwardly, he grew more and more shocked, his expression turning grave.
The sheer scale of Doflamingo's empire was staggering. But that wasn't the most terrifying part. The most terrifying part was the vast, intricate underground network he had built around himself.
It was a delicate web; pulling a single thread could unravel the whole thing.
"Claire, assemble everyone for a meeting!" As soon as he ended the call with Dana, Wilder issued the order.
"Yes, sir."
Before long, the main hall of the palace was filled with Vice and the other key leaders and high-ranking officers of Morass.
"General Kuchiel, you will be in charge of transporting personnel and weapons. All the locations are listed here. Everyone, take a look." Wilder had transcribed the contents of the recording, printed dozens of copies, and distributed them.
General Kuchiel scanned the document, his brow immediately furrowing.
As the commander of the Transport Unit, he was responsible for moving supplies and personnel, which naturally involved a degree of intelligence work. The information on the page shocked him.
The numbers were enormous.
He looked up at Wilder, his eyes wide. "Your Majesty, if we are to send men and materials to all of these locations, we'll have to do it piecemeal. Otherwise, the commotion will surely alert Big Mom."
Wilder had already considered this. But time was short. They couldn't afford to move slowly. His plan was for Kuchiel's Transport Unit to land advance parties at the destinations, where they would then lie in wait. And they had only one day to do it.
To deploy troops to so many scattered locations in a single day was clearly impossible, let alone doing so without being detected by enemy spies.
"Now is not the time to go to war with Big Mom, so we absolutely cannot be discovered," Wilder said, his gaze sweeping over his subordinates before settling on Kuchiel.
"For now, arrange for the transport of personnel and supplies to the nearest few locations. They are to wait for the signal to act. The closest locations shouldn't be too difficult, right?" Wilder stared at Kuchiel.
That last question was a clear test of his ability. If the answer was no, Wilder would have to consider replacing him.
Kuchiel understood this perfectly. Wilder's revised order was a relief; this was something he could manage. "Rest assured, Your Majesty," he replied solemnly. "If it's just the nearest locations, I can have it done within half a day, without alerting Big Mom."
"Very good," Wilder nodded. He then looked to the others, his eyes finally landing on Vice. "Vice, Sherilmo, Bacon, Bica."
"Sir!" The four of them stepped forward.
"You will lead your respective battle units to the most distant locations."
"Uh..." Vice's face fell. He looked at Wilder, troubled. "Boss... how are we supposed to do that? If Kuchiel can't manage it, what makes you think we can? We'd be even more likely to get spotted."
The others, though silent, agreed. It made more sense to send Kuchiel than Vice's group. When it came to speed of deployment, the head of the Transport Unit was naturally the expert.
"I'll have the big guy take you there, underwater," Wilder said, a knowing smile on his face. The "big guy" he was referring to was the Giant Serpent.
"..."
Vice and the others stared blankly.
"Holy... crap!"
Everyone in the hall was stunned. They stared at Wilder, who remained perfectly calm, wondering if they had heard him correctly.
"Boss, you're not joking, are you? Have that big guy take us? Okay! Even if we ignore his attitude toward us and assume he'll actually do it... wouldn't a creature that massive be even easier to spot? And... how would he even carry us? I mean, if he pulled our ships... well, we've never tried it, but I'm sure it'd be fast. But speed is one thing; wouldn't that just be a giant beacon for the whole world to see?"
Vice's words earned him nods of agreement from the others.
"No," Wilder said, looking at Vice calmly. "My plan is for you to enter the big guy's body. He will travel underwater. At the speeds he can reach in the ocean, half a day... will be more than enough to deliver you to your respective destinations."
"..."
The hall fell into a dead silence. Everyone was utterly dumbfounded.
"Holy crap!"
Ten minutes later, in a deserted area outside the capital, a batch of supplies, personnel, and several small ships had been swallowed whole by the Giant Serpent, whose colossal form seemed to pierce the very heavens.
Vice and the others stood on the deck of one of the ships. As a precaution, the vessel had been coated, but even so, everyone, including high-ranking officers like Vice and Bica, was in a state of disbelief. Being inside the Giant Serpent, staring at the dark red, fleshy walls that resembled the interior of a massive castle, sent a chill of fear down their spines.
"Gulp..." Swallowing hard, Vice looked from the castle-like walls of flesh to Bica, Bacon, and Sherilmo beside him. "Do you guys... think we'll make it out of here alive?" he whispered.
The three of them were silent.
"Didn't you notice we were actively avoiding that topic? Why did you have to bring it up?" Bacon stared at Vice with his lifeless eyes, wavy tears streaming down his cheeks.
Seeing their leaders' reactions and hearing their morbid words, the other soldiers, who had been clinging to the belief that "we'll be fine with the officers here," felt a shadow of doom fall over them. They huddled together in a corner of the deck, burying their heads between their knees.
Regardless, the mission had begun.
The Giant Serpent dove into the sea. Underwater, its speed seemed to reach another level entirely. It shot through the depths like a black bolt of lightning, startling countless sea creatures along the way.
"Amazing! This is insane!" Although they couldn't see outside, Vice and the others could feel the powerful "push" from the incredible speed. Their eyes widened in astonishment, their initial fear replaced by a sense of awe. "I have to admit, this is impressive," Vice praised.
Bica, the most level-headed of the four, stared straight ahead at the wall of flesh, though it was unclear what he was seeing. "This speed... I think only His Majesty, Wilder, could match it."
"Yeah," the others agreed silently. While they could all achieve lightning-fast bursts of speed in combat, they couldn't maintain that kind of velocity for travel.
And more importantly... even if they could, they would still be slower than the Giant Serpent.
It sounded contradictory, but it was true. It was like walking: an adult and a child might take steps at the same frequency, but the distance covered by each step is vastly different.
By the same logic, a single thrust from the Giant Serpent's massive body was equivalent to hundreds of their own bursts of speed. Unless they could truly surpass its speed, and by a significant margin, they would never be able to keep up.
While the Giant Serpent sped through the ocean, Kuchiel and his men in Morass were also heading toward their assigned destinations. In fact, nearly all the high-ranking officers were on the move, with only Claire and two others remaining behind to guard the nation.
With all his deployments underway, Wilder finally had time to deal with Caesar.
In the grand hall of the palace, Wilder sat on his throne, a broad smile on his face as he looked down at Caesar, who stood below with his head bowed, cold sweat dripping from his brow.
"What are you so afraid of?"
"Eh...! N-no, not at all," Caesar stammered, shaking his head frantically. He certainly wasn't about to admit that he was terrified of having just escaped the wolf's den only to land in the tiger's lair.
And besides...
Caesar looked up at Wilder, his eyes welling with tears. "Could... could you please not squeeze my heart while you're talking to me?"
"Nyahahaha! My apologies. I find this heart quite amusing, so I've just been holding onto it. Ah, thank you for reminding me, Caesar." Wilder laughed theatrically, as if he had only just noticed. Then, just as quickly, his smile vanished. He leaned forward, looking down at Caesar.
"You will work for me. Right, Caesar?"