Dressrosa.
All members of the Donquixote Pirates were gathered in the king's hall, looking at the statue in the center.
"Uwah... Senor Pink has turned to stone. This is troublesome."
Trebol spoke in his usual slimy tone, which sounded somewhat comical, but the anger contained within was completely unconcealed.
In fact, it wasn't just him. The other Donquixote Pirates were also very angry that one of their family members had been turned to stone on a simple outing.
You could say these unrelated members of the Donquixote Pirates were vicious and cruel, but you couldn't deny they truly saw each other as family not to be abandoned.
-Of course, this excludes the assassin using the alias 'Violet'.
This lady's true identity is the second daughter of the deposed King Riku, the former princess of this country, Viola.
Of course, given her current status, she couldn't enter the inner circle of the Donquixote Pirates, only doing assassin work within Trebol's group.
The scenes unfolding in the conference hall were now being watched by Viola using her Giro Giro no Mi's Ability. (T/N: Glare-Glare Fruit.)
Perhaps precisely because she ate this fruit, Doflamingo took her under his wing, as such a perfect scout wasn't common.
The Giro Giro no Mi not only allowed Viola to turn her tears into attacks as hard as steel but also let her read the thoughts of people in front of her… though only thoughts, not memories like Pudding, unless the person was guided to recall them.
Additionally, the Giro Giro no Mi granted Viola super long-distance observation ability with a 4000 km radius, a true 'clairvoyance'.
The drawback was it only showed images, unlike Observation Haki which could transmit sound.
But she had learned lip-reading, so she could barely reconstruct about seventy to eighty percent of what was said in the conference hall.
"Yeah, yeah, Senor Pink was petrified by that Pirate Empress Boa Hancock."
Baby-5 had a look of lingering fear, though in reality, she hadn't even truly faced Hancock.
In that battle, even Doflamingo hadn't lasted long.
"Young Master, how do we save Senor Pink? Do we move against the Pirate Empress?"
The trembling old man, Lao G inquired. The other family executives also calmed down, ready to hear Doflamingo's plan.
However, upon hearing this, Doflamingo's mouth twitched, and he couldn't speak for a moment.
Diamante, who had observed the entire fight, proactively shifted the topic to protect the Young Master's dignity.
"That woman is still a Warlord like the Young Master. We can't move against her."
'Even if we did, we'd need to be able to win...'
Diamante didn't say that part out loud.
In fact, it was hard for others to imagine.
Even though they were all Warlords, the actual combat power gap was so large.
Even possessing the 'Quality of a King', the Conqueror's Haki also had its levels.
Forget that Doflamingo was defeated by Garp and the Empress joining forces… Diamante had seen the earlier fight. Honestly, even in a one-on-one, their Young Master most likely wouldn't be that woman's match.
"Is that so!? Damn it, so frustrating."
The young fighting fish fish-man Dellinger, wearing high heels, stomped a large hole in the floor, gritting his teeth.
Executives like Gladius, Pica, and Buffalo also showed expressions of resentment.
"Fufufufufu-"
Suddenly, Doflamingo laughed, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
"Don't worry. Come out, Orochimaru."
After Doflamingo's words, a pale-skinned figure slowly emerged from the shadows behind him.
Several people present showed startled expressions.
They hadn't detected anyone hiding behind the Young Master at all.
But it wasn't too shocking. This was a conference room, and people generally didn't use Observation Haki to scan the entire area continuously.
"Young Master, who is he..."
Clearly, not all family members could accept a stranger suddenly appearing.
The explosive-permed art granny, Giolla somewhat disliked this visibly gloomy individual.
When Orochimaru's gaze swept over her, Giolla felt as if something slimy and cold had touched her body, making her uncomfortable.
"Don't be nervous. Orochimaru is now considered on the same boat as our Donquixote Family."
As he spoke, Doflamingo signaled for Orochimaru to take the deliberately left empty seat not far from him.
"Orochimaru is an excellent research scholar. Perhaps he has the ability to restore Senor Pink to normal."
This was, of course, Doflamingo's placating excuse.
In truth, the [Cursed Seals] Orochimaru implanted in them still existed. While they couldn't kill Doflamingo, he couldn't remove them from his body either.
To resolve the Cursed Seals, they still needed Orochimaru.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru, who had fled without permission from Totto Land, also needed Doflamingo's protection.
Big Mom's informants weren't exactly everywhere, but they covered most of the New World.
Without the protection of Doflamingo and, by extension, Kaido and the World Government, if Orochimaru left Dressrosa in the morning, his whereabouts would be reported back to Whole Cake Island by evening.
So, saying they were grasshoppers on the same string wasn't an exaggeration.
Both Doflamingo and Orochimaru didn't harbor strong malice towards each other.
On the contrary, both admired the other's ends-justify-the-means style.
Just as gentlemen have their way of interacting, so do ambitious men.
"Next, Orochimaru will go to Punk Hazard with Senor Pink. Caesar there will have ample data on [SMILE]. I hope it provides useful assistance for your research."
Researching Devil Fruits was also part of their deal. In return, Orochimaru would share his research on the so-called [Cursed Seals].
Doflamingo clearly had many other uses for this peculiar thing and hoped to popularize it.
Of course, this deal was based solely on verbal agreement, with no credit guarantee.
-For people like them, a written contract could be torn up anytime… it was meaningless.
After saying this, Doflamingo pointed at Diamante.
"Diamante will take you there."
Diamante, upon hearing this, didn't respond verbally.
After arranging Orochimaru's departure, Doflamingo inquired about the situation in Dressrosa during this period.
"Young Master, many Marine and World Government's spies have come again recently, but we dealt with them all."
"Hmm..."
Hearing this, Doflamingo nodded, then announced the meeting adjourned.
Everyone dispersed. Orochimaru, guided by a servant, went to his temporary residence first.
After almost everyone had left, Doflamingo began discussing serious matters with the remaining Trebol and Diamante.
These two were his most trusted lieutenants, loyal followers who had decided to follow him even when he was a child.
"You know about the Marines' news regarding Fire Fist Ace's execution. As a Warlord, I must also participate on-site."
As he said this, a vein throbbed on Doflamingo's forehead, clearly indicating his own reluctance to accept this condition.
But everything had a price.
The price for becoming a Warlord, for obtaining protection using the so-called secret of the Celestial Dragons' National Treasure, was this.
What other choice did he have?
The only thing he could do was be as careful as possible.
Doflamingo's intuition told him the scale of this public execution might be larger than imagined.
As a king, all he might achieve in such a situation was to protect himself as best he could.
"Young Master... about Senor Pink..."
Diamante spoke somewhat uncertainly.
He knew very well that Orochimaru didn't understand anything about Devil Fruits, and that was just an excuse.
"If I encounter the Pirate Empress, I'll find a way to negotiate with her. As for bargaining chips... Hmph, doesn't she have two sisters?"
Doflamingo wasn't afraid of so-called strong individuals because as long as they were human, they had weaknesses.
The more emotional a person was, the easier they were to manipulate.
"By the way, Trebol, where is Sugar?"
Doflamingo asked as if remembering something.
"She's still on the castle's top floor. Why?"
"While I'm away, keep an eye on that Orochimaru."
"If he makes any suspicious moves, lock him up and have Sugar turn him into a toy."
"Also, if Big Mom's people come asking for him, you can do the same."
Sugar, the Hobi Hobi no Mi User. (T/N: Hobby-Hobby Fruit.)
The Hobi Hobi no Mi was one of Doflamingo's trump cards.
Its most important effect was turning people into helpless toys. After being turned into a toy, everyone would forget any memory related to them, as if that person never existed.
The price was that she could only maintain the appearance she had when she ate the fruit. It was hard to imagine this seemingly ten-year-old loli was actually twenty-two years old.
In fact, it was precisely through Sugar's ability that Doflamingo eliminated so many unstable factors in Dressrosa.
Those secretly infiltrating Marines, pirates, remnants of the Riku's rules, even World Government's agents… as long as they touched upon his secrets, they were turned into toys, completely erased from everyone's memory.
Sugar's ability was just too useful.
Precisely because of this, she needed to be heavily protected.
Because if the ability user fell unconscious or died, the previous fruit effects would be canceled.
Doflamingo couldn't afford the cost of offending so many forces simultaneously.
As for Orochimaru… just turn him into a toy, and Big Mom would naturally have no reason to trouble him anymore.
Doflamingo touched the mark on his neck.
'This Cursed Seal was also very useful...'
Just off the top of his head, he could think of no less than ten ways to use the Cursed Seal to manipulate upper-class nobles.
For someone with strong willpower like Doflamingo, the Cursed Seal could hardly influence his thoughts, at most causing physical interference.
But for those ordinary kings... even Celestial Dragons, this thing was very effective.
Not fully understanding Imu and the true power of the Celestial Dragons, Doflamingo was audacious enough to target the Celestial Dragons.
He believed if the plan succeeded, he could even influence the World Government's actions.
'By then... Heh heh.'