"Hehehehehe... May I join this banquet as well?"
Sage didn't make any move, but Teach was taken aback for a moment. Looking forward from his direction, he saw a man in a pink feather coat on the gangway, crouching there, licking his lips while looking down at the two Celestial Dragons tied up like dogs below.
"Oh! Celestial Yaksha!"
Teach's eyes widened, but then he thought of something and looked towards Sage, who had already started eating.
"Are you guys connected too?" Teach asked with a smile.
"It smells good, Marika."
Sage took a spoonful of the stew made from rare ingredients and nodded, "Let's have this again tomorrow; it's pretty good."
Marika smiled and nodded.
Not until Sage had finished the stew in his bowl and took a sip of wine did he slowly turn his head, "Never seen him before? Dofla..."
"Hehehehehe! Never seen him in person!"
Doflamingo's grin almost reached his ears as he looked at the terrified two Celestial Dragons, his head almost stretching to their faces, "Look, look! How panicked, how scared, and how lowly!"
"I've always wanted to see this scene; stored images aren't as good as seeing it with my own eyes. It's so wonderful, truly wonderful!"
He jumped down, bending over, staring straight at Rosward, "Regret it? Rosward?"
"You..." Rosward stared at Doflamingo angrily, "Is all this your doing?"
"How could it be? I'm not crazy to that point, just happened to know about this news."
Doflamingo grinned, "So, regret it? Afraid? Want to go back to the sky? Hehehehehe, hahahaha! This expression on your face is great, really looks like it, really looks like it!"
Just like when he wanted to go back in those days but was refused by those guys.
Now... everything has returned!
After a bout of insane laughter, Doflamingo straightened up, walked over to Sage, took the bottle next to him, and gulped it down.
"Sage, the World Government isn't that easy to deal with."
"What? Do Pirates not have to face it? The result is the same, why bother about it."
Sage shook his head with a smile, pointing at the pile of treasure still on the ground, "You came just in time, I'm running out of space to put my money, let's keep investing. Umit has 4 billion Belly of mine, I have another 14 billion cash on hand, and fifty chests of treasure, which convert to 2 billion for you, making a total of 20 billion Belly, does that work?"
"Hehehehehe, truly generous, this amount is so tempting for me."
Doflamingo walked over and kicked a barrel, then sat back down, "Alright, I'll have Umit take the money over."
"Hohohoho, as long as I can invest, that's good enough. Here, here, let's use this bottle!"
Sage pulled out another bottle of wine from the prepared crate, flicked off the cork with his thumb, clinked it with Doflamingo, and then raised it towards Teach, laughing, "Come on, partners, let's drink it all in one go!"
Doflamingo didn't hold back either, downing the remaining wine at once.
"Invading the New World from Mary Geoise, you really don't want to go down, I can understand."
The image recorded by the Radio Snail, from auctioning Celestial Dragons to the end, he also saw till the end, knowing what Sage demanded.
But he only assumed it was his unwillingness to sink, merely wanting to ascend arrogantly.
After all, going upward and going downward are still different.
"Oh? Is that what you think? Hahahaha, I just don't like diving ten thousand meters underwater. Dofla, after the war, I'll go to Dressrosa first, I need to borrow your place to make a ship."
"Hehehehehe, coming to my place? You're most welcome."
Doflamingo pulled out an Eternal Pose from within his cloak and placed it on the table, "The Eternal Pose to Dressrosa."
"Lily," Sage said.
Lily casually picked up the Eternal Pose, nodded.
"When is the execution?" Sage asked.
"Tomorrow at 10 in the morning," Doflamingo said with a sinister smile, "If you don't make the news, what would you do?"
"Hahahaha!"
Sage threw his head back and laughed, "Then let's give it a try!"
"Seems exciting, Zehahaha... hey, Sage, it looks like you have guests coming again."
Teach chuckled as he turned his head to look afar, "You really have a lot of guests, is this another partner?"
From the shadows cast by the bonfire, extended shadows resembled those of a gecko yet like a bat, the shadows gathered and revealed a fat otaku...
Moriah appeared with his long head wrapped in bandages, looking sullen and disgruntled.
"Now that you're here, don't hide, Moriah, I told you long ago, that Giant isn't enough to rely on, got taken down by the Straw Hat, right!"
Sage burst into laughter, "This guy isn't my partner; he's a subordinate I've reserved!"
"I haven't agreed to you yet, Sage!"
Moriah stepped out of the shadow, his face uncertain, but compared to when he was in the Devil's Triangle Sea Region, there was less confusion, though... more sadness.
Following him was only Hogback.
"Zehahaha, Shadow Mage, planning to join Sage? That's not a bad idea either."
Teach laughed, "It's a pity though, I was interested in you too!"
"Teach!" Moriah glared at him, "You have no right to speak to me like that, we're both Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
"Zehahahaha..." Teach's eyes rolled around, just laughing without saying anything.
"Still haven't made up your mind?"
Sage smiled, "Partners and all, unless you want to seek out the current Four Emperors? But they've been quiet for years, besides that, only I can fulfill your wish!"
"The times are changing, if you don't seize the opportunity to get on board, there won't be a chance anymore, Moriah!"
Moriah stood there with a gloomy face for a while, then said in a low voice, "I'm still one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
As long as he's one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, he could leverage the World Government's name to do what he wants, he still has a chance.
"Seven Warlords of the Sea, huh?"
Doflamingo chuckled softly, "Moriah oh, I originally didn't want to say it, but since my partner has done something to please me, I'll tell you... They want me to eliminate you, right after the war."
"What did you say?!" Moriah widened his eyes and looked over.
"Hehehehehe, don't you understand? You've indeed fought evenly with the Straw Hat in the Devil's Triangle Sea Region but disbanded your Zombie Legion in the end. The fact that you didn't defeat the Straw Hat, in their eyes, makes you a loser."
"You're already a defeated one, too weak. To prevent you from being defeated by your successors and further embarrassing the World Government, you are to be eliminated in the war... the title of Seven Warlords of the Sea, you no longer hold it."
"Damn it! Damn that World Government!"
Moriah's veins popped on his temples and neck, angrily stretching out both hands, "And that damn Straw Hat, and those damn ones whose shadows were taken, they should all die, they should all die!!"
Sage frowned slightly, glanced at the lone subordinate behind Moriah, and said, "Hey, what's up? Your boss seems to be emotionally unstable."
Hogback bowed his head, saying mournfully, "Absalom... is dead."
Absalom?
Sage was momentarily stunned, then suddenly understood.
"The one with invisibility, that freak created from patches? Who killed him? Straw Hat?"
"No!"
Moriah gritted his teeth, "It was those people who regained their shadows. I had already lost the will to fight, released those zombie shadows, but they attacked Absalom for revenge! By the time I reacted, he was beyond saving..."