The special prison, the factory where the toys labored, the Underground Trade Port—all these things that couldn't be exposed were located below Dressrosa.
It appeared to be a complete island, but most of the land beneath it was hollow. Whatever else could be said about Pica and Diamante's Devil Fruit abilities, they were incredibly useful when it came to shaping terrain. With their powers, constructing the island became much easier.
This tournament was like dancing on the tip of a blade for him, but up until the start of the finals, Doflamingo believed everything was still within his control, and his goal was more or less achieved.
After his identity as a Shichibukai was reinstated, various forces that received the news began sending in large orders for weapons.
Even the identity of a Shichibukai could be falsely reported as if it was a joke. Perhaps in a few years, even a Buster Call would be misreported. It's getting too dangerous nowadays, so stocking up on weapons for self-defense is always a good thing.
Stockpiling food but not guns would just turn you into a giant delivery box.
These kinds of transactions could never see the light of day. No matter what, Doflamingo was still a Shichibukai. Such acts, disrupting the peace of the seas and engaging in rampant arms smuggling, are certainly not something that can be done openly.
Even though the arena was located directly above the factory, Doflamingo didn't think anything would go wrong. No matter how fierce the fighting got, it shouldn't be enough to break through the entire island.
If someone truly had that kind of power, they'd just crush everyone in the arena. No matter how hard they fought, it shouldn't cause this kind of destruction.
Yet he just had to run into Yamato and Redfield. If even one of them weren't here, things wouldn't have escalated to this point.
"No problem, no problem. These people can all fly, they shouldn't be interested in going below."
Doflamingo still tried to reassure himself, but he pulled out his Den Den Mushi and found Queen's contact. There were some things he wanted to confirm.
But no one picked up on the other end.
What Doflamingo didn't know was that Queen was inside the Reverse World testing his safe house. The Den Den Mushi's signal couldn't get through at all. Only Rotom could contact someone in the Reverse World, which was gradually being transformed by Arceus.
"What's the matter? Things aren't turning out the way you expected, are they, Doflamingo? Looks like your arrogance will be your downfall in the end."
Law, who was chained to a chair, slowly regained consciousness just in time to see Doflamingo's displeased expression.
"Law, this is no time for you to be happy. You'd better worry about yourself first."
Even if the situation below were discovered, the real trouble would just be to deal with the aftermath. As long as Sugar was fine, Doflamingo's operations wouldn't be too heavily affected. The toys couldn't resist or reveal the truth anyway.
Due to Sugar's Devil Fruit ability, anyone she turned into a toy had to work obediently. And since people would lose all memories of someone once they were transformed into a toy, Doflamingo did something else.
He implanted another belief in those who hadn't been turned into toys: that some toys had delusions of being human. It was a very complex illness, and any toy with this illness had to be destroyed.
Under this policy, many toys who tried to awaken the memories of their friends or loved ones were simply eliminated. That's where all those toy remains came from.
But Doflamingo's Den Den Mushi soon rang. Trebol's panicked voice came through, completely disrupting Doflamingo's plans.
"Doffy, bad news! Sugar…she lost consciousness!"
"?!"
Not long before, at the Corrida Colosseum. Just before the ground collapsed from her attack, Yamato had locked onto the fighting fish carrying the Devil Fruit chest and flew straight toward it.
She crushed the outer chest in one swift motion, and the Quake-Quake Fruit that had drawn countless people to Dressrosa appeared in her hand. Without even verifying whether the fruit was real or fake, Yamato stuffed it directly into the Island Cloud bag that Arceus had created using Secret Power.
Redfield didn't interfere when Yamato took the fruit. Without a doubt, Yamato had taken his previous attack head-on. Since that was the case, the duel's outcome meant he had lost.
He wasn't the type to go back on his word. He may not have gotten his hands on this interesting collectible, but the many interesting people present had been an unexpected reward.
"Very well, the fruit is now secured."
At that moment, Page One arrived beside Yamato with the others in tow. On his back, Ulti was glaring fiercely at Yamato, looking thoroughly enraged.
"Hey! If you're planning to pull something like that again, can you at least give us a warning first?! Do you know how frightening that was?!"
"With your speed, I was sure you could dodge it. Besides, that move takes a long time to charge, I really trust in your abilities."
"That's the kind of trust I don't want at all!"
"Agreed. This time, I'm with Ulti on this one."
At some point, Robin had also flown over. She didn't have the ability to fly herself, but the combat suit Queen had modified did. Lizzi hadn't joined her this time, instead staying behind for sniper training with Elizabeth, so the combat suit had become an essential part of Robin's mission gear.
"Ah, alright, I'll give you all a heads-up next time. Just make sure to remind me when the time comes."
"Who knows when you'll pull something like this again?! Can you not act like that idiot Kaido?! You really are father and daughter!"
At this moment, Ulti suddenly felt a bit hopeless about the future of the Beasts Pirates. It seemed that even with a new generation, their signature brute-force style wasn't going anywhere.
While they were relaxed, the others certainly didn't feel the same way. For Katakuri, it simply meant a failed mission, something that didn't really matter much given his status. Chinjao had failed to get revenge for now, but he could always seek a second chance.
But it was a different story for the people of Whitebeard Pirates.
"Damn it… Pops' fruit, just like that…"
They didn't give up just because obtaining the fruit meant the tournament was over, but because they clearly knew they were no match for her.
From the moment the fruit went into Yamato's bag, getting it back became unrealistic. At least in a head-on battle, they had no chance of winning, unless some outside force was willing to help.
"Don't be anxious, Ace. There's still a chance."
Marco tried to comfort Ace, though even he lacked confidence in what he was saying. Just then, Gatz, standing atop the precarious building, announced the final result.
"An earth-shaking battle! Oni Princess Yamato has claimed the Quake-Quake Fruit! The Corrida Colosseum tournament has officially come to a…wait! A new development?! Why are all these toys turning back into humans?! What in the world is going on?!"
Gatz suddenly saw that some of the toys who had remained in the Colosseum were beginning to increase in size and transform, eventually turning into living humans.
Meanwhile, deeper underground, a chorus of synchronized voices echoed through the space.
"GOD Usopp! GOD Buggy!"
TN: Hey guys, I've picked up a new One Piece novel. You can search it: One Piece: The Undying King.
****Please support on pat*eon for extra chapters; there is date to date subscription enabled on patreon. [There is a 7-day trial version availabe on patreon.]
https://www.pat*eon.com/dmtranslations
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my pa*reon.