New World, Pleasure District.
Stussy sat in her luxurious office, flipping through an urgent intelligence report.
Today, she wasn't wearing her usual charming and elegant white dress. Instead, she wore a black suit skirt, looking capable and mature. Her slender legs were clad in black peep-toe high heels with red soles, perfectly matching her professional outfit.
"So, you're telling me that little brat Doflamingo plundered one of our merchant caravans?"
Stussy furrowed her brows, lightly massaging her temple with slender fingers. The black nail polish on her nails gleamed with an intoxicating shine.
Before her, a subordinate dressed in a black suit knelt on one knee on the cold marble floor, head bowed respectfully.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"This isn't the first time this has happened. After the last incident, to prevent a repeat, we strengthened the merchant caravans' armed escorts in advance. But we didn't expect Doflamingo's strength to be far beyond our estimations."
"The person in charge of the caravan was killed before he could even send a distress call with a Den Den Mushi."
"Over three hundred members of the caravan were slaughtered, and more than five hundred million Belly worth of goods were looted."
"Damn it!"
Hearing this disastrous news, Stussy bit down on her silver teeth and couldn't help but curse under her breath.
A few months ago, a mysterious mafia force had stormed into the New World's underworld, using swift and brutal methods to continuously assault and seize the territories, resources, and influence of various major factions.
The ruthlessness and speed of their operations instantly intimidated many of the underground world's powers, big and small.
Stussy had been plagued by headaches over this matter for quite some time.
The New World's underworld was a tangled web of powers, where each "Underworld Emperor" commanded independent and mature industries and territories.
Though open and secret struggles between them were constant, they maintained relative peace on the surface.
After all, they were all in it for profit.
No one wanted to see one side dominate, so through mutual restraint, the giant pie of the New World's underworld had been divided up according to an unspoken agreement.
The mighty Underworld Emperors ate meat, while the gangs that served them or the independent dark organizations sipped soup.
For many years, this arrangement kept the peace.
This was the "rule" of the New World.
No one dared to casually break it.
Anyone who tried would spark a scramble for resources and power, a situation the Underworld Emperors were desperate to avoid.
Since no one had the overwhelming strength to unify everything, it was better to coexist and profit together.
Those who dared to disrupt the rules would quickly find themselves the target of universal hostility, hunted down and eliminated.
In the past, a few reckless fools had tried to break these "rules," but they rarely lasted more than a few days before their bodies were found floating at a port or rotting in some sewer, eventually sinking into the sea without a trace.
Their killers were either subordinates of the Underworld Emperors, underground bounty hunters and assassins... or sometimes even their own betrayed men.
But this time was different.
Because the leader of the rampaging crew was Doflamingo.
And Doflamingo's surname was... Donquixote.
A former Celestial Dragon.
Even though Doflamingo's status as a "Celestial Dragon" had been stripped by the Holy Land, the "most noble and sacred" blood still flowed through his veins.
Because of that, the Underworld Emperors were completely powerless against this newcomer who was running rampant across their territories!
"This is tricky..."
Stussy felt the situation growing increasingly difficult.
They couldn't take the initiative and could only passively defend... and the most terrifying part was, according to the latest intelligence, Doflamingo's strength was increasing at an alarming speed.
"Have you found any other information about Doflamingo?"
She pulled out a long, slender cigarette, lightly placed it between her red lips, and lit it. Her smoking movements were so graceful they seemed almost intoxicating.
Her subordinate replied,
"We've uncovered the specific roster of officers in the Donquixote Family. Every member is a strong Devil Fruit user."
"Doflamingo, a Paramecia-type Ito Ito no Mi user. He can turn his body into sharp threads, easily slicing a ship in half with a single strike. It's highly likely that he has also mastered Haki, and preliminary estimates suggest he may possess the ability to fly."
"Trebol, a family officer, is a Beta Beta no Mi user."
"Pica, a family officer, is an Ishi Ishi no Mi user..."
"No, I mean information beyond just their strength."
Stussy waved her hand to cut him off.
Doflamingo's identity made it impossible for her to act recklessly with force.
Since she couldn't attack him directly, she had to think of another way to specifically hinder Doflamingo's growth.
Otherwise, if he continued to grow at this rate, it wouldn't be long before the brat carved out a huge chunk of the underworld for himself!
Her subordinate hesitated for a moment before slowly saying,
"As for information beyond the Donquixote Family's combat strength, we haven't uncovered much yet... The family originated from one of the Four Seas—the North Blue. It's said they already ran rampant there long before they entered the Grand Line."
"Wait!"
Stussy's expression shifted slightly, her eyes locking sharply onto her subordinate.
"You're saying Doflamingo is from the North Blue!?"
The subordinate, somewhat puzzled by his queen's rare look of surprise, nodded and said,
"Yes. Before stepping into the Grand Line, the Donquixote Family rose to power in the North Blue."
"They rampaged through the North Blue without restraint, unifying the region's underworld forces. Their power there was so overwhelming that even the local Marines had no choice but to turn a blind eye."
At this point, a sneer curled at the corner of his lips.
"Everyone calls Rogers Daren the so-called 'King of the North Blue,' but from the looks of it, he's just an empty name. He couldn't even handle a single mafia family. It's all just reputation without substance."
Stussy ignored her subordinate's sarcasm.
Her mind, however, sank deep into thought.
Given what she knew of Daren, there was no way he would allow a pirate crew to run rampant and act arrogantly in his territory.
Which meant there were only two plausible explanations.
The first possibility was that Daren and Doflamingo had entered into a partnership.
But that was clearly unreasonable.
Stussy silently shook her head, immediately rejecting the idea.
Doflamingo's blatant arrogance and domineering personality made it obvious he would never willingly serve under someone else—especially with his Celestial Dragon lineage, which made him look down on everyone.
It was impossible for a former Celestial Dragon like him to lower himself and cooperate with a Marine as an equal.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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