Rip!
On the ship, Señor crumpled his empty cigarette pack into a ball and tossed it into the sea.
Lost in thought, he suddenly heard a voice beside him.
"Try one of mine. Want a smoke?"
Señor froze, then looked down to see the kid he'd brought to the Donquixote Family.
He instinctively took the cigarette Abel offered, then stared in astonishment as the boy lit it with the practiced ease of a seasoned smoker, puffing out clouds of smoke.
"What's wrong? No lighter? Here, take mine, but remember to return it later. I'll share even the most expensive cigarettes, but never my lighter."
Abel's gaze was firm—this was a matter of principle!
"Kids shouldn't be smoking."
Hiss!
Señor averted his gaze, his eyes half-closed as he savored the unfamiliar flavor.
"What brand is this? I've never seen it before."
"N95 Filter Cigarette. It's a small brand, so it's not surprising you haven't heard of it. They're probably discontinued now, so they'll be hard to find in the future."
Señor nodded with a hint of regret. "That's a shame."
The two leaned against the ship's railing, letting the sea breeze wash over them.
After a moment, Señor suddenly spoke up. "You have a real talent for swordsmanship. That Flying Slash... it's incredibly powerful."
"It's alright. You just get better with practice. I guess that's what being a genius is like."
Señor: "..."
"Oh, right, here."
After finishing his cigarette, Abel tossed an unopened pack of N95 Filter Cigarettes to Señor as he left.
Señor fumbled to catch it, looking puzzled. "Huh?"
"Consider it thanks for believing in me back then. Smoke them sparingly—I don't have many left."
Holding the pack of cigarettes, Señor stood frozen in place until the ship slowly docked. Then, a handsome smile spread across his face.
"Interesting kid. He's got the spirit of a real man!"
Upon reaching the neighboring island, the three hijacked smuggling ships were quickly discovered, but all the cargo had vanished.
"Search!"
Doflamingo immediately ordered his men to fan out and scour the entire island.
It sounded like a daunting task, but in reality, there were only a few plausible hiding spots for such a large quantity of goods.
Abel felt a headache coming on. Intercepting the goods ahead of time just became much more difficult.
As he advanced toward the island's center, he pulled out a recently acquired, somewhat useless reward:
[Precious Metal Mini Radar]
[Equipment Item]
[Description: A grave robber modified this device from a strange radar, but his poor craftsmanship drastically reduced its detection range.]
[Effect: When activated, it can detect common types of precious metals within a 100-meter radius. Detection effectiveness is reduced by obstructions.]
The device looked almost exactly like the Dragon Ball Radar from Dragon Ball.
Clutching at straws, Abel pulled out the device, hoping for a stroke of luck.
He quickly discovered that the island wasn't uninhabited at all; it was home to a number of residents.
Every house was tightly shuttered, the occupants daring only to peek through window cracks at the uninvited guests.
They must have suffered greatly from pirate harassment in the past.
Unfortunately, instead of the Marines, they had now been visited by the even more ruthless and brutal Donquixote Family.
The good news was that Diamante and his men had no interest in bothering the common folk. There was no profit to be squeezed from them, making it a waste of time.
Of course, if Doflamingo was in a foul mood, he wouldn't hesitate to slaughter an entire island.
Soon after, Baby-5 arrived on the Fatty to find Abel.
"Abel, the Young Master and the others have found the hidden supplies. They're in the abandoned church up ahead."
"Alright, I understand."
Abel sighed. 'As expected, the detection range is still too short.'
'Do I have no choice but to take the risk?'
Before he could decide, they had already reached the abandoned church.
Doflamingo and some of his Executives were there, directing the others to move the supplies. The rest of the crew seemed to have already returned to the ship.
Oh, right, there were also dozens of corpses on the ground—presumably the guards left to watch over the supplies.
"Dof, we've inventoried everything. All the supplies that were stolen from us are here, along with some miscellaneous items the Pirate Crews must have left behind."
"Hmm, now that we've confirmed everything, get it loaded onto the ship immediately. For some reason, I suddenly have a bad feeling."
Doflamingo suddenly turned to gaze out at the sea.
Despite the calm sea, Abel felt an undercurrent of danger, a sense of impending crisis.
"Abel, stay here and watch them finish unloading. We'll head back first."
Abel nodded, pleased with the arrangement.
Just as he entered the abandoned church, the Dragon Ball Radar, which had been dormant, suddenly lit up with a glowing dot.
He initially assumed it was caused by the piled-up supplies, but after closer inspection, he realized that some of the dots were actually beneath the innermost stacks of goods.
If he wasn't mistaken, someone had secretly hidden something there.
As for their motive, that remained a mystery.
Abel desperately wanted to uncover the hidden cache, but the ongoing unloading operation forced him to maintain his composure.
But the unloading would eventually be completed.
Once the last crate was moved, Abel immediately pried open the stone slab in the corner, revealing a trove of buried gold, silver, and jewels!
He had no idea what these treasures were worth, or how much they might fetch.
If he took it back, most of it would undoubtedly have to be surrendered.
So, gritting his teeth, he decided to use it all to complete the Order!
Just as he was scanning and uploading the data, a series of cannon fire suddenly erupted from the distant sea!
A few minutes earlier.
"Those damned, persistent Marines!" Doflamingo snarled through clenched teeth.
Three warships were rapidly advancing in a triangular formation across the nearby sea.
Leading the charge was Tsuru, the very woman who made Doflamingo grind his teeth in fury!
"Set sail!"
"Half the supplies haven't been brought back yet..."
"I said, set sail!"
Doflamingo remained calm. No amount of supplies was worth more than his people.
But the thought of abandoning the remaining supplies and the explosives they'd gathered on the previous island—all of it falling into the Marines' hands—filled him with impotent rage!
"Young Master, one of our members hasn't returned yet," Señor suddenly spoke up.
Doflamingo glanced at him, hesitated for a split second about abandoning Abel, then made his decision.
"Get the ship moving! Shake off these Marines!"
"Buffalo, fly up and retrieve Abel!"
At this critical moment, Buffalo finally came through, immediately taking to the skies.
It seems all those ice creams Abel had been buying him hadn't gone to waste after all.