Chapter 78: The Player's Aggro
Zeff patted Sanji's back repeatedly, like drumming, saying, "Then I'll take this brat with me."
You know what, together with the freshly signed contract on the table, it actually sounds quite festive.
Sanji: "You old geezer, let me go!" But under normal circumstances, Sanji is no match for Zeff, let alone when he has just woken up from a coma due to blood loss.
Zeff easily subdued him with just one hand.
Sanji struggled desperately in Zeff's grasp, twisting his upper body toward Violet and opening his arms toward her.
Sanji: "Sister, sister, I can be your cook!" Who would leave a strong, kind, and beautiful sister to follow a wrinkled, smelly old man?!
elder sister?
Where did this brat come from, stealing his nickname?
Sabo, with a forced smile, gripped the hose: "We don't lack cooks, but we do need an anchor on board." He thought Sanji would be perfect for the job; sinking him into the sea would be a good way to clear his head.
Seeing that things were going badly, Zeff quickly covered Sanji's mouth to manually mute him.
Sabo: "Heh."
Luo stood calmly at the back without saying a word. In any case, no matter how many more islanders Vera recruited, his status as the number one islander would remain unchanged.
"And you?" Vera turned to look at Tesoro, who was still bound hand and foot behind her. "Have you figured out how to convince me to spare your life?"
The existence of dragons made Violet realize another way to utilize the seasonal bosses, but Violet was long past the point of having to rack her brains about how to squeeze the dragons' surplus labor.
The current situation is that Tesoro should carefully consider how to ensure that his survival is in Violet's best interest than his death.
Tezzolo, true to his reputation as a ruthless character who dared to rob the Don Quixote family's lobby manager, asked: "Have you ever heard of a professional manager?"
"When your business spans the globe, you may need a more experienced person to work for you and manage these affairs."
Vera raised an eyebrow: "Interesting. Tell me more?"
——
Bang!
The wine bottle shattered instantly upon impact with the wall, the bright red liquid spilling onto the snow-white carpet, and the rich aroma of wine filling the entire room.
The man, dressed in a burgundy suit and sporting short blond hair and sunglasses even indoors, kept his arms outstretched. After a few seconds, he slowly withdrew them to cover his face.
"Hehehe..." He chuckled softly twice. "Say it again, what did you find?"
Dressed in a maid outfit, Baby5 looked at Doflamingo with concern: "Young Master..."
Doflamingo slightly opened his palm, his sharp gaze piercing through his sunglasses onto the family member who came to report: "Are you deaf or mute?"
"Yes, it's Young Master." The man said nervously, "A family member reported that they found clues to the Gold-Gold Fruit that went missing half a year ago... No, they, they discovered that someone activated the Gold-Gold Fruit's ability."
"A Devil Fruit user, huh? Looks like that thief has already eaten my Devil Fruit, tsk tsk tsk..."
Doflamingo was not surprised by this result. For someone who has never eaten a Devil Fruit, the best way to preserve a fruit is to eat it.
He just didn't expect that the guy who dared to steal his fruit would be so bold as to show up in front of him again.
It's only been half a year, so even with the greatest talent, the development of Devil Fruit abilities is probably limited to the most basic level.
As long as the Devil Fruit user is killed, the Devil Fruit will be reborn.
Doflamingo: "Where was he found?"
"It's...it's the East China Sea."
"East China Sea."
Doflamingo stood up with a sinister grin, and with a flick of his arm, invisible white threads sliced the bookshelf beside him into several pieces.
"Go find him," Doflamingo commanded. "Bring him to me."
"...I'm really curious, what kind of person is he?"
——
[【Seasonal Boss!】Event Completed]
[Event Rewards (Golden Ship): Golden Ship Skin*1, Universal Pointer*2, Shadow Manipulator (Blueprint)*1, Golden Eye*1, Super Telescope (Blueprint)*1, Radiant Skin*2, Double-Layer Golden Umbrella (Blueprint)*1, Golden Insurance Backpack (Blueprint)*1, Gold Nuggets*50, Gears*10]
[You have unlocked a new faction]
[Pirate Faction]
[Donquixote Family (Hatred) unlocked]
Violet: "The Don Quixote Family, what is that?" It doesn't sound like a legitimate pirate force; it has a nepotistic feel to it.
Crack—
Luo Shengsheng crushed the wooden chair in his hand.
“Don Quixote…” Law’s pupils dilated slightly as he became lost in a quagmire of memories he couldn’t escape, “Don Quixote Doflamingo…”
The man who killed Corazon, the man who killed his own brother!
The person he vowed to avenge.
Hatred was suffocating Luo, but he still blurted out, "Where did you hear that the Don Quixote family is dangerous, especially their leader..."
Suddenly, Luo felt his cold hand being tightly gripped, and Vera's worried face loomed large in front of him.
Vera: "Luo, are you alright? You look terrible."
Vera instinctively went to check Luo's status bar, but Luo raised his hand and covered her eyes.
He must look terrible, trapped in obscure memories and hatred.
Luo didn't want Vera to see him like this.
"Stop fooling around." It's not good to ignore your illness. "Let me see how you are... Did you overuse your abilities back then? Do you need to eat something, or maybe some honey ointment?"
Sabo glanced back at Law, their eyes met for a moment, and they seemed to exchange something. Sabo then stepped forward, his tone relaxed.
"Luo is fine. But what about the Don Quixote family you mentioned earlier, Island Master?"
What's going on? Violet also wanted to know what was going on. She had never even heard of this family before, so how did her goodwill turn into hatred?
"Uh, well..." Tesoro, who had just been untied, coughed lightly, "Actually, I've been thinking about how to talk to you, boss."
Having quickly regained his composure, Luo released his grip, allowing Vera to see Tesoro's embarrassed expression.
"Um, what? Actually, I ate the Gold-Gold Fruit."
Violet glanced at Tesoro with the look of someone looking at an idiot. Wasn't that obvious? She wasn't stupid.
Sabo smiled and stroked his beloved water pipe: "Get to the point."
"Ahem, the important point is that the Golden Golden Fruit was actually taken by me... uh, by half-deception, half-stealing, and half-robbery."
Violet said disdainfully, "I thought you were a proper professional manager."
Under normal circumstances, if Tesoro dared to try to outsmart her like this, Violet would have just killed Tesoro and was waiting for him to explode with gold coins.
But now, Vera recalled that bright red [hatred], and thought about Luo's strange behavior just now.
Vera: "Tell me more specifically, what do you know about this Don Quixote family?"
If they had truly harmed Law, even if Don Quixote's men didn't come looking for them, Violet would still go and confront them personally.
Luo is her islander; if she doesn't stand up for Luo, who will?
...
"So, you're not going to tell the island owner?"
After a busy night of fighting, negotiating business, and gathering intelligence, Violet was exhausted and went to rest.
Luo and Sabo stood at the side of the boat.
Sabo looked at the sun gradually rising where the sea and sky met in the distance: "Your behavior is strange."
When Violet mentioned the "Don Quixote family," Law acted very strangely. Only someone as carefree as Violet wouldn't press him for details.
Luo chuckled: "Yeah, if Doflamingo had been the island's lord back then, my corpse would probably be hanging on the bow of the ship by now."
Sabo looked at Law in surprise, sensing something from the familiar tone in which Law mentioned Doflamingo: "You before?"
Luo nodded, confirming Sabo's guess: "I used to be a member of the Don Quixote family..."
"But now, my only connection with the Don Quixote family is that I want to take revenge on their young master."
"Don't you need my and the island owner's help?"
Mr. Corazon is his past and his salvation, and avenging Mr. Corazon is a responsibility that belongs solely to him.
Hatred is an emotion that carries a heavy burden, but...
If he chooses to seek revenge on his own, without telling Violet, that guy will be absolutely furious.
"Of course." Unlike the forced composure he displayed back then, Luo felt genuinely relaxed and happy at this moment. "Do you still want to slack off?"
He was no longer the snow-white, abandoned orphan of Flevans, forgotten by the world and by people.
He had R'lyeh, which he could call home, and companions he could rely on and trust.
Compared to the nominal Don Quixote family, they were each other's true "family".
——
"Your family has been very worried about you lately, Katakuri."
After a bloody battle, Perospero, who had barely managed to repel an attack on Whole Cake Island by a division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, walked to Katakuri's side and looked at his younger brother, who had become increasingly silent recently, and spoke.
"You've been fighting for too long."
Perospero is Katakuri's older brother, so he naturally knows how much of the strange legends surrounding Katakuri are actually true.
What do you mean by invincible and never having his back touch the ground? He hugged Katakuri when he was a kid, don't try to fool him.
Katakuri rubbed his aching temples and looked helplessly at Perospero, who had suddenly started reminiscing about the past.
Katakuri: "Now is not the time to rest."
“Yes,” Perospero couldn’t help but exclaim, “Who would have thought that white-bearded man would actually…”
What is this? Rejuvenation, regaining youth?
This was the kind of ending you'd only find in a third-rate novel. When Perospero first heard the news, he thought his brother was joking with him.
Until the Whitebeard Pirates began to increasingly cross the already defined spheres of influence, revealing their ambitions towards areas that originally belonged to pirates and the Navy.
Whitebeard, ah, as expected of Whitebeard.
The man made no attempt to hide or downplay his actions. Leading the Whitebeard Pirates, he announced a fact to the world with unprecedented arrogance and high-profile behavior, achieving the feat of changing the flags of thirteen islands in a single week—
All the dreams that old age and disease would take this legend away have been shattered; he will continue to dominate this sea for decades to come!
Who made Whitebeard regain his youth?
The question only flashed through Perospero's mind for a moment before being overwhelmed by wave after wave of seemingly endless battles.
Perospero is not afraid of fighting, but occasional fighting, frequent fighting, and fighting at least three times a day, as common as eating, are completely different things!
Is this still the free and unrestrained pirate? What's the difference between this and a corporate slave who works 996 all year round with no pay?
Perospero felt he had lost at least 20 pounds in the past week.
If he's struggling so much, imagine how difficult it must be for Katakuri.
This is not only because Katakuri, who is stronger in combat, bears a greater responsibility, but also because Katakuri's battle marathon lasted much longer than theirs.
When did it start? It seems to have started after my mother's food cravings were cured by the new chef's afternoon tea desserts.
Katakuri began to go out on patrols and into battle more frequently, each time leaving for longer periods and going to farther and farther places...
Katakuri was stunned: "Really?"
Perospero: "Of course there was. You don't know that during that time, the smell of blood on you never dissipated, even though you could have just left the patrol duties to your men."
Katakuri himself is not bloodthirsty, but during that period, any pirate who broke into Whole Cake Island's territory and was discovered by Katakuri disappeared completely into the sea along with their ship.
Perospero jokingly teased Katakuri, "See? You didn't rest properly when you had the chance, and now you can't even rest when you want to."
"I really don't know what you were thinking back then, it was like you were possessed."
Katakuri's breathing became erratic for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure, and even Perospero, who was standing next to him, did not notice anything amiss.
Perospero laughed after he finished speaking. Possessed by an evil spirit, Katakuri?
Given this younger brother's unwavering faith and tenacious will, he should be the one to possess others.
"I'm going to take a break now." Perospero waved his hand. "Work and rest are important. Katakuri, you should go and rest too."
Katakuri's face was mostly buried in his scarf, making his expression unclear: "Hmm."
After Perospero left, Katakuri finally raised his hand, which had been resting on the wooden railing. Beneath his palm, the hard and durable wood, coated with layer upon layer of tung oil, had turned to dust.
Katakuri watched as the wood dust in his palm was blown away little by little by the sea breeze. He closed his eyes and saw once again the figure that he could never forget no matter how hard he tried, but which became clearer and clearer.
“Vell…”
Just uttering her name sent an intense, exhilarating thrill through Katakuri's soul.
What exactly did that guy do to him?
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Author's note: I worked overtime until after 9 PM today, help! [crying emoji]
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