"Donquixote Doflamingo?"
Hearing the name, Darren froze briefly, a peculiar expression flickering across his face.
As a transmigrator, that name was all too familiar to him—practically legendary.
One of the future Warlords of the Sea, "The Flamingo"!
The underworld's largest broker, controlling over half of the world's illegal trade under the alias "Joker"!
Publicly, the king of Dressrosa; secretly, Kaido's ally, a villain manipulating the tides of history.
But right now…
The Warlord system hadn't been established.
Kaido wasn't yet one of the Four Emperors ruling the New World.
And Doflamingo? He was just a brat starting to build his power in the North Blue with a handful of subordinates.
"Yes, that kid's background…" Weasel trailed off, his voice laced with apprehension.
Darren chuckled, deciding to be blunt.
"He's just a former Celestial Dragon stripped of his privileges, running around the North Blue like a stray dog, biting at everything."
Weasel shot him a look. After years of working together, he knew Darren to be a fearless troublemaker, but hearing him speak so dismissively of the Celestial Dragons, those untouchable nobles of the world, still left him exasperated.
"You're remarkably calm about this," Weasel remarked with a resigned sigh. "Even though Doflamingo lost his right to reside in Mary Geoise, his bloodline still ties him to the Celestial Dragons…"
"Now he's raising the flag of the Donquixote Pirates, clearly aiming to expand his influence in the North Blue. If he succeeds, he could unravel everything we've built here over the past few years."
Weasel's expression tightened. "Should we report this to Headquarters?"
Technically, as a pirate, Doflamingo was their target. But his ties to the Celestial Dragons made the situation far more delicate.
Darren considered the situation carefully.
Doflamingo was indeed troublesome. In the original story, the man was audacious enough to hijack the Heavenly Tribute, using his Celestial Dragon heritage to force the World Government to grant him the title of Warlord of the Sea.
Even the Navy hesitated to move against him, wary of his unique status.
True, Vice Admiral Tsuru had made repeated attempts to capture him, dealing him significant blows. Doflamingo even fled in terror at the sight of her ship in later years.
But…
The fact that he remained free spoke volumes.
"For now, we wait and observe," Darren finally said. "Let's see how this 'flamingo' intends to play his hand."
Feeling slightly embarrassed, he stiffened his neck and snorted coldly.
"Consider yourself lucky."
After a pause, he added,
"About yesterday's sparring… you know, I wasn't going all out."
"After all, you're the top officer in the North Blue. Beating you in front of so many of your subordinates wouldn't have looked good."
Darren responded with a knowing smile.
"Of course, Major Kaji is a genius from headquarters. How could I possibly match you?"
He took out a box of cigars and offered one to Kaji.
"Exactly!" Kaji, satisfied with Darren's attitude, took the cigar with one hand on his hip and a proud expression on his face.
"But, Darren, where did you get these cigars? This quality is rare, even at headquarters…"
As he spoke, Kaji lit the cigar and began puffing contentedly.
Darren sat down nearby, crossed his legs, and lit one for himself.
"I've got plenty of these. If you like them, Major Kaji, I'll have a whole box sent to you later."
"A… a whole box?"
Kaji's hand trembled, his eyes wide in disbelief.
He wasn't some country bumpkin unaware of value.
These cigars, exclusive to the nobility, were made from tobacco grown in the Bellman Archipelago of the West Blue, with a production cost exceeding 50,000 Berries per cigar.
A box contained 10 cigars, and a crate had 20 boxes.
In other words, a single crate of these cigars was worth over 10 million Berries!
Yet Kaji, as a Major in headquarters, earned an annual salary of less than 200,000 Berries.
Where on earth was Darren getting this kind of money?!