The first-ever Pirate Alliance General Assembly, an event created by Barbarossa Caesar—captain of the Beast God Pirates and the man most now called the strongest in the world—was about to begin on Whole Cake Island.
At eight o'clock sharp, just as Katakuri had planned, a hundred cannons stood in perfect rows in the island's main plaza, all aimed at the sky.
A hundred hand-picked, muscular men stood beside them, ready.
"Fire the salute!"
At Katakuri's sharp command, the men moved as one, loading the cannons.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The thunderous roar of a hundred cannons firing at once echoed for miles across the sea.
The pirates on the island had been told about the ceremony at last night's feast, so the sound didn't startle them.
Most of the smarter crews were already gathered in the plaza and waiting.
BONKKKKK!
Daifuku and Perospero stood on opposite sides of the stage, each holding a massive horn.
They blew with all their might, letting out a deep, majestic blast that echoed across the island.
The host for the opening ceremony was none other than a top executive of the Beast God Pirates, the Minister of Finance and former Warlord of the Sea, the "Heavenly Yaksha"—Donquixote Doflamingo!
Walking down a long red carpet, Doflamingo wore a flashy red suit and polished leather shoes.
For once, his usual arrogant smirk was gone.
Aside from his signature sunglasses, he looked strangely serious and professional.
A small Den Den Mushi microphone was clipped to his lapel.
"Today, the autumn air is crisp, and the sun shines brightly…" Doflamingo began, looking out at the massive crowd of pirates with an uncharacteristically formal tone.
You would think no one would dare cause trouble at a moment like this.
But the second the words left his mouth—
"Zehahaha! Joker, what 'bright sun'? The sky is covered in dark clouds! That's not a good omen, zehahaha!"
Right at the front of the crowd, a shirtless Teach was already chugging a bottle of liquor, loudly mocking Doflamingo.
Shanks raised an eyebrow beside him, a little surprised by Blackbeard's nerve.
"Teach, quiet down. This is a big deal today. Don't ruin the mood."
Since Caesar had healed him, Shanks felt he should at least be polite.
"Zehahaha, what? It's the truth! Look up at your so-called sunshine, everyone…"
Before Blackbeard could finish, a piercing shriek ripped through the air!
"SCREECH!"
The pirates all looked up.
A golden bird, big enough to swallow the sky, was descending, whipping up a furious wind.
With every beat of its massive wings, it literally blew the dark clouds away, letting the sun pour through.
"It's Captain Caesar!"
"I've seen it before, but that form is still terrifying! It's huge!"
On the stage, Doflamingo had veins popping on his forehead.
If it weren't for his sunglasses, everyone would have seen the murderous look in his eyes.
Whoosh!
The golden bird swooped over the island, shrinking rapidly until it became Caesar's powerful human form.
Linlin was right there with him.
Thud! Thud!
The two landed squarely in the plaza.
Their sheer size and overwhelming presence made the crowd of pirates instinctively part for them like the sea.
Caesar held out his right hand and Linlin placed her hand in his.
He looked every bit the gentleman as he led her to the front of the crowd.
When he reached Teach, he flashed a brilliant smile and nodded a greeting.
"See, Teach?" Caesar laughed. "The sun is shining beautifully. Looks like Doflamingo was right after all, Borororo!"
Teach licked his lips, his earlier arrogance gone.
He just gave a weak chuckle in reply.
Shanks hid a smirk.
Typical Teach—bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
He also noticed that Teach's injuries looked completely healed.
He couldn't tell if it was because of Teach's own insane healing or if he'd cut some secret deal with Caesar last night.
Caesar then called up to the stage, "Go on, Doffy."
Seeing Blackbeard put in his place, Doflamingo's mood instantly improved.
He dropped the serious act and went right back to his trademark smirk—the one that screamed arrogance and that he couldn't care less about anything.
"Fufufu, well, I had a whole serious speech planned out, but since we've already been interrupted, let's just skip the boring parts," he purred.
"We're all pirates here. No need to be pretentious. If any Marine spies heard me talking like that, they might think we were scholars from Ohara and call a Buster Call on us."
Doflamingo's joke got a huge roar of laughter from the crowd, instantly breaking the tension.
"Hahaha! What's a Buster Call going to do to us?"
"A bunch of vice admirals? Oh, I'm so scared, wahahaha!"
"With the people we have here, even the Marine Admirals would be on their knees!"
Caesar raised an eyebrow.
Doffy really knew how to work a crowd.
After the noise died down, Doflamingo continued.
"It might sound cliché, but today really is a special day. It doesn't matter if we were enemies before or will be again. Right now, we're all here together to witness something historic!"
"Now, before we head inside, I want to tell you all a little story."
"But first, let me ask you: do you know who I am?" Doflamingo unbuttoned his shirt a little, a wide grin on his face.
Immediately, pirates started shouting.
"Of course we know you! You're one of the Seven Warlords! The Heavenly Yaksha! Joker, the king of the underworld! The head of the Donquixote Family!"
Doflamingo chuckled.
"Fufufu, I didn't realize I was so well-known in the New World. You're all too kind. But what most of you don't know," he said, his smile widening.
"Is that I was born as something else entirely."
"I was born a World Noble. A Celestial Dragon!"
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