But changes always come faster than planned. Before he could enact his plans, Doflamingo’s call came. The reason was simple: Doflamingo had found the whereabouts of the Op-Op Fruit.
This fruit had changed hands several times, finally ending up into the hands of a group of pirates who were oblivious to its true value.
To them, the Op-Op Fruit was merely a valuable devil fruit worth five billion Berries.
They had no aspirations of becoming any renowned doctors. Faced with such a price, they readily agreed to the transaction without hesitation, even if the buyer was the Marines.
But Doflamingo knew the significance of this fruit; it was the path to immortality.
Even though he knew the World Government was likely pulling the strings behind this, he decided to take the risk, looking for a way to acquire the fruit.
The Op-Op Fruit offered a path to immortality through a procedure known as the Immortality Operation. However, the cost of performing this surgery was the death of the user, and finding someone willing to sacrifice themselves wasn’t easy.
Ultimately, Doflamingo chose Rosinante. He intended to have his own younger brother die for him.
But therein lay the greatest problem.
Knock, knock, knock.
Rosinante tapped on the stone in front of the Den Den Mushi. This was his way of responding to Doflamingo. In the Donquixote family, he was feigning being mute and had already consumed a Devil Fruit.
Paramecia-type • Calm-Calm Fruit.
When the user activates their ability, they create a soundproof barrier within a certain range around themselves. Any sound produced within this barrier is blocked from passing through, effectively isolating everything inside from the outside world.
The soundproof barrier could even be activated while the user slept, eliminating any surrounding noise during sleep and “improving the quality of sleep”.
This was the ability he used when reporting intelligence, ensuring no enemy could eavesdrop.
If he hadn’t already consumed a Devil Fruit, he wouldn’t have minded continuing to spy on Doflamingo. However, consuming two Devil Fruits meant certain death, a well-known fact in the seas today.
If he goes back, he will be exposed. If he doesn’t go back, he will still be exposed. And the reason Doflamingo asked Rosinante to return is also to verify this matter.
During his absence, Tsuru hadn’t been able to track them at all, raising suspicions that Rosinante was the mole.
For Rosinante, returning to the Marines was the safest option now. With Sengoku there, Doflamingo couldn’t touch him. Yet, due to Law’s involvement, he chose to take a risk for the Op-Op Fruit.
The effectiveness of the Beasts Pirates’ medicine remained a mystery, as did the truth about the nun. In his view, the Op-Op Fruit was the most realistic solution to their problem.
Braving the storm, Rosinante and Law arrived at the place where the deal would take place. but he failed. However, he failed. Though he successfully got Law to consume the Op-Op Fruit, he was exposed.
Law took his information to seek help, but as Vergo had successfully infiltrated the Marines, Law inadvertently delivered the message into Vergo’s hands. In the end, Rosinante paid with his life while allowing Law to escape.
Meanwhile, Drake, the son of Diez Barrels, the former Marine officer turned pirate who found the Op-Op Fruit, was taken away by the Marines. Everything continued to unfold as usual.
The Op-Op Fruit isn’t the primary target for the Beasts Pirates. Although it possessed abilities akin to a bug in the system, it was of little interest to them. Kaido is a Zoan-type madman, and Arceus will not actively search for Devil Fruits.
Unless it was on their way, they preferred using this energy to search for Plates. Currently, they are still sailing in the West Blue.
Due to geographical location, the Beasts Pirates are more likely to appear in the waters of the North Blue and the West Blue, as they are both situated on the side of the New World. With ships embedded with Seastone, they can directly reach their target seas simply by crossing the Calm Belt.
While Arceus explored the West Blue, members of the Beasts Pirates were also vacationing in the North Blue. For instance, Zeraora and Setsuna, accompanied by Perona and Bewear, appeared in the Pleasure Town of Swallow Island.
Unlike the Pleasure District controlled by Stussy, this town was a rather decent place. It was named Pleasure Town because of the hopes the residents placed in it.
Most of the inhabitants were not natives. The town had suffered pirate attacks in the past, almost destroying it. However, with the help of many individuals, the town was rebuilt.
Bringing joy and warmth, along with acceptance, is the creed of this town. Thus, whether it’s minority races or ordinary people with physical disabilities, they will not face discrimination on this island.
This atmosphere also contributed to the development of tourism, with occasional visitors coming to experience the local culture.
However, the town wasn’t particularly famous; it was more like a rural village known among certain groups.
There were ready-made inns on the island, but Zeraora and the others chose to camp in the nearby forest.
Setsuna effortlessly broke off wrist-thick branches and quickly build a simple tent. This was something she had learned on Zou Island. Meanwhile, Perona and Bewear gathered firewood in the forest.
To be precise, Perona lay on Bewear’s head, watching Bewear collect firewood. Occasionally, some Hollows would also help Bewear find dry branches.
With Bewear’s strength, uprooting large trees was easy, but such trees were difficult to burn properly. To avoid being choked by smoke, finding dry firewood was necessary.
Zeraora and Setsuna weren’t worried about Perona’s safety. Besides being nearby, Perona’s Hollows and Bewear’s powerful strength made them a formidable team against ordinary individuals.
Perona created openings, and Bewear delivered fatal blows. They had long coordinated like this. However, while Bewear was collecting firewood, it found something peculiar.
It spotted a dead tree. To save time, it intended to carry the tree back. Unexpectedly, there was a hole in the tree, and a white thing fell out, accompanied by a cry of surprise.
Perona instinctively directed her Hollows to pass through the other’s body, but it was to no avail. The white creature remained standing, looking dazedly at Bewear. Perona, upon closer inspection, noticed that the creature was blushing.
“What are you? Why doesn’t Hollow affect you?!”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know.”
The creature didn’t answer Perona’s question but instead began apologizing. It was then that she noticed the white creature seemed to be a young bear Mink.
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