Anxiety was written all over Doflamingo's face. The City of Nightless had been built, all the follow-up work had been completed, and everything was ready for tomorrow's grand opening ceremony.
Yet at this critical moment, Rosinante, the very owner of the City of Nightless, had suddenly disappeared. Was there anything more absurd than this?
"I'm asking you, do you actually know where Rosinante has gone? The opening ceremony is tomorrow, and he suddenly vanishes. What on earth is he doing?" Doflamingo said as he kept rubbing his temples, questioning Shaxia and Ryan.
Right now, he desperately wanted to curse someone out. If Rosinante was not there to hold the field tomorrow, how disastrous things could become was something Doflamingo did not even dare to imagine.
"His Majesty left a brief message before taking Moria and the others with him. But His Majesty did say that he would return in time for the opening," Ryan replied.
"He'll come back? The opening is tomorrow and there's still no sign of him. And he's coming back? Forget it, we'd better pray. If he doesn't show up tomorrow, we'll be chopped up and deep-fried," Doflamingo said furiously as he flung his arm and stormed out.
It was no wonder he was so angry. For the City of Nightless, he had been running around nonstop, barely touching the ground. Just when the city had finally been built to perfection and all the follow-up work completed, it was time to open and start making money.
But recently, rumors had begun to spread. Nearly one third of the Celestial Dragons had arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, preparing to cause trouble on the very day of the City of Nightless's opening.
And at such a moment, Rosinante, the owner himself, suddenly disappeared without leaving even a single word.
What kind of mess was this? No wonder Doflamingo was furious.
After Doflamingo left, worry also appeared on Ryan's face.
At present, the entire City of Nightless felt incredibly tense. News that the Celestial Dragons were coming to settle accounts with Rosinante had somehow spread.
Or rather, the Celestial Dragons had never intended to keep it secret. They were openly and brazenly naming Rosinante, preparing to make things difficult for him. Naturally, the bigger the commotion, the better.
This news caused the market atmosphere to freeze. Many tycoons who had originally planned to invest and settle in the City of Nightless now chose to wait and see.
If Rosinante could not give them a strong guarantee at the opening tomorrow, then even if the Celestial Dragons did not make a move, the future prospects of the City of Nightless would still be bleak.
All the money Rosinante had poured into the City of Nightless might end up being completely wasted.
The next day, guests from all sides had nearly all arrived.
Island No. 15, which had originally been destroyed due to Rosinante's battle with Kaido in the Lawless Zone, had now been rebuilt into a maritime amusement park.
This ocean park not only used protective net structures to create shallow-water areas where ordinary humans could play, but also had various facilities extending deep into the sea, specially constructed to welcome merfolk.
At this moment, King Neptune of the Ryugu Kingdom arrived from the sea park, accompanied by Queen Otohime and several beautiful mermaids, under the protection of a squad of fish-man guards.
Gazing at the breathtaking City of Nightless, Neptune and the others could not help but reveal expressions of admiration and anticipation.
"So this is the City of Nightless. It's so beautiful. If merfolk could truly live here without worry, how wonderful that would be," Queen Otohime said with heartfelt admiration.
"Queen Otohime, look over there. I really want to go play!"
"And over there, that looks like so much fun. An amusement park!"
The lively and beautiful mermaids' eyes sparkled as they cheered excitedly.
Soon after, Otohime led the mermaids to start enjoying themselves in the sea park.
Passing tourists and visitors stopped in astonishment when they saw the appearance of these mermaids, gathering to watch.
Some people even revealed greedy looks, but because members of the BloodSworn Guard were on duty all around, no one dared to go too far.
"Don't let your guard down. This is land, after all. Although Rosinante has promised that nothing will happen, we still can't fully trust it yet. Make sure you protect them well," Neptune instructed the fish-man guards beside him.
"Yes," the fish-man guards responded. Among them was a burly whale shark fish-man, who would later be known to the world as the Knight of the Sea, Jinbe.
What Doflamingo feared most still came to pass.
At the very center of the City of Nightless, on the magnificent high platform specially built for the opening ceremony, Doflamingo was so anxious he was like an ant on a hot pan, pacing back and forth nonstop.
The opening ceremony was about to begin, yet there was still no sign of Rosinante.
It was to the point that Doflamingo felt like crying. Veins bulged on his forehead.
Doflamingo swore that once this was over, he would keep as far away from Rosinante as possible. Otherwise, even if Rosinante did not get him killed, he would eventually be driven to death by anger.
Just at that moment, a group of people slowly approached the platform.
When they appeared, all the surrounding guests instinctively made way for them, respectfully lowering their heads and daring not to look directly at them.
This group wore identical clothing, had the same bubble helmets on their heads, and displayed expressions of extreme arrogance on their faces, as if they looked down on everything and made it impossible for others to meet their gaze.
Yet no one dared to refute their arrogance, because they possessed everything in this world. They were the beings known as gods, the noble World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons.