"As expected, Diamante knows how to get things done." Doflamingo thought to himself, though his face didn't change. He spoke blandly:
"If we leak the word that the Sky Island is real, that the City of Gold is real—and trot out bits of 'evidence' from time to time—what do you think will happen to this town?"
"Hahaha, Dof, you truly are a king. I completely agree. If we turn this place into a 'Town of Dreams' and draw pirates here by the thousands, then build a base of our own in Mock Town—whether or not Sky Island and the Golden Land exist—the adventurers, bounty hunters, and ambitious big-name pirates will flood in. If we set up casinos, a trading market, and a whole slate of entertainment businesses, the profit will be beyond imagination." Benefiting from two years of working off Doflamingo's 'build-a-stronghold' playbook, Diamante grasped the idea at once and spoke, excited.
Anyone could see the profits involved without thinking. Humans gather for the thinnest reasons—let alone a temptation this huge. The world never lacks people who chase dreams. Give them a taste, let them glimpse the possibility that the dream is real, and a whirlwind of dream-chasing is guaranteed to follow.
"Heh. We're just using them. Tell Trebol to start preparations. When we come down from the Sky Island, I want Mock Town reborn." Doflamingo's voice rang with conviction.
"Yes, Dof. I'll relay your orders to Trebol at once." Diamante bowed with a gentleman's flourish to show he would execute.
After that, Doflamingo made a circuit of Mock Town. Since Jaya would be a long-term project, he sketched out rough zones for future industries and had Pica draw a map to leave for Trebol.
Why Pica? Because the guy had a hidden side—beneath the rugged exterior, he was a demon with a pen. On board, besides taking the helm, he often doubled as navigator.
As for Pica's thin, sharp voice, Doflamingo had long known that future Pica would grow self-conscious about it. That would definitely affect his strength, maybe even turn into a real weakness. So during training, Doflamingo worked on him two ways: first, washing away that fragile mindset; second, having Trebol and Diamante keep an eye out for any medicine that could change one's voice.
In this fantastical world of pirates, a voice-changing drug isn't impossible. If you pay attention, you'll find it.
A few days later, Doflamingo had the timing locked in—as always. Their departure lined up perfectly with the eruption of the Nokku Appu Sutorīmu (Knock Up Stream).
Jaya's harbor. A medium sailing ship shaped like a flamingo, its hull bottom plated with some unknown material.
Doflamingo stared ahead and raised his hand skyward. "All hands—make sail! Destination: Sky Island!"
"OOOHHH!" Vergo and the others roared back.
In nearby waters, Doflamingo stood at the bow, using Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) to feel the turmoil in the depths, guiding Pica and the others to shift the rudder as needed.
In a flash, Doflamingo barked:
"Hard to port! Enter the whirl cleanly and hold steady!"
At his word, Pica moved fast, while Diamante planted himself on deck, ready.
As the ship reached a certain point, the waves grew and grew—yet somehow stayed eerily smooth.
An instant later, a colossal column of water punched into the sky, and the medium ship, caught from below, rode that immense current upward.
Right then, Diamante triggered his Fruit. He turned the entire ship supple as a ribbon, simultaneously widening the 'wings' on both sides of the hull. Using the mystery plating beneath, he reinforced the bottom until it was harder than diamond.
"Boom!" On the climbing current, the ship rose in a steady climb. With Diamante's control, she stood balanced atop the jetting stream and was driven higher.
When the updraft peaked—
Pop. Like bursting through a balloon, the ship went rigid and punched through a thick bank of stormclouds, emerging into a white, blinding sea of cloud.
The moment they hit the White Sea, Diamante whooped:
"Uwaaah—Dof, Dof! You were right! Look, look! We're sailing on white clouds!"
As a beaten man expelled from the New World, Diamante had long since lost the blood-heat for wonder and adventure. But now, seeing it with his own eyes and feeling it with his own hands, he found the mood from his very first voyage stirring again.
"Waa-woo… hiss—so chilly!" Pica was just as hyped. He leaned over the rail and plunged an arm into the clouds.
Vergo was even bolder—he just leapt into the cloud-sea and started swimming. If not for Doflamingo's sharp reminder, he might have dropped right through.
Scrambling back aboard, Vergo could hardly contain himself, springing off the ship into the cloud and back again and again—the perfect picture of relentless shuttle sprints. He was still a youth at heart; no surprise there. A whole ocean made of white clouds would shake even an adult.
Of course, Doflamingo was no exception. The white expanse slammed into his senses, and excitement bled through—not only relief at the safe ascent, but the thrill of a greater power almost in his grasp.
As they sailed on, they soon drifted before a white cloudfall like a giant waterfall. At its base stood a massive gate, and above it four characters read: Heaven's Gate.
At the gate stood a middle-aged woman with a little ponytail and a hairpin, holding a living camera-like creature—snapping away without pause.
When Doflamingo's party drew near, a single look from him—and the woman about to take his picture slumped into unconsciousness. Beneath the hull, a gigantic shrimp surfaced, hitched on, and hauled their ship up at speed.
As for who she was, Doflamingo could guess—no doubt the surveillance officer, Amazon. He had no intention of letting his trail be exposed too early; better to lull the tattler and the Image Dial to sleep ahead of time.
Before long, they reached the shore of an island-beach made of cloud.
But before they could dock, a middle-aged man came circling above the ship, riding a strange creature—part horse, part bird.
(End of Chapter)
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