# Chapter 376: Dressrosa
"Father, there's an island ahead!"
On the Germa ship, Niji shouted to Judge: "Do we need to change course?"
However, Judge didn't answer him. Instead, he asked Reiju: "Has that damned brat Ian shown up yet?"
Reiju was at the stern at that moment, observing through a telescope. She could see Ian's fleet in the distance, but she didn't see Ian appear, so she shook her head and said: "No, Father, I haven't seen him take off."
"He doesn't intend to stop us from landing?" Judge thoughtfully looked at the island ahead and said: "It seems they want us to land on this island..."
Judge wasn't stupid either. After being forced to change course several times by Ian's interventions, he realized that Ian was deliberately driving them in a certain direction, and now, it seemed they had arrived at their destination.
"Immediately check what island that is ahead!" Judge commanded.
Soon, the information came back: the island ahead was Dressrosa!
As soon as he heard the name, Judge was stunned. He naturally knew what Dressrosa was—it was the territory of another Warlord of the Sea, Doflamingo!
"Is heaven trying to destroy my Germa?" Judge slumped to his knees in frustration, holding his head, and said: "Four Warlords of the Sea aren't enough, they've arranged a fifth one to block us ahead!?"
Ichiji and Niji said carelessly: "What's there to fear, Father? Since that's the case, we'll just fight them head-on on land!"
Reiju looked at her two younger brothers but said nothing. She understood very well that her two brothers lacked much emotion; they wouldn't even fear their own deaths.
Seeing Judge's dejected expression, Reiju finally spoke: "Father, there's no need for this. Perhaps there's still a turning point for us!"
Judge looked up at Reiju and asked: "Why do you say that?"
"Based on the intelligence we've gathered, Doflamingo does seem to be allied with Ian, since they've cooperated before," Reiju said. "But I think if Ian really arranged for Doflamingo to intercept us, it would be completely unnecessary. He intercepted us several times along the way and forced us to change course, which shows he could have destroyed us during that process, yet he didn't."
"So, don't you think this is too much trouble?" Reiju analyzed. "Their combat power could completely crush our Germa. Why would they travel all this way to Dressrosa before making a move? That's completely unreasonable!"
"Then you mean..." Judge's eyes gradually lit up.
"Yes, perhaps we've all been thinking wrong!" Reiju said. "Ian and Doflamingo might not be allies at all. This commission we received was far too strange, and even the broker who issued it was killed by someone. This really looks like a trap. Suppose this trap was set by Doflamingo to deal with Ian—then everything makes sense!"
"That's right!" Judge also caught on. Reminded by Reiju, he recalled the scene when the broker Bug was assassinated, and suddenly understood: "If Ian knows that Doflamingo set him up, then driving us to Dressrosa might be his plan to make a big scene here under the pretext of attacking us, while also teaching Doflamingo a lesson!?"
Seeing that Judge had understood, Reiju didn't say much more. In fact, she had suspected this back when Ian cut her down on the ship. Although Ian had captured them, he hadn't confiscated their weapons, which seemed like he deliberately let them go. Based on these clues, Reiju had made this speculation, and now it seemed she was right on the mark.
"We still have a chance!" Judge suddenly perked up. "Yonji has already contacted the Big Mom Pirates. They've agreed to intervene. As long as we can hold out until the Big Mom Pirates arrive, we might still be able to retreat intact!"
"The key now is whether Doflamingo will attack us," Reiju said. "And also, Marine Admiral Aokiji is currently on Ian's ship. If he joins the battle, we might be crushed before the Big Mom Pirates arrive. So we must stall for time and avoid direct confrontation!"
Having made a quick decision, Germa's fleet began to slow down and approach Dressrosa.
Behind them, Ian and his group were gradually closing in.
"Ahead is Dressrosa," Jinbe said, standing at the bow and looking at the island. He said to Ian: "The Heavenly Yaksha isn't someone to be trifled with. Have you thought this through, Ian?"
Ian smiled slightly without answering. Instead, he turned to Aokiji and asked: "Admiral Kuzan, if I fight Doflamingo, which side would you help?"
Aokiji gloomily pulled down his eye patch to cover his eyes and said: "Don't ask me. I'm going to sleep!"
After approaching Dressrosa, Aokiji had finally figured out Ian's true intention. He never expected that attacking the Germa Group was just a pretext—the real goal was to mess with Doflamingo!
Two Warlords of the Sea going at each other—Aokiji really didn't know what to do about this situation. Logically speaking, disputes between Warlords of the Sea were something the Marines and the World Government wouldn't interfere with, at most controlling and mediating to prevent the conflict from escalating, because the Marines and the World Government didn't want to see Warlords of the Sea weakening each other through infighting, which would ultimately reduce the Marines' combat strength.
But the problem was that Ian had brought a bunch of helpers to cause trouble for Doflamingo in Dressrosa. Although Doflamingo was formidable, going up against so many Warlords of the Sea, he probably didn't stand much chance.
Knowing that Doflamingo might be surrounded and beaten down by Ian and his group, Aokiji couldn't stop it from happening. He couldn't take either side because Ian had clearly stated that he just wanted to teach Doflamingo a lesson, not kill him.
So, I'll just sleep... Aokiji thought, closing his eyes and ignoring everything. This mission given to him by Fleet Admiral Sengoku was really frustrating...
A small black dot appeared in the sky. Ian picked up his telescope and looked at it, only to find it was Doflamingo's subordinate, Buffalo the Water Buffalo!
This Spin-Spin Fruit user was Baby-5's former partner. Thinking of this, Ian couldn't help but look at Baby-5.
Baby-5 looked at Ian with a complicated expression and asked: "Ian-sama, are you really going to attack Doflamingo-sama?"
Ian nodded and said: "Don't worry, I won't put you in a difficult position. This is a grudge between him and me, and it needs to be settled. This time, you stay on the ship. You don't need to fight."
Baby-5 said nothing. She was actually quite conflicted. Perhaps when she was young, Baby-5 was grateful to Doflamingo, but as she grew up, she realized that Doflamingo kept her around only because she was obedient and useful to him. Doflamingo's so-called family values only applied as long as no one betrayed him. Once betrayed, Doflamingo would show no mercy!
Baby-5 hadn't known this before. It was only after Trafalgar Law was taken away by the Marines that she realized it. Back then, when Doflamingo personally killed his own younger brother, Donquixote Rosinante, Baby-5 had witnessed it with her own eyes. At that time, she was flying in the sky with Buffalo the Water Buffalo...
And now, with Ian's appearance, Baby-5 had been staying on Ian's ship. Doflamingo had secretly schemed, using the Germa Group to set Ian up, but Ian had seen through Doflamingo's plan and brought people back to settle the score. Baby-5 knew very well that Doflamingo probably wouldn't think Ian had discovered it himself. Instead, he might suspect that Baby-5 had tipped him off!
There was no helping it. With Baby-5's personality, if someone asked her for something, she would blurt out anything. It was only natural for Doflamingo to suspect her.
So, as far as Doflamingo was concerned, Baby-5 would likely be labeled a traitor. She could never return to the Donquixote Pirates.
Knowing this, Baby-5 still remembered Doflamingo's past kindness and care for her, which was why her feelings were so complicated now.
Fortunately, Ian saw her distress and didn't ask her to fight. Instead, he said to Crocodile: "Old Sand, I know you don't plan to go all out, so I'll give you a task instead. Stay on the ship and protect Baby-5 and the others left behind. As long as you do that, I'll return your soul to you as promised afterward!"
Crocodile glanced at Baby-5 and then said coldly: "Deal!"
While Germa's fleet and Ian's fleet were approaching Dressrosa, Buffalo the Water Buffalo in the sky contacted Doflamingo through a Den Den Mushi and told him everything.
"What!?" When he heard the news, Doflamingo was also shocked. He stood up abruptly and roared into the Den Den Mushi: "What the hell is going on!? Weren't Germa's ships supposed to be intercepted? How did they suddenly appear here!?"
"I don't know, Doflamingo-sama!" Buffalo said aggrievedly: "We thought Germa was finished this time. Plus, we spotted Marine Admiral Aokiji's trail, so to avoid unnecessary trouble, we withdrew our surveillance personnel. Who would have thought that not only were Germa's people not defeated, but they escaped here..."
"Damn it!" Doflamingo couldn't help but curse loudly. He realized that things had gone beyond his expectations. After hanging up, he immediately called for Trebol and told him to gather all the Donquixote Pirates' members immediately. No matter what was going on, the top priority now was to absolutely prevent Germa's people from landing on the island...