Chapter 3: The Cause of the Sea Battle
The sea had completely calmed, and the once-turbulent large ship now sat motionless on the surface. Although the weather had cleared, the pirates on board all wore tense expressions, veins bulging on the hands gripping their swords. While the Don Quixote Family was a notorious pirate crew in the New World, their opponent this time was one of the Four Emperors. Without support from another Emperor, the Don Quixote Family would have been crushed long ago—this was a gap in raw strength.
Even the lowliest underlings under a Four Emperor were elite pirates. They were all formidable, ruthless in combat, and every one of them was a desperado of the seas. Without a certain level of notoriety, one couldn’t even qualify to join the Big Mom Pirates.
In this surrounding sea area, there were a total of 15 ships: 7 from the Big Mom Pirates, 4 from the Beast Pirates, and 4 from the Don Quixote Family. An 8-to-7 matchup should have favored the Don Quixote Family, but the Beast Pirates were only there to assist. Getting them to fight to the death was unlikely. The Beast Pirates were merely cooperating with the Don Quixote Family; they could support their ally, but dying for them wasn’t worth it.
If this had been a few months ago, whether the Beast Pirates would even provide support was uncertain. But recently, the Don Quixote Family had perfected a certain technology and conducted several trades with the Beast Pirates. The item traded was called the "Artificial Zoan Devil Fruit."
Artificial Devil Fruits had been developed long ago, but they weren’t in the hands of the Don Quixote Family. However, after funding a certain individual, they obtained this technology and invested heavily to mature it, recently showing signs of mass production.
Kaido, the captain of the Beast Pirates, highly valued Artificial Devil Fruits. Thus, he sent his trusted subordinates to support the Don Quixote Family, essentially backing Doflamingo.
As for the Big Mom Pirates, were they really there to seize territory? Of course not. Dressrosa was at most a large, prosperous island, and there were many such islands in the New World. Clashing with Kaido and Doflamingo solely for Dressrosa was a foolish move. Although Charlotte Linlin was mentally unstable, she was a female pirate who aspired to become the Pirate King. She could clearly weigh the pros and cons.
Charlotte Linlin’s initial goal was not Dressrosa but the Artificial Devil Fruit technology in Doflamingo’s hands. This technology held strategic value for a pirate crew.
Although Doflamingo possessed the Artificial Devil Fruit technology, producing them was no simple task. First, there was a scientist named M. Caesar Clown, the core figure behind the Artificial Devil Fruits. Without him, Doflamingo couldn’t obtain them. M. Caesar Clown provided the raw materials, which were then cultivated by the Tontatta Dwarf Clan living beneath Dressrosa. The costs were exorbitant, and the yield was very low.
If Charlotte Linlin wanted the Artificial Devil Fruit technology, she would have to seize both Dressrosa and Punk Hazard in one fell swoop. Not only that, but she would also need to capture M. Caesar Clown and the Tontatta Dwarf Clan. Charlotte Linlin didn’t care about the difficulty; her orders were simple: "I want that thing. Take it."
Thus, the Dressrosa Sea Battle officially began. Both sides were fighting over territory as well as the Artificial Zoan Devil Fruit technology.
Su Xiao leaned against the ship’s railing, having roughly analyzed the situation. It wasn’t a difficult deduction; he believed over 97% of contractors could figure out this information.
Although three factions were available to join, the Beast Pirates were the hardest to enter. The Don Quixote Family and the Big Mom Pirates were relatively easier to join.
The Big Mom Pirates were the attackers. Joining this faction meant either seizing the island or the Artificial Devil Fruit technology. The Don Quixote Family were the defenders. Joining them only required repelling the Big Mom Pirates’ assault.
As for the Beast Pirates, they were originally there to assist. Even if they recruited crew members, they wouldn’t be as urgent as the other two sides.
The ship Su Xiao was on was called the Spade, part of the fleet managed by Pica, the highest-ranking officer of the Don Quixote Family.
The structure of the Don Quixote Family was interesting. At the top was Donquixote Doflamingo, beneath whom were four divisions: Clubs, Spades, Diamonds, and Hearts.
The highest officer of Clubs was Trebol, a user of the Stick-Stick Fruit. His strength was average, but his fighting style was somewhat disgusting—not in a tricky way, but genuinely nauseating. He liked to fight using mucus. Clubs handled public security.
The highest officer of Spades was Pica, whose strength ranked among the top three in the Don Quixote Family. The ship Su Xiao was on was under his command. Spades mostly consisted of Doflamingo’s guards, with representatives like Gladius, Baby 5, and Buffalo.
The highest officer of Diamonds was Diamante, one of the oldest members of the Don Quixote Family. As for his strength… Su Xiao could take him down in five minutes. This division managed the Corrida Colosseum in Dressrosa.
Hearts was a special division of the Don Quixote Family, mostly operating in the shadows, handling intelligence. Representatives included Vergo and Monet.
The sea area Su Xiao was in was where the highest officer Pica faced off against Charlotte Perospero. Doflamingo trusted Pica greatly, but Pica’s opponent this time was no pushover. Charlotte Perospero was Charlotte Linlin’s eldest son, a user of the Special Paramecia Lick-Lick Fruit. As long as he had enough stamina, he could produce candy almost infinitely, rivaling a Logia user.
Pica was no pushover either. His Stone-Stone Fruit was also a Paramecia, and combined with Armament Haki and swordsmanship, he couldn’t defeat Perospero but could hold him off. The ship wasn’t suited for Pica’s fruit abilities.
With a whoosh, the ship Su Xiao was on lowered its sails. Over a dozen pirates worked together to steer the vessel, and the entire ship sailed forward.
The earlier squad leader not only didn’t cause trouble for Su Xiao but was instead friendly. He recognized who Su Xiao was. Yes, even a pirate underling like him knew Su Xiao.
Su Xiao had once helped the World Government manufacture alchemy bombs. Back then, his strength was far from what it was now, but his bomb-making skills made the World Government wary. They feared he might join the Four Emperors or the Revolutionary Army, as alchemy bombs held strategic significance—something the World Government had long confirmed.
After the Enies Lobby incident, Su Xiao completely fell out with the World Government, landing on their kill list with a bounty issued. Su Xiao’s bounty wasn’t like those for pirates, where dead or alive was acceptable. His bounty was as high as 200 million Berries, but only alive capture would earn that reward.
Doflamingo had learned through secret channels that Su Xiao specialized in creating high-power bombs. He had also sent people to search for Su Xiao but ultimately failed. However, his subordinates had all seen Su Xiao’s wanted poster.
Now, with the sea battle imminent, that squad leader had no time to report the situation. He only assigned three pirates to monitor Su Xiao.
Su Xiao glanced at the three pirates not far away. With at most three shots, he could take them all out.