Chapter 14: The Smile Gradually Stiffens
As Doflamingo's laughter abruptly ceased, Pica beside him pressed his hand against the ground, ready to activate the surrounding rocks at any moment. Being on land boosted his combat power by at least a third.
"Gulp~"
Sugar, who was swallowing a grape, choked and rolled her eyes. Amu had somehow already stood behind Sugar; if the situation changed even slightly, it would instantly crush Sugar into pulp. It couldn't care less whether Sugar was cute or not.
Doflamingo raised his palm toward Pica, signaling him not to act rashly. The three of them reacting this way was only natural. If having a blade pressed against one's throat felt like a needle prick, then observing Apollo up close was like having a branding iron pressed against one's brow—scorching and piercing.
"Is this a weapon you made?"
Doflamingo quickly calmed down, but his fingers twitched, and invisible threads formed around Su Xiao.
Zzzt~
The Realm Severing Thread shot out, coiling above Su Xiao and catching several transparent threads midair.
"Of course. Otherwise, why would the World Government be chasing me all over the world?"
Su Xiao's expression remained calm, not bothering to look up at the Realm Severing Thread above.
Doflamingo curled his index finger, retracting the threads above Su Xiao. This was his Devil Fruit ability—the String-String Fruit, which he had developed to the point of awakening.
"I need detailed information on this thing. Can it be mass-produced? What's its power? Cost..."
Doflamingo only sensed that Apollo was dangerous; he had no clear information about it.
"You can call it Apollo. It's a large-scale explosive. As for its killing principle, imagine a small artificial sun crashing down on the ground.
In reality, Apollo's explosive force isn't that strong. It relies on the instantaneous high temperature of the explosion to incinerate enemies into vaporization. The blast radius is half a kilometer. It requires 30 seconds to activate before use, and even an ordinary person can sense the danger once it's activated..."
Su Xiao introduced some of Apollo's information to Doflamingo. Apollo's strengths were its large blast radius and terrifying power, while its weaknesses were the long activation time and high production cost.
"If used in large-scale warfare, you could activate Apollo half a kilometer away and then use a throwing tool to launch it at the enemy. That would achieve a strong killing effect."
Su Xiao wasn't worried that Doflamingo would reject Apollo. The latter was locked in a bitter struggle with the Big Mom Pirates. Although the Beasts Pirates were backing him up, they were no pushovers either.
The Beasts Pirates had come to assist, but they wouldn't help Doflamingo completely block Big Mom's forces. What the Beasts Pirates most wanted to see was Doflamingo's forces crippled by Big Mom, forcing him to rely on the Beasts Pirates, or even be absorbed by them and become a puppet.
Doflamingo knew this too, which only added to his pressure. He had to withstand the Big Mom Pirates while also guarding against his "ally."
As for distributing artificial Devil Fruits to the Big Mom Pirates, that was impossible. First, the Beasts Pirates wouldn't agree and might even turn hostile. Second, the production of artificial Devil Fruits was too low to supply two Emperors.
Only if Doflamingo's forces survived this ordeal could he engage in relatively fair cooperation with the Beasts Pirates.
The only good news at the moment was the turbulent state of the New World. Rumors circulated that Fire Fist Ace, the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, had been captured by the Navy.
Recently, the Whitebeard Pirates had faced many major incidents. The Fourth Division Commander, Thatch, had been killed by a comrade, and the murderer had defected from the Whitebeard Pirates, his whereabouts unknown.
Not only that, but Jinbe, the Knight of the Sea who had deep ties with the Whitebeard Pirates, had also been arrested. Jinbe was a Warlord of the Sea, and the Navy arresting him was something no one could understand.
The Whitebeard Pirates were having internal issues, and the other three Emperors keenly sensed this. Kaido and Big Mom had long coveted Whitebeard's territory. Three days ago, Big Mom's subordinates arrived at Fish-Man Island and met with King Neptune. The meeting ended in discord.
Just when everyone thought Whitebeard would target Big Mom, he remained unusually silent. The silence of this sea emperor threw the New World into chaos.
If the danger level of the New World was 10 when the protagonist Luffy entered it, then the current danger index was at least 200 or more.
In this environment, Doflamingo only wanted to preserve his strength, but unfortunately, Big Mom had set her sights on artificial Devil Fruits.
Doflamingo was smarter than most pirates. He knew this wasn't the time to grab territory. The current situation had only two possible outcomes: either the Whitebeard Pirates would weather the storm and remain the sea's overlords, or Whitebeard, this giant, would fall, and that would be the time to seize territory.
"How expensive would this thing be to produce?"
Doflamingo had already thought of Apollo's strategic value. Using it to completely crush the Big Mom Pirates was unlikely, but driving back Big Mom's forces was very possible. If he had the chance to drop a few on Big Mom's Whole Cake Island...
"Let's not talk about cost for now. If you can detonate a few Apollos on Big Mom's turf, she won't come near you for years. Kaido's cooperation attitude will also become much more sincere."
Su Xiao tossed the Apollo in his hand. Seeing this, Doflamingo's heartbeat seemed to slow. He could clearly sense that if this thing exploded, only two people in the villa would survive.
"I'm more concerned about the cost."
Doflamingo's smile faded. He leaned back casually on the sofa and crossed his legs. This was his usual demeanor when negotiating cooperation.
Su Xiao frowned. Doflamingo's persistent focus on cost was giving him a headache. Apollo's production cost wasn't actually that high, but the required materials were extremely rare. Even the World Government could only find enough for two batches in a short time.
"Sun remnants, fire gold, soul..."
Su Xiao was about to say "soul crystal" when he suddenly remembered that people in the One Piece world didn't know what soul crystals were. He simply took out a soul crystal (medium).
"Plus this kind of crystal."
Su Xiao not only took out a soul crystal but also retrieved small pieces of sun remnants and fire gold from his storage space.
Doflamingo fell silent. The reason was simple: aside from the soul crystal, he had never seen the other two materials. In fact, he had never even heard of them.
"Give me ten minutes."
Doflamingo took out a Den Den Mushi, stood up, and walked out of the room. In less than ten minutes, he returned.
"There's no problem with the raw materials. I want this technology. In return, I'll help you deal with the World Government and the CP agencies."
Doflamingo's request was very "blunt." He directly wanted the technology, apparently unwilling to suffer from technological monopoly.
"Deal."
Su Xiao's answer was very straightforward, and Doflamingo immediately sensed something was wrong.
Did Doflamingo want the technology to manufacture Apollo? Su Xiao certainly wouldn't be stingy. He had already modified Apollo several times. The design blueprint for Apollo was something no one else could understand except him.