Boro Island.
An ordinary island located in the chaotic North Blue.
At this mont, inside a tavern tucked into an alley of the town, the wooden door creaked open, and three figures stepped inside, each cloaked in black.
Only one table was occupied in the dimly lit tavern. At that table sat several n, but the most striking among them was none other than Donquixote Doflamingo.
"Welco, my friend," Doflamingo said, a grin curling at the corners of his mouth.
Mio stepped forward, lifting the hood of his cloak to reveal his face. With a faint smile, he sat down opposite Doflamingo and spoke, "Is this the sea route the Tenryuubito will be passing through?"
"Yes," Doflamingo replied with a nod. "Not only will they pass by, but they'll also dock on this island for the night."
"Dock?" Mio raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised.
Doflamingo chuckled. "This is the North Blue. It's far more chaotic than the other three seas. Even the Navy doesn't dare to patrol the waters at night too freely—especially with sothing as important as escorting the Celestial Gold."
Mio nodded thoughtfully. "What's the timing?"
Doflamingo checked a silver stopwatch, then said, "About an hour at most."
He leaned back and flashed a crooked grin. "This tavern is one of our family's safehouses. Once the job is done, we'll co back here and throw a celebration—fufufufufu."
"Let's talk celebration later. Right now, I'm more curious about the escort detail," Mio said as he rested his chin on his hand and glanced toward the two cloaked figures beside Doflamingo.
Seka and Diamante.
Like Doflamingo, they wore black cloaks to conceal their identities.
Mio shifted his gaze back to the underworld broker. Doflamingo answered smoothly, "The escort force includes a commodore from Navy Headquarters, four colonels, sixteen majors, and around a thousand marines, escorted by two warships."
"That's quite a force," Mio muttered with a slight frown.
Doflamingo nodded. "Naturally. It's the Celestial Gold, after all. If sothing goes wrong, the Celestial Dragons won't hesitate to lay the bla. The Navy has to ensure everything runs smoothly."
"That's true," Mio agreed.
The group sat and conversed quietly over drinks, waiting patiently for the ti to strike.
Roughly half an hour later, the tavern door opened once again, and a man strode in swiftly. He approached Doflamingo and whispered sothing in his ear.
Doflamingo waved him off and turned to Mio. "Looks like it's ti—fufufu."
"Let's go then," Mio said, grinning with anticipation in his eyes. "I want to see just how rich this Celestial Gold really is."
"You'll be amazed," Doflamingo replied in a hushed tone, pulling his cloak back over his face and striding out with confidence.
Mio followed suit, donning his cloak once more and stepping into the night.
Under the moonlit sky, the island's town lay still and silent, save for the distant sounds of water lapping at the port.
Two Navy warships were anchored at the docks. Nurous soldiers stood guard, eyes sharp and nerves tense as they scanned their surroundings for any sign of trouble.
A middle-aged officer in a Navy coat disembarked from one of the ships. He glanced around the port before summoning a nearby colonel and giving an order.
"Set up camp and rotate shifts for the night. I want constant vigilance. No slacking off—understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the colonel saluted respectfully before turning away to carry out the order.
The commodore remained on the pier, his brow furrowed in thought. "Let's hope this night passes without incident," he muttered under his breath.
It was his first ti escorting the Celestial Gold. Despite his rank, the pressure weighed heavily on him. If sothing went wrong, even he wouldn't escape punishnt.
What he didn't know was that far from the port, deep within a forest, Mio and Doflamingo stood silently among the trees, watching the scene unfold.
"You handle the commodore," Mio said softly, eyes fixed on the warships. "Leave the rest—the officers and soldiers—to ."
"Fine by ," Doflamingo agreed without hesitation. The commodore was strong by North Blue standards, but Doflamingo wasn't exactly weak. With Seka and Diamante backing him up, taking down one high-ranking officer wouldn't be difficult.
Still, Doflamingo cast a curious glance at Mio. The enemy had numbers on their side—four colonels, sixteen majors, and over a thousand soldiers. It wasn't sothing that could be swept away easily. Doflamingo wasn't convinced that Mio had the sheer strength to deal with so many. If even one group of soldiers escaped, it could create serious trouble.
Tonight, none of them could be allowed to live.
Mio didn't seem to notice Doflamingo's doubts.
He reached out and gently patted Erica on the shoulder.
Under the cloak, a slight tremble passed through the strange girl. The tentacles on her forehead twitched as if sensing sothing.
The group remained still. Mio was waiting for Erica's move. Doflamingo, in turn, was waiting for Mio to initiate the attack. With so many enemies, charging in alone would be suicidal.
Even Doflamingo wasn't foolish enough to act rashly.
But as the silence stretched on and Mio still hadn't moved, Doflamingo grew puzzled and was about to ask what was happening when—
Rustle...
A faint noise stirred behind them.
"Hm?" Doflamingo narrowed his eyes and turned slightly, only to see Seka staring in wide-eyed horror.
"D-Do... Doffy..."
Seka swallowed hard, then pointed behind them.
Doflamingo turned fully and froze.
His pupils contracted, scalp tingling.
Even soone like him was montarily stunned.
Before them, the forest floor teed with movent—endless waves of black ants, so tiny, others the size of a human thumb. They covered the ground like a dark, living carpet.
A tide of insects so vast it looked like a black lake.
The swarm grew denser by the second as ants from all over the forest converged behind them.
Even Doflamingo couldn't help but feel a chill. He instinctively assud this was a Devil Fruit ability.
And that ant one thing—Erica.
He glanced at the girl under the cloak, who was still calm and unmoving, the strange tentacles on her forehead twitching lightly.
Thank goodness ants don't exist in the ocean, Doflamingo thought grimly. If this ability worked at sea... she'd be unstoppable.
Finally, when the ti seed right, Erica turned to Mio. Her expression didn't change, but her eyes were silently asking for confirmation—should she let the ants loose?
Mio gave one last look toward the port, then nodded.
Erica's tentacles twitched.
In the next mont, the swarm surged forward like a black tidal wave, sweeping through the forest toward the unsuspecting port.
The operation had begun
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