Chapter 169: The Navy Attacks Again?

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Upon Abel's return to Spider Miles, he was surprised to find an oppressive atmosphere over the island.

He learned that recent news had come in stating that for some reason, the Navy had suddenly gone mad and begun a rigorous sweep of the Donquixote Family's open businesses.

But since these businesses had been openly operated, of course, they were not afraid of inspection.

The Navy's actions could at most be considered venting or causing someone inconvenience.

If it had happened during that time when that Colonel was killed, it might have been understandable for the other Navy members to react impulsively.

But so much time had passed, so what was the point of doing this now?

Abel couldn't figure it out.

In fact, Doflamingo didn't understand either.

Even though the Navy had finally made a move, which had somewhat eased his mind, he couldn't fully relax until he understood what exactly the Navy was up to.

Inside a room, Diamante entered through a door.

"Doflamingo-sama, the money has already been spent. Although those in the Navy whom we've bribed are unaware, they simply follow their superiors' orders. But they assured us they will gather useful intelligence and pass it to us as soon as possible."

"Did they say which superior issued the commands?"

"They did not, but in the North Blue, it's only Tsuru that old woman who ranks the highest, isn't it?"

Doflamingo frowned; dealing with Tsuru always exhausted him.

He could occasionally guess her thoughts, but most of the time, he couldn't understand what she was up to.

Like this time, Tsuru had previously stopped the Navy branches from retaliating, but now she had actively given orders for them to trouble the Donquixote Family again.

It felt as though there was a hidden agenda not related to the overt mission.

"Besides troubling us, has the Navy made any other moves?"

"There shouldn't be."

"Shouldn't?"

"We can't help it; the informants we've bought can't get close to that old woman Tsuru, and we can only confirm through other means."

"Stay vigilant in the near future; I suspect there's something else hidden beneath all of this."

"Alright, I'll inform the others immediately."

...

When Abel received this notice, he didn't take it seriously.

The other executives felt the same.

However, within a day, an alarm was triggered on the island!

Three naval warships appeared on the sea!

"They're back?"

Abel was perplexed. Could it be that Tsuru had called in reinforcements from headquarters?

Last time they had caught the Donquixote Family off guard, making Doflamingo and his people flee.

What did they want now by approaching so openly?

What was stranger still was that the three warships didn't seem to intend to dock. They stayed on the sea at an ambiguous distance.

Moving any closer, they would reach the maximum range of their cannons.

Yet, backing away slightly would make them lose their deterrent effect.

At the same time, Doflamingo also received the latest intelligence.

The Ope Ope no Mi, or the Op-Op Fruit, was rumored to have appeared on a different island!

And a naval warship was already heading there!

The Op-Op Fruit?!

Doflamingo's first reaction was astonishment, then deep suspicion set in.

How could such a coincidence happen?

The Op-Op Fruit had suddenly appeared in the North Blue, and on an island not too far from him?

Could it be a trap?

But there were very few people who knew he had been seeking this particular Devil Fruit in secret.

Using it as bait seemed a bit far-fetched.

Suddenly, Doflamingo thought of Tsuru's abnormal actions with the Navy in the past few days, leading him to a speculation.He was starting to believe that the Ope-Ope Fruit might actually be real.

So, he decided to test the waters.

"Prepare the Flamingo, set sail immediately!"

"Set sail? But what about those navy ships?"

"Ignore them, set sail!"

When the navy ships seemed to notice the Flamingo's movement, they immediately started to close in.

It was as if they were saying, "You can go, but forget about your home base."

Seeing this, Doflamingo immediately shouted with an unsightly expression, "Stop the ship!"

"What's the matter, Doflamingo?"

"The Ope-Ope Fruit might really be on the other island. Tsuru doesn't want us to interfere, so she's using these ships to force us to stay."

"If we leave now, we won't be able to defend this place. Besides, having lost the initiative, it's not certain we can snatch the Ope-Ope Fruit from Tsuru's hands."

"She 'startled the snake' on purpose, making me mistakenly believe the navy was going to take action against us, only to feign an attack after I had called all my officers back, revealing her real intent. What a cunning plan!"

Doflamingo said through gritted teeth.

And the more he analyzed, the more he felt that Tsuru's real goal was to retrieve the Ope-Ope Fruit.

If it was a trap, it would be the worst kind.

All he needed to do was have his men stay on the island and do nothing.

In his view, that was exactly Tsuru's intention!

"If it were any other Devil Fruit, I might let it go, but I am determined to get this Ope-Ope Fruit!"

"Tsuru, you definitely didn't see this coming!"

Doflamingo's smile was a bit sinister.

"Doflamingo, what should we do then?"

"Dock the ship; everyone head back."

"What about the Ope-Ope Fruit?"

Doflamingo took a deep breath, "There's only one option now; I'll head over through the sky myself, and grab the Ope-Ope Fruit before the navy gets there."

"Isn't that too risky? Shouldn't we go together? If it comes to it, we can just snatch it from the navy by force!"

Diamante's subtext was that they could abandon Spider Miles and go all-in to steal the Ope-Ope Fruit.

But Doflamingo shook his head, "The loss would be too great, and to snatch the Ope-Ope Fruit from Tsuru is nearly impossible. Knowing Tsuru, in extreme situations, she's capable of destroying the Ope-Ope Fruit herself."

"We can't delay any longer. Everyone, hold down the fort here."

Doflamingo immediately soared into the sky, moving rapidly with the help of the clouds.

His estimate was not wrong; traveling in a straight line from the air was indeed faster than by ship.

And the distance to the other island was not too far.

He had a real chance of reaching there before the navy did.

As the Flamingo returned to dock, the three navy ships in the distance immediately stopped their advance and retreated to the safety line, everything seemed to be just as Doflamingo had anticipated.

The navy's real target was not the Donquixote Family!

But Abel was a bit numb; why had the Ope-Ope Fruit appeared so early?

And why on that island?

Could it be because of him, the storyline had become completely chaotic?

He instinctively felt something was off.

Including those navy ships at sea, all of it was very odd.

If Abel could have gone aboard those ships at that moment, he would have seen that the crowded figures on the deck were actually mannequins dressed in navy uniforms!

The real navy forces were not here at all!