Chapter 1325 - 36: Stalemate

Chapter 1325: Chapter 36: Stalemate

Jack returned to Dressrosa with great momentum, and after acquiring six Apollo weapons, he hurriedly left again, indicating that there must be significant issues in Kai’s territory.

Doflamingo was also aware of this; Jack’s departure from Dressrosa meant he would have to rely solely on his own forces to resist the Big Mom Pirate Group.

The Big Mom Pirate Group attacked Dressrosa twice; the first time resulted in heavy casualties for the Donquixote Family, and the second time they were repelled by the Apollo.

When the Big Mom Pirate Group comes for a third attack, it might not be possible to repel them with just the Apollo. The next time Katakuri arrives in Dressrosa, he will surely be well-prepared, at least with a strategy to counter the Apollo.

In the villa’s living room, an old, emaciated pirate stood beside Doflamingo, speaking respectfully in a low voice.

"You can leave now."

Doflamingo’s face was calm. After the old pirate left, Doflamingo sighed; there were some matters he couldn’t discuss with anyone else, such as the Donquixote Family members having suffered over 60% casualties.

Doflamingo took out a Telephone Worm from his pocket. Despite usually being decisive, he hesitated, unsure whether to summon an old partner back to Dressrosa. This person had infiltrated the Navy and held a Vice Admiral position, and recalling them would render their years of effort wasted.

After a fierce landing battle, the Donquixote Family not only suffered heavy pirate casualties but also some of their cadres were killed or wounded. Excluding the seriously injured, those able to fight now were limited to Pika, Baby-5, Buffalo, Senor Pink, and Delinjie.

Among these five, Doflamingo trusted Pika, Delinjie, and Senor Pink the most; the remaining two were not as reliable in his eyes.

Baby-5 had a serious personality flaw, making her unsuitable for crucial responsibilities, while Buffalo, though loyal, had limited abilities and was not particularly intelligent.

At this moment, Doflamingo suddenly realized he seemed to have few useful people at his disposal; even the one ’reliable’ collaborator was quite dangerous.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Doflamingo had an odd feeling that Su Xiao was deliberately prolonging the war, but he had no concrete evidence.

As Doflamingo pondered, hurried footsteps approached.

"Young Master, something terrible has happened; members of the Big Mom Pirate Group have arrived in the nearshore area."

The newcomer was Buffalo, panting heavily as if he had hurried back from the sea.

"Which landing point are they aiming for?"

Doflamingo was much calmer about it; the Big Mom Pirate Group’s attack was inevitable.

"I... I’m not sure."

Buffalo’s voice grew quieter.

"Not sure?"

Doflamingo looked at Buffalo quizzically, causing him to tremble.

"Young Master, they’ve come with more than fifty ships, and after entering Dressrosa’s nearshore area, they dispersed, seeming not to plan to land at the usual points."

"..."

Doflamingo waved his hand, signaling Buffalo to continue reconnaissance. Buffalo hurriedly ran out of the villa, the propeller on his neck spinning, quickly lifting him into the sky.

"Trouble."

After Buffalo left, Doflamingo clenched his fists, having already guessed the Big Mom Pirate Group’s strategy.

Dressrosa Island is nearly encircled by giant rocks, and counting the ports, there are only seven places to land normally, all of which are vulnerable to Apollo attacks.

Currently, the Big Mom Pirate Group isn’t near the landing points, indicating they plan to land in the Giant Rock Region.

The Giant Rock Region is easy to defend and hard to attack; normally, the Big Mom Pirate Group wouldn’t land there unless willing to incur several times the casualties.

But under Apollo’s threat, Katakuri chose to attack from the Giant Rock Region, meaning the Big Mom Pirate Group will surround Dressrosa and then split into teams of 3 to 5 people, stretching the battle line into a ring.

Doflamingo, therefore, had no choice but to order his pirates to climb the giant rocks, with Donquixote Family members huddling in groups on them, waiting for the Big Mom Pirate Group to attack. The reason for lying down was to avoid becoming easy targets at such a height.

Half an hour later, shouts and screams echoed from various points along the coast as pirates from the Big Mom Pirate Group used hook locks to climb up the giant rocks, while some stronger pirates climbed up unarmed.

Katakuri didn’t make a move; he stood at the bow of a ship, intending to end this war using the most cautious yet personally costly method.

In terms of underling pirate numbers, Doflamingo was certainly no match for Big Mom, surviving this long solely by relying on Kai to hold off Big Mom.

Actually, compared to the Dressrosa battle zone, Charlotte Lingling and Kai were more troubled by matters in their own territories, where an unknown force had emerged, causing murder or destruction, albeit not in large numbers.

Jack abruptly left Dressrosa due to this issue.

The sounds of battle and explosions continued relentlessly, turning the entire giant rock region around Dressrosa into a battlefield, with pirates from both sides fighting atop the rocks. The good news was that the Big Mom Pirate Group couldn’t breach Dressrosa quickly.

Katakuri didn’t engage, and Doflamingo certainly wouldn’t appear on the battlefield; both sides were observing, waiting for opportunities.

Su Xiao sat on the villa roof, observing the battle along the coast. Since he headshot Cracker, the boss-level characters from the Big Mom Pirate Group had become much more cautious, avoiding exposure.

The landing battle had evolved into a tug-of-war, which was good news for Su Xiao; his pirate reputation steadily increased. Two hours into the tug-of-war, Su Xiao’s pirate reputation rank again reached the top.

[First place: Bai Ye (Third tier), Pirate Reputation 9906 points.]

[Second place: Kudu (Fifth tier), Pirate Reputation 9872 points.]

[Third place: Shallow Dream (Fifth tier), Pirate Reputation 6825 points.]

...

Su Xiao only reviewed the top three names; Shallow Dream in third place and Performer in fourth had nearly double the differences in pirate reputation. Even if Su Xiao did nothing, allowing Performer to chase, it remained uncertain whether the gap would close before the Derivative World ended.

As long as no significant changes occurred, contractors ranked below Shallow Dream posed no threat to Su Xiao, but the rapid surge in Shallow Dream’s pirate reputation was surprising, exceeding even Kudu’s speed.

This situation arose because Shallow Dream and Kudu had split up, or rather, Shallow Dream began to unleash herself. In the past, Kudu dared not let Shallow Dream run free; the usual Shallow Dream was a gentle, ladylike presence, but when switching to another persona, she transformed into a madwoman whom no one wanted to provoke.