Chapter Thirty-Five: Invincibility and Shamelessness (Part One)

"Aren't we taking a ship to our destination?" Although, in theory, Qiubai only needed to follow Senor and act together, he was clearly not the type to simply behave himself. To him, being a good pirate meant asking questions when he didn't understand something. The more he asked, the faster he'd get to know every aspect of the Don Quixote family.

They had barely taken a few steps when Qiubai realized something was off—the direction they were heading wasn't toward the coast, but rather deeper into the island.

Qiubai had already seen Doflamingo's pirate ship, hidden somewhere along the trash-strewn beach.

"First, Rakesh is just in a town on the eastern side of this island. It's not far from where we are, and traveling by land is actually faster than by sea," Senor explained.

Qiubai thought it over. Some vague memories in his mind told him that the Don Quixote family often operated on land. Compared to pirates who spent their whole lives drifting on a ship, these people spent an inordinate amount of time ashore.

They even had a secret hideout on land despite being pirates... Thinking about it, even though they were about to deal with the mafia, the Don Quixote family resembled the mafia in many ways—or perhaps they were a fusion of pirates and mafia?

"Secondly, as long as the captain isn't involved in the action, we generally shouldn't use the family’s main ship."

"..."

That made sense. Most pirate crews were strictly hierarchical, and only the captain had the final say over the ship.

"So Doflamingo won't participate in the upcoming action?"

"Correct. Doflamingo has other matters to attend to personally... and he needs the ship for that."

That last line made Qiubai raise an eyebrow—so it wasn't that they couldn't use the ship, but that they had no way to use it? This guy really had a way of avoiding the main point.

Actually, not only Doflamingo, but the top executives wouldn't participate in this operation, and even the regular officers weren't all involved. From this, Qiubai surmised that the mafia entrenched in the town probably weren't all that formidable.

The operation involved only Gladius, Lao G, Senor, plus Qiubai and Ain—a total of five.

"Too slow!"

As Senor and the others appeared, Lao G shouted loudly... By any broad categorization, he was already part of the elderly, but he seemed full of energy.

He wore tight red pants, as if about to perform ballet. His hat sported two blue rabbit ears, and even more bizarrely, he had something wrapped around his rear resembling a diaper... It wasn’t just wearing underwear on the outside—it was more than that.

Who knew what had happened in this man’s life? He was probably an old man with stories to tell, but Qiubai had zero interest in any of that nonsense.

I’ve grown impatient, G... Qiubai could even guess what he was about to say next.

"I’ve grown impatient, G!"

But Qiubai hadn’t expected Lao G to strike such a spectacularly embarrassing pose when he said it... Was that a "G" shape?

So what did this "G" actually mean? Old man? Game over? Or perhaps a pun reminding himself not to expose anything—no wonder he wore a diaper.

"Lao G, Senor is still within the time limit, but let's hurry up. This matter needs to be resolved quickly. If there's truly been a betrayal of the family, those thugs must pay the price," came a voice, filled with unwavering loyalty to the family and impatience.

It was Gladius speaking. He was rigid about time and absolutely intolerant of lateness. If he said Senor hadn’t been late, then Qiubai and the others truly hadn’t been late.

Gladius wore a round hat—Qiubai couldn’t tell whether it was a top hat or a helmet. His face was entirely concealed behind a mask with circular lenses, making his expression unreadable. But upon closer inspection, scars with sutured lines could be seen at the sides of his eyes.

He wore a deep blue trench coat adorned with numerous metal rings and buckles.

The "Pop-Pop Fruit"—Gladius’s ability—was extremely practical. Simply put, he could cause his own flesh to expand and explode, or make inorganic objects he touched swell and detonate.

Though he seemed calm normally, he was unlike Senor. Just like his fruit, he had a volatile temper—especially when the family's interests were threatened, he truly would explode.

Playing the family game until he believed it himself, Gladius was probably thoroughly brainwashed by Doflamingo. But that didn’t matter; everyone had their own reasons for believing what they chose to believe.

Others had no right to judge.

These men would surely keep Doflamingo’s instructions close to heart. After a brief rendezvous, they headed straight for the town.

Or would they use force to intimidate along the way?

Regardless of whether that was planned, the five of them inevitably had that effect as they passed.

"Run, it's the Don Quixote family!"

Almost as soon as those words were uttered, everyone who saw the five instantly scattered in panic, leaving behind nothing but wilted lettuce leaves.

"I didn’t expect ‘Don Quixote’ to be so intimidating," Qiubai remarked, somewhat impressed.

"Of course. We're villains, so we must have a notorious reputation. These people's reactions are average at best," Gladius replied.

He seemed to relish the panic of the bystanders.

And he was right. For pirates, the more their name could frighten others, the more successful they were. In this respect, the infamous Don Quixote family was like a fighter jet among pirates.

Casually conversing, they moved toward their destination, and judging by their demeanor, none of them took the mafia seriously.

Thus, they soon arrived at Rakesh.

Here, the Don Quixote family’s street-clearing effect was even more pronounced. As soon as the five appeared, the bustling marketplace fell silent, as if struck by a natural disaster.

If they could, the residents would probably erase any sign of life from themselves.