I guarded Impel Down for a hundred years in the pirate world.

The boundaries of the merchant groups' influence are not uniformly defined; they are tacit understandings that have developed over many years of friction. The strength of the Serau Merchant Group is worth that much, and they also have a subtle intention to form an alliance to resist stronger merchant groups.

But who knows this new business group?

Even if they eventually discover that the other party is powerful enough that they have no choice but to accept them, they would never allow the other party to inherit the entire Serau Sea!

At least a piece of flesh needs to be torn off!

They looked at each other and reached an agreement.

"Doflamingo didn't come."

"Never mind him, I've always found that guy's attitude and appearance annoying."

"Then... the seven of us will each expand the merchant group's business scope to seven islands, first taking over more than half of the Serau Sea area, and see how this Lynch merchant group deals with it!"

One of them took out a nautical chart and began to sketch it out with the others.

Soon, news spread that seven merchant groups, including the Hall Merchant Group and the Red Merchant Group, were simultaneously expanding their business scope. The 49 islands that originally belonged to the Serau Merchant Group could now purchase lamp wicks from them at the lowest possible transportation cost!

……

Doflamingo, who was keeping an eye on their movements, received the news immediately. After browsing the web for a while, he chuckled softly.

At the conference table, several members of his business group looked at each other in confusion. They were furious and anxious because they had lost their share of the goods and had been excluded by the other seven companies. Why was the chairman still smiling?

"President, do you have an idea?"

"No, no." Doflamingo interlaced his fingers. "But how do you think the Lynch Merchant Guild will react to those guys doing this?"

"Reaction...you mean, the Lynch Merchant Guild will fight them, and we'll benefit?"

"Fight? Why fight?" Doflamingo said, "If I were the Lynch Merchant Guild, I wouldn't do anything. You include those 49 islands, I'll include those 49 islands, and we'll see which one the islanders choose."

Everyone present seemed to be deep in thought.

"If it were you, who would you choose?" Doflamingo asked again.

After three seconds of silence, a snake-headed member of the tribe pondered, "If what Lynch's merchant group said about recruiting lantern hunters is true, its appeal is far greater than those other merchant groups."

As for the island's residents, they would naturally buy whichever merchant group's lamp wicks were cheapest. With the lamp-lighting assistance program in place, they would be more likely to choose the Lynch Merchant Group given the same price.

Doflamingo smiled, seemingly pleased to have a subordinate with decent intelligence.

At this moment, another burly man suddenly said in a muffled voice, "I don't understand anything about the fishing lantern partner or anything like that. Anyway, if I had to choose, no matter who I was compared to, I would definitely choose Chairman Doflamingo!"

The snake-headed man glared at him and quickly added, "Hey, you bastard, I didn't mean that. I...you...the guild leader told us to choose from the Lynch Merchant Guild and those guys' guilds, there wasn't a guild leader at all..."

"Then I won't choose anyone. I don't recognize anyone except the president!"

Snake-headed Clan: "..."

After a brief silence, everyone burst into laughter.

The snake-headed man also laughed helplessly.

Only the burly man looked around in confusion, as if asking what was so funny, which made the crowd laugh even louder.

Doflamingo then lightly tapped his hands twice: "Alright, continue to keep a close eye on the situation in that area. Those guys won't be stupid forever; they'll soon realize something's wrong."

Then... whew, whew, I'm really looking forward to seeing what they'll do.

This "when the time comes" will arrive very soon.

Even Doflamingo didn't expect that the Lynch Merchant Guild hadn't actually done anything. Just two hours later, a spontaneous event had ruthlessly thwarted the intrusion of the seven merchant guilds.

……

Gamia Island, a port on the edge of the Serau Sea.

Several pedestrians stared blankly at the crowds surging off the newly docked passenger ship.

"W-why are there so many people?"

Has anything happened recently?

Normally, there are only about a hundred people on these passenger ships, but today this ship is packed with people, probably not even carrying any cargo, just people!

Several thousand? Tens of thousands?

What are they here for?

As people disembarked, carrying bags and hurrying about, port pedestrians who tried to ask them questions were met with indifferent responses.

It wasn't until someone couldn't contain themselves and took out some money to ask that someone finally gave a hesitant answer: "Hehe, we're here to participate in the Lynch Business Group's lighting ceremony."

Which activity are you participating in?

After a brief moment of confusion, everyone quickly realized! That's right, this event is only open to residents of the 81 islands; those from other areas cannot participate. The network bugs are very accurate in determining distance, so there's no way to change the location.

Then come over in person.

If I can't participate elsewhere, I'll come to a place where I can participate, is that alright?

How much does a boat ticket cost?

If you manage to snatch a single lamp, you'll become rich overnight!

The indigenous people knew about this situation and felt both resentful that others were taking away their opportunities and a feeling they couldn't quite put their finger on.

Is it a sense of superiority? It's quite complicated.

The same thing happened at every location surrounding the 81 islands.

……

*Smack!* Hall slammed his hand heavily on the table. The sound was so loud that all seven merchant guild leaders felt as if they had been slapped across the face.

We're still expanding our influence in the sea, and the residents of our own waters are already voluntarily going to other people's territory to use their trading companies.

"Those cheapskates didn't have the means to buy lamp wicks and lamps anyway."

"They'll go back after the Lynch Merchant Guild's activities are over, so we don't need to worry about them."

They tried to comfort each other like this, but deep down they knew that wasn't the point. The point was that the Lynch Company's reputation was expanding too fast in this damned way. If it suddenly turned the tables and invaded our territory, wouldn't our residents be overjoyed?

Even ordinary, weak people are potential customers for buying lamp wicks. There are too many people who have saved their whole lives hoping that their descendants can change their fate!

They have to pay attention to 'people's hearts'.

So what should we do?

Do they also send lamp wicks like the Lynch Merchant Guild?

That's impossible!

They even gave away dance lamp wicks. Who knows how much money those guys are planning to spend to win people's hearts? Besides, there are 'lamp-fishing partners'. They have no chance of changing the system to this.

"Should we test their strength first?"

When Red made this suggestion, the other six nodded in agreement after a brief silence.

Which merchant group like theirs doesn't have some connection with pirates?

The time has come to let the pirates do the dirty work!

……

"They're here, they're finally here."

At the same time, as Figo continued to recruit partners for the fishing lamp project, several images suddenly flashed through his mind, and his spiritual premonition detected malice.

Successfully caught someone.

Chapter 301 The Mantis Stalks the Oriole Behind

"A good opportunity." At the same moment, Doflamingo said with some excitement.

The subordinates exchanged puzzled glances, and Lucilia spoke up, asking, "Domyouji, have you come up with an idea?"

"Heh, do you remember what I told you? The rules of the Lighting Stars." Doflamingo tapped his fingers on the table and said, "I didn't expect that the event to help light the stars to have such a big impact, and it's still expanding. But the greater the impact, the more it means that the Lynch Merchant Guild is heading towards its doom."

"They...are they doomed?"

This time, Doflamingo didn't explain everything to his subordinates. He continued tapping his fingers on the table, considering the details in his mind.

The Lynch business group broke the rules.

Yes, he didn't fight or steal, and he didn't break any laws in Capri, but his 'malicious competition' and attempts to win people's hearts will displease the top powers in the sea.

In other words, the partner who helped with lighting and fishing lanterns set a bad precedent. You didn't follow the practices of all other business groups and significantly improved the treatment. So, will others follow your example or not?

Someone will always learn it!

If a top power learns it, will another top power that is competing with it learn it as well?

Such competition would significantly reduce the profits of large merchant groups, benefiting those at the bottom. So, if you put yourself in their shoes, if the top merchant groups knew about this, they would definitely want the Linqi Merchant Group to quietly and quickly disappear, without causing any trouble.

So all those people need to do is let slip a trick and tacitly allow the Hall Merchant Guild to destroy the Lynch Merchant Guild through improper means.

Perhaps those fools from the Hall Merchant Guild and the Red Merchant Guild don't think that far ahead, but given their nature, they will still do illegal things.

Thinking of this, Doflamingo paused his tapping on the table and ordered, "Send people to keep an eye on those pirate crews that are in contact with them and gather information on their movements."

"...A pirate crew?"

Do you need me to repeat myself?

"Uh, yes!"

Doflamingo watched his subordinates leave, looking puzzled. After a moment's thought, he smiled and looked at Lucilia, saying, "Please help me contact my dear sister."

"...Ming-ge, what do you want to do?"

"A snake swallowing an elephant," Doflamingo said hoarsely. "Because I lack the strength, I need someone to protect me while I digest the elephant. I need to use my identity as a Qinghai person to find a 'big shot' who can provide me with protection."

……

The human kingdom of Capri.

Wangdu, Navy Branch.

That's right, it was indeed the Navy branch, the Navy of Qinghai. The branch's highest-ranking officer, Rear Admiral Don Quixote Dowena, answered his brother's call.

"It's really rare that you took the initiative to contact me."

"Fufufu, sister, are you still in the capital of Capri? I need you to contact Duke Hippolyta for me. I need to speak with him on the phone," Doflamingo said on the other end of the line.

"Ipolito?"