Chương 74: Chapter 74: Keikaku

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Uncertain about where the two trading ships would meet, Byakuya decided to first move Palace Mapelseciel to Sente Island to ensure everything was in place.

Byakuya and Sonic then headed to the unnamed deserted island where Palace Mapelseciel was being held.

The island wasn't far from Sente Island, and with their near-supersonic speed, it took less than an hour to get there.

Sonic temporarily placed Palace Mapelseciel in a cave.

While it looked relatively clean for an average person, for someone like Palace Mapelseciel, a 'noble' Celestial Dragon who considered even the air outside of Mary Geoise filthy enough to require a bubble mask, this was an unimaginable degradation.

Forced to stay in such conditions for nearly a month, with living standards starkly contrasting her usual opulent lifestyle, she endured.

This endurance indicated one thing: Palace Mapelseciel was not a brainless, arrogant Celestial Dragon.

On the contrary, she was smart enough to know when to cause trouble and when to stay quiet. However, being too smart could be problematic.

Standing a short distance from the cave entrance, Byakuya pondered whether to cancel the plan altogether and simply kill Palace Mapelseciel, leaving her body in the wilderness.

Within half a day, her corpse would likely be devoured by the island's wild animals, erasing all traces and eliminating any risk to himself.

Yet, relying solely on the act of trading with the Beasts Pirates to completely take down the Donquixote Family seemed unlikely.

After all, even in the original story, Doflamingo was merely imprisoned in Impel Down's Level 6 despite all his crimes being exposed by Luffy.

The deal with the Beasts Pirates was just a troublesome issue for him, nothing more.

After contemplating for a while, Byakuya decided to stick with the plan but added a few elements to mislead Palace Mapelseciel.

Even if it was eventually discovered that he was behind everything, by then, Byakuya would have gained a substantial amount of world source power, enough to dominate an entire era.

So, the discovery would be irrelevant.

Inside the cave, Palace Mapelseciel had long lost her former noble appearance.

Her face was pale and slightly gaunt, and her once expensive white dress had become grimy and torn in several places, revealing glimpses of her fair skin and well-proportioned figure.

She lay on the ground covered in dry grass, seemingly unconscious.

Even in her unconscious state, Sonic had blindfolded her and tied her hands and feet with ropes, ensuring she couldn't escape.

True to his title of "Lone Ninja" Sonic's treatment of women showed he had no worldly desires left.

.....

Palace Mapelseciel began to regain consciousness.

Without her sight, her hearing became much sharper, and she heard two distinct sets of footsteps approaching the cave.

Being astute, she immediately realized that something significant might happen today that would determine her fate.

These unknown captors had kept her imprisoned in the cave for over twenty days, and now they seemed ready to make their move.

As the footsteps drew nearer, she remained feigning unconsciousness, knowing that in her helpless state, it was her best means of self-preservation.

When Byakuya and Sonic entered and saw the 'unconscious' Palace Mapelseciel, they exchanged a knowing glance and smiled silently.

It seemed she wasn't aware that the breathing rhythms of the unconscious and the conscious were different.

They had noticed her waking up but chose not to expose her. This worked well for Byakuya's impromptu plan.

Lowering his voice to a deep tone, Byakuya said, "Finally, we can get rid of this nuisance."

"Spending almost a month on this deserted island with her has been incredibly dull!"

Sonic, also altering his voice, replied, "Don't talk too much. If she remembers our voices, it could be troublesome."

"What's there to worry about? Once we hand her over to the Beasts Pirates during the trade, her chances of survival are slim," Byakuya retorted.

"You've got a point. Getting out of the Beasts Pirates' grasp is nearly impossible," Sonic agreed.

Hearing their conversation, Palace Mapelseciel nearly jumped up in shock. They were planning to hand her over to one of the Four Emperors, the Beasts Pirates!

Although Palace Mapelseciel had always lived in Mariejois, she had frequently heard the names of the Four Emperors.

These were four monstrous figures at the peak of the seas. To them, killing a Celestial Dragon might be troublesome, but it certainly wasn't beyond them.

The realization made Palace Mapelseciel's breathing grow slightly rapid.

Noticing this, Byakuya decided to add more shocking details to make the story even more believable and trap her fully.

Feigning nonchalance, Byakuya said, "This Celestial Dragon is valuable. She's worth as much as a hundred artificial Devil Fruits."

"Yeah, Kaido is gathering Zoan-type Devil Fruits to build his army of Zoan users. Now, he's willing to exchange a hundred artificial Devil Fruits price for a Celestial Dragon. It's hard to fathom," Sonic responded.

"Whatever, we just follow the young master's orders," Byakuya replied.

Young master? The title was rarely used among pirates, which meant it had to be Doflamingo! Palace Mapelseciel's breathing grew even more erratic.

So, it was Doflamingo who had targeted her. The conversation also revealed major secrets.

Doflamingo had developed artificial Devil Fruits! This was technology even Vegapunk hadn't perfected.

Additionally, the secret of Kaido forming a Beast Pirates army was completely new information.

Either of these revelations would cause massive upheaval across the seas.

Seeing that the bait had been taken, Byakuya knew he had revealed enough. He turned to Sonic, saying, "The trade is about to start. Let's prepare to move her."

"Oh, and to make sure the Celestial Dragon doesn't wake up during the move, you should knock her out again. We don't want anything going wrong," Byakuya added.

Upon hearing this, Palace Mapelseciel cursed internally,

'What kind of vile people are these? I'm already pretending to be unconscious, and they still want to knock me out again!'

Unfortunately, she had no chance to voice this thought.

Sonic acted quickly, ensuring that the feigned unconsciousness of Palace Mapelseciel became real.

"All according to the Keikaku," Byakuya said while pushing his non-existent glasses.

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