Starting with helping Zhao Kai ascend the throne in the snow

Just then, the Den Den Mushi in Blackbeard's arms suddenly rang, "Brubrub..."

Blackbeard calmly answered the phone, and the Den Den Mushi immediately transformed into Doflamingo's appearance. Upon seeing this, Blackbeard's eyes narrowed slightly, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Since the day he reached an agreement with the Donquixote Family, he and Doflamingo had never had any private contact. Now that he suddenly received a call from Doflamingo, Teach believed that Doflamingo must have something to ask him for help, otherwise he would not have called him for no reason.

However, this was exactly the scenario Teach had hoped for. After establishing connections with the Donquixote Family, the Blackbeard Pirates' rapid growth surprised even him. Previously, when purchasing weapons or other supplies for the pirates who joined his crew, he had to rack his brains trying to figure out how to do it: buy them, or rob them? If he bought them, where should he buy them? If he robbed them, who should he target?

But all of this became a minor issue after connecting with Doflamingo's connections. Blackbeard only needed to submit a list of the supplies he wanted and a deposit, and the Donquixote Family members would deliver everything he needed on time, which undoubtedly saved the Blackbeard Pirates a lot of time.

In less than a month since the transaction, the Blackbeard Pirates' forces have grown from over two thousand to around five thousand. This gives Blackbeard the confidence to challenge Wang Zhi. As long as he maintains a stable partnership with Doflamingo, the Blackbeard Pirates can expand like an inflating balloon.

"Hahaha, Brother Doflamingo, I didn't expect you to call me today. I'm really happy." Blackbeard grinned, revealing a large gap in his teeth, and his face was full of bright smiles. Receiving Doflamingo's call was like meeting a true friend, and their relationship was unconsciously brought closer in their words.

On the other side, Doflamingo raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing Teach's words, and then a slight smile appeared on his lips. They were all cunning foxes, able to smell each other's scent even through a Den Den Mushi.

After forming an alliance with the Blackbeard Pirates, Doflamingo kept a close eye on Blackbeard, whom Shen Qing valued. He witnessed Blackbeard's methods and ruthlessness and realized that Shen Qing was right; Blackbeard was a cunning and ruthless figure who could bend and stretch, and should not be underestimated.

Therefore, Doflamingo changed his previous impression of Teach and began to increase his cooperation with the Blackbeard Pirates, helping them to rise quickly in order to gain their favor and prepare for the future expansion of the Donquixote Family's business.

Doflamingo may be arrogant, but he is not the kind of person who is blindly arrogant. His arrogance is only directed at the weak. He believes that the weak are not worthy of his recognition. When facing strong people of the same level or above, Doflamingo appears to be very rational. As long as it can benefit the Donquixote Family, he will spare no effort to cooperate.

"Mr. Teach, I have a business opportunity here. I wonder if you would be interested?" After exchanging pleasantries, Doflamingo took the opportunity to casually steer the conversation back on track.

Upon hearing this, Teach's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and his smile became even more excited. He knew that the highlight of this phone call was coming, and immediately said with a smile that did not change, "If you don't mind, Brother Dover, you can just call me Brother Teach."

While trying to get closer to him, Teach continued, "I wonder what kind of business opportunity Brother Dover is planning to introduce to me?"

When Doflamingo heard Teach's words, the veins on his forehead throbbed a few times, but he still suppressed his disgust and reluctantly accepted Teach's address. After all, if Doflamingo wanted to be on good terms with the Blackbeard Pirates in the future, a more intimate form of address would make their relationship seem closer.

"Brother Teach, let's not beat around the bush. I've heard you can hunt down specific Devil Fruit abilities. Is that true?" Doflamingo cut to the chase.

Upon hearing this, Teach's pupils suddenly contracted, his smile vanished, and his tone subtly hardened as he said, "If anyone else had asked, I certainly wouldn't have told you, but since it's Brother Dover who asked, I won't hide it anymore. It's true."

Although Teach demonstrated his ability to steal other people's Devil Fruit powers during the Marineford War, and this is no secret in the New World, anyone who dares to try and take it from him, except for himself, will be met with his hostility.

Doflamingo was a shrewd man. He keenly noticed the change in Teach's tone, gave a disdainful sneer, and continued, "10 billion Berries of resources in exchange for a Devil Fruit. If Brother Teach is interested, we can continue. If not, just pretend I never came to see you today."

As a successful businessman, Doflamingo is adept at manipulating people's hearts and minds, and he makes demands that each person cannot refuse, based on their individual needs.

Although he knew that today's events might make Blackbeard uncomfortable, compared to the favor Shen Qing could gain from the Door-Door Fruit, Blackbeard's displeasure was insignificant. Moreover, the Donquixote Family was currently in control of the deal, and he believed that Teach was a smart man who wouldn't easily offend him.

Sure enough, upon hearing about the 10 billion Berry worth of supplies, Blackbeard's eyes lit up, his expression immediately softened, and his tone became friendly again. You don't know the cost of living until you're in charge. Back when he was a member of the second division of the Whitebeard Pirates, Whitebeard and the others took care of everything, and Teach never had to worry about money.

But things are different now. After becoming the head of the Blackbeard Pirates, Teach discovered that dealing with these seemingly insignificant little things every day was more mentally and physically demanding than fighting a powerful enemy.

When facing a powerful enemy, he only needs to focus on defeating them. However, when it comes to the mundane necessities of life, even being a dual Devil Fruit user is of no use; in the end, he still needs money to solve the problem.

We can't fight over every little thing like firewood and rice. Otherwise, what about the Blackbeard Pirates' reputation? It wouldn't look good to outsiders.

Therefore, the price of the Blackbeard Pirates' rapid expansion is the shortage of money and resources. Even though Blackbeard racked his brains, the finances were still in deficit, far from keeping up with the speed of his crew's expansion. Moreover, as the Blackbeard Pirates became more and more famous, more and more pirates came to join them, and this financial burden would only become heavier and heavier.

He can only stabilize his finances and avoid a deficit if he refuses the offers of other pirates to join him. However, if he does that, his reputation will be ruined, and once he loses his reputation, he will be completely out of the running for one of the Four Emperors. Even his current subordinates will defect.

This is one of the reasons why Teach wanted to take over Beehive Island, a prime location; besides wanting prestige, financial considerations were also a very important factor.