Starting with helping Zhao Kai ascend the throne in the snow

Regarding the Devil Fruit deal with Teach, Shen Qing really wanted Teach to agree, but he knew that haste makes waste. Everything needed to be done gradually, and he couldn't rush things, otherwise it could easily backfire.

For a ruthless figure like Teach, mere coercion is useless. Not only will it fail to achieve its goal, it will also easily provoke a powerful enemy. Given the potential that the Blackbeard Pirates will demonstrate in the future, they will definitely be a headache for anyone.

As for killing Teach simply because he refused, Shen Qing wouldn't do that lightly. Unless Teach showed absolute hostility towards Shen Qing and the others, and leaving him alive would surely cause future trouble, dealing with Teach would inevitably come at a considerable cost. What's the point of doing something so thankless?

Furthermore, as one of the world's greatest villains, Blackbeard also has his own luck. Under normal circumstances, unless he encounters a protagonist with destiny like Luffy, other people who want to deal with him are likely to encounter various unexpected situations that allow him to escape.

Therefore, Shen Qing did not choose to force Blackbeard, but instead chose to show him goodwill, letting him realize that his side did not harbor much hostility towards him, thus gradually lowering Blackbeard's guard. Once Blackbeard regained his senses and his rebellious mentality subsided, Shen Qing would then use incentives to persuade him to willingly agree to the deal, thus ensuring a long-term cooperative relationship.

Sure enough, as Shen Qing finished speaking, Blackbeard's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, gradually calmed down, and the killing intent in his eyes completely disappeared. At the same time, he looked at Shen Qing with surprise, wondering why Shen Qing would say such a show of weakness under such circumstances. If their roles were reversed, he would definitely choose a different approach.

Blackbeard's eyes immediately flickered, and he said tentatively, "Brother Shen Qing, your suggestion is too sudden. I'm a little unsure of what to do. Why don't I contact you again after I get back and think it over?"

Seeing this, Shen Qing smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course, that's no problem."

A glint flashed in Teach's eyes, and he continued, "Since Brother Shen has agreed, then I'll take my leave now. I'll give you an answer once I've thought it through."

“Mr. Teach, the banquet will be ready soon. Why don’t you stay and have dinner before you leave?” Shen Qing suggested.

"No, Van Augur and I have already eaten in the room, and we've been out for several days. The pirate crew must have a lot of things to deal with when I get back. We can have dinner together another time." Teach said as he stood up, preparing for battle.

If Shen Qing continued to prevent him from leaving, then Blackbeard would have to choose to escape by force, no matter the cost. Blackbeard was not someone to be trifled with. Van Augur, noticing Blackbeard's actions, quietly picked up his sniper rifle, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Ah, that's such a pity." Shen Qing's words, full of regret, almost made Blackbeard's heart stop beating. His hands even began to gather the power of the Devil Fruit.

But just as he was about to make a move, Shen Qing's voice rang out again, "Since Mr. Teach is in such a hurry to leave, then we won't linger any longer. Mr. Dover, please send someone to take Mr. Teach to the dock."

Doflamingo hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, but after seeing Shen Qing nod slightly, he still instructed Trebol to activate the slime shield and sent someone to escort Teach and Van Augur away from the palace in a carriage.

"Brother Shen Qing, why didn't you just stop them?" Doflamingo asked somewhat unwillingly after seeing Blackbeard and the others leave, and Hawkeye also looked over. If the two of them had joined forces, they were 90% confident they could have stopped Teach and Van Augur.

Shen Qing looked at the two men and smiled, "Mr. Dover, what benefits would we gain by forcibly keeping them here?"

Before Doflamingo could answer, Shen Qing said directly, "Putting aside the losses caused by fighting Blackbeard, even if we forcibly keep them here, do you think Blackbeard would work for us? Probably not. Otherwise, Impel Down wouldn't have imprisoned so many unruly pirates. So keeping Blackbeard here would not benefit us at all."

As Shen Qing explained, Doflamingo and Hawkeye nodded in agreement. Few great pirates who can make a name for themselves on the high seas are spineless, and mere coercion is absolutely useless.

Seeing that Doflamingo still looked unwilling, Shen Qing smiled and said, "Although we let them go, it doesn't mean that this deal is completely over."

"What does Brother Shen mean?" Dover asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Since there’s no benefit to us forcibly keeping Blackbeard here, we need to change our approach. Let them leave first to show our goodwill, and then after we’ve lowered Blackbeard’s guard, we can…” Shen Qing explained the strategy of playing hard to get simply, leaving the two of them dumbfounded.

After all, there are very few sophisticated methods in One Piece. Most of the time, everyone just goes straight to fighting and simply compares who has the bigger fist.

"So we shouldn't let short-term gains or losses blind us. We need to learn to cast a long line to catch a big fish," Shen Qing said confidently.

Seeing that Blackbeard's matter was settled, Doflamingo suddenly took out a small square wooden box from the side and placed it on the table in front of Shen Qing with a smug look on his face.

"Could this be the Door-Door Fruit?" Shen Qing asked, still somewhat incredulously, though he had a rough idea of ​​what it contained.

"Brother Shen Qing guessed correctly, this is indeed the Door-Door Fruit sent by Blackbeard." Doflamingo had a bright smile on his face. However, he didn't tell Shen Qing about the 20 billion Berries worth of resources he had spent on this fruit.

This is where Doflamingo's brilliance lies. He didn't immediately boast about how much money he spent. If he had done that, others might have appreciated it, but it would have made him seem inferior.

The smart approach is to give a gift without discussing its value. When the recipient eventually realizes how much money was spent, they will appreciate the significance of your gesture.

"Shen Lang, quickly open it and take a look." Xuan Yuan Qingfeng looked at Shen Qing, who was full of excitement, and was happy for him. Shen Qing's strength had always been very weak. Although he had the old sword god to help protect him, it was still a small but not insignificant hidden danger. Only when Shen Qing mastered the means to protect himself would Xuan Yuan Qingfeng feel more at ease.

Shen Qing immediately took a deep breath to suppress his excitement, and then carefully opened the wooden box. A fruit with mysterious patterns and a shape somewhat like a pear appeared before Shen Qing's eyes. It was the Paramecia-type Door-Door Fruit with the spatial attribute.