@King:
It's probably impossible to land anywhere in Dressrosa but the port town. I mean, look at the island's edges:
http://img.batoto.net/comics/2013/02/27/o/read512e29977f9cd/img000019.png
Also, even if there are any other port towns around, then Acacia is probably the closest one to Green Bit, or else the Heart Pirates would have drawn a different path on their map.
Then shouldn't Doflamingo know this? If so, why wasn't he waiting there? If he doesn't, then Acacia is a strange place for them to be docking, or it is possible to go straight to Green Bit.
@Monkey:
Either way Luffy would go there to find out what happens to the fruit. If he could fight or not doesn't matter, he maybe would have watched and waited to see who won and then go confront that guy or something.
But just to make it y'know, more entertaining, Oda has him able to participate himself.
Yeah, I get that. I just think things would be better off this tournament wasn't happening.Thus, it's probably just my major reservations about this Tournament arc that are causing my issues. I still think it was a bad idea for it to happen now, as all that great post-Punk Hazard momentum died with chapter 702, and despite this week's pretty good chapter I'm still not convinced this arc was needed.
Then again, if this ends with Doflamingo having no idea Luffy was participating, then I will be quite happy. I'm just worried about all those coincidences.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@nonectra:
Nah, Law specifically says that they can't head by water, for whatever reason.
! http://img.batoto.net/comics/2013/03/06/o/read5137be515a097/img000007.png
"I've heard…" Sigh. Well, I guess I should have expected that. Can't have an arc if it were possible. Which brings me back to my question of , shuoldn't Doflamingo know this? So why isn't he waiting. He's obviously confident that he can take them all on, which is why he was seeking them out on Punk Hazard. Why hang back and let your enemies roam around your (ex)kingdom?
I'm not entirely sure I agree with you that Luffy's participation feels coincidental. Actually, check that, I think it's a mistake to believe that Doflamingo's plan revolves solely around Luffy participating in the tournament. All Doflamingo really needs is for Luffy to find out about it. He assumes, correctly, that Luffy cares about what happens to the Flame-Flame Fruit which means that it's actually irrelevant if Luffy finds out before or after the tournament begins because he'd try to get it regardless. Doflamingo entrusts it to Diamante, which suggests that he believes Diamante is capable of defeating pretty much anyone who would try to claim it - including Luffy because there's no way Doflamingo would risk giving him and his crew a powerful asset like the Flame-Flame Fruit. Doflamingo's wager is that once Luffy finds out about the fruit, he'll devout his time and energy to getting it - whether that means participating in the tournament or trying to take it with force.
Excellent point. I did not think about that. Still though, Doflamingo is basing a lot of his plan on luck.
I'll admit that it's pretty lucky that Luffy found out when he did, but I do think that word of the Flame-Flame Fruit would spread throughout Dressrosa over the day and there was pretty much no way Luffy wouldn't find out about it.
Through the power of storytelling, Luffy found out about it right as it was announced as the prize. He then took off and still barely made it there in time. No way he would have had time to learn about it naturally and compete. Yeah, he could have gone after the tournament, but, as Monkey King said, it has to be exciting.
Man, I really sound like I'm coming down hard on an arc that's in its infancy and I'm so far really enjoying. (Minus chapters 702 and 703 which were simply meh.)