From the perspective of mental health, neither Doflamingo nor the current Kozuki Hiyori are what you'd call normal people.
It's just that one developed psychological issues earlier, the other later, or you could say Doflamingo is more like a congenital case.
Now, the two patients have a chance to communicate.
Letting patients exchange experiences with each other is bound to lead to no good, especially for the victim currently being discussed.
"Suggestion? What are you trying to say?"
"I think your approach is too direct. Darkness without any hope makes people gradually lose the will to resist. People like that are just walking corpses, far too boring.
You should give him a bit of hope, let him see the dawn.
The higher you fly, the more painful it is when you fall. Give him hope, then personally destroy it before it arrives.
Physical pain has its limits, but mental pain doesn't; at least not until he breaks down."
When it comes to manipulating people's hearts, Doflamingo is much more professional than Kozuki Hiyori. The aftermath of the problems caused in Dressrosa because of him hasn't even been cleaned up yet.
At this rate, King Riku might be able to ease the nation's complicated ethical issues within a year. After all, this sort of thing isn't a subjective crime; trying to mediate it is a big headache.
"But... if you mess up, it's easy to break someone for good. Once their mind collapses, it's no fun anymore. My suggestion is—"
Doflamingo and Kozuki Hiyori began to discuss a very dark topic, while just a wall away, the sound of pieces being placed on a chessboard could be heard.
"Aren't you going to intervene? He's teaching her how to do bad things, you know."
"That's not something I need to handle. Kozuki's family matters aren't my concern. Unless she crosses the line, as long as we're in the Flower Capital, she's the true Shogun."
Kozuki Hiyori's sphere of influence had also expanded, from the Shogun's palace to the entire Flower Capital.
"Is that so? That's a pretty simple job. You must have a lot of free time, huh?"
"It's alright. The Flower Capital isn't always this peaceful."
Here, passing the time were Kuzan and Greninja; one was following Doflamingo, the other Kozuki Hiyori.
Now, with the two patients over there talking about their 'conditions', the security staff just casually chatted, though it didn't last long.
After finishing his fight with Yamato, Kaido finally remembered Doflamingo, had someone call him over, and granted Doflamingo the right to join his small banquet.
However, Kuzan didn't accompany him. His reason for sticking with Doflamingo was to keep him from causing trouble, but this time, it was Kaido who was looking for Doflamingo.
Obviously, Doflamingo had no ability to pull any tricks in front of Kaido, so Kuzan could relax.
If it had been some random nobody coming to fetch him, Kuzan probably would have had to tag along, but since it was Queen, Kuzan naturally entered his rotation break.
For Kuzan, this didn't make much difference, but Doflamingo did notice something strange. It hadn't been long since he last saw Queen, yet Queen's attitude had changed.
Previously, Queen couldn't even be bothered to deal with him. Now, there was a kind of resentment, as if Doflamingo had unknowingly offended Queen.
Doflamingo was certain he hadn't offended Queen.
He'd spent this whole time discussing Kozuki Momonosuke's issue. There was no way that could have caused Queen to hold a grudge.
In fact, this matter really wasn't directly related to Doflamingo. It was just that Queen had figured something out.
Yamato suddenly changed and started fighting Kaido proactively, Shaymin, who hadn't seen the message, caused Queen to be locked in the Reverse World for a while longer, and who was the root of all this? After Queen's analysis, it was Doflamingo.
Originally, Yamato went out to run away from danger, but ended up suddenly having a great revelation in Dressrosa. That's good news, but it wasn't so great for Queen.
If it weren't for all this trouble, Yamato wouldn't have rushed in on her own, and Queen wouldn't have ended up so unlucky.
Of course, Queen could keep tracing things further back, but going any deeper would mean considering Kaido and Arceus. After several rounds of contemplation and weighing his options, Queen ultimately pinned the root cause on Doflamingo, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
In this situation, he naturally wouldn't show Doflamingo a smiling face.
"Boss Kaido wants you to attend his private banquet. Make sure you seize this opportunity. What happens in the future all depends on this time."
Unhappy as he was, Queen didn't exaggerate or deliver any fake messages. If he did, he'd only bring misfortune upon himself.
"I'm curious, why hold a banquet?"
"Do pirates need a reason to party? Boss Kaido's just in a good mood right now. But don't say I didn't warn you: whether Boss Kaido's happy or sad, he's always dangerous to outsiders."
A cloud of dust swept along the road in the Flower Capital. Gladius and Lao G both saw Doflamingo, riding in the same vehicle as Queen, being taken far away.
Senor Pink was different. Right now, his eyes were completely fixed on his wife, so he didn't notice what was going on over there.
As the boar cart sped down the road, it quickly carried Queen and Doflamingo from the Flower Capital to Onigashima. Queen, acting like a bus driver, simply dropped Doflamingo off at the stop and had no intention of going inside himself.
"Aren't you going to attend your own Governor-General's banquet?"
"Muhahaha, Joker, you really don't know us well enough. These kinds of banquets aren't anything to celebrate. Judging by the time, Boss Kaido is probably already drunk, so just try to look out for yourself."
If it were a large banquet, Queen would be the first to attend and host it.
But for these more private banquets, especially the small ones where neither Yamato nor Arceus would appear, he'd avoid them if he could.
Doflamingo was on Kaido's list, but Queen himself definitely wasn't. Rather than risk his own safety by attending, he'd rather go check on the newly cultivated banana saplings.
"Hurry up. After you go through the main gate, just follow the signs, you'll soon know where the banquet is."
The difference in atmosphere inside and outside Onigashima was striking. Doflamingo hadn't expected the interior of Onigashima to feel like some kind of classical future country.
The decor looked retro, but was actually filled with technology far more advanced than the outside world.
The Rotoms used electric currents to create guiding signals, showing Doflamingo the way forward. Before long, he arrived at the place where Kaido was holding the banquet.
There weren't a lot of people gathered inside; rather, a group was waiting outside for Kaido's summons, and only a few like King and Maria were inside.
"Boss Kaido, you seem to be in a really good mood."
"Worororo, but of course! Good things like this don't happen often. But you, go do whatever you want. You and Shayna have been planning something lately, haven't you?"
Kaido could tell that King seemed to have something on his mind. Even through the mask, it was obvious.
"Ah, it's just a small matter. You don't need to worry; the two of us can handle it."
Shayna gave Arceus a similar answer as King; they wanted to take care of this issue using their own abilities.
The matter itself was simple - Seraphim.
Based on the information brought back by Page One and Ulti, they could confirm that there was more than just two Seraphim. With the already destroyed S-Hawk and S-Snake, plus the newly appeared S-Shark, it was clear the World Government was making them according to the original generation of Shichibukai.
Weapons made using their bloodline; no matter how you looked at it, those had to be destroyed.
"I see. Then just do as you please. Our guest has arrived, too. Come to think of it, I really ought to thank him."
Thanks to the Rotoms using Onigashima's circuits, information was instantly shared. By the time Doflamingo entered the main gate, the news had already reached Kaido.
When Doflamingo arrived at the banquet hall, Kaido naturally sensed his presence.
Kaido immediately showed his way of welcoming a guest: he tossed out a giant sake bowl.
Even if it was just an ordinary sake bowl, in Kaido's hands it could unleash tremendous force. Doflamingo released several layers of webs woven from strings. Only after several webs overlapped did they fully stop the sake bowl Kaido had thrown.
"Worororo, you're not as weak as I thought. Compared to those other trashes, you're not bad, Joker."
"I'm honored by the praise."
Doflamingo's past banquets always carried his own sense of nobility; wine and etiquette were both essential, and most of the time he was busy studying red wine.
Kaido's rough style was quite rare. If it were someone else, Doflamingo might look down on it, but not with Kaido. He could only choose to go along with Kaido's preferences.
"Kaido, I know a secret about the World Government. You should be very interested in it."
He didn't complain or question Kaido; Doflamingo got straight to the point about what he knew.
"A secret?"
"That's right. In the place where the Celestial Dragons live, there is a national treasure of the Celestial Dragons. If you want to drag those guys down from above, this secret is incredibly valuable."
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