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To reclaim his ancestral home—the island of Dressrosa—and secure his family's place in the New World, Doflamingo would stop at nothing.
Whether the path was righteous or utterly depraved made no difference. He would use any means necessary to achieve his ends.
He might not be crazy enough to pick fights with the Emperors, but when it came to his fellow Supernovas, he wouldn't back down from anyone.
"Moria. I will ask you one last time—"
Doflamingo's voice cut through the air, cold and sharp. He stood impossibly in the sky, balanced on threads connected to the clouds, his fingers dancing.
Below, a symphony of slaughter played out as his Parasite String forced Moria's crew to turn on one another. "—Are you leaving, or are you staying?"
He knew Moria. He knew that for all his monstrous ambition, these pathetic underlings were his Achilles' heel.
Moria's appearance was a grotesque nightmare, a visage that could send a thousand children screaming into the night. But beneath it all, he harbored a bizarrely sentimental heart. He considered his crew his family—the only bond he truly valued.
Years ago, he had almost abandoned his dream of becoming Pirate King when his original crew perished, victims of the Grand Line's fickle weather and their own weakness.
Doflamingo found it almost impossible to comprehend. To be so broken by the loss of mere pawns—it was pathetic.
On the seas, comrades died. It was as natural as the tide. If they ever made it to the New World and were wiped out by the careless whim of an Emperor, what would Moria do then? Collapse in despair?
The notion was laughable.
And yet, it was precisely because of this weakness that Moria's crew, for all their uselessness, was fiercely loyal. They had entrusted their very lives to him.
It was also why Doflamingo knew, with absolute certainty, that by pulling the strings of these worthless puppets, Moria would break.
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"STOP! I SAID, STOP IT!!" Moria shrieked, his eyes shot with blood as he watched his crew being cut down by their own brothers' blades.
"Are you leaving, or are you staying?" Doflamingo asked again, his voice devoid of all emotion.
"I'LL LEAVE! DAMN YOU, I'LL LEAVE! THE THUNDER EMPEROR'S HEAD IS YOURS!" Moria roared, nearly weeping for his men. He collapsed to the deck, his body trembling as he gathered his fallen, unconscious nakama into his arms.
"If you knew it would end like this, why did you pick this fight in the first place?" Doflamingo said, withdrawing his Parasite Strings with a grand flourish. "A word of advice, Moria."
"If your crew is made of such bottom-feeders, I suggest you never even think of going to the New World. That place... it will chew up and spit out worthless scrubs like them. Perhaps you should just abandon them? Fuffuffuffuffuffu!"
Moria kept his head bowed low, making it impossible to know if he'd even heard. "The day you lose the ones you call family—those people behind you—your grief will be a hundred times greater than mine. Remember that."
"You don't need to worry about that. Anyone who sets sail on this ocean without being prepared to face death... has no business being here in the first place," Doflamingo said noncommittally, turning back to his own ship.
"Land on the island! It's time to rescue the Thunder Emperor!!"
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"KILL THEM!!"
"The greatest powers of the Marines and the Pirates are all right here!"
"If I can just kill one of them, my bounty will skyrocket!!"
"BULLSHIT! THEIR HEADS ARE MINE!"
"What did you say?!"
"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"
Sparks flew as steel met steel.
This rabble, this swarm of fools, had no grasp of the consequences of their actions. They had already begun to kill each other over a prize that wasn't yet theirs, a chaotic mob with no discipline.
The sea never lacked for elites, but it was always overflowing with refuse—men blinded by greed, incapable of seeing the reality of their situation.
And almost all of them were gathered here, in the first half of the Grand Line, with no true understanding of what the terrifying power at the pinnacle really meant.
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Arthur dragged his exhausted, broken body forward, moving step by agonizing step toward the port.
What was the advantage of a Logia against human wave tactics? Wide-area destruction? No—it was elemental intangibility. In this half of the Grand Line, the number of men who could use Armament Haki could be counted on one hand.
Those with Haki were almost all gathered in the New World.
Against this swarm, he didn't even need to fight back. He let their blades pass through his body. As long as he didn't sense a true threat, he didn't even have the interest to dodge.
He was tired, an exhaustion he had never known before. All he wanted now was to return to his base and rest.
"Fuffuffuffuffuffuffu!" Doflamingo's unique laugh drifted from the distance. He approached with his signature, arrogant swagger, his hips swaying from side to side.
"Thunder Emperor... I've heard so much about you. This is the first time we've formally met. Allow me to introduce myself—Donquixote Doflamingo."
Behind him, a large group followed in his wake—Trebol, Diamante, Pica, and the other top officers of his family.
"Thunder Emperor, allow the Donquixote Family to clean up these idiots who are delusional enough to think they can make a name for themselves by taking you down."
As he spoke, his officers instantly charged into the crowd and began a slaughter.
"Oh? Are you here to take my head as well?" Arthur asked, the name Doflamingo catching his attention. He squinted, his voice a low rasp.
"A misunderstanding... Our only purpose here is to escort you to the New World," Doflamingo explained, his face a mask of smiles.
'Dealing with a man like this is exhausting,'
He thought to himself. He had to watch his every word, his every gesture. He couldn't be too familiar, lest he arouse disgust, but he couldn't be too subservient either.
It was a hundred times more tiring than fighting another pirate crew—a true exhaustion of the soul.
Several of his top officers—Trebol and Diamante, their spirits already broken by the New World—were too terrified to even meet Arthur's gaze. But he had to show that he took this matter seriously, so he had come personally.
"Escort me to the New World? Cough, cough..." Arthur stopped, coughing. He wiped away a trickle of blood and looked Doflamingo up and down.
"Even if I lack the strength to kill you now... stay away from me." With that, he continued on his way, not even bothering to give him a second glance.
If he didn't care about the risk of permanent injury, of worsening his condition to the point of no return, he could unleash his life force and take many strong men down with him. The Doflamingo of today would be of no concern.
"Before you say anything else, Thunder Emperor, would you mind taking a call? Your crewmates are extremely worried about your condition." Doflamingo, having prepared for every eventuality, knew that a simple conversation would be impossible.
As he spoke, he dialed Morgans's Den Den Mushi, attached a long thread to the receiver, and offered it to Arthur.
He wasn't about to get any closer.
Even a lion that has lost its claws is still a lion. Who knew what trump cards he still had left?
When a pirate crew he had no connection to suddenly offered to take him to the New World, anyone would assume they had sinister motives.
Therefore, in this matter, Doflamingo was demonstrating a great deal of patience.
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