Skypiea.
"Doflamingo! I'm here!"
Yamato bolted toward the shrine.
Before she could shove open the sealed doors, the next moment her body stiffened, and her view rose farther from the ground.
"Hey! What're you doing, Doflamingo?!"
Yamato wobbled in midair, struggling against the silken threads binding her.
"Don't move!"
"You idiot!"
Only then did Yamato realize two little caterpillar-like figures above her.
Two kids stared down at her with bored expressions.
One looked like a miniature Doflamingo himself!
The other had black hair, wore square sunglasses, and wore an air of smugness.
"Ha! You must be Doflamingo's sons! And you can talk?!"
Yamato's attention snapped to them, and she thrashed wildly, attempting to use momentum to reach up and pinch their faces.
"Do you think you're something special?"
Zeffy looked down, chin raised, disdain on his face.
"We are His Ho-ness's sons!" Ace chimed in proudly, mimicking their father's swagger.
Yamato burst into laughter at their antics.
"Open!"
The sealed door groaned as it swung outward.
Doflamingo strode out, tall and imposing, and greeted the three youngsters.
"Good morning!"
"Good morning, Father!" Zeffy and Ace chorused.
"Good morning, Doflamingo."
Yamato's gaze drifted over Doflamingo's shoulder into the room.
Several young women she neither knew nor recognized stood there with their legs wrapped in peculiar silk threads—some black, some white, some translucent.
Their exercises must have been vigorous: their legs trembled as though they'd run hundreds of laps.
Yamato muttered under her breath,
"Is this some special training technique?"
But she forgot it all the next instant, shouting,
"Doflamingo! Put me down!"
Doflamingo's smile froze at Yamato's mutter. He snapped the door shut behind him, clicked his fingers, and the three lurched downward, landing softly.
"Doflamingo, what did you need?" Yamato shook free her bound wrists.
"Take me to school!" Zeffy interjected, arms crossed.
"Me too!" Ace put his hands in his pockets, signaling agreement.
"As you can see…" Doflamingo ruffled their hair with a faint smile. "Take them to enroll in the Combat Division."
"Got it!" Yamato's eyes lit up as she grabbed the two boys and turned to go.
Baby 5 is going to love them.
She paused, wrinkling her nose.
"Doflamingo, you smell weird."
"?" Doflamingo's face darkened.
"Get lost!" he snapped.
How dare little Yamato speak so brazenly!
...
Marine Headquarters.
"Knock knock knock!"
"Enter!"
A communications soldier rushed in, saluted briskly, and blurted out,
"Fleet Admiral! Crocodile has attacked several nations' shipyards!"
…The Fleet Admiral rubbed his throbbing temples.
"Understood. Dismissed."
"Pirates really can't be trusted…"
...
West Blue.
The renowned shipyard.
Chief Engineer Trump peered at the blueprints in his hands, brow furrowed.
Crocodile stood to one side, his dark gaze intimidating.
Behind him, Lafitte and Daz Bonez wore blank, exhausted expressions—they'd already surveyed every shipyard in the West Blue.
After a long pause, Trump hesitated.
"Crocodile-sama, I can't build this ship. And without sails, I don't understand what powers it!"
Lafitte and Daz Bonez stiffened as Crocodile's Sand-Sand powers swirled ominously in his palm.
Crocodile once respected his title among the Seven Warlords of the Sea and never openly attacked World Government allies.
But now, he'd unleashed chaos across the West Blue.
"However," Trump continued, eyes brightening with hope,
"you should visit Water 7 in the Grand Line. I've heard that Fish-Man Tom's apprentices set up a new shipyard there."
Even in West Blue, the legend of the Sea-Train's success had reached him.
It revitalized Water 7 and connected it to Saint Poplar, Pugi, and Sanfarude.
If only he weren't seventy years old…
"Let's go."
Crocodile scattered the sand, turned, and strode off.
His anger toward Moria and Doflamingo had cost him his reason.
"Yes, sir!" Lafitte and Daz Bonez snapped out of their stupor and hurried after him.
...
Back on Skypiea, the two men Crocodile missed were enjoying their guest's theatrical display.
"Doflamingo, you really deserve death!" Crocodile's crimson eyes blazed in the projection.
Sand erupted like cannon blasts.
"Hahaha—this is priceless, Moria! Well done!" Doflamingo laughed, patting Moria's shoulder.
"Hehehe, Boss, this expression of yours belongs in my collection—right up there with Shanks'!"
Moria's grin stretched uncomfortably wide.
Outside, a nervous Robin tilted her head as the laughter thundered through the door.
Wait—this is the infamous Donquixote Doflamingo, who killed the Golden Lion Shiki?
Perona, ever bold, tugged at Robin's sleeve and patted her chest reassuringly.
"Robin-chan, I'll protect you!"
She'd seen bigger scenes than this.
Bear peered in, nodding in agreement.
Robin touched Perona's head and quietly stepped back.
"Thanks, Perona. But I think I'll pass."
Perona's gloomy ghosts were scarier than Moria's face!
"Oh, and Boss—Nico Robin is back outside."
Moria snapped out of his trance and addressed the matter.
"Let her in. Let's meet the world's youngest archaeologist."
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg