The Highest Hall of Mary Geoise fell into an eerie, suffocating silence.
Everyone stared at the words projected into the air by the Den Den Mushi.
A Five Elder was struck down?
Even Doflamingo was stunned.
But it wasn't just him—even Saint Topman Warcury and the others, the shadowy manipulators behind the World Government, had never imagined such a thing.
To them, Enies Lobby, Impel Down, Marineford—even the World Government itself—were nothing more than pawns on their board.
With a single command, they could shake the entire sea.
And now someone was telling them that one of the Five Elders—those exalted figures who rarely left the Highest Hall—had been cut down?
If this wasn't a joke, then what was?
There was only one person in the world who could act so recklessly, so brazenly, against a Five Elder.
And they all knew who it was.
But Doflamingo's face twisted into a grin of manic delight.
All the humiliation he had endured—finally, he had a target to unleash it on.
"That arrogant brat! He actually dared to strike a Five Elder—even Nusjuro!"
"But Warcury, this is good news. Nusjuro's strength is far beyond that kid's. Now that the brat has attacked first, it gives Nusjuro the perfect excuse to eliminate him."
"I'm sure we'll hear soon that the Fourth Admiral has been crushed by a Five Elder's hand."
"CP0, am I wrong?"
The CP0 agent beside him froze.
He stared at the intel in his hand, unable to speak.
Doflamingo's smile faltered. He rushed forward and snatched the report from CP0's hands.
And when he read it—
His mind went blank.
"Nusjuro… was forced to retreat by a single slash?"
"That's impossible!"
"There's no way a Five Elder could be that weak!"
After witnessing Kaido's defeat with his own eyes, Doflamingo knew full well—
There were only a handful of beings left in the world who could kill Luo Yu.
The Five Elders were his last hope for revenge.
That's why he had risked everything to come to Mary Geoise.
But now, the truth he held in his hands shattered that hope completely.
"You bastard, Doflamingo! Who are you calling weak?!"
Saint Marcus Mars's wine glass shattered in his grip as he roared with fury.
It was already humiliating enough that a Five Elder had been struck down.
Now Doflamingo had the gall to call them trash?
Mars's rage boiled over.
Doflamingo's face paled. Realizing his slip, he quickly backpedaled.
"N-No, Lord Mars, that's not what I meant! I just meant—regardless of the outcome, that brat dared to raise his hand against a Five Elder. That's treason!"
"We can use this as justification to brand him a traitor. Let the Navy arrest him. Once he's in custody, we can take him without lifting a finger!"
"We need to act fast. If we wait too long, they might find a way to spin this!"
Mars and Warcury exchanged dark glances.
Doflamingo's suggestion wasn't without merit.
But before they could respond, a cold, aged voice rang out from beyond the hall.
"Clown. Shut your damn mouth."
Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro stepped into the hall, face dark as thunder. In his hand, he held a shattered jade talisman.
Doflamingo froze, a chill creeping up his spine.
From the high dais, Warcury turned to the CP0 agent and barked:
"Well? Are you going to explain, or do I have to rip it out of you myself?"
"L-Lord Warcury, please don't be angry," CP0 stammered.
"I only just received the intel. I assumed Lord Nusjuro would report it himself."
"According to our informants at Marineford: Kaido was defeated. Whitebeard was slain. The Navy emerged victorious on both fronts."
"Afterward, a figure suspected to be a Five Elder appeared at Marineford and caused a disturbance—only to be struck down by the new Fourth Admiral in a single blow and forced to flee."
"However, Admiral Luo Yu publicly declared that the so-called Five Elder was too weak to be real—just an imposter."
"This statement has already been broadcast across the entire sea by Big News Morgans. Everyone now believes Lord Nusjuro was a fake. If we retaliate, it will only confirm that the real Five Elder was the 'weakling' Luo Yu described. We'll become a laughingstock."
Doflamingo stood frozen.
Now he understood why Nusjuro had returned with such murderous intent.
A Five Elder—cut down in public, branded a fraud, and humiliated across the world.
Even revenge was no longer an option.
The damage was already done.
BANG!
Warcury slammed his cane into the floor, cracking the marble beneath.
His face was darker than ever as he stared at the shattered jade in Nusjuro's hand.
"Nusjuro… was that brat really that strong?"
"You even used the spatial talisman I gave you?"
The room fell silent.
All eyes—Mars, the other Elders, even Doflamingo—turned to Nusjuro.
They needed answers.
"Hmph. Warcury, this is your fault!" Nusjuro snapped.
"You embedded your spatial ability into that jade and set it to auto-trigger at the first sign of danger. It activated on its own and yanked me back here!"
"If not for that, I wouldn't have become a joke!"
"I'm going back. I'll kill that brat myself and remind the world who rules this sea!"
He turned to leave.
But before he could take a step, Warcury slammed his cane down again.
A ripple of invisible spatial force swept through the hall.
In the blink of an eye, Nusjuro vanished from the doorway—and reappeared directly in front of Warcury.
The sudden shift made Doflamingo's face twitch.
He had long suspected the Five Elders possessed Devil Fruit powers.
But he hadn't expected Warcury to wield something as rare and terrifying as spatial manipulation.
It meant one thing: he was completely at their mercy.
"Nusjuro, don't be rash," Warcury said coldly.
"You heard it yourself. That brat was prepared. He flipped the narrative and branded you a fake."
"If you go after him now, you'll only make it worse."
"So for now—you don't lay a finger on him."
"But that doesn't mean… we can't let someone else do it for us."