"Run!"
The moment Donquixote Doflamingo saw the complete form of Susanoo, the fighting spirit that had surged within him due to rage and the will of a king was blown out on the spot, like a candle in the wind.
He woke up completely, and with clarity, realized he would never be able to defeat Rosen in this lifetime. Without hesitation, he turned around and fled.
However, after a slight pause, he shot out three silk threads, pulling Pica, Trebol, and Diamante from the only remaining pirate ship into the air and taking them with him.
Then, using Sky Path, like a bird soaring through the heavens, he fled rapidly.
Obviously.
Although Donquixote Doflamingo had prepared himself to sacrifice his family, he was unwilling to abandon these top executives until the very last moment.
"Where's your courage just now?"
Seeing Donquixote Doflamingo and his three highest-ranking officers trying to escape right under his nose, Rosen did not spread the wings of Susanoo to pursue them. Instead, he slowly manipulated Susanoo, holding the warship aloft with one hand, suspending it in the air where no one could touch it. With the other hand, he reached to his waist and grasped the hilt of his sword.
Clang.
With a swing of his arm, the blade was immediately unsheathed.
Boom.
When Susanoo pointed the domineering longsword in his hand at the North Sea, the vast waters suddenly split apart, and a deep chasm appeared out of thin air.
On both sides of this terrifying rift, colossal waves surged skyward.
"Ah!"
Amid the roar of the mighty sea, faint screams could be heard.
Just when the sailors on the warship thought it was an illusion, the hundred-meter-high waves that had risen into the sky came crashing back down.
The vision cleared.
At that moment.
Everyone on the warship saw it clearly.
Donquixote Doflamingo, who had just fled with his three officers like a Coward, now had the silk threads behind him severed by the overwhelming sword pressure released from Susanoo's swing.
Not only did he plummet from the sky like a kite with a broken string, but his face turned pale as he vomited blood. Even his sunglasses — that divine weapon he never removed — shattered instantly.
As for the three executives he had saved, their fates were even more tragic.
Pica fared better, as he remained conscious and coated his entire body with Armament Haki in time. With the protection of Doflamingo's threads, he only coughed blood, staining the air red.
But the unconscious Trebol and Diamante were not so fortunate.
Though wrapped by Doflamingo's strings, their bodies were frail, their stamina ordinary, and they did not wield Armament Haki.
Even though Susanoo had only casually swung his sword, releasing pressure through the air rather than directly striking them, it was still enough. Their bodies burst like crushed fruit, a cloud of scarlet blood mist spraying from their pores before their forms deflated like punctured balloons.
Immediately after.
The king and the top executives of the Donquixote Family slammed into their own base camp like broken-winged birds, collapsing the ground beneath them and raising thick clouds of dust.
"Is it over?"
"Just one swing of the sword!"
"It was like swatting flies!"
"Even the Admirals of Headquarters… could only be on par with this!"
…
Witnessing Susanoo rise from the sea, and with a mere swing of its sword unleash a pressure strong enough to cleave the turbulent ocean, all the sailors on deck were left trembling in shock at Rosen's power.
Yet, just when they thought the battle was finished, a blinding silver light suddenly erupted from Donquixote's base camp. Then, countless threads spewed out like a volcanic eruption, gushing from the spot where Doflamingo had fallen.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Countless silk threads first shot thousands of meters into the sky, then descended in all directions like a meteor shower, forming an enormous birdcage that covered Donquixote's base and the entire island.
Bang.
At the same time.
The sharp whistle of slicing air rang out. Donquixote Doflamingo, who had just been blasted down, now rose into the sky again, wearing his feathered coat.
Like an eagle spreading its wings, he soared upward. But instead of rushing at Rosen, he broke through the birdcage wall, fleeing toward the distant sea without looking back.
He left behind only the birdcage that trapped his base camp.
Inside it, his three top officers — Pica, Trebol, and Diamante — remained, abandoned within the prison of threads.
"What's that bastard doing?"
Seeing Doflamingo suddenly turn his power not against Rosen but against his own base, all the Marines were stunned and confused.
"No…"
"That island isn't just pirates of the Donquixote Family."
"There's a town there, with at least a hundred thousand civilians living inside!"
Doll, too, was shocked at first. But then she recalled details from the intel she had helped Rosen organize on the Donquixote Family. Their base wasn't built on some remote island — it was inside a bustling town.
Her face froze as she watched the birdcage covering the island begin to shrink, slicing the land like cake. She realized Doflamingo's intention instantly.
"I see it now!"
"Vice Admiral Rosen!"
"He wants to use the hundred thousand civilians on the island as his shield — his bargaining chip for survival!"
Her expression darkened as she quickly warned him.
But Rosen already knew this.
He had read about the civilians living on the island in the reports on the Donquixote Family while en route.
As Doll's voice rang out, Rosen's eyes flashed red.
His Observation Haki spread outward, covering the island trapped inside the birdcage.
Countless life auras appeared in his perception.
Even without counting in detail, he could roughly sense that at least seventy or eighty thousand civilians were inside.
"Fufufufufufu!"
"Since you value your Marines so dearly, surely you must also value the lives of the civilians on that island, right?"
"Rosen!"
From the distance, Donquixote Doflamingo laughed wildly without turning back as he flew out to sea:
"The birdcage is indestructible. But I can control how quickly it closes."
"So, I advise you not to act rashly."
"I'll let you destroy the Donquixote Pirates. I'll give up my title as Shichibukai. I'll even return the Heavenly Tribute stockpiled in the base to you."
"But—you must let me go."
To prove his words, he clenched his hand into a fist.
Swish.
The shrinking birdcage suddenly sped up, slicing the docks of his base into pieces before continuing inward toward the town at the center.
"What will you do?"
"Kill me? Or save the hundred thousand people on this island?"
"Choose!"
Doflamingo finally turned his head, his exposed eyes — cold, sharp, and filled with murderous will — locked onto Rosen.
His tone was ironclad, demanding.
Susanoo's overwhelming sword strike had forced him to acknowledge reality. For a brief moment, regret gnawed at him. Why hadn't he listened to Vergo? Why hadn't he abandoned the North Blue entirely, taken only his elites to the Grand Line, and started anew?
But regret was useless.
Now, he had to think of a way out.
Leaving without sacrifice was impossible.
Under the crushing weight of Susanoo's sword pressure, his mind flashed to the scenes of Rosen shielding the Marines, guarding every sailor.
And then the thought came.
Threatening Rosen with the lives of pirates was meaningless.
But threatening him with civilians? That could work.
After all, the town at his base had nearly a hundred thousand residents.
Surely Rosen wouldn't ignore their lives.
And sure enough.
From the corner of his eye, Doflamingo caught sight of Susanoo standing upon the sea, still holding the warship aloft.
Rosen hadn't swung his sword.
He hadn't pursued.