"Five hundred pirates or criminals, correct?"
"Yes, I understand. Before dawn tonight… no problem."
North Blue, Rubeck Island, inside the grand hall of the Donquixote Family's stronghold.
The Supreme Commander of the North Blue, Momonga, put down the encrypted Den Den Mushi, raising his calm gaze to the blond youth in the pink-feathered coat before him.
"You heard it. This time, I'll need your assistance."
"Heh heh heh… of course, no problem at all. It's my honor to ease the burden of the Godfather,"
Doflamingo laughed with a manic gleam in his sunglasses, that familiar sinister edge in his voice.
"I can hand over about two hundred men right away. There's a batch of fools who caused trouble in my casino—Diamante caught them red-handed. I was actually wondering how to deal with them…"
Momonga gave no reaction to that, his tone icy.
"That's not my concern. Two hundred will be sufficient."
For the shady dealings of the Donquixote Family in the North Blue, he had no interest—only a measure of cold distaste.
But since Darren had tacitly permitted this, and Doflamingo was careful not to dabble in the types of crimes Darren forbade in the North Blue, Momonga turned a blind eye.
Casinos, loan sharks, private banks, brothels, petty theft, weapons smuggling… these old trades could never be stamped out entirely. And the Marines didn't have jurisdiction over them.
So rather than let them run wild, it was better to let Doflamingo's hand control them all.
It allowed the Marines to tax them heavily, fueling the massive expansion of the North Blue fleet's funding.
And it made things easier to manage—if anything went wrong, they'd settle it directly with the Donquixote Family.
But human trafficking, organ dealing, and drugs? Those were lines Darren had drawn in blood, and no one was allowed to cross them.
"The remaining three hundred, the North Blue fleet will handle," Momonga said finally, lifting his glass from the marble table and draining it in one swallow. His eyes shone with lethal resolve.
That single calm sentence foretold the bloody storm soon to sweep across the entire North Blue.
"Thank you for your hospitality. The wine is excellent."
"And Darren asked me to pass along this message: he's very pleased with your conduct lately."
"Heh heh heh… then that's wonderful to hear."
Doflamingo's chuckle slithered from his throat, eyes glinting.
"But, Supreme Commander Momonga, I have one question for you," he said as Momonga turned to leave. His lips curved in a wolfish grin.
Momonga paused mid-step.
"Mm?"
Sitting there, Doflamingo's body seemed to exude a strange, unfathomable pressure. His ten fingers twitched slightly, as if plucking invisible threads in the air.
"It's nothing. I'm simply curious—does the Supreme Commander of the North Blue truly have the qualifications to take the Godfather's place!?"
The instant the words fell, Doflamingo's eyes flashed with mad arrogance. He suddenly swept his hand through the air!
Slash!
It was as if a blade sharper than anything had sliced through the void.
Rip!
Deep gouges appeared in the walls and floor of the grand hall, silent and sudden.
But Doflamingo's pupils shrank to pinpoints, the smile freezing on his face.
For he saw something he couldn't comprehend.
Momonga stood there, back still turned to him, completely motionless.
His body had been sliced cleanly in half by invisible threads.
Yet not a drop of blood flowed from the cut. Instead of flesh and bone, the severed edges pulsed with blazing plasma.
"What do you think?" Momonga's "severed" head turned slowly to meet Doflamingo's stunned eyes, a cold smile playing across his lips.
In that instant,
An icy chill surged from Doflamingo's feet up to his scalp, making his skin crawl with goosebumps.
And then—Momonga vanished.
At least, from Doflamingo's sight, the Supreme Commander of the North Blue simply ceased to exist.
Doflamingo's eyes widened in alarm. He whirled around, his instincts screaming at him.
Too late.
A hand in a black leather glove had already closed around his throat.
"Doflamingo, you're Darren's godson. So I'll overlook it this time," Momonga said, his voice utterly flat as he stared into Doflamingo's reddening face.
"But if you ever pull a stunt like this again—if you really want to die so badly…"
His right hand, hanging naturally at his side, suddenly crackled with wild blue lightning, flooding the dark hall with searing light.
"I won't mind testing what it's like… to kill a Celestial Dragon."
"Just to see if Darren was right—that doing so might awaken my own Conqueror's Haki."
A tic twitched at the corner of Doflamingo's eye.
Momonga gave a thin smile and released his grip.
He even took the time to gently smooth out Doflamingo's rumpled coat before stepping back, extending his hand with a polite smile.
"Now, I'll leave the rest of the work to you."
Doflamingo didn't even have time to react. He still looked dazed, rattled to his core. Automatically, he took Momonga's hand and gave it a limp shake.
It was only after Momonga had left the hall—one long minute later—that Doflamingo slumped onto the sofa with a thud.
Wordlessly, he grabbed a bottle of red wine and upended it.
Gulp—gulp—gulp.
The deep red liquid, like blood, spilled from the corners of his mouth, staining his white shirt a garish crimson—but he didn't even notice.
Only when the bottle was empty did he slam it down, shattering it on the stone floor.
Glass shards flew, and the last of the wine splattered on the pale gray walls.
Doflamingo panted heavily, gasping for breath as the tension finally drained from him.
He leaned back against the couch, head tipped to stare at the ornate ceiling, his expression clouded and shifting.
And then—
"Heh heh heh…"
A manic, deranged grin twisted across his face. His laughter, cracked and feverish, echoed through the cavernous, shadowy hall like a devil's whisper.
"Interesting… this is truly interesting…"
"That's the legendary invincible Devil Fruit, isn't it?!"
"And you actually found it… you're as shrewd as ever, my dear Godfather."
"Are you that afraid of me!?"
"To the point of giving something so precious to that trash Momonga!?"
"Heh heh heh heh heh!!!"
"This game… it's getting more and more fascinating!"
He laughed wildly, thick veins bulging across his forehead like writhing worms.
"So let's see… whether you kill me first—"
"Or whether I find a chance to kill you!"
"Hehhahaha!!!"
---
To be continued…