Chapter 512: The Seven Warlords Gather
Three days later.
"The Dragon Hunter Pirates are reaching Laugh Tale today!"
"Just thinking about it gives me chills. Are they really going to clash with the Whitebeard Pirates?"
"Use your head. Fire Fist Ace, Whitebeard's heir, is the younger brother of Ryuunosuke, captain of the Dragon Hunter Pirates."
"That's true, but the way the Whitebeard Pirates slipped in ahead of them is a bit much, right?"
"If I were Ryuunosuke, I would be furious!"
Voices overlapped across countless ships.
On the open sea, transponder snails were broadcasting a live feed of the Eternal Ships journey.
Pirates, bounty hunters, merchants, even ordinary travelers were glued to the image of that colossal ship cutting through the waves, all waiting to see what would happen when it finally reached Laugh Tale.
Morgans' headline had done its work.
The whole world was watching.
…
"So you showed up after all."
"Crocodile."
Far behind the Eternal Ship, where the Dragon Hunter Pirates' main ship no longer bothered to look back, a different battlefield was forming.
Doflamingo floated above the sea on a ship of white lines, sunglasses flashing as he looked down at the man in the sandy coat.
He was not traveling with the Eternal Ship.
Under Najenda's orders, his job was to sweep up the trash trailing behind the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
Small time pirates and ambitious fools wanted to hitch their names to Ryuunosuke's legend, picking at scraps along his route, using his reputation to rise.
Ryuunosuke could not be bothered to personally step on every insect.
So the Donquixote family had been assigned to clean up.
And today, Doflamingo had found a very particular insect.
One of the former Seven Warlords of the Sea, just like him.
Crocodile.
Once defeated by Ryuunosuke in secret and then publicly toppled by Luffy, his reputation had fallen so far that people had almost forgotten why he had been made a Warlord in the first place.
They had even forgotten what the Seven Warlords system was originally for.
"Doflamingo."
Crocodile glanced around, taking in the web of white lines under Doflamingo's feet, then finally looked him straight in the face.
"So you are here to help the Dragon Hunter Pirates hold the line?"
"Judging from your face, life under that flag has been good to you."
Back then, Crocodile would not even have looked at Doflamingo seriously.
Respect him? He would not even listen when the man spoke.
But now, in addition to being a former Warlord, Doflamingo carried another title.
Member of the Dragon Hunter Pirates.
That alone forced Crocodile to reassess him.
"It is very good," Doflamingo replied lazily.
"What is it, Crocodile?"
"Planning to meddle in the captain's business?"
His tone sounded casual, almost bored.
Crocodile's eyes narrowed.
The sand at his feet shifted as he raised his right arm. Armament Haki coated it in an instant.
Because the moment Doflamingo spoke, Crocodile had sensed it.
He had already moved.
On the surface, Doflamingo was only greeting him.
In reality, the ship beneath Crocodile's feet had silently unraveled into countless white threads, all under Doflamingo's control.
They surged upward like a nest of fangs and slammed into Crocodile with explosive force, launching him across the waves.
"Doflamingo, you are as hateful as ever."
Crocodile steadied himself in midair on a swirl of sand, his expression twisted in disgust.
"Crocodile, pull back."
Doflamingo grinned, fingers twitching as threads stretched up into the sky.
"Everything happening here is beyond the reach of people like you and me."
"If I went to interfere with the captain's plan right now, I would probably die."
"So beating you here is doing you a favor."
"Shut up."
Crocodile's voice dropped to a low growl.
"Kuhahahahha "
"You are saying you can beat me anytime you like, is that it?"
"Seems the Dragon Hunter Pirates have given you more than just a new coat of paint."
Sand boiled out around him.
Even though they were on the open sea, Crocodile's power had long since surpassed the point where seawater alone could bind him.
Under the roaring winds he summoned, a nearby island began to dry out in moments.
Sand stripped from its beaches and cliffs, rock crumbling to dust as the land itself was devoured.
The storm rose into the sky, twisting into a massive sand tornado that hurtled toward Doflamingo.
Within the swirling column, countless crocodile shaped fangs of sand lunged forward to tear him apart.
"Hey, did you really think I am still the same Joker I used to be?"
"You are kidding me if you think this level can touch me."
"Heavy Dance."
Behind Doflamingo, countless threads bloomed like a forest of white spears.
They shot upward, stitching themselves into the clouds, then stitched back down again, anchoring to the sea and the distant hulls of ships.
In the blink of an eye, the whole sky became a stage woven from string.
"Let me show you the resolve of a man under the Dragon Hunter banner."
"I may not be one of the main fighters, but I am still the captain of the Logistis Division."
The threads around him twisted, turning into invisible blades that rode the air and came crashing down onto Crocodile from every direction.
"Honestly, the two of you really enjoy this sort of thing."
"If you like each other this much, why not just be together already?"
A lazy, mocking voice drifted over the battlefield.
Veins immediately bulged on both their foreheads.
The woman who had arrived was as striking as ever, long black hair flowing and eyes filled with disdain for the entire world.
The empress of Amazon Lily.
Former Warlord of the Sea.
Boa Hancock.
"Hancock."
The two men stopped at almost the same moment and turned to look at her.
Neither of them had any intention of accepting that kind of teasing.
"I did not give you permission to call me by my name."
Her eyes sharpened, chin lifting.
"Since you…"
Boom.
A deafening noise cut her off.
All three turned their heads at once.
A massive shadow had appeared on the horizon, looming over the sea like a drifting fortress.
"That ship…"
"A Thriller Bark?"
"What is Moria doing here?"
They all recognized the silhouette at a glance.
Thriller Bark.
But the aura rolling off the ship this time sent a chill through even these hardened monsters.
"Hmm?"
Their faces all changed at once.
They were already very close to Laugh Tale.
Everyone gathered in these waters was here for the same thing.
The final island.
In a place like this, a battle breaking out was hardly surprising.
What was surprising was Moria's presence.
And more importantly, the power radiating from Thriller Bark now did not belong to the Moria they knew.
Back then, Doflamingo had been ordered by the World Government to hunt Moria down.
He knew exactly where Moria's limits were.
This was something else.
"What kind of nightmare did he go through in such a short time?"
"This guy may not be the Moria we remember," Doflamingo said with a cutting smile.
If the rumors he had heard were true, then Moria showing up here was nothing but bad news.
"Then we take him down first."
"A wandering ghost like that has no right to interfere."
Crocodile turned, sand churning beneath his feet as he rushed toward Thriller Bark.
Hancock followed with a cold snort, arms crossed, and Doflamingo stepped forward laughing.
In an instant, four former Warlords of the Sea were locked into the same battlefield.
…
At that same time, another small ship glided toward the edge of the coming storm.
Sitting at the stern, a man in a wide brimmed hat held a long black blade across his knees, using it as a makeshift oar to lightly tap the surface of the sea.
Dracule Mihawk.
On the deck sat another familiar figure, legs crossed, watching the distant chaos with interest.
Djorkol Windsor.
"You are really not going to join them?" Djorkol asked, eyes on the circling auras ahead.
"There are Guardians on that ship, you know."
"No."
Mihawk did not even look up.
"I am only responsible for bringing you here."
"After that, I leave."
"I have no interest in whatever this circus is."
He pushed gently with Yoru again.
Under the subtle pressure of the Black Blade, the little ship shot forward with surprising speed, skimming over the waves like an arrow loosed from a bow.
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