"This is Rogers Darren, Saint Feipuluosi. Greetings."
The Marine Vice Admiral's voice, edged with amusement, crackled through the Den Den Mushi. To Saint Feipuluosi it sounded like a devil's whisper.
Clatter—
The snail phone slipped from his fingers. Chalk-white, he toppled backward, staring at Darren as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Y-y-you… h-how is this p-possible…?"
"This emergency button— it's supposed to connect directly to Pangaea Castle…"
He had never seen anything like it.
"Moshi moshi? Saint Feipuluosi? This is Vice Admiral Rogers Darren, Marine Headquarters. Are you experiencing any difficulties?" Darren asked, blowing a lazy smoke ring, his voice the picture of concern.
On the floor, the fallen Den Den Mushi rang—echoing the same voice.
"No!! Stop talking!!"
Feipuluosi shook violently, terror contorting his face.
"Saint Feipuluosi, you sound rattled," Darren said softly. "Rest assured, I'm already en route. Protecting the lives and dignity of the great Celestial Dragons is our sacred duty as Marines."
He closed his Den Den Mushi with a solemn nod.
Gakaga.
Turning back with a slight smile, he inclined his head. "Your humble servant has arrived, Saint Feipuluosi. How may I assist?"
"No!!"
Feipuluosi clutched his head, eyes popping, teetering on the edge of madness.
Why…?
Why did my call connect to that man's personal Den Den Mushi?
Why…?
Why is he targeting me?!
His thoughts turned to jelly; his body shook uncontrollably. A yellow-white stain spread at his crotch.
"Godfather, you'll scare Saint Feipuluosi to death…"
Doflamingo strode from the jungle wearing a twisted grin, face smeared with blood, eyes wild. A deep sword cut laid his chest open to the bone, soaking his white shirt crimson. He dragged a mangled CP0 corpse by the ankle like a dead hound.
"But…"
He looked at the shuddering Celestial Dragon and smiled, mocking and intent.
"Now I understand the beauty of drama. Watching someone fall from Heaven to Hell in an instant—the shock— it gives you the purest sense of control."
"That feeling…"
He tipped back his head and laughed, fingers twitching as if of their own accord.
"He's practically a god!"
Before the laugh died, Feipuluosi went rigid.
Tch!
Cold bit across his arm. His pupils dilated as he watched his own bloodied forearm spin through the air.
He stared blankly, then lowered his gaze to the stump: smooth bone, gouting blood.
"Aaaaaaahhhh!!"
The pain hit. He writhed, clutching at the severed limb, shrieking.
"My hand!"
"…My arm!"
Doflamingo cracked his neck and grinned. "Just an arm, Uncle Saint Feipuluosi. Does it hurt that much?"
"Does it compare to the humiliation when you drove me from Mary Geoise? The scorn, the insults, the laughter you all heaped on me?"
His fingers flicked.
Tch!
Blood fanned as a leg spun away and thudded to the floor.
Feipuluosi roared, convulsing. Now missing an arm and a leg, he writhed, eyes rolling white. Decades of silk-soft pampering had never prepared him for even a scratch, let alone this.
"I remember you calling me a mongrel," Doflamingo said, eyes bloodshot behind his shades. He flicked again.
Two nearly invisible threads sliced the air.
Tch!
Tch!
The last arm and leg fell clean.
"Aaaaaaahhhh!!!"
His composure shattered. Eyes bulged; tears and snot streamed as he sobbed and screamed. Blood pooled beneath him.
"What a pitiful sight," Doflamingo sneered. "I preferred your arrogance."
He lifted his hand for the finish—then Darren caught his wrist.
"Wait," Darren said, shaking his head.
Impatience flashed in Doflamingo's eyes, but Darren's gaze shifted to the treeline.
A blood-red figure stood there, unmoving.
"Let him come. A small test," Darren said, calm as ever.
Doflamingo hesitated, drew a breath, and stepped back.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Tiger. By the time we arrived, your comrades were already…"
"I know," Fisher Tiger rasped, forcing himself forward. His voice was raw; his face twisted with grief as he passed the familiar bodies in the clearing, each frozen in a final grin of triumph. His massive hands trembled.
Darren nodded. "Then this Celestial Dragon is yours."
He turned and walked toward the shore.
Doflamingo gave Fisher Tiger a knowing smirk, then followed.
Soon, the clearing—a blood-soaked purgatory—held only two figures.
The tall merman, skin the color of fresh-spilled blood, strode toward the whimpering Celestial Dragon.
"You… you filthy commoner…"
"So… so that's how it is…"
"They died… to save you…"
Feipuluosi stared into Fisher Tiger's empty eyes, and his laugh curdled into a manic cackle.
"Hahaha…"
Expressionless, Fisher Tiger seized him by the throat and lifted the limbless Celestial Dragon into the air. Blood dripped steady from the stumps.
"Cough… hah… hahaha!"
"Too bad all those wretches… died right here trying to save you!"
The Celestial Dragon choked as the grip tightened. His face twisted into a grotesque grin.
"Hahaha!!!"
"Shut up," Fisher Tiger growled, the ice returning to his eyes.
"Hahaha!! They're all dead!!" Blood bubbled from Feipuluosi's nose and mouth, but he kept laughing.
"Shut up!!"
"Hahaha!! Only you survived!!"
"I said… SHUT UP!!!"
"Hahaha—"
Crack.
Bone-shatter rang through the quiet jungle.
A hundred meters away, Darren stopped mid-stride. A faint smile touched his mouth.
"Just as I suspected…"
He turned.
Far behind, a flock of birds blew into the sky in a startled cloud. A vast, oppressive aura rolled outward, stirring wind and cloud alike.
Surprise flickered across Doflamingo's face.
"Conqueror's Haki… has it awakened?"
To be continued...