At the Donquixote Family headquarters, the Chamber of Deliberation was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Dim lamplight flickered against the walls, casting unsteady shadows that wavered with every breath of air.
Senor Pink stood respectfully to one side, holding his breath and not daring to make a sound.
On the expensive glass coffee table rested an Encrypted Den Den Mushi, its features arranged into a vivid caricature of Saint Warcury's bald head and handlebar mustache, giving it a sinister, almost grotesque appearance.
Doflamingo lounged back on a genuine leather sofa, arms draped lazily across the backrest.
Even with the Den Den Mushi linking him to the five most powerful men in the world, he showed neither respect nor fear. He simply crossed one leg over the other, a mocking smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"It's been quite some time since we last spoke, esteemed Gorosei..."
His ostentatious sunglasses glinted with an eerie cold light as he let out his signature laugh.
"Heh heh heh... what a rare visitor indeed."
At his sardonic tone, the Gorosei on the other end of the line frowned in unison.
"Doflamingo, watch your mouth! Don't forget your position."
"Oh?"
Doflamingo arched a brow and chuckled. "My identity? And what is my identity, exactly...?"
"My memory's a little hazy lately. Perhaps Your Excellencies could remind me?"
"I vaguely recall that you lofty gentlemen once told me—with absolute contempt..." He paused theatrically. "How did it go again?"
"Ah, that's right. You called me 'trash' and ordered me to crawl out of the Holy Land. You declared that the dignity and power of the Celestial Dragons had nothing to do with scum like me anymore. Isn't that what you said?"
"I remember it perfectly now... Seems my memory's not so bad after all. At the very least, I haven't forgotten what happened back then—nor those looks you gave me, like I was something rotten stuck to your shoes."
"Heh heh heh..."
"So I'm very curious. What could possibly make gods, who sit so high above on their cloud thrones, personally call the trash they kicked out?"
"Surely it's not out of concern for the fate of an ex-compatriot, is it? Heh heh heh..."
The blond Celestial Dragon's laughter grew more and more deranged, his shoulders shaking as thick blue veins bulged along his forehead.
At his side, Senor Pink could feel the twisted killing intent rolling off his Young Master, making the air in the chamber feel heavy and suffocating.
Doflamingo's open ridicule left the Gorosei momentarily silent.
Saint Warcury slowly exhaled, then said flatly, "Doflamingo, what happened back then is ancient history."
"You climbed to your current position and power with your own strength, did you not?"
"And you should remember that we were the ones who ultimately gave you the chance to become a Shichibukai."
Doflamingo felt a surge of almost uncontrollable laughter—not from amusement, but from pure, boiling rage.
In the end, he couldn't hold it back.
"Heh heh heh heh heh..."
He burst into manic laughter, one hand pressed over his face.
"Seriously..."
He suddenly dropped his hand and glared at the Den Den Mushi, roaring, "Quit joking around, you five old fossils!"
A crushing aura exploded from his body, whipping the air into violent gusts. Crimson-black lightning crackled and forked in the air around him.
"I became a Shichibukai because of my own strength, not because you tossed me a bone!"
"If you've got something to say, then spit it out already! I don't have time to waste on the senile prattle of old men."
On the other end of the line, the Gorosei's fury surged.
"Doflamingo," one of them said coldly, "mind your tone if you want to keep living. Don't forget we can revoke your Shichibukai status whenever we please."
"..."
Saint Saturn tapped his cane, his voice calm and measured.
"You should understand that the very fact we're contacting you through this Encrypted Den Den Mushi is proof enough of our sincerity."
"Is that so?" Doflamingo sneered. "If you Gorosei-sama truly came in good faith, you'd come to the New World yourselves to see me."
"I'd be happy to brew a pot of fine tea for you and entertain you properly."
"Instead of hiding behind a cold, soulless Den Den Mushi to 'catch up.'"
He suddenly slapped his forehead, as if just remembering something, and let out a mock-apologetic chuckle.
"Ah, forgive me, forgive me! I forgot that you esteemed gentlemen aren't exactly in a position to leave the Holy Land these days..."
"All this talk about the World Government's eight-hundred-year legacy... and yet you're so terrified of that Rogers Darren fellow you won't even step outside Mary Geoise."
"Doflamingo, you—!"
The Gorosei's faces darkened.
"Heh heh heh... go on, then," Doflamingo said, voice dripping with scorn. "What orders do you have for me this time?"
"But let me remind you: there's not much I can do. In the eyes of great men like you, I'm just trash. Utterly useless."
The Gorosei fell silent for a moment, clearly wrestling their anger back under control.
After several tense seconds, Saint Warcury rasped hoarsely:
"Doflamingo, the Commander of the Knights of God, Saint Michael, is dead. He was killed by Rogers Darren."
Doflamingo's pupils shrank.
So Saint Michael... really was killed by that guy.
No wonder he hasn't surfaced lately.
He's been quietly pulling something this earth-shaking...
Doflamingo clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles cracked.
No one understood the power and terror of the Knights of God better than he did. Those enforcers had been the living shadow looming over every Celestial Dragon since childhood.
If Darren had killed Saint Michael, it meant that after defying the World Government, he'd grown even stronger than before.
"So what? What does that have to do with me?" Doflamingo sneered after a long breath. "You stripped me of my Celestial Dragon status long ago, didn't you?"
"Doflamingo," Saint Saturn replied calmly, "status can be stripped away—but it can also be restored."
"Saint Figarland Garling will become the new Commander of the Knights of God. That means the position of Vice Commander is vacant."
"To be frank, your performance over these years has far surpassed our expectations. Even among the Elite Celestial Dragons, none can compare to you."
"Therefore, we extend this to you as an invitation: serve as Saint Garling's adjutant and become the Vice Commander of the Knights of God."
To be continued...