"Fufufufufu! What's wrong? The mighty 'Empress' Boa Hancock, why don't you dare fight back anymore?"
"Oh? Could it be you're afraid that if I'm not careful, I might detonate the Dyna Stones buried inside the Flower Capital?"
"Ayaya, the Marines really do love the people like their own children… truly the spokesmen of justice… it makes me feel so incredibly…"
"Disgusted!"
"You're just like those hypocritical townsfolk!"
"You made me understand that people are born with superiority and inferiority! We who stand above are meant to exploit and enslave those lowly commoners!"
"But don't worry… I also hate the Celestial Dragons."
"When the time is right, I'll make those Celestial Dragons become just as lowly as you!"
"That seat above all living beings… it's enough for only me to sit on it!"
Doflamingo kept chasing Hancock.
His voice carried clear agitation.
Hancock frowned. It felt like he was… triggered by something.
He wasn't fighting.
He wasn't provoking her into fighting back.
He was venting.
From this naturally wicked flamingo, Hancock felt a deep… sorrow.
Those words he spoke earlier—rather than saying they were directed at her…
It was more like self-venting, self-harm.
Hancock's lip twitched.
All because Father forced this born villain to act like a good person…
Now look at him—Doflamingo really has gone insane.
But… after a while, Hancock finally caught a subtle opening.
She abruptly halted—
"Perfume Femur!"
A sharp, swift spinning kick, laced with Ryuo and the ability of the Love-Love Fruit.
And because it was a sudden attack, even Doflamingo was caught off guard for a moment.
Struck by the fierce kick, Doflamingo was sent flying, spitting a large mouthful of blood.
However, the strings created by the String-String Fruit had padded the front of his body, so the petrification effect of the Love-Love Fruit did not take hold.
Wiping the blood from his mouth, he looked up, eyes now tinged with caution.
Hancock retracted her overly long leg and snorted.
"Doflamingo… from the very beginning, every Dyna Stone you detonated was either far from populated areas, or simply in deserted wilderness."
"I suppose it's because those Donquixote Family members who planted them hadn't gotten out of the blast range yet, right?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, Heavenly Yaksha, it seems you're not nearly as cruel and heartless as you claim… at least, not when it comes to your own family… So perhaps the virtuous king of Dressrosa is your true face?"
Hancock's words made Doflamingo instantly red-hot with rage.
"You've got… some nerve!"
Just as he was about to resume his battle with Hancock—
A light shout rang from behind him.
The technique once belonging to the Golden Lion turned into a raging blade of light, cutting across the forest toward the Heavenly Yaksha.
Even under this sudden ambush, Doflamingo remained composed and easily dodged it.
Kozuki Toki's figure appeared behind him.
"Doflamingo… since you had those two idiots kidnap me, you should've been ready…"
"Ready to face a mother's fury."
...
"Huff! Huff! These war-maniacs are seriously too invested!"
Blackbeard sat on a small sailboat, already having escaped from the side where Bullet wasn't present, leaving Wano's coastline.
The escape went even smoother than he expected!
The Beasts Pirates, the SWORD Secret Special Force, and the samurai of Wano had all completely gone mad fighting.
Although high-level combatants were limited, the Beasts Pirates—after absorbing numbers from the Golden Lion's dissolved forces—still had a huge amount of SMILE users. The battle had not turned one-sided; instead, it grew increasingly intense.
It was Kaido's crew after all. Their foundation was nothing to scoff at.
But… Blackbeard knew.
The Beasts Pirates losing was only a matter of time.
Especially after feeling the terrifying shockwaves from the explosion on Onigashima—any confidence he had in Kaido evaporated completely.
So he didn't hesitate to run.
And he even had time to raid the Beasts Pirates' warehouse on the way out…
"But still… not being able to take the loser's fruit—whether Kaido's or Michael's—is a real pity."
Steering the ship, he distanced himself from the massive battlefield.
Yet he didn't relax for even a second.
Until he reached absolute safety, he would not deactivate his Observation Haki.
And because of that, he sensed something abnormal.
Blackbeard instinctively looked up to the sky—
A cloud—alive, almost, floating with intent—carried a towering, yet still beautiful woman.
Her appearance left Blackbeard utterly stunned.
"Why… would she appear here!?"
...
Onigashima
What was once barren had now become even more desolate.
If once there was only lifeless stone…
Now even the stone was gone—only a flat plain remained.
The towering mountains and decayed castle had vanished into dust.
And upon this lifeless island stood only two figures.
One standing.
The other also standing…
Except the larger one collapsed the moment the other touched him.
"Kaido, look—now the one being looked down on… is you." Michael lowered his head, genuinely surprised that Kaido had survived that final clash. "Even now, I still underestimated how strong that body of yours is…"
"Michael, enough talking. If you're going to kill me, then do it."
"I already did." Michael pouted. "And I know exactly how much force I used… even if that body somehow kept you alive, you're barely alive. For at least five or six years, forget fighting—if you even drink alcohol, your internal organs will rupture entirely… You've got 'good days' ahead of you, trust me."
"And besides…"
Michael lifted his head toward the sky.
"The woman who came to save your life… is here."
Kaido froze.
His Haki was completely unusable now.
He could only force his eyes upward.
A familiar face framed by long pink hair appeared before him once again.
Just like the day he first boarded Rocks's ship.
"Hey, if anything happens, come find me. That bastard Rocks isn't trustworthy…"
The ruler of Totto Land, the famed great pirate—
"BIG MOM" Charlotte Linlin—descended from the sky.
"Michael…"
"My foolish Kaido has caused you trouble."
"So could you… spare his life?"
Michael tilted his head, amused as he looked at Charlotte Linlin.
"Your relationship is that good?"
"But that's not the point… Why should I spare Kaido?"
Charlotte Linlin crouched down, smiling softly.
"Gol D. Roger left behind the great treasure…"
"Then what about the 'great treasure' Rocks left behind…?"
"Is that enough to buy one life—Kaido's?"
-----------
Fanfic is finished. 583 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg