Or Tesoro could have directly used money to hire one of the Yonko themselves—your captain Kaido, BIG MOM, or even Whitebeard.
If the Golden Emperor had truly gone all out, any one of them could have become his ally.
If that had happened, then I would have had no choice but to leave.
But from the looks of it now, he didn't go that far. He merely used some means to make you appear here.
Wildfire King, the lead of the Three Calamities of the Beasts Pirates, right-hand man of a Yonko—what people commonly call a Yonko commander."
"I can't understand someone like you. Knowing full well that your enemies are us, you still dared to show up here?"
"Because I understand one thing very clearly: there are limits to relying on schemes and trickery.
Just as I said before, if a Yonko had come in person, then after defeating Tesoro, I might have left Dressrosa.
Because a Yonko is not an opponent I intend to face right now.
Manipulating the tides of the era, borrowing power, toying with human hearts—sure, those things may bring unimaginable gains.
But in this world, where the strong reign supreme, none of that can truly compare to genuine power.
And genuine power can only be obtained through tempering, forging, and relentless refinement."
"So, you intend to stand against me instead of handing over the whereabouts of the raw materials for the artificial Devil Fruits?"
King understood the meaning behind those words. With a reverse grip, he drew the massive katana at his waist.
Ever since Doflamingo had spoken those suggestive words, King had not originally planned to kill this enemy.
If the man had obediently handed over the information, then perhaps he might have spared Demon Ren's life.
But now…
He had no intention of letting the enemy before him go.
Even if Ren had not openly declared himself an enemy, he had still caused trouble for the future development of the Beasts Pirates.
And if an opponent like this were allowed to continue growing, he would definitely become far more troublesome later on.
He might even become another stumbling block on Kaido's path to becoming Pirate King.
Rather than let that happen, it would be better to eliminate him right here!
"You are not Kaido."
That was Ren's reply.
"Heh. I don't mind you placing Kaido above me. After all, my captain does indeed have those qualifications.
But I very much dislike the way you treat Kaido as some target to challenge. Trash from Paradise like you have no idea who truly rules these New World seas!"
King's expression turned icy.
The wings on his back spread wide as he slowly raised the massive katana in his hand, its blade wrapped in jet-black Armament Haki.
"When I cut off those flashy golden six wings of yours and stuff the broken stumps into your mouth, you won't be thinking the same way anymore."
"Then try it."
Ren lightly tapped a finger.
At once, the black thunderclouds overhead began to glow with blistering radiance, and tens of thousands of bolts of lightning rained from the sky!
Divine Wrath: Myriad Bolts!
Sky Path—
A movement method created using the powers of the String-String Fruit, allowing one to drift and move by hanging threads from the clouds in the sky.
With one hand controlling the threads, Doflamingo rapidly made his way back to Dressrosa.
Only now did he have the leisure to truly examine what had happened within the kingdom.
It was different.
Completely different.
His original plan had been to have Violet observe the situation, with the conspicuous golden ship serving as bait.
If the Demon Pirates launched a direct assault on Tesoro, then the battle would take place aboard the golden ship.
If they split up and infiltrated Dressrosa, then he would rely on Violet's intelligence to pinpoint their locations and eliminate them one by one.
Even though Doflamingo looked down on the Demon Pirates, he knew very well that anyone capable of drawing the attention of a Yonko could not possibly be simple.
At the very least,
Tesoro would not have come here to work with him otherwise.
But now—
Everything was different. Completely different!
All the citizens had fled to the opposite side of the island, precisely the side opposite from where he and Ren had been fighting.
Watching from the air, Doflamingo felt a chill run through him.
They had almost perfectly avoided the aftershocks that might have spread later—and the ones responsible for that were those little people!
They were continuously rescuing Dressrosa's citizens, just like the fairy legends of Dressrosa.
And high above the city now flew densely packed winged creatures. One look at their style was enough to tell they were Ren's subordinates!
Their combat strength was remarkable. Despite being fewer in number, they had the Donquixote Family members pinned down.
It wasn't just individual strength, either—they also wielded powerful beam weapons.
From afar, they looked somewhat like the weapons used by one of the Three Calamities, Queen, though their power fell far short of his.
Of course,
the biggest reason was that there were no officers!
Or at least, none of the people Doflamingo regarded as officers had shown themselves!
"Was I set up? No… the entire situation was probably within that bastard's calculations…"
Doflamingo suddenly realized what had happened.
He had not taken Ren seriously enough!
Not nearly enough!
And now the situation was instead under the enemy's control!
Either Ren had somehow obtained Monet's memories, or he possessed some unknown Devil Fruit ability.
In that case, what had to be done now was—
"The toy factory!"
Doflamingo instantly chose his destination. Sky Path dragged him forward at top speed toward the location of the toy factory.
When he truly arrived, he discovered the situation was far more severe than he had imagined.
The toy factory had already been reduced to ruins.
Standing amidst the wreckage was a pink dragonwoman cloaked in blazing flames,
apparently fighting some invisible enemy while also facing off against a group of Devil Fruit users from the Beasts Pirates.
And near that obviously female Devil Fruit user lay Donquixote Family officers strewn all over the ground.
Though they were only the lowest-ranking officers, the sheer number of them made one thing clear:
the Donquixote Family's entire middle-level backbone was basically here!
And more than that—
Doflamingo saw Buffalo lying on the ground as well, devoid of breath, looking as though he had been hacked into several pieces.
Baby 5 was panting heavily, blocked behind a group of Beasts Pirates Devil Fruit users.
At the same time,
Senior Pink poked his head out. The instant he saw Doflamingo, his face filled with joy.
"Dofla… I did my best."
His voice trembled as he crawled up from the ground, revealing his mutilated body.
His left hand had lost its palm—that was the price he had paid for recklessly touching the flaming mantle.
His right arm was gone from the shoulder down. While relying on his Devil Fruit ability to stall Nojiko, he had carelessly allowed her to seize an opening and tear the arm off.
The rest of his body was charred black in patches, and the belly fat that had once formed his flotation-ring-like physique had nearly turned to cinders.
If not for his Devil Fruit ability, he would never have been a match for that woman!
Whoosh—!
Doflamingo flashed over, ignoring the pink dragonwoman behind him, who had instantly grown wary.
He stared fixedly at Senior Pink and asked, "Where are the others?"
"They're all dead… that woman called Nojiko said she killed them…"
"Where's Trebol?"
"He never came out…"
"Good. Then that's fine."
At that moment, one of the Beasts Pirates Gifters suddenly spoke up.
"Hey, hey, you're Kaido's underling no matter what, right? Are your men really this pathetic?
To actually get wiped out by a single woman… what a joke—"
"Shut up!"
Doflamingo suddenly turned his head, and a ring of black-and-red Haki burst from his body. "They are my family! I will not allow anyone to insult them!"
There were no more words after that,
because the Gifter hit by the wave rolled his eyes back and collapsed unconscious on the spot.
"Hey! You looking to start something?"
"We even came here to protect your people out of respect for our ties!"
The ones shouting were two Gifters who looked like a bat and a butterfly, both shocked and furious.
"Shut up! Trash like you only have what you do today because of my artificial Devil Fruits!"
Doflamingo shot them a cold glance, and the pressure of his Conqueror's Haki bore down on them.
The two Gifters instinctively shrank back.
After all, what he said was the truth. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come here to interfere in the first place while searching for the one they were supposed to protect.
Nearby, Nojiko watched the scene in silence, though her gaze involuntarily flicked backward.
That was the only open route left, but at the same time…
"I would never allow anyone to lay a hand on my family—but now… they're dead."
Doflamingo spread a savage grin, and with a twitch of his fingers, dense threads sealed off the only escape route.
"Now, you will pay the price! I'll slice you apart little by little!"
"You think I'm just going to let you do as you please?"
"The gap between us—wasn't it obvious enough before?
If it hadn't been for your Devil Fruit ability back then, I would have killed you already!"
Veins bulged at Doflamingo's neck as his fury swelled even further. "No—I should have shredded you to pieces right then and there!
I never should have given you the chance to kill my family! Are you ready to face your end?!"
"That may not be the case."
Nojiko glanced behind her once more.
"Give up that foolish hope. That man isn't coming. He chose a stupid time."
Doflamingo coldly raised a hand, rings of Black Knight threads forming in his palm. "Sure, he exceeded my expectations, but the Beasts Pirates will certainly exceed his!
So what if he knows who the enemy is? So what if he calculated this situation?
King is the lead of the Three Calamities, a Yonko commander second only to Kaido of the Beasts.
In the face of absolute power, strategy is meaningless!
Instead of wasting your thoughts on that, you'd be better off thinking about how to scream in a way that sounds more pleasing!"
"Has it ever occurred to you that even now—this too is still within his calculations?"
A mocking smile appeared on Nojiko's face, like a spark.
And it directly detonated Doflamingo, that powder keg.
"Shut up! Birdcage!"
Doflamingo immediately unleashed the miniature Birdcage in his hand.
Only threads of this level could pose a real threat to this enemy.
"In this world, no one is omnipotent—not even a Yonko. Even they have people they must rely on!
And I, the one who can make the reins, am the true victor in the end.
Only the victor standing at the summit has the right to speak of absolutes. Anything that hasn't happened in reality is nothing but your fantasy!"
Countless threads—each incomparably tough and incomparably sharp—shot forth, forming a cage like a birdcage that descended upon Nojiko.
If it closed in, it would carve her apart bit by bit until she was shredded to pieces!
If Doflamingo had still harbored any thought of capturing her before, planning to hand her over to Kaido to calm his anger—
then now, because of his family's deaths, he no longer wanted to leave this enemy alive!
"Pay the price!"
Boom—!
And at that exact moment, blinding radiance suddenly flooded the sky.
Above the surging tide of threads,
a "sun" fell from the heavens!
"Victorious at the summit? You think you're worthy of that?"
(End of Chapter)