One day later.
Sky Island, at the shrine.
Vergo, the man with the tail-mark of a Sky Fish across his face, was kneeling on one knee and reporting respectfully to Doflamingo.
"Young Master, Caesar Kurou still refuses to submit. He keeps calling himself a 'genius scientist.' He says that as a scientist even more brilliant than Vegapunk, he will never bow to our family. Unless we let him go, he might consider cooperating. Otherwise, given his importance, the World Government will definitely wipe out our family."
"Heh… ignorant." Doflamingo chuckled. "Then keep starving him. Let him see for himself whether the World Government will save him. Remember to trap Caesar in a barrel filled with White Sea water. When he finally understands, then you feed him. When he's willing to submit, then you let him out."
Doflamingo knew very well that for someone as cowardly and afraid of death as Caesar, time itself was the best medicine for taming him.
However, to truly make Caesar submit, hunger and threats alone wouldn't be enough. He had to be made so terrified that even the thought of resistance died in his heart. So Doflamingo continued,
"Oh, right—tell the guards this. They're to stay far away from Caesar. I'll be releasing lightning to strike him at irregular intervals. To avoid any accidental casualties, they're not to approach within ten meters of him."
"Yes, Young Master!" Vergo replied respectfully, then withdrew to carry out Doflamingo's orders.
Off to the side, Bullet was still lifting a dumbbell. With a puzzled rumble, he asked,
"Boss, you seem to care a lot about that scientist. I heard you ran into Vegapunk himself on this trip, and he's supposed to be even more capable than Caesar. If we want to develop scientific power, why not choose Vegapunk instead? Why pick that coward? Does he have some kind of special strength?"
Since Doflamingo saw Bullet as his future number one powerhouse, he naturally wouldn't brush off Bullet's question. He answered with genuine candor.
"Fufufufufu… Bullet, Vegapunk's scientific ability really is above Caesar's. But he's also a blazing hot potato. For us right now, he's not the best choice.
"And Vegapunk himself is hard to control. He's been brainwashed by Nika way too deeply. Faith is such a boring thing—and yet something we can hardly do anything about.
"By comparison, Caesar—with no bottom line—is much easier to control. And his research capability is more than enough to meet our needs."
Bullet tossed the dumbbell aside and started doing push-ups, a look of dawning realization appearing on his face. But he still had doubts.
"Boss, it doesn't seem like scientists are all that useful to our family. Even if we get that coward under control, it doesn't feel like a big deal."
"Him? Heh. Don't underestimate him." Doflamingo grinned. "He's got a lot of potential in the field of artificial Devil Fruits and weapons of slaughter.
"And right now, I need him to study the principles behind the processed Clouds here on Sky Island. If he can figure out how processed Clouds work, once we can mass-produce them, we'll be able to come and go from Sky Island any time we want."
Doflamingo held nothing back from Bullet; anything he knew, he said.
"I see. Then he's worth something after all." Bullet nodded slightly, then looked up, eyes burning with battle spirit. "But Boss, when can we have another fight?"
"Not in the near future," Doflamingo replied. "I'm going to use the White Sea to train for a while. As a Devil Fruit user, with my current physique, the weakness I suffer from seawater is still too severe!"
The moment he ate the Devil Fruit, Doflamingo understood that seawater would become his eternal weakness. So he never neglected physical training. If he could train his way past the helplessness brought on by seawater, then that weakness would no longer be a leash on his neck.
"…"
Bullet didn't say anything. As a Devil Fruit user himself, he naturally understood what Doflamingo meant. And Bullet felt that Doflamingo's thinking overlapped with his own.
Even if he couldn't train away the seawater weakness now, Bullet was sure he'd attempt it in the future. With Doflamingo heading down that path first, he'd have a benchmark to compare to later.
Although Doflamingo's plans were like this, the entire family was currently focused on stockpiling strength. So Bullet also served as sparring partner and coach: sometimes trading blows with Doflamingo, sometimes guiding Vergo and Pica in their training.
Time passed quickly. With the disbanding of MADS, the World Government and the Marines finally brought Doflamingo—who had muddied the waters when they "dealt with an illegal research organization"—into the light.
Marineford.
Cool sea breezes swept over the Marines who were drilling feverishly on the training grounds, bringing a thread of refreshing chill to their blood-boiling exercises. Occasionally, a few seagulls flew overhead, adding a different note to the lively square.
Compared to the fiery passion of the drills outside, the atmosphere inside the Fleet Admiral's office was terrifyingly quiet.
Steelbone Kong sat in the main seat, while Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru lounged on the sofa, legs crossed.
In the center of the office, Fleet Admiral Kong—sporting a sharp mohawk—pressed two fingers to his brow, looking at the report before him that bore Doflamingo's photograph with a headache.
As the Fleet Admiral, and with only his own trusted people present—Sengoku, whom he wanted to recommend strongly as his successor, among them—Kong didn't bother beating around the bush.
"Sengoku, let me ask again—are you sure the intel in this report is real?"
"Yes, Aniki Kong. I've verified it over and over. There's no mistake," Sengoku replied seriously.
"That's troublesome…" Kong mused for a moment, then added,
"That brat's identity is anything but simple."
Sengoku frowned in confusion. Wasn't this just a Logia-type Goro Goro no Mi (Rumble-Rumble Fruit) user? How high could his 'identity' really be? At worst, it would just be more trouble to arrest him.
He was just about to ask when Tsuru beat him to it.
"Not simple?" she echoed.
"Right." Kong nodded. "The Gorosei contacted me in secret not long after Sengoku arrived.
"Doflamingo of the Donquixote line—he can also be addressed as 'Saint Doflamingo of the Donquixote family.'
"You should understand: he used to be one of the former World Nobles, a member of the Celestial Dragons, the Donquixote family. Because of certain incidents, he abandoned his World Noble privileges. For him to reappear like this is… quite a headache."
Sengoku snorted.
"Hmph. So what? He attacked Vegapunk, slaughtered dozens of innocent scientists, abducted the scientist Caesar, and even caused some of the remaining scientists to flee.
"On top of that, according to intel from the North Blue, the Donquixote Family under Doflamingo's lead has already destroyed several small towns and is engaged in underground illegal trade there.
"Crimes this severe, and his actions show no clear long-term objective—he does whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Even if he was once a Celestial Dragon, we can't just let him go!"
Sengoku's voice rose in righteous anger. He didn't care about Doflamingo's status. All he cared about was the harm Doflamingo had already caused.
And besides, with someone this powerful, if they didn't nip him in the bud, who knew what he might do in the future?
Seeing that Sengoku had misunderstood him and was about to blow his top, Kong quickly clarified,
"Calm down, Sengoku. You should know that even if he's no longer a World Noble, we still don't have the authority to dispose of him as we please.
"As long as there's no official order from the Gorosei, we theoretically have some leeway in how we 'handle' his life—but not to decide it outright.
"And from the Gorosei's attitude, it's clear they don't really care about Doflamingo. What we need to do now is issue a bounty and then wait for instructions from the World Government.
"But this incident does remind me of something—there are matters we can't keep putting off. The longer we delay, the more variables will appear."
As Kong finished speaking, Sengoku visibly calmed down and began to analyze the deeper meaning behind his words.
As the so-called "general of wisdom," Sengoku instantly grasped the World Government's intent. His eyes lit up as he probed,
"Aniki Kong, you're thinking of…?"
Kong cut him off before he could finish.
"All right, Sengoku. As long as you understand. The New World still needs you there. If we only rely on that idiot Garp… he's fine when it comes to fighting Roger.
"But having him watch over the Flying Pirates and not cause trouble is already asking a lot. He's not the type to obediently follow orders.
"We've been secretly planning for more than a year now. Originally, we intended to let Shiki expand the Flying Pirates a bit more and only execute sanctions against them a few years later—to wipe out that hidden danger in one stroke, and create a favorable situation for the Marines.
"But now, an uncontrollable potential threat has appeared. The longer we drag this out, the worse it'll get.
"We can't delay any longer, Sengoku. There can't be a single mistake with this operation. Head back to the New World immediately. Take Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Aokiji with you. It's about time the new generation of Marines got a look at the real world."
"As for Doflamingo, let Tsuru go to the North Blue and keep an eye on his subordinates. The rest can wait until we get orders from the Gorosei.
"As for the bounty amount… based on his crimes, set it at seventy-five million Beli."
Neither Sengoku nor Tsuru objected.
They both agreed with Aniki Kong's decision. At this stage, while the emergence of a Goro Goro no Mi user was a minor surprise, the bigger picture in the New World was still the true priority.
(End of Chapter)
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