Five days later, someone happened to pass by the Coal-Coal Kingdom and discovered that the lightning over and on the island had not disappeared at all. Instead, it had grown even more intense.
Birds in flight no longer dared cross the sky above it. Any that tried were instantly struck by lightning and turned to ash.
In other words, for a short time at least, no living creature would willingly step onto the Coal-Coal Kingdom's island.
Of course, for the sake of survival, there will always be creatures that venture in, and there will always be those that manage to adapt. It just takes time for that "baptism."
The waters around the island were likewise affected. Because of the island's overflowing lightning, the fish in those seas gradually became tainted by electricity.
The ones that adapted survived proudly. The ones that could not became food for other fish.
Over time, within several dozen miles of the island, a unique new kind of marine life emerged: "thunder fish," fish capable of releasing lightning.
As the years passed, the island that had once hosted the Coal-Coal Kingdom came to be known by a new name: Thunder Emperor Island.
Although Thunder Emperor Island was extremely dangerous, in this already perilous world,
as long as you could adapt, Thunder Emperor Island was actually quite safe. After all, very few people were willing to live in such an environment.
Marine Headquarters, fleet admiral's office.
Kong rubbed at his throbbing temples. The turmoil in the North Blue these past few days was enough to make his head explode.
Ever since Doflamingo killed Vice Admiral Aphrodite and awakened his Devil Fruit, the North Blue had fallen into even greater instability and chaos.
Before, multiple underworld organizations were all doing business in the black market. Now, the Donquixote Family had wiped out every last underworld group in one sweep.
In just a few short years, they had expanded their hands across the entire North Blue, and countless people were scrambling to join the Donquixote Family.
The reason was simple and could be summed up in four words: Doflamingo has money.
Once word of what had happened in the Coal-Coal Kingdom spread among those with an eye for information, Doflamingo's reputation as someone whose mere name could stop a crying child was completely established.
"Immortal Thunder Emperor."
"Doflamingo is the reincarnation of the thunder god."
"Doflamingo is a lightning demon."
One nickname after another, all saying the same thing: Doflamingo is terrifying.
Exaggerated?
Anyone who doubted it only needed to take a trip to the former Coal-Coal Kingdom, now Thunder Emperor Island.
Then they would know whether those words were exaggeration or, if anything, far too mild.
Doflamingo's power was certainly one reason people feared him.
But that alone was not enough to explain why so many people were flocking to him.
He openly announced a single family rule across the entire North Blue: anyone working in the family's factories or other business operations would be paid three times the market rate.
Anyone who joined the family as a combatant would receive three times the wage of a factory worker.
If they died in the line of duty, the Donquixote Family would care for any surviving parents until their old age, look after any minor children until adulthood, and pay out a death benefit.
Just that one rule instantly set the North Blue ablaze. The North Blue was already a sea where war broke out constantly. In many places, people considered themselves lucky just to have enough to eat, let alone steady work.
If someone else had made such a promise, people might have listened, maybe even dreamed a little, but they would not have truly believed it or joined up.
But when those words came from Doflamingo, everyone silently lined up early to pledge themselves, afraid they would miss their chance by even one step.
Why?
Did they need a reason?
If your boss were a caterpillar, you might rack your brains to protect him.
If your boss were a fox, you might charge into danger without regard for your life to shield him.
If your boss were a tiger, you might comfortably hide behind him.
If your boss were a dragon, you might laze at home and still throw your weight around in his name.
But if your boss is Doflamingo, then, sorry.
If you have never heard of the title "Immortal Thunder Emperor," then please go wash your neck clean and cut it yourself to apologize.
And so, though the underworld of the North Blue had been unified under Doflamingo,
the North Blue itself became less and less peaceful. Talented people from all the kingdoms chose one after another to join the Donquixote Family, and even some kingdom soldiers resigned to throw themselves into the family's arms.
In a sea like the North Blue, where war was constant, the loss of manpower could easily change the outcome of a conflict.
On top of that, the Donquixote Family's chosen line of work was precisely the kind of business that could not be brought into the light. As a result, war kept escalating, spreading to almost half the kingdoms across the North Blue.
Only the truly large kingdoms of the North Blue were unafraid of the shock. With an iron-fisted grip, they suppressed any stirrings among the lower classes, and their domestic situation barely changed at all.
This was exactly what gave Kong such a headache. At this point, eliminating Doflamingo was no longer something that could be done easily.
Catching him would be harder than ascending to the heavens.
Why?
Because from the founding of the Marines until now, the number of recorded awakened Logia users in the navy's files was exactly zero.
No one had any idea just how strong an awakened Logia user could become, or where their upper limit was.
And this one happened to be the Goro Goro no Mi (Rumble-Rumble Fruit), the single most destructive of all Logias.
Letting out a long, heavy sigh, Kong walked over to the window and gazed at the sky outside. Then he spoke to his most capable subordinates, who were also, in a sense, his closest junior comrades and almost like a brother and sister to him.
"Sengoku, Tsuru, what do you think the odds are if we send that idiot Garp to capture Doflamingo?"
"Fifty percent? No, he might not be able to capture him at all."
Tsuru hesitated, then corrected herself.
"In a fight to the death, Garp's chances are maybe not even forty percent, while Doflamingo's odds are unknown.
According to the intelligence we've received, Doflamingo once fought Kaido for nearly a month. In terms of hand-to-hand skills, he was stronger than Kaido. In physical toughness, stronger. In abilities, stronger. His ability to recover was even greater than Kaido's.
If that intelligence is accurate, then even without using his powers, Doflamingo and Garp would be about even in a straight brawl, and he might even edge Garp out."
"Is that so?"
Kong pulled a cigar from his pocket, slowly lit it, took a deep drag, then exhaled a plume of smoke. Instead of continuing on the same topic, he abruptly shifted.
"When I was young, I really liked the taste of cigars. The flavor was strong, rough on the throat. It made me feel like I was alive.
Every time I wiped out a band of pirates, I loved to light one up, then sit on their corpses and enjoy the thrill of carrying out justice."
"As I got older, one day I sat on a pirate's corpse like always, drew hard on a cigar a few times… but I couldn't find the feeling I'd had when I was young.
That was when I knew I'd changed, changed to the point that I hardly recognized myself. So from that day on, I quit cigars, because they couldn't help me vent anymore."
"Today is the same. Cigars are still just as bitter, just as impossible to keep smoking."
Everyone present was sharp. Sengoku and Tsuru naturally understood what Kong meant. Sengoku spoke up to encourage him.
"Kong-nii! You're the fleet admiral of the Marines. Garp might be an unreliable idiot, but his strength is formidable. As long as he's here, we don't need to fear any faction.
Even without Z, or me, or Tsuru, just our current Marine Headquarters vice admirals are more than a match for the rest of the world's powers.
And among us, we have monsters like Kuzan, Borsalino, and Sakazuki. On top of that, we've got rising officers like Kake, Gion, Dora, Onigumo, Momonga, Dalmatian, and many other new-generation marines who are all valuable combat power.
Give us ten years, and the Marines will reach a height never seen before."
(End of Chapter)
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