Chapter 243: Incomprehensible Thoughts
Pica said that, but the target he was chasing was already getting farther and farther away.
His heart hardened.
If Axel escaped now, they would have to start all over again.
Rather than let that happen, it would be better to destroy everything from the beginning.
Pica no longer held back his ability.
The entire island of Dressrosa began to tremble.
The ground shook, cracked, and collapsed.
The people who had been content to watch from the sidelines finally realized that the giant beast had truly bared its fangs.
Screams rang out.
The crowd scattered in every direction.
The peaceful nation that symbolized love and passion began to fall apart at this moment.
Under Pica's control, the ground around Axel suddenly rose like bamboo shoots after rain, wrapping toward him from all sides.
Although Axel could walk across any steep terrain as easily as flat ground, facing stone masses that could erupt at any moment still forced him to pay more attention.
His speed naturally slowed.
Seeing that the attack was working, Pica poured even more strength into his ability, controlling clumps of earth to constantly piece themselves together around Axel, all to delay him.
But just then, the wind across the island began to blow unnaturally.
It surged from the left.
It rushed from the right.
The directions were different, but all of them had one thing in common.
They were converging toward Axel.
In an instant, those streams of air transformed behind him into raging, pulsating wings of wind.
Four irregular wings named Storm unfolded behind him.
The next moment, Axel soared into the sky.
Even Pica, who commanded the earth, could do nothing against the vast sky.
After transforming into a giant, he could only raise his head and watch Axel fly upward.
He knew he could no longer stop that person from escaping.
Sugar's kidnapping had become a settled fact.
However, the situation took another major turn.
After flying into the sky, Axel did not leave.
Instead, he stayed suspended in midair.
It was as strange as his initial refusal to use the wind wings.
If Pica had known Axel possessed such an ability, why would he have wasted so much effort chasing him?
"What is the meaning of this?"
Pica's ridiculous voice rang out.
Contrary to his slow-looking body, his mind was not slow at all.
He did not understand Axel's intentions.
The Young Master had indeed predicted Axel's goal, but judging from his previous actions, whether it was exposing Vergo's identity or killing Diamante, everything Axel did was clearly centered around damaging the Donquixote Family's interests.
And from the fact that he had kidnapped Sugar, Axel should also know how important she was to the Donquixote Family.
But that was precisely what made the situation strange.
If that was the case, there was no need to kidnap her.
Wouldn't killing Sugar be more convenient?
Did he not know Sugar's importance?
That did not make sense either.
If he did not know, why would he kidnap her?
And now, he remained in the air in a posture that looked like he was waiting for something.
This forced Pica to ask.
Facing Pica's question, Axel did not answer.
Because he himself was somewhat confused.
To be honest, at the beginning, his goal had been to make Doflamingo and Tesoro fight.
But as things developed, the situation changed.
The direction went wrong.
He was not a qualified politician.
Nor was he a successful strategist.
Because neither of those kinds of people would be interfered with by emotion.
Originally, he had intended to send Sugar to Tesoro so that conflict between the two sides would become inevitable.
Only...
Axel lowered his gaze toward the citizens of Dressrosa.
In that short amount of time, many of them had already met with disaster.
A trace of reluctance crossed his face.
From the rational judgment of his mind, using Sugar as an object to create a crisis between Doflamingo and Tesoro was undoubtedly the most beneficial way to use her.
But rationality had not defeated emotion.
That seemingly innate emotion interfered with his decision and led him to make this choice.
It was an inexplicably complicated feeling.
He could easily swing his blade at a sinner.
But he could not bring disaster upon ordinary people with the same ease.
Since he could not understand it, he stopped thinking about it.
Just like how one would never know what a fish washed into a puddle after rain was thinking.
Was it thinking its new home was too small?
Or was it anxious that the puddle might dry up at any moment?
But what did that matter?
Axel would never choose to be that fish in the puddle.
So why care about its thoughts?
Why think too much?
Axel stayed in the air.
At this moment, his only companion was the clamorous noise from the wind wings behind him.
But he naturally blocked out that noise.
He quietly closed his eyes and felt the tranquility of the world.
Unfortunately, the quiet atmosphere did not last long.
Doflamingo came from the direction of the port, moving quickly through the clouds.
In just a few minutes, he arrived in front of Axel.
"Fufufu..."
That familiar laughter rang in Axel's ears.
Axel slowly opened his blood-red eyes.
It was like a long-slumbering demon king opening his intimidating gaze.
Doflamingo sat calmly on his threads, looking closely at Axel beside the clouds.
"Your ability really is strange."
First, an ability similar to reflection.
Then the function of not fearing seawater.
And now, even wind could be manipulated.
Was it an ability related to energy control?
But if that was the case, how did it avoid the weakening effect seawater had on ability users?
Doflamingo thought silently while looking down.
"You're not the first person to say that," Axel said softly.
Simple Vector Manipulation naturally did not possess so many functions.
But when paired with calculation, it meant a wide variety of applications.
"However, what I didn't expect even more was that you actually didn't run away," Doflamingo said.
Axel did not answer the question directly.
Instead, he looked at the blue flames approaching from not far away and answered on his own.
"Do you know why I chose Whitebeard?"
His tone was calm.
"In a way, you should thank me."
Thank him?
Doflamingo's expression darkened slightly.
This brat had clearly set him up, yet now he wanted him to be grateful.
This was simply the biggest joke he had ever heard.
Axel saw his expression and smiled.
"Red Hair wouldn't be provoked. Big Mom and Kaido are too brutal."
"Once they were provoked, I'm afraid it wouldn't just be your Donquixote Family that died. Everyone on Dressrosa might have to die with you."
"So in the end, I chose Whitebeard."
Axel's voice remained light.
"He has the ability to suppress you, but he isn't brutal enough to casually massacre the islanders."
Then he seemed to think of something and slightly raised a finger.
"No, I suppose I was wrong to say you should thank me."
"For pirates, the way the Whitebeard Pirates treat enemies isn't much different from Big Mom or Kaido."
His gaze drifted toward Dressrosa below.
"The ones who should really thank me are your citizens."
Doflamingo's face was grim.
No matter who it was, after being forced to take responsibility for such a huge mess, their temper would not be good.
Let alone a man who had never been good-tempered to begin with.
Moreover, this brat's attitude was unbearable.
This was the first time Doflamingo had discovered that there was someone in the world as detestable as himself.
But now, Sugar was in the kid's hands.
And he looked as if he intended to make some kind of deal.
If this were not for a deal, he would not have chosen kidnapping as his method.
.....
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