Dressrosa.
Less than three minutes after Doflamingo returned, the Marine's First Fleet of the New World appeared on the horizon.
Despite trailing by nearly twenty nautical miles at their departure, they had caught up in record time. It was a testament to just how much faster the new ironclad warships were compared to the old wooden sailing vessels.
Doflamingo, however, remained unconcerned. He had already arranged everything.
As the fleet slowly docked, Doflamingo, accompanied by several officers of the Donquixote Family, stepped forward to meet them.
"Admiral Akainu, you can leave now. Vergo is no longer here. You can confirm this with the Five Elders!"
"Hmph. Whether he is in Dressrosa or not isn't something decided by your words; it will be decided once we've finished our search," Akainu grunted as he descended the gangplank.
Doflamingo's expression instantly darkened.
'I knew this guy wouldn't be so easy to brush off. You're forcing my hand...'
He cast a subtle glance at Trebol.
"I have already reached an agreement with the Five Elders. I won't harbor Vergo, but as for where he went—or if you can even catch him—that depends entirely on your own capabilities!"
"As I said," Akainu replied coldly, "his presence here is not determined by your testimony, but by our investigation."
"Fine. Since you're so insistent, I won't stop you. Do as you please!"
Akainu paused, momentarily surprised. Had Doflamingo suddenly seen reason? Usually, the man would try to use the Five Elders to pressure him. Why was he simply allowing the operation to proceed?
'Could it be that Vergo really did leave mid-journey and never returned to Dressrosa?'
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Akainu's mind. However, regardless of the truth, the comprehensive search of Dressrosa remained non-negotiable.
"Duan, leave the necessary personnel to guard the fleet. Everyone else is to disembark. Split into small squads and begin a full-scale search!"
"Yes, Admiral! However, Dressrosa is a sizable kingdom. A comprehensive search might take..."
"I don't care. If it can't be finished in one day, take two. If two aren't enough, take three. Even if it takes a month, it doesn't matter. I'm sure the King of Dressrosa won't have any objections."
As Akainu spoke, he shot a sidelong glance at Doflamingo.
"Yes, Admiral!" Duan nodded and immediately began making arrangements.
A few moments later, over two thousand Marines disembarked, organized into a hundred search parties that fanned out into the interior of Dressrosa.
At the harbor, only Akainu remained, along with about ten companies of Marines tasked with guarding the warships.
Seeing this, the corner of Doflamingo's mouth curled upward.
'The opportunity... has arrived.'
Ten companies—roughly five hundred Marines—were currently scattered across the various ships. On the docks, Akainu was flanked by only two Captains, one man and one woman.
It was the perfect opening.
Minutes later, a group of ragged thugs chased a small, green-haired girl into the harbor. When the girl spotted Akainu in his Marine "Justice" coat, her eyes lit up as if she had found a savior. She sprinted directly toward him.
"Marine Mister, help me!" she cried. "Bad people are chasing me! They're human traffickers!"
Akainu gave no reaction to her plea, appearing entirely indifferent. Unfazed, the little girl rushed forward and hid behind him.
The traffickers following her stopped in their tracks upon seeing Akainu, but instead of retreating, they drew their knives.
"Marine, stay out of this! Hand over—"
Before they could finish their threat, a fist of molten lava slammed into them.
BOOM!
Following a deafening explosion, nothing remained of the men—not even ash.
Hiding behind Akainu, the little girl let out a sigh of relief. She stepped forward toward him.
"Marine Mister, thank you. Otherwise, I would have..."
As she spoke, the girl reached out to grasp Akainu's hand, a faint, imperceptible smile playing on her lips.
But in the next instant, her hand stopped dead just centimeters from Akainu's palm. She could not move forward a single millimeter.
Not far away, Doflamingo's expression shifted violently.
He saw that of the two people behind Akainu, the female ِCaptain had reached out and firmly gripped the girl's wrist, halting her progress.
That was one thing, but the critical detail was that the female Captain's hand was pitch black.
'Armament Haki?'
If she were simply preventing a stranger from approaching the Admiral, even if that stranger was a little girl, why would she need Armament Haki?
'Could it be...'
The realization hit Doflamingo like a physical blow. There was no other logical explanation.
Akainu slowly turned around to look at the green-haired girl, whose arm was still outstretched but locked in Sophia's grip.
"Five people were incinerated into nothingness just a few meters away, yet you didn't show a single trace of fear or panic."
"That is not the reaction of a ten-year-old girl, is it? Am I correct, Sugar, user of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit?"
At those words, Sugar's face paled.
Doflamingo and the surrounding officers of the Donquixote Family reacted with equal shock. Sugar's identity had been exposed—and her ability along with it.
How was this possible?
"Sophia, handle this as the Fleet Admiral instructed," Akainu commanded.
"Yes, Admiral!"
In a flash, Sophia delivered a precise chop to the neck, knocking Sugar unconscious.
Doflamingo could no longer remain composed. He knew better than anyone the consequences of Sugar falling unconscious.
'It's over!!'
At that exact moment, a couple nearby—holding an infant and a small toy figure—stopped playing with their child.
As a flood of lost memories rushed back into their minds, the couple froze in stunned silence.
Beside them, the toy figure began to change. It wasn't just a change in form, but in size. Within seconds, the toy transformed back into a man in his thirties.
"Martha..."
Having regained his true form, the man looked at the couple and the infant in the woman's arms. His expression was a complex storm of emotion.
He wanted to reach out, but he didn't know how. The woman before him was the wife he loved most in the world, yet she was married to another man and had a child.
But could he blame her? No. She had lost every memory of him; she was innocent.
The only one to blame... was Doflamingo, the man who had ordered him to be turned into a toy.
Now that he had returned, what was he supposed to do?
Just then, the husband and wife who had been staring blankly regained their senses.
The wife looked at the bewildered man nearby and threw herself into his arms.
The husband, watching his wife plunge into another man's embrace, looked on with a complex expression. He, too, remembered—he had another wife, one he had forgotten for a long time and whose whereabouts were now unknown.
But then he looked at the woman clinging to another man, and especially the infant in her arms...
Similar bizarre scenes were unfolding all across Dressrosa.
At the harbor, several toy figures regained their human forms and immediately rushed toward Akainu.
"Admiral Akainu!"
"You are..."
"Reporting to the Admiral! Seven years ago, we were Headquarters intelligence officers assigned by Vice Admiral Tsuru to go undercover in Dressrosa to investigate the Donquixote Family. After we were discovered by Doflamingo, we were..."
"So that's how it was. Now that you mention it, I remember..."
Akainu nodded.
By now, much of his own memory had returned.
For instance, he recalled that the Intelligence Department proposed sending undercover agents into Dressrosa to investigate the Donquixote Family almost every year.
However, it seemed that every time this plan was proposed in a meeting and approved by everyone, it simply vanished without a trace.
As his memories returned, Akainu realized that it wasn't that the plans failed to launch—they had been launched every single time. It was just that...
Every time agents were sent into Dressrosa, the arrangements were handled by Vergo.
It was now clear that after Vergo smuggled the agents in, he immediately informed Doflamingo exactly who they were.
Of course, Doflamingo could have simply killed these intelligence officers.
But obviously, killing them wasn't the best choice; that would have made the Marine more vigilant and might have even cast suspicion on Vergo.
Using Sugar to "clean up" these agents and make the world forget their existence was the perfect way to avoid any lingering trouble.
Because these people's existence had been erased, Akainu's memory had been altered...
It felt as though every meeting had ended in a decision to send people into Dressrosa, yet the matter always ended up in limbo.
So that was the trick!
Realizing the truth, Akainu's eyes blazed with fury as he glared at Doflamingo in the distance.
A mere pirate had dared to toy with the Marine for over a decade?
'''
At the same time, in the Holy Land Mary Geoise.
Inside the Room of Authority.
The blonde member of the Five Elders suddenly froze for a moment. Then, a look of surprise crossed his face.
"Do you remember? Five years ago, we discussed having the CP organize a group of people to infiltrate Dressrosa and secretly investigate the location of 'that thing'?"
"Of course we remember. I was actually about to ask you—it's been five years, did you ever actually send them in?" the bald member of the Five Elders asked with a dissatisfied look.
"I just suddenly remembered that I did send people in five years ago. However, shortly after, I completely forgot they existed, as if I had suffered amnesia."
"Hmm, you sent them, but then you forgot? Then now..."
"Yes, I've suddenly remembered again. What on earth is going on with this eerie situation?" the blonde Elder replied, feeling perplexed himself.
For five whole years, he had forgotten everything, and now it had suddenly come back to him. Was that not bizarre?
However, the curly-haired Elder—the oldest of the five—suddenly recalled something.
"Your situation sounds very similar to the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, one of the seven Forbidden Fruits."
"The Hobby-Hobby Fruit... you mean the fruit that can turn people into toys with a single touch and erase all traces of their existence?"
"Exactly. Since this happened in Dressrosa, and since Dressrosa became world-famous for its toys after Doflamingo usurped the kingdom..."
"Dammit, are you saying Doflamingo has control over the Hobby-Hobby Fruit?"
"That must be it. According to the records, to break the power of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, the user must be killed or knocked unconscious. Given the timing, could it be..."
"You mean... Akainu went to Dressrosa and either killed or knocked out the Hobby-Hobby Fruit user?" the blonde Elder exclaimed, his eyes widening.
"That seems the most likely. No, contact Akainu immediately. Find out if he killed them or just knocked them out."
"If they are only unconscious, he must bring them back. Under no circumstances should he kill them!"
"This ability is too dangerous. Send them directly to the Infinite Hell of Impel Down to be imprisoned for life!"
The other four nodded in agreement.
Immediately, the blonde Elder picked up a Den Den Mushi and dialed Akainu.