"After all, Trafalgar Law is a Warlord."
"A Warlord? Since when did you Marines respect the Warlords so much?"
Doflamingo's gaze turned dangerous.
"A man who has already been defeated and no longer holds the title of Warlord should simply be killed, shouldn't he?"
Doffy said it as if it were only natural.
But Ryokugyu seemed to have heard something rather amusing.
A defeated Warlord could be killed without arrest?
He hoped that, after some time passed, Doflamingo would still stand by that opinion.
Ryokugyu did not bother wasting more words on Doflamingo. Flowers and green grass rose beneath his feet, and long, slender branches wrapped Law's body tightly.
"If you want to keep attacking, then try it."
Ryokugyu was different from Fujitora. He was not that easy to talk to, nor did he possess an especially strong sense of morality.
Unless he ran into someone like Black Spear or Red-Hair, if someone refused to accept the situation, then they could come test him.
"..."
Doffy froze in place.
After a moment, or perhaps after a long while, a smile appeared on his face again.
"Fufufufufufu."
"I have no intention of fighting you, Ryokugyu!"
He let Law go. However, for the sake of his own pride, after taking Caesar's heart back, he still laughed arrogantly at Law.
"Don't you understand, Law?
Eight hundred years ago, twenty kings founded the World Government. The royal families left their homelands and went to the Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
And the family that departed from Dressrosa was none other than the Donquixote Family!"
While the three of them were in Green Bit's dense forest, an enormous rumbling came from the distance.
Even the ground beneath Green Bit began to tremble faintly.
"Hey... what's going on? An earthquake?"
Doflamingo turned his head, his face showing a trace of confusion.
"No. The trees are telling me it's coming from the direction of the sea."
Ryokugyu stood with his hands in his pockets. Green light radiated from his body, and the surrounding trees seemed to be communicating with him.
After all, his Devil Fruit was the most natural of all Logia abilities.
Elsewhere.
After defeating the Donquixote Family officers, Nami and the others had only just breathed a sigh of relief.
Nami, Brook, and the others had originally planned to search for Law's whereabouts, but they suddenly discovered that the sea was becoming turbulent. Even the sky had darkened.
"What's going on?"
Nami looked at the Log Pose in her hand and checked the wind as well, her expression turning strange.
"That's weird. It should clearly be calm right now!"
At that moment, while everyone was distracted, Law grabbed Caesar and began teleporting toward the Thousand Sunny again and again.
Doflamingo instantly began chasing after them from behind.
But as the pursuit continued, Doflamingo noticed the Straw Hats' ship drifting on the distant sea.
The corner of his mouth lifted, and he immediately changed direction, heading toward the Thousand Sunny.
But halfway there, fierce winds carried a tsunami toward him. The violent change made Doflamingo lose his balance, and the Thousand Sunny also rocked wildly within the waves.
"What is that...?"
Doflamingo gritted his teeth and looked solemnly toward the far horizon.
A massive black shadow slowly emerged from it.
Rotating flowers grew from Ryokugyu's back, carrying him over the sea as well. He narrowed his eyes at the huge shadow in the distance.
Then his eyes suddenly widened, and the cigarette in his mouth fell into the sea.
"No way..."
From within that black shadow, the first thing to reveal its full form was an enormous tsunami.
And that tsunami was nothing more than a bit of spray created by several colossal Sea Kings unintentionally slapping the water.
The colossal Sea Kings held iron chains in their mouths, dragging forward an absurdly massive ship. It was thousands of meters long, almost like a small island.
In Doflamingo's memory, the only ship that could compare to such a size was the Gran Tesoro.
"As expected... it's that monster."
Cold sweat appeared on Ryokugyu's face.
He had seen it before. Even Fujitora, a man no weaker than himself, had returned wounded.
"Monster?"
Doflamingo noticed the enormous ship and finally remembered the rumors that had been spreading across the sea about that super rookie.
"That experimental subject, Dark Sun?"
"Why has he come here?"
Yes, Doflamingo also knew about Sadgeo. Strictly speaking, he could even be considered one of Sadgeo's creators.
Back then, under Ozz's request, the Warlords and the underworld giants had all contributed what they could. Those with money gave money. Those with power gave manpower.
As both a Warlord and the man with the most inflated underworld business, Doffy naturally contributed a great deal of manpower and resources to the Dark Sun God project.
He knew the inside story very well.
That was why cold sweat appeared on his face now.
He knew exactly how much effort Ozz had poured into this experimental subject.
Ozz had even allowed his relationship with the World Government to crack without the slightest regret.
After all, the ancestor of Doflamingo's ancestors was this thing's greatest enemy.
"I didn't expect to run into him here... But Doflamingo, since you're on Saint Ozz's side, shouldn't you not be this nervous?"
Ryokugyu leaned toward the Celestial Dragon faction, so he knew how determined the World Government was to destroy Sadgeo.
But he did not understand why Doflamingo was sweating after seeing him too.
"Fufufufufu..."
Doflamingo said nothing. He only forced out a laugh.
Although, in name, they could be considered related allies, the sight of Sadgeo made him feel uneasy for some reason.
It was like something written into his blood.
Naturally, Law and the Straw Hats also noticed that absurdly massive formation.
The cowardly trio screamed in terror, while Law took the chance to bring Caesar onto the deck of the Thousand Sunny with Room teleportation.
His stamina was nearly spent.
As for Caesar, he desperately wriggled across the deck, trying to crawl back to Doffy.
But just as he finally wriggled up from the floor and poked his head out, he saw the enormous formation in the distance.
His face turned green with fear, and he collapsed onto the deck in terror.
"H-how... how could this be?"
"That experimental subject actually appeared!"
No one could blame him for being this shocked.
If Doflamingo had provided the money, then Caesar had truly provided the labor. He had even directly participated in the research.
He knew exactly what final role Ozz had assigned to this experimental subject.
That was the ancient...
Sun God.
"Run! Trafalgar Law!"
The cowardly Caesar burst into tears, his expression even more dramatic than when facing a Yonko.
"That's Mr. Ozz's..."
"In short, that kind of monster is absolutely impossible to defeat!"
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The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
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