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Chapter 589: Arriving at Kamar-Taj in Person
Inside the Wakandan laboratory, Shuri's fingers froze over the control console. She stared at the transparent thread in the surveillance feed, her face turning pale. Vision's body was locked onto the surgical table, the extraction of the Mind Stone incomplete. Wanda had both hands pressed to either side of the stone, layering rings of scarlet energy to suppress its erratic fluctuations, but the thread had already cut deep into Vision's neck.
"Who's there!?" Wanda's voice trembled. Not out of fear, but sheer rage.
From the shadows of the ceiling, a man draped in a flamboyant pink feather coat dropped down, hanging upside down effortlessly. It was Donquixote Doflamingo. Former Warlord of the Sea, the Underworld Emperor of Dressrosa, boasting a bounty of 340 million Berries. He still bore the dust of Knowhere, his right hand clad in a white glove, the freshly acquired Reality Stone concealed perfectly within his palm.
"Fuffuffuffu. Don't be so tense," Doflamingo chuckled. "I'm a man who strictly adheres to business rules. Hand over that little yellow trinket, and I guarantee your deaths won't be quite so ugly."
Shuri instantly slammed the defense system trigger. The laboratory walls slid open, deploying over a dozen Vibranium energy cannons aimed squarely at Doflamingo. Before the muzzles could even finish charging, white strings shot up from the floor, twisting the heavy cannon barrels into tangled knots.
"Impressive tech," Doflamingo smirked. "Too bad it's too slow."
Wanda looked up, her eyes blazing. The scarlet energy coalesced into a massive hand, lunging fiercely at Doflamingo.
His laughter paused. He had witnessed the pure madness of the Reality Stone on Knowhere and suffered the consequences of Kuzan's freezing blade, so he wasn't about to act carelessly here. A dark red glow flared in his palm. Instantly, the metallic floor beneath Wanda's feet transmuted into a pool of thick, sticky syrup.
Wanda sank rapidly. Losing her footing, the scarlet energy hand veered off course, narrowly grazing Doflamingo's shoulder before blasting a crater into the wall.
"So this is a Stone?" Doflamingo murmured, looking down at his palm. "No wonder those cosmic lunatics were tearing each other apart for them."
Vision forced the words out. "You cannot take it."
Doflamingo glanced down at him. "Why not? Because you think you're the good guy? Or because you think you're somehow more worthy of it than I am?"
He extended his index finger. A razor-sharp string shot out, piercing toward the edge of the stone on Vision's forehead.
Wanda forcibly tore herself free from the syrup, her eyes erupting with crimson light. "Stay away from him!"
The entire laboratory was ripped apart by an explosion of scarlet energy. Doflamingo deployed hundreds of strings from his feet, violently pulling himself backward across the ceiling to evade the blast. His smile only widened. "Not bad. Now this is what a guard dog protecting high-value merchandise should look like."
Just then, the outer wall of the laboratory was blown completely open by a massive beam of golden light. Sengoku strode inside. Kizaru followed lazily behind him, casually tossing a glowing orb of light between his fingers. Steve and T'Challa rushed in immediately after.
Seeing Doflamingo, Sengoku's face darkened. "Doflamingo. So you were here after all."
Doflamingo spread his arms wide. "Sengoku-san, there's no need to be so serious. We're all just here to clear a dungeon. Store Manager Blake never made a rule against stealing from the competition."
The golden aura around Sengoku flared intensely. "I don't have the patience to listen to your excuses."
Kizaru's gaze shifted to the dark red glow in Doflamingo's palm. "My, my So you got your hands on the Reality Stone too? This is getting so troublesome, I almost want to request a vacation"
Doflamingo chuckled. "Fuffuffuffu... Kizaru, you really haven't changed a bit. But the man standing before you isn't the same Warlord you Marines used to push around in Dressrosa."
He raised his hand. The glow of the Reality Stone twisted reality itself. The very air inside the laboratory was transmuted into thousands of white feathers. The edge of every single feather extended into a razor-sharp string, slashing indiscriminately toward everyone in the room.
Sengoku slammed his palms together, sending out a massive golden shockwave. The feathers were pulverized, but the strings simply continued to bore out from the fragmented debris.
Kizaru casually raised a leg. "Light Speed Kick."
A sweeping arc of golden light incinerated half the strings in the room instantly. Taking advantage of the chaos, Doflamingo used the Reality Stone to warp the floor beneath him, sliding seamlessly into an adjacent corridor. He wasn't looking for a prolonged fight. He knew exactly how absurdly powerful Sengoku and Kizaru had become. Fighting them head-on was pointless; securing the Stones was the only thing that mattered.
"Fuffuffuffu," his voice echoed fadingly. "I'll let you hold onto the Mind Stone for now. Once I've unloaded my current merchandise, I'll come back to collect the debt."
Sengoku moved to pursue, but the stone on Vision's forehead suddenly flared violently. Wanda groaned in pain, blasted backward by the feedback.
"The energy stabilizer is collapsing!" Shuri yelled frantically.
Sengoku stopped in his tracks. He glanced at the corridor Doflamingo had vanished down, then at Vision convulsing on the table. He cursed under his breath. "Damned pirate."
Kizaru turned around with his usual sluggishness. "Shall we chase him, Sengoku-san?"
Sengoku didn't hesitate. "Secure the Mind Stone first. That punk already walked away with one; we cannot afford to lose a second."
Kizaru shrugged. "Alright then I was never very good at chasing pirates anyway"
Steve looked between the two, his voice low and tight. "Who exactly are you people?"
Sengoku met his gaze. "Marines. We don't enforce the laws of your universe. But at the very least, for right now, we are not your enemies."
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Above Wakanda, the war still raged on. However, on the other side of the planet, in a completely different location, the atmosphere was entirely devoid of conflict.
Kamar-Taj was quiet. The outside world was devolving into a chaotic meat-grinder. In New York, a massive free-for-all was taking place between Hela, Kaido, the Golden Lion, Ronan, the Black Order, and the Avengers. Wakanda had just been swept clear of the Outrider vanguard by Sengoku and Kizaru. On Titan, Akainu was actively trading blows with Thanos.
But here, there was only the scent of tea, wooden lattice windows, ancient scrolls, and silent training arrays.
The Ancient One sat in her tea room, two delicate cups placed on the table before her. She didn't look out the window. She had already gazed into countless futures, seen far too much. Yet today, there were anomalies present that had completely evaded her sight.
A spatial portal opened in the center of the room. It wasn't a spark-spitting sling ring portal, but a jagged rift of deep purple. Imu stepped gracefully through the tear in reality. Behind her, Saint Saturn, Saint Marcus Mars, Saint Topman Warcury, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, and Saint Shepherd Ju Peter materialized in sequence.
The Five Elders were not wearing the extravagant formal attire they donned in Mary Geoise; instead, they wore practical, flowing black robes. Yet, the sheer, suffocating aura of supremacy cultivated from centuries of ruling the world still made the air in the small tea room feel incredibly heavy.
The Ancient One looked up at them calmly. "You are not from this universe."
Imu walked to the table and took a seat, her movements entirely natural, utterly devoid of the self-awareness of a guest. "Are you the guardian of this planet?"
The Ancient One poured her a cup of tea. "You could say that."
Saint Saturn's eyes swept the room, landing squarely on the Eye of Agamotto resting on the Ancient One's chest. The green glow was heavily contained within the casing, but a temporal fluctuation of that magnitude could not be hidden from anyone who knew what to look for.
"The Time Stone," Saturn stated.
The Ancient One did not deny it. "You certainly don't waste time."
Imu picked up the teacup and took a slow sip. A second later, she set the cup back down on the table. "It's bland."
The tea room fell into absolute silence. Saint Ju Peter's eye twitched. Evaluating the tea at a time like this? As expected of Imu-sama.
The Ancient One didn't seem offended in the slightest. "For those who cultivate the mind, the flavor of the tea is secondary."
Imu looked directly at her. "I did not come here to cultivate my mind."
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