New World. High altitude.
The Eclipse cut through the clouds, bearing toward Dressrosa.
On the bow deck, Law stood in the wind, one hand resting on Kikoku's hilt.
His face was heavier than usual.
The intelligence Carina had intercepted was not complicated.
North Blue. Swallow Island. Wolf. Trafalgar Law. Keep watching. Do not spook him.
Those words strung together were already enough.
Doflamingo's people had found Wolf.
No kidnapping yet. They had only just locked onto him.
But for Law, it was a thunderbolt out of a clear sky.
Wolf was not a member of the Heart Pirates.
He was the man who had truly reached out to help Law back in the North Blue.
Without that submarine, there would never have been a Heart Pirates crew.
Shachi and Penguin stood behind Law. Their faces were grim.
Bepo's head was down, ears drooping.
"Captain…"
Law did not turn.
"I know. I won't let him get away with it."
Sabo stood to the side, holding the Dressrosa intelligence Carina had compiled.
"Doflamingo hasn't moved yet. That means he's afraid of pulling us straight to him."
Carina leaned against the rail, her tone flat.
"Right now we can only confirm Doflamingo tracked down Wolf and wants to use him to test Law. His exact plan and positioning are still unclear."
Law said nothing.
Ace walked over from the bow.
He looked toward the island silhouette growing sharper in the distance, a faint smile still at the corner of his mouth.
"As for Doflamingo's plan, I have a few ideas. I know his trump cards inside and out."
Law looked up at him.
Ace went on.
"Dressrosa has a little girl."
"A little girl?"
Chopper blinked.
Ace did not draw it out.
"Sugar."
"User of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit."
"Anyone she touches becomes a toy."
Ace's voice was calm.
"Worse, anyone turned into a toy is erased from everyone's memory. Family. Friends. Crewmates. Everyone forgets that person ever existed."
Shachi and Penguin's faces changed instantly.
Bepo's head snapped up.
Law's fingers tightened around his sword.
If Doflamingo held that kind of ability, it was indeed the perfect weapon against him.
Not killing. Not capture.
Erasure.
Make everyone forget Trafalgar Law ever existed.
Doflamingo did not need to clash with Ace head-on. If Sugar touched Law once, he could pluck Law right off the Eclipse.
Ace looked at Law.
"So once we reach Dressrosa, watch yourself. Don't trip at the finish line."
Law frowned.
"You already knew?"
Ace smiled.
"I know a fair number of things."
Law was silent a moment. He did not press.
The crew had long since grown used to this. Ace occasionally dropped classified intelligence. Devil Fruit abilities. Islands. Certain people's hidden cards. He said it all so naturally that over time, everyone simply accepted it as the captain's special ability.
Carina closed her logbook.
"If the ability really works like that, Sugar is the highest priority."
Ace nodded.
"Carina, you lock down her position. Leona, Shark, once she's found, contain her directly."
Enel sat by the mast, biting into an apple with a sneer.
"Sounds nasty. That kind of ability leaves a bad taste."
Bonney stood beside Kuma, leaning over the rail and looking down.
Below the clouds, Dressrosa had fully entered view.
Sunlight. Flower fields. The colosseum. The palace.
And toys dancing in the streets.
It looked like a beautiful fairy-tale kingdom.
Bonney's eyes lit up.
"Toys that dance on their own? Are those all from the Hobby-Hobby Fruit? There are so many."
Kuma stood behind her, one broad hand resting lightly on the rail to keep her from leaning out too far.
His gaze was not drawn to the spectacle.
Brook stood nearby, empty eye sockets fixed on the toys below.
He did not laugh.
After a moment, he spoke quietly.
"Forgotten by everyone… that truly is worse than death."
He paused, then gave a slight bow, as if trying to pull the mood back.
"Of course, as someone who has already died once, I may speak with some authority on the subject. Yohohoho."
Bonney glanced back at him.
"Your skeleton jokes are never funny."
Brook clutched his chest at once.
"I have no heart, and yet those words have broken it."
Bonney scowled.
Kuma looked down at her, a faint warmth in his eyes.
Ace said nothing more.
The Eclipse continued its descent.
The shadow of the hull pressed against Dressrosa's sky for the first time.
Dressrosa. The palace.
"Young master!"
Trebol dragged his sticky body into the great hall, his voice carrying panic.
"The black ship! The black ship is here!"
Doflamingo sat on the throne.
He did not rise immediately.
He only lifted his head and looked toward the window.
In the distant sky, a black warship was cutting through the clouds.
It was not hiding. It was not firing.
It was descending directly and openly above Dressrosa.
And precisely because it was not firing, the pressure was heavier.
This was not a sneak attack. It was a declaration.
Doflamingo watched the black ship, his mouth slowly splitting open.
"Fufufufu… that was fast."
Trebol sniffled.
"They found out?"
Doflamingo did not answer right away.
He looked out the window at the black warship pressing slowly downward, his fingertips tapping the armrest.
Why had the Eclipse come?
More than one possibility.
Cooperation, perhaps. Dressrosa was a critical node in the underworld. The Donquixote Family held trade networks, ports, factories, and more than enough channels that never saw daylight. If the Fifth Emperor wanted to establish a foothold in the New World, coming to negotiate business was not strange.
Perhaps it was for Law. If Law had truly joined the Eclipse, Ace bringing him to Dressrosa for revenge made sense. Diamante and the others were already dead in the North Blue. The old scores between Law and the Donquixote Family would be settled sooner or later.
And then there was the last possibility. The most troublesome one.
They knew about Wolf. They knew about his recent move in the North Blue.
But if the black ship was already pressing down on Dressrosa because of that, it meant one thing. His orders were no longer absolutely secure the moment they entered the underworld. The Eclipse Pirates' intelligence capability was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
"Interesting."
Doflamingo laughed low.
"Cooperation. Revenge. Or they found the thread…"
He rose. The pink feathered coat swayed behind him.
"Then let me see. Which reason brought the Eclipse Pirates here today."
In the great hall, the Donquixote Family officers were gathering.
Pica's enormous form stood in the shadows, his shrill voice emerging.
"Young master, do we engage directly?"
Gladius adjusted his goggles.
"If they land at the palace, we can set demolition points in advance."
Senor Pink leaned silently against the wall.
Lao G's expression was dark.
Doflamingo raised a hand.
"Not yet."
The officers paused.
Doflamingo stood, the pink feathered coat swaying behind him.
"The other party is the Fifth Emperor. Not some ordinary pirate. If they came in firing, we would have no choice but to fight. But they didn't."
He grinned.
"That means Ace is at least willing to talk first."
Trebol lowered his voice.
"Doffy, you're going to negotiate?"
"Of course."
Doflamingo laughed.
"I am the king of Dressrosa. And a Warlord of the Sea. A conversation between equals is perfectly normal."
The words sounded like a joke.
But every officer present understood. Doflamingo did not believe his Warlord status or his crown could suppress Ace.
He was only buying the first step.
As long as they could talk, there was room. As long as there was room, there was an opening.
"Where is Sugar?"
Doflamingo asked.
Trebol answered immediately.
"Underground. She hasn't been allowed to show herself."
"Good."
Doflamingo's voice dropped.
"Keep her there. Without my order, she does not go near Ace."
Trebol nodded.
"And Law?"
Doflamingo's smile deepened.
"If Law really came… then let's see if he has the nerve to walk up to me. The moment he shows an opening, Sugar will have her chance."
He paused.
The black ship was drawing closer.
The vast shadow began to pass over the palace.
Doflamingo looked up at that shadow, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.
He still did not know that Ace had already identified Sugar's existence.
In Doflamingo's mind, she was still Dressrosa's deepest hidden card.
"Prepare a welcome."
Doflamingo said.
"The palace plaza. Keep the citizens back."
He turned and walked toward the exit.
"Let me see. What does this Fifth Emperor actually want?"
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