"Fufufufufu..."
Doflamingo threw back his head and laughed, his voice like sharp blades, tearing apart the clamor of the square.
From high above, he looked down upon the crowd of onlookers like a dazzling star shining beneath the spotlight. The corners of his mouth hooked up into that trademark arc, his expression both proud and mad.
"The people can carry the boat, but they can also overturn the boat!"
His voice, amplified by the sound-transmission bug, rang throughout the streets, pounding clearly against every single eardrum.
"Kobra, your king! During his reign he openly abused the use of 'Dance Powder,' bringing drought to every place outside Alubarna!"
"You couldn't even drink a mouthful of water, only to watch your elders and kin cough blood amidst the sand and dust."
Step by step he closed in, arms spreading wide, as though to embrace this furious public opinion.
"The rebel army's armed uprising, overthrowing tyranny, is only natural and just!"
"And the princess Vivi, fufufu, at Rainbase, she slaughtered civilians on a large scale, wanting to use blood to silence their anger!"
"Such an act enrages both gods and men!"
"Your royal family had long abandoned and betrayed this country!"
The crowd erupted instantly, their roaring waves of sound rising one after another.
Their eyes bloodshot, they hurled all kinds of objects at the Kobra and Vivi tied at the center of the square.
"He really is a terrifying guy." Nico Robin, looking at Doflamingo up front, said softly. "He's manipulating hatred, trying to guide these people into becoming executioners."
"How can this be! Vivi won't really be executed, right!" Nami's face was full of anxiety. "What should we do!"
She clutched her head, feeling a deep helplessness.
"Why hasn't Jotaro come yet!"
Not long ago, their den den mushi could no longer reach Jotaro.
Shinobu forcibly pressed down the worry in her heart.
'Jotaro-san and the others may have run into other matters! Right now, we can only rely on ourselves.'
She lowered her gaze to her own feet.
Though her Nichirin blade had been taken away by the rebels, because of old habits she still had two small knives hidden beneath her soles.
Now she could only give it a try…
"That man you mentioned may not come. In this world, no one would be foolish enough to go to war with a Warlord of the Sea!"
Robin had always walked in darkness, having seen too much of humanity's ugliness.
With her experience, risking life and limb to save companions, plunging into dragon's dens and tiger's lairs, such things only happened in fairy tales.
The heated atmosphere at the scene made Doflamingo very satisfied.
As long as he slaughtered the Nefertari royal family and won the people's hearts, his rule would be secure.
"Now let us together witness the thrilling moment when the sinners Kobra and Vivi are beheaded!"
"Hm?"
Just as his words fell, Doflamingo frowned, sensing a cold killing intent from behind.
Shinobu, regaining a little strength, used the haki-imbued small knife to cut through the birdcage woven from Doflamingo's strings, then launched her fastest assault at him.
"You really are annoying!"
Doflamingo turned around, cold cruelty tugging at his lips.
Transparent, razor-sharp strings blocked Shinobu's path.
At once she altered her trajectory. Her light body leapt up from the ground, stepping off a nearby wall as she sped forward.
'This woman's Observation Haki isn't below mine, and her movements are very quick, just like a fly.'
Having been obstructed again and again by Shinobu, the cold-blooded Doflamingo naturally would not let her go easily.
More and more strings wound toward her.
Although her speed was very fast, the entire space was filled with Doflamingo's strings.
A butterfly stuck to a spider web, how could it possibly escape?
"Let me think, should I cut off your four limbs now and make you into a human swine?"
Doflamingo, baring his teeth in a cruel smile, looked at the blood-soaked Shinobu.
"Among nobles, there really are no small number with such hobbies."
Pfft!
Doflamingo froze, twisting his head to look at his left shoulder. A small, exquisite knife had already embedded itself deep into his flesh.
"Observation Haki can sense the actions of enemies outside one's line of sight, even predict their next move."
"But if the action isn't carried out by the enemy, but by the user themselves, then it becomes very difficult to predict."
Shinobu's voice was weak, her pale face carrying a sneering smile of success.
"When did you...!"
Doflamingo yanked out the knife lodged in his body, his face contorted with rage and disbelief, his tone filled with fury.
His skin turned purple in an instant.
"Damn it!"
The blade was poisoned.
Poison, when not entering the body, was fine, but once inside, even the strongest of fighters feared it.
In Impel Down, countless world-famous pirates were imprisoned, yet they still feared Chief Magellan.
Magellan was strong in his own right, but another reason was because he had eaten the terrifying Venom-Venom Fruit.
Without a moment's hesitation, Doflamingo gritted his teeth, cut away that piece of flesh, and sealed the surrounding blood vessels with strings to stop the poison from spreading.
He stared coldly at the blood-soaked strings around the knife hilt. "Anyway, you're worthless, might as well just die!"
He bent his five fingers, shaped like beast claws, each one with a sharp string.
These strings could easily slice through Shinobu's body.
Enraged by her, Doflamingo had truly formed killing intent.
BOOM!
Though the strings looked delicate, their power was immense, thick walls were directly split apart by them.
Doflamingo's face darkened.
Because the sensation of cutting through human flesh had not come.
Not only that, the net he had woven from strings was completely destroyed.
"So that's it. You deliberately let your blood soak these strings, so you could transmit Ripple through them and manipulate them."
"You've grown too, Shinobu."
The deep, powerful voice reverberated through the empty chamber.
Hearing that familiar voice, Nami was overjoyed, all her fear instantly swept away.
"Jotaro! Hurry and save me, do you know how scared I was! Waaa~"
She was on the verge of tears.
Robin's expression shifted slightly.
'The opponent is a Warlord of the Sea… could there really be someone foolish enough to go this far?'
Shinobu, feeling the familiar warmth on her body, tilted her head and rested against Jotaro's solid arm with relief.
"Jotaro-san, you're alright… that's really great…"
Jotaro said in a deep voice, "I'll take you all out right now!"
"Ora ora ora ora!"
Star Platinum's fists shattered the birdcage holding Nami, releasing her.
"Nico Robin?"
Jotaro noticed the woman in the other birdcage.
In order to decipher the Poneglyphs, he had long kept an eye on Robin's movements. Though he wasn't the best with faces, he recognized the woman before him at a glance.
Seeing Robin's wary look, Jotaro didn't explain, he simply had Star Platinum free her the same way.
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