Doflamingo was instantly furious. What Sugar could do for him was almost the same as what Betty did for the Revolutionary Army. Sugar was fundamental to maintaining the rule of the Donquixote Family, which was why Doflamingo had specially sent his top cadre, Trebol, to protect her at all times. If she was taken by Adrian, how could Doflamingo continue his dream of ruling the kingdom? He felt like he might explode with rage.
Though, he was instantly kicked to the ground by the frost-faced empress.
"You scoundrel! How dare you be so presumptuous in front of Lord Adrian? It's an unforgivable crime!" The empress stomped on Doflamingo's head fiercely with her high-heeled shoes, a few times, then prepared to use Perfume Femur for a fatal blow.
Fortunately, Adrian reached out and stopped her.
Adrian said with a serious smile, not hiding his intentions. "Leave Sugar, and those people will live. Otherwise, they'll all die!"
If it weren't for the need to subdue Sugar, Adrian wouldn't have wasted time with Doflamingo. He would have just told them to leave. However, considering the great role of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, Adrian was willing to take the trouble.
Unlike when he captured Betty, Sugar only needed a simple and crude method to be swayed. Because of the special side effects of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, the moment the user eats the Devil Fruit, their age, height, intelligence, and appearance all stop growing and remain at the same age as they were the moment they ate it. This meant that although Sugar was a 22-year-old adult woman by birth year, her mind was still that of a 10-year-old.
Now, all Adrian had to do was get Doflamingo to say the words of giving her up. That was enough to make this little girl switch to his camp.
"My patience is limited; you'd better not waste my time," Adrian urged impatiently.
The expression on Doflamingo's face became more and more ferocious. Of course, he understood Adrian's intentions. But what was the use of figuring it out? Besides cursing in his heart, he could do nothing to him. When faced with life and death, he could even give up the National Treasure, so what was one person?
In his opinion, the coalition forces of Kaido and the World Government would be arriving soon. At that time, he could just grab Sugar back. And the dignity that Adrian had taken away, he would take it back a hundred times, a thousand times over.
"Fine. She's yours," Doflamingo said viciously. He then put away the Birdcage, ignored the pain, and without looking back, took a few seriously injured men and quickly fled Dressrosa.
"Young Master, don't leave me!" Sugar's eyes reddened instantly. "These people are so vicious, and Sugar is so scared. Wahhhhh..."
As Adrian had predicted, this simple-minded girl thought she had been abandoned by Doflamingo. "Little one, would you like to join my team and change the world with me?" Adrian leaned over and extended an invitation to Sugar with as innocent a smile as he could.
The empress next to him suddenly showed a knowing look on her pretty face. So, this was what Master Adrian liked. It seemed she needed to find the Devil Fruit that could turn back time as soon as possible.
"I don't want to! Uncle's smile is so scary!" However, even though Sugar thought Adrian was very handsome, she didn't know why the sincere smile on his face made her feel scared. It was as if a big bad wolf was waiting for her to throw herself into the trap with its bloody mouth wide open.
"Uncle?!" Adrian's face darkened, with black lines filling his forehead. I'm only 18 years old. How did I become an uncle? From which side does this handsome face look old?
Adrian immediately put on a stern expression. Pinching Sugar's face, he threatened viciously, "Little one, if you don't join… you'll die!"
On the streets of Dressrosa, shining yellow balls of light suddenly emerged from the bodies of the toy dolls. In the astonished eyes of the crowd, those civilians who had been turned into toys by Sugar returned to their original appearance. At the same time, the erased memories returned to their loved ones.
"Oh my god! What's going on?!"
"I… I finally regained my human body!"
"Dad is back?!"
"My love, don't blame yourself… this is a curse that Doflamingo put on me. I thought I was going to be a toy for the rest of my life!"
"Honey, where have you been all these years? Why have I been living with a stranger? I'm really not a scumbag!"
"It's okay, it's not your fault. I forgive you…"
"It was all that Doflamingo's fault! We've all been lied to by that devil!"
The same scene was repeated in every corner of Dressrosa. The dolls kept turning back into humans, and the whole country was instantly plunged into cheers and joy.
But not everyone was so lucky. Besides the civilians, those pirates, Marines, CP members, and dignitaries from various countries who had been turned into puppets were still in toy form. Adrian wasn't a philanthropist; to maintain the normal operation of the business, a lot of free labor was essential.
"Why do you want to restore these people to normal? This is a masterpiece that took eight years to complete," Sugar grumbled with some dissatisfaction as she hid behind the empress in the sky. But her hands did not stop moving. With every wave, balls of yellow light emerged from the bodies of the toy puppets on the ground.
For the puppets who had made a contract with her, Sugar had absolute dominance over them. The curse on them could be lifted at any time.
"Because they will all be my people in the future," Adrian smiled slightly. "For those who obey me, there's no need to erase their memories."
He then pointed to the nearly ten thousand peripheral members of the Donquixote Family who had been captured below. "I want you to, turn all of them into toys. The underground port requires a lot of labor."
He didn't intend to continue Doflamingo's reign of separation between humans and toys. This method was too low-level. But for pirates and those who were not very obedient, he would not be soft. With Sugar's presence for all to see, the fate of disobeying him was a hell more terrible than death. The obedient could continue to live in a safe and prosperous environment.