Rosinante met Doflamingo's cold gaze without flinching. Blood still dripped from his shoulder, staining the white snow beneath him crimson, but his voice remained steady. "Marine Headquarters Commander, Serial Number 01746, Codename Corazon. Doflamingo, I'm a Marine. So you don't need to doubt whether I'll pull this trigger."
He shifted slightly, keeping Law behind him despite the pain. "Don't touch Law. I won't let him become like you. One madman in this world is enough. Let him go. He's eaten the Ope Ope no Mi and broken free from the Amber Lead curse. He's free now."
Doflamingo's fingers uncurled slowly. The bullet he'd caught clattered onto the packed snow. His other hand rose with deliberate calm, a pistol now aimed squarely at Rosinante's head. The barrel didn't waver.
"Freedom?" The word left Doflamingo's mouth like poison. His sunglasses couldn't hide the fury blazing in his eyes. "Freedom? In this world, who isn't drowning in the mud? Who truly has freedom? And you dare lecture me about destiny, Corazon?"
His voice grew harsher, each word cutting deeper. "We were born among the gods themselves, and now we're here, in this frozen wasteland. Is this freedom? Destiny? Are you just like that idiot Homing, spouting the same meaningless drivel? Don't think so highly of yourself. What do you think you're doing right now? You're manipulating Law's life just as much as anyone else. Doing whatever you want under the pretense of 'helping others', that's the kind of self-righteous behavior I despise most."
Doflamingo's arms trembled. Not from cold, not from fear, but from pure rage barely contained beneath his pink feathered coat.
"If only Father hadn't been so reckless. So naive."
The memories came flooding back. He'd been eight years old when Donquixote Homing lost his mind. Gave up their birthright as Celestial Dragons. Dragged the family down to the North Blue to live as commoners because he believed all humans were equal. Because he said Mary Geoise was just a birdcage, and even Celestial Dragons had no real freedom. Because he wanted to escape that fate.
And what happened?
Their mother died of illness in a shabby wooden shack, never once having eaten her fill.
The family couldn't survive in that world where "everyone was equal." The commoners they'd joined hunted them down. Screamed for their deaths. Strung them up on walls and used them for target practice with arrows and stones.
In the end, Doflamingo had killed his own father with his own hands. Carried Homing's severed head all the way back to Mary Geoise, begging those damned Celestial Dragons to take him and his brother back.
All because of naivety.
People like Homing always thought their ideals were truth. The more naive someone was, the more they believed the world revolved around their precious morals. But reality was never that simple.
"What gives you the right?" Doflamingo's voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "What gives you the right to stand on your pedestal of justice and goodness and call me evil? Call me a sinner? Answer me, Rosinante!"
"You—"
The gunshot cut through the winter air like a thunderclap.
Rosinante's shoulder exploded in a spray of blood. He staggered, gasping, but didn't fall. Law caught him from behind, the boy's face frozen in shock, tears streaming down his cheeks and cutting trails through the white spots covering his skin.
"Enough." Doflamingo's fury receded like a tide, replaced by cold composure. His emotional control was truly remarkable. "I'm not here for your answers. The path I've chosen doesn't need recognition from anyone. I don't need to explain myself to you."
Rosinante's gun hand dropped to his side, useless now with his shoulder torn open. He couldn't aim anymore. Couldn't fight back.
Doflamingo leveled his pistol at Rosinante's forehead again, then shifted his gaze to Law. "I'll say it one more time, Corazon. Get over here, or I blow his head off."
"He's your brother!" Law screamed, voice cracking. "Your own blood!"
"Brother?" Doflamingo repeated the word softly, as if tasting something bitter. He looked at Rosinante, and something dark flickered behind his sunglasses. "Yes. You are my brother. But why do you insist on forcing me to kill my own blood again?"
"Again?" Law stared at Doflamingo in disbelief. What kind of person killed their own family?
Doflamingo's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Fufufu. Really? He didn't tell you? I killed our father myself. Do you really think I'd hesitate to do it again?"
"Don't listen to him, Law!" Despite the gunshot wound, despite the blood soaking through his coat, Rosinante kept Law shielded behind him. His smile never faltered. "You have no chance, Doflamingo. Admiral Finn is already on this island. I know exactly how terrified you are of him. I've told him Law ate the Ope Ope no Mi. You can't take anyone. Go ahead and try killing me. See if he avenges me."
In that instant, Doflamingo felt the world shift.
His body suddenly weighed ten times more. The loose snow beneath his feet compressed and solidified like concrete. His knees buckled slightly under the pressure.
Rosinante dropped to one knee with a grunt. Law was flattened completely, pressed face-first into the snow. Across the clearing, Baby-5 and Buffalo collapsed, unable to move. The other Donquixote Family officers staggered under the invisible weight, some falling, others bracing themselves against trees.
Then a voice cut through the winter silence, casual and unhurried.
"You can shoot that traitor dead right now if you want."
Doflamingo's blood ran cold.
"Believe me, Doflamingo, I won't avenge him. I might even thank you for helping the Marines get rid of a problem."
Doflamingo turned slowly, his expression carefully neutral. Sure enough, Finn stood not far away, snowflakes dusting the shoulders of his thick Marine coat and the Justice cloak draped over it. He was pulling a cigar from inside his coat, movements unhurried, as if this were a casual meeting on a pleasant afternoon.
Behind him stood Vergo on one side and Hina on the other, both silent and still.
Finn struck a match. The flame flared orange in the dim winter light. He lit his cigar with a practiced motion, then looked up at Doflamingo through the rising smoke. His gaze swept over Rosinante kneeling in the snow, over Law with his white-spotted skin, and finally settled on Doflamingo with cold calculation.
"Two things." Finn raised two fingers, cigar clamped between his teeth.
He didn't wait for Doflamingo to respond. "First. I'm taking Rosinante and the brat with me. If you say one word of complaint, I'll beat you senseless."
Doflamingo's expression darkened further. The corners of his mouth twitched upward into that manic smile of his, the one that appeared right before violence erupted.
Finn ignored the shift in mood entirely. He continued as if Doflamingo weren't even there. "Second. Within three days, you'll deliver the Gold-Gold Fruit to my ship. Do that, and I can pretend I didn't see you shoot a Marine Headquarters Commander."
He exhaled a stream of smoke, eyes never leaving Doflamingo's face. "All right. I've said my piece. Who's in favor? Who's against?"
The question was rhetorical. Finn's gaze bored into Doflamingo like a physical weight.
The smile on Doflamingo's face stretched wider, more unhinged. Then he exploded.
"You planted someone next to me, and that someone was my own brother?!" His voice was a roar of fury. "Do you think you're so great just because you're a Marine Admiral?!"
His hand slashed through the air. Five razor-thin strings erupted from his fingertips, glinting like blades as they shot toward Finn.
The instant Doflamingo moved, Vergo reacted. Armament Haki blackened his right hand as a dagger slid from his sleeve. He lunged at Finn's back, blade aimed for the spine.
But Hina was already moving.
She spat her cigarette directly at Vergo's face. Her leg snapped up in a high kick that seemed to defy human flexibility, the iron-tipped boot aimed at his ribs.
Her kick connected. Then her leg passed through Vergo's torso as black iron shackles materialized around his body, locking his arms to his sides. She spun smoothly, driving a fist through his chest, and another set of restraints clamped around his shoulders. By the time her first kick completed its arc and came down, Hina was standing behind Vergo, both fists slamming into his lower back with Armament Haki before her boot crashed into the back of his knees.
The entire sequence took three seconds.
Vergo hit the snow hard, face-first, with Hina's boot planted firmly on his spine. He hadn't even had time to process what happened.
At the same moment, Finn caught Doflamingo's five strings in one hand. He examined them with mild interest, then smiled. "Look at that. We're the same, aren't we? You planted someone next to me too."
Doflamingo stood frozen, mind racing.
The plan had been perfect. Vergo was right behind Finn. If he could land a critical blow, seriously wound or even kill the Admiral here, then no one on this island could stop Doflamingo from taking Trafalgar Law. Everything else could be sorted out later.
Yes, it would mean making an enemy of the entire Marine Headquarters. But with the Ope Ope no Mi's immortality power, what did that matter? And if he could kill a Marine Admiral here, the Marines would be too terrified to come after him immediately. That would buy him time to disappear. Time to plan.
That's why he'd unleashed his Goshikito at full power. That's why Vergo had moved the instant Doflamingo attacked.
The plan should have worked. He'd even pictured it, Vergo's dagger piercing through Finn's heart from behind.
But then that woman, the one who was supposed to be just a secretary, moved with inhuman speed and subdued Vergo in seconds. What kind of secretary was that strong?
And Finn had simply caught his ultimate technique barehanded. Caught the Goshikito like it was a child's toy.
The scene was painfully awkward.
Fortunately, Doflamingo's shamelessness knew no bounds. His manic grin returned instantly. "Fufufufu! Marine Admirals truly are amazing!"
Finn threw his head back and laughed, deep and genuine. "You're becoming more interesting by the minute."
"Just a joke, Admiral. I hope you don't take offense." Doflamingo shrugged, smile still plastered on his face.
As if the murder attempt seconds ago had been nothing but theater.
"Oh, I was just kidding too." Finn's smile matched Doflamingo's.
Then his expression went flat. Dead serious.
He reached over and plucked the revolver from Hina's belt. Without even glancing down, he aimed at Vergo's prone form and pulled the trigger. Six shots rang out in rapid succession, emptying the cylinder.
All six bullets punched into Vergo's back. Blood erupted through the white Marine coat, turning the fabric scarlet. Even with his mastery of Life Return, Vergo didn't die instantly, but the wounds were severe. He lay motionless in the crimson-stained snow, breathing shallow.
Doflamingo's expression darkened once more, the smile vanishing.
Finn casually holstered the revolver back at Hina's waist. Then he looked at Doflamingo, that cold smile returning to his face.
"How about it? Is it funny?"
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