Clang—!
The pirates who still had the strength to fight froze in terror as they watched Aaron effortlessly subdue their captain, Fites. When they turned to see the deck littered with their comrades writhing in pools of blood, the courage in their hearts vanished completely. One by one, they dropped their weapons in surrender.
Seeing this, Fites also gave up. He threw down his rapier in resignation and chose to surrender.
Aaron, noticing Fites's gesture, lifted his blade "Onikiri" (Demon's Wail) from the pirate's throat and shifted his attention toward the Akio Gang ship approaching from the distance.
But the moment Aaron relaxed his guard, Fites's eyes flickered with murderous intent. Silently, he reached inside his coat for a hidden pistol—hoping to pull off a dazzling reversal and take Aaron's life with one perfect shot.
However, just as he drew the gun, a flash of steel swept past his eyes.
The world around him began to spin wildly—and then everything turned black.
"Fool. You couldn't even recognize the difference in our strength."
Aaron looked down coldly at the severed head rolling across the deck, its eyes still wide open in disbelief.
Then, his gaze swept over the remaining pirates—some trembling in fear, others attempting to stealthily reach for their own pistols.
A flash of light from Onikiri.
A heartbeat later, several new headless corpses hit the deck.
"The ones still breathing—throw the corpses overboard. Finish before my crewmates arrive, or you'll join them in the sea."
Aaron flicked the blood from his blade and spoke in a tone so cold it froze the survivors' spines.
The terrified pirates immediately scrambled to obey. Even those pretending to be dead sprang up in panic, terrified of being mistaken for corpses and tossed into the water.
Aboard the "Numantia Flamingo,"
Donquixote Doflamingo sat grinning as he listened to the report from Baby 5.
"A pirate worth seventy million berries defeated in under ten seconds… this Aaron fellow is something else. To have grown this powerful in barely half a year… this world truly is crawling with monsters. And he's an ambitious one, too. Interesting—so very interesting."
Doflamingo's trademark laugh echoed through the cabin—"Fuffuffuffu~"—as his sharp eyes gleamed like those of a collector admiring a priceless treasure. He studied the intelligence dossier on Aaron with growing amusement.
By the time Aaron had crushed Fites's crew, Doflamingo had already reviewed the young man's file in detail.
Most people would simply see a fast-rising rookie within the Akio Gang, but Doflamingo saw something different—a kindred spirit with grand ambitions.
His focus wasn't on who Aaron had killed or how strong he was, but rather on the power structures the man had quietly built around himself.
In terms of wealth, Aaron's associate Williams had already become the president of a mid-sized merchant company, commanding significant resources.
In intelligence, another ally, Shuma, had risen to head an information network of over two hundred agents—granting Aaron near-total awareness of everything happening in Vilia Port.
In personnel, Aaron commanded more than two hundred battle-hardened men from the slums, all rigorously trained. Among them were five whose combat abilities rivaled the Akio Gang's junior lieutenants.
And in territory, Aaron had turned the once-chaotic Slum District B into a thriving, orderly domain—now the wealthiest part of the slums, even amid the city's current economic depression.
From these facts alone, it was clear: Aaron had already formed a well-organized, tightly run force of his own.
Not a mob—but the foundation of a true power.
"Could it have been this man? …No. Impossible."
Doflamingo muttered, eyes narrowing.
"The Devil Fruit incident at the Donquixote Auction House was top secret—known only to Gilbert and a handful of high-ranking figures. There's no way Aaron's fledgling intelligence group could've obtained that information."
He leaned back in his chair, analyzing.
"The Auction House was under heavy guard. His little spies wouldn't have made it inside. Yes, he's built up followers and influence, but it's still far too weak. There's no way he knew that Wapol came here for the Devil Fruit."
For a moment, Doflamingo had almost suspected Aaron of being the one scheming against him behind the scenes. But the thought was so absurd that he dismissed it himself with a chuckle.
In his eyes, Aaron's forces were still far too insignificant—far weaker than the Donquixote Pirates had been back when he first established them in the North Blue.
Knowing his own path to power, Doflamingo found it laughable to imagine Aaron capable of stealing a Devil Fruit right out from under Pica and Lao G.
"Fuffuffu~ Still, he's worth keeping an eye on. Perhaps, in time, we could even work together. The Akio Gang might one day fall into his hands… and when that happens, he'll surely strive to expand its reach. This trip to Drum Kingdom has turned out to be quite the reward—I've found myself an intriguing young man. Shame I can't kill him while he's still weak… not with the Akio Gang protecting him."
Doflamingo set the report aside, that twisted smile of his returning.
The loss of the Devil Fruit, the capture of two key officers, and the death of Wapol—all of it had dealt a severe blow to the Donquixote Pirates' power within Vilia Port.
The sudden upheaval had even caught Doflamingo off guard.
He knew now that his alliance with Gilbert, Dars, and Regis—originally aimed at destroying the Akio Gang—was effectively in ruins.
All follow-up plans had become impossible to execute after his local forces were decimated.
Fortunately, the unstable political situation within Drum Kingdom offered him a new opportunity.
As the nation inched toward civil war, Doflamingo's remaining pirate forces could still play a decisive role.
"The game isn't over yet," he thought. "I'm still one of the players on this board."
But he would need a new ally.
Because to Doflamingo, only a balanced game was truly entertaining.
A one-sided slaughter held no thrill—what he desired was chaos.
"Spread the word. Full speed to the rendezvous point—and bring the family back."
After laughing to himself for a few seconds more, Doflamingo's grin faded into a look of steely seriousness as he turned to Trebol and issued his command.
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