Mock Town
In a secluded alleyway, before the gate of a courtyard.
A tall figure slowly pulled back the hood covering his head, revealing short golden hair and a face painted with clown makeup.
"Tch."
He bent forward slightly and lit the cigarette hanging from his lips.
After taking a light drag, he exhaled a cloud of smoke.
Then, the man curled the corner of his mouth into a frightening grin and strode toward the tightly shut gate before him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Without the slightest courtesy, he raised his fist and hammered on the door.
Inside the courtyard…
"Who's knocking?"
Doflamingo asked with a gloomy expression on his face. The look on Diamante's face changed slightly. Looking toward the door, he pondered for a moment before speaking.
"I heard that Bellamy, that punk who begged to join us years ago, was defeated. Maybe it's him, coming here for help."
Doflamingo's eyes turned cold.
"A useless fool doesn't deserve to use the Donquixote Family's name. A pirate with no ability should disappear sooner rather than later."
Slowly rising to his feet, his voice carried a trace of icy indifference.
"I'll deal with him personally."
Diamante and Trebol exchanged glances and stood up to follow him.
But at that moment…
BOOM!
The courtyard gate exploded apart and a tall figure stepped through the shattered entrance with an icy smile hanging on his face.
The sinister aura surrounding him was astonishingly similar to their young master's, eight or nine parts alike, and it inspired instinctive fear.
Doflamingo halted mid-step and narrowed his eyes at the newcomer.
"Corazon!" Trebol exclaimed in surprise.
"It's actually you?"
Rosinante walked up before them and smiled faintly.
"If not me, then who?"
"After all these years, the evil things you've done have only increased."
"Oh? I suppose you're worried that your enemies might eventually come knocking." Doflamingo's face darkened as he stared at his younger brother.
"I don't have time to reminisce with you right now. My dear little brother."
Rosinante let out a cold laugh.
"That's unfortunate. But today, you'll have to make time."
Doflamingo fell silent.
After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"You came all the way here specifically to find me. State your purpose. Just like that man, you've been gone for nearly ten years."
He paused, his sharp gaze fixed on Rosinante as if trying to see through him.
"It's very simple. I want to know where you stand now."
Rosinante's eyes sharpened as he asked in a deep voice.
"Where I stand?"
"Why don't you make yourself clearer?"
Doflamingo smiled.
He seemed to have already guessed what Rosinante meant.
"The things you've done these past years have completely betrayed everything that man stood for."
"So tell me, Doflamingo… What exactly are you now?"
Rosinante shouted.
"Who I am?"
"It's hard to believe that even now, you're still this naive, Rosinante. What a waste of more than ten years."
Doflamingo shook his head and laughed. His eyes gradually turned icy, and his voice became filled with biting coldness.
"Marine? Pirate? What difference does any title make?"
"The victor becomes king. That's all."
After a brief pause, he mocked further.
"That man has been gone for over ten years. Did you really come all this way just to ask me that question on his behalf?"
"To ask whether I'm still one of his soldiers?"
Rosinante nodded seriously.
"Of course."
"Fufufufufufu! How ridiculous. If that man stood before me again, I'd gladly give him an answer. But you, Rosinante… Who do you think you are?"
"You're nothing more than my foolish little brother. A man who should have died over ten years ago."
The mocking words caused Rosinante's expression to grow even colder.
He listened quietly until Doflamingo finished speaking before slowly exhaling a long stream of smoke.
"I understand."
"Then today… I'll use my own strength to pry open your mouth and obtain the answer myself."
As the words fell, he raised his right hand, pinched the cigarette between his fingers, and flicked it forward.
The burning cigarette spun through the air and shot toward Doflamingo.
"A child's trick." Doflamingo sneered.
But the next moment, a flash glimmered across his sunglasses.
No footsteps sounded.
Everything around them seemed to freeze and the world suddenly lost all sound. Yet Rosinante's figure closed the distance in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, he lifted his leg and brutally chopped downward toward Doflamingo's head.
Lightning seemed to erupt from the void itself as an explosive burst of Haki radiated outward in every direction.
The flowers and plants in the courtyard trembled violently.
Trebol and Diamante's expressions changed dramatically.
Doflamingo's eyes suddenly sharpened, a rare trace of seriousness appearing within them. He raised his own leg and ruthlessly kicked upward to meet the descending strike.
BOOM!
The two legs collided.
A ring of shockwaves burst outward and swept across the courtyard.
CRACK!
The floor beneath Doflamingo shattered.
Only then did sound return.
The howling wind and the startled cries from behind him. Everything rushed back into his ears.
"Rosinante!" Doflamingo looked up at his younger brother with a grave expression on his face.
Where their legs met, arcs of lightning crackled and immense power continuously rippled outward from the clash.
"A... a clash of Conqueror's Haki!!" Diamante screamed, his eyes filled with shock.
Especially as he looked at Rosinante, who at this moment resembled their young master by eight or nine parts.
His heart was overwhelmed with disbelief.
'When had this man become so powerful?'
Crackle!
Lightning danced through the air around the two brothers.
Their eyes met and each of them saw the other's coldness and unwavering battle intent.
"You've surprised me, Rosinante." Doflamingo smiled.
"Then let me see… After the day we parted, just how much you've grown."
Doflamingo suddenly twisted his body, driving force from his waist. His right leg withdrew and planted firmly on the ground while his left leg swung in a powerful arc, chopping toward his opponent.
But to the surprise of the two onlookers, Rosinante made the exact same movement.
Bang!
The two legs collided once again.
Lightning crackled between them as waves of Conqueror's Haki burst outward. The pressure filled the surrounding space, suffocating all who felt it with overwhelming fear.
"Interesting." Doflamingo sneered.
His body suddenly contracted, and his fingers flicked forward.
"Goshikito - Five Color Strings!"
Five razor-sharp cutting threads slashed through the air toward Rosinante. But Rosinante reacted instantly. Leaping to the side, he dodged the attack, then kicked off the air itself. In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Doflamingo.
"Oh?"
Doflamingo's pupils shrank as he immediately recognized the techniques.
Geppo and Soru of the Marines' Rokushiki.
At the same time, five deep cuts became visible on the ground ahead where the attack had landed.
Snap!
A finger snap echoed out and all sound vanished.
Doflamingo's pupils contracted. He felt as though he had touched the very concept of stillness itself. It was as if every vibration in the air had disappeared.
Sound was created through vibrations. But at this moment, the vibrations of matter were forcibly suppressed.
Everything had become still.
Without making the slightest noise, Rosinante approached from behind.
It was not merely silent… but truly soundless.
No sound whatsoever existed.
Even Observation Haki seemed disrupted, robbed of its ability to perceive through sound.
"Fist Bone: Silence!" Rosinante's lips moved as he shouted. Naturally, no sound emerged from him.
His fist ruthlessly smashed toward Doflamingo.
The latter spun around and raised both arms defensively.
Bang!
The immense force sent Doflamingo sliding backward, his feet carving trenches across the ground.
Only then did sound return, but shock and disbelief had already appeared in Doflamingo's eyes.
"Surprised?"
"Or perhaps you find it unbelievable?"
Rosinante sneered.
"There are no useless Devil Fruits in this world. There are only useless and foolish people. When developed to its limit, the Silence Fruit possesses the power to destroy everything in its path."
"Sound is produced by vibrations and the true power of the Silence Fruit is to stop those vibrations completely, to force matter into absolute stillness."
Doflamingo's pupils shrank.
His arms could no longer move.
Just as Rosinante said, all vibrations within them had been stripped away and they had fallen into a state of perfect silence.
Even the blood inside them had stopped flowing.
As long as a person lives, they vibrate.
They produce sound.
Blood flows.
Hearts beat.
Cells divide.
As long as movement exists, sound exists.
Humans simply cannot hear those sounds because of their own limitations, but Rosinante's power erased those sounds.
It erased the vibrations themselves.
At that instant, Doflamingo finally understood how terrifying this ability truly was and the image of a certain man suddenly came to his mind.
The strongest man in the world… Whitebeard.
"A power completely opposite to Whitebeard's… Rosinante!!"
Doflamingo's expression fluctuated violently.
Vibrations could create tsunamis, earthquakes, and even split the sky.
They were terrifying.
But a power that erased all vibrations and plunged everything into deathly silence was equally horrifying. He could hardly believe that Rosinante had developed such a seemingly useless Devil Fruit to this level.
"Anything I touch… will fall into silence."
Rosinante slowly walked forward.
His footsteps could be heard clearly.
"I see. So you've reached this level as well." Doflamingo let out a sigh. "The awakening of a Devil Fruit."
Rosinante chuckled.
"Awakening?"
"Perhaps. I simply feel that I've grasped the true power of silence."
His eyes turned cold.
Then he burst forward.
In an instant, he arrived before Doflamingo.
"And you're the first person… to experience that power."
Doflamingo leaped backward to evade the attack. But a moment later, his eyes narrowed in shock.
Pop!
A halo of light rapidly formed around Rosinante's right fist. It expanded quickly, becoming a spherical wave of silence.
Then Rosinante threw a punch.
Buzzzzz!
The surrounding space froze.
An invisible wave swept across Doflamingo's entire body.
His body instantly stiffened.
His blood.
His organs.
Everything within him.
All of it entered a state of absolute stillness.
Every vibration ceased.
The next second, Rosinante sprang into the air and lunged forward.
Thud!
Doflamingo crashed to the ground.
Rosinante wrapped his legs around his neck and pinned him beneath his body.
His right hand pressed directly against the one thing still beating… Doflamingo's heart.
"You've lost… Doffy!!!"
(End of Chapter)
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