Wipe it out?
The moment those words were spoken, the oppressive air in the hall seemed to ignite with a faint crackle.
Every top officer tensed.
Their breathing stopped, and their eyes locked firmly on the silent figure seated on the royal chair.
They understood Trebol's suggestion.
Seal off Haji Island and kill every witness, whether pirate or civilian.
Erase every trace of the Marine monster Zaraki ever setting foot there from the world completely.
This was the Donquixote Family's specialty.
Clean, efficient, and able to preserve the Family's reputation.
Only, this time, the matter involved Kaido of the Beasts.
If the news leaked, the consequences might be far worse than they already were.
The decision rested entirely on a single thought from Doflamingo.
Violet's heart beat violently.
She stared at Doflamingo's profile, a trace of excitement flickering deep in her eyes.
'Come on, Doflamingo! You usurper, you villain!'
'You've been slapped in the face!'
'The very second after you bragged about your divine bloodline, someone used the head of a Four Emperor's subordinate as payment for liquor on your turf and slapped you hard across the face!'
'What will you do? Will you hide like a coward, suppress everything, and pray Kaido never finds out?'
'No. That ridiculous pride of yours would never allow it.'
'Then will you take your anger out on that Marine monster Zaraki?'
'Go on! Go to war with Marine Headquarters' newest rising monster!'
'No matter which path you choose, it leads to destruction!'
The blood debt of the Riku royal family might truly have a chance to be avenged.
This sudden turn of events caused a faint hope to rise once more in her dead heart.
Amid a silence so deep that heartbeats could almost be heard, the corner of Doflamingo's mouth suddenly lifted.
"Fuffu."
A very faint breath of laughter.
Then came a second, then a third.
"Fuffu... fuffuffu... fuffuffuffuffuffu!"
The suppressed chuckle finally turned into wild laughter that swept through the entire hall.
Doflamingo abruptly threw his head back, and the pink feather coat around him shook violently, like a giant vicious bird preparing to pounce on its prey.
He opened the hand that had crushed the wine glass.
Glass powder mixed with red wine slid through his fingers, like the ashes of enemies he had ground to dust.
"Wipe it out? Trebol, you idiot, why would I wipe it out?"
Doflamingo's voice was filled with excitement.
He slowly lowered his head, his eyes behind the flamingo sunglasses sweeping across every member of the Family present.
"This is a show delivered from the heavens! Some ignorant Marine brat actually dared to cut down Kaido's man on my stage! Fuffuffuffu! Does he think this place is some countryside island in the East Blue?"
His laughter stopped abruptly, and the temperature in the hall seemed to drop.
"I want everyone to know about this! I want that bastard called War Demon to see clearly what kind of storm his foolish sense of justice will stir up!"
"I want him... to regret ever being born into this world!"
Violet's face instantly turned pale.
She understood.
Doflamingo, this madman, neither intended to quietly bury the matter nor personally seek trouble with the Marines.
He wanted to kill with a borrowed knife.
He wanted to personally ignite the bomb called "War Demon Zaraki killed a Beasts Pirates officer," then throw it far into the New World, right in front of that most unreasonable monster.
He wanted to sit back and watch the tigers fight.
This man had actually turned such humiliation into a bargaining chip capable of stirring the balance of the world.
A deeper chill slowly drowned Violet's heart.
...
New World, Wano Country, Onigashima.
The sky was covered in dark clouds, the heavy black layers pressing down until it was hard to breathe.
The enormous skull castle stood in silence, like a crawling ancient beast, radiating an ominous aura.
Suddenly, from the highest point of the clouds, a tiny black dot began falling at high speed.
The black dot grew larger and larger, tearing through the air with a shrill howl like a meteor from beyond the sky, crashing straight toward the central plaza of Onigashima.
Boom!
A deafening crash split the eardrums, and all of Onigashima shook violently.
The hard rocky ground shattered instantly.
Spiderweb cracks spread madly outward, and the terrifying shockwave turned into a white blast of air, carrying broken stone and dust in all directions.
The roofs of buildings around the plaza were blown away, and countless low-ranking members of the Beasts Pirates were sent tumbling by the hurricane-force impact.
Smoke and dust filled the air.
At the center of the plaza, a crater over a hundred meters wide appeared.
Only after a long while did the dust clear.
A massive figure, impossibly burly, staggered up from the bottom of the crater.
He shook out his wild black hair.
His bare upper body was covered in bulging muscle, and the huge cross-shaped scar on his chest was savage and terrifying.
It was the world's strongest creature, Kaido of the Beasts.
He was completely unharmed, only wearing the irritated expression of someone still trapped in a hangover.
"Worororo... damn it..."
Kaido yawned, and thick alcohol fumes poured from his mouth.
He rubbed his neck and grumbled like a beast.
"Same as always... still can't die..."
He raised his head and looked blearily at the "Sky Island" above, then lowered his gaze to the huge crater he had made.
The boredom in his eyes almost spilled over.
Jumping from ten thousand meters up to seek death was nothing more than daily entertainment.
Just as he was about to find somewhere to keep drinking, a steady figure approached from the stairs not far away, with Jack the Drought following behind him.
The one who came was one of his All-Stars, King the Wildfire.
"Looks like today's suicide failed as well, Kaido-san" King said flatly, his tone carrying no emotion.
With his arms crossed, his eyes beneath the mask seemed to glance at the sky before he added.
"Perhaps you should try seeking out that Marine monster the newspapers are calling War Demon. Maybe he can bring you some entertainment."
"Aniki, don't joke around!" Jack beside him let out a rough laugh. "He's just a Marine brat with some fame. Give him ten guts, and he still wouldn't dare step one foot into the New World! If he dares come, I'll be the first to twist off his head!"
"Wororororo!"
"Jack is right!"
"Those Marine dogs would piss themselves just hearing Mr. Kaido's name!"
The pirates around them immediately burst into roaring agreement, and all of Onigashima echoed with their contempt for the Marines.
But amid that thunderous laughter—
"Purupurupuru... purupurupuru..."
An urgent Den Den Mushi ring suddenly sounded, instantly suppressing all the laughter.
Everyone's eyes turned toward a low-ranking pirate, who was frantically holding a Den Den Mushi wearing flamingo sunglasses.
The moment they saw that Den Den Mushi, the air froze.
Joker.
Kaido's drunken expression turned impatient. He snatched the receiver from the Den Den Mushi and roared into it.
"Doflamingo! This had better be important! If there's a problem with the SMILE deal, I'll personally come twist your head off!"
The other end of the line fell silent for an instant. Then Doflamingo's amused voice sounded.
"Fuffuffu... Kaido, don't be so impatient. The SMILE supply is stable. I'm calling this time to tell you something much more interesting."
"One of your subordinate pirate crews was wiped out on an island tied to my trade routes."
Kaido frowned, unconcerned.
"If trash dies, it dies. You called me over something this small?"
"Fuffuffu..."
The laughter from the Den Den Mushi became even more playful.
"What if I said the one who did it was... that Marine monster the papers are calling War Demon?"
The instant those words fell, a chill swept across the entire plaza.
The deafening laughter was cut off as if by an invisible blade, and every expression froze.
The wind swept across the plaza, carrying a bone-piercing coldness.
The air that had just been full of crude laughter and the smell of alcohol became thin and heavy, pressing down until people could barely breathe.
The pirates who had still been mocking him now looked like statues.
Their smiles had not yet faded, but their eyes were already filled with shock and suspicion.
"Joker... you bastard..."
What broke the dead silence was a low growl like a giant beast grinding its teeth.
Jack's face flushed dark red, veins bulging across his forehead.
His bold declaration of "I'll be the first to twist off his head" now felt like an invisible slap across his face.
The Marine he had claimed "wouldn't dare step one foot into the New World" had not only made a move, but had killed someone under the Beasts Pirates' banner in the first half of the Grand Line!
And this news had come from Joker of all people!
"AAAAAAGH!"
Jack suddenly threw his head back and roared.
The soundwave shook the loose stones beneath his feet into the air.
His eyes were blood-red.
He abruptly turned, then dropped to one knee before Kaido. His massive body slammed into the ground with a dull thud.
"Kaido-sama!" His voice was hoarse and twisted with rage. "Please give the order! I'll take men to sea right now and twist off the head of that Marine trash called War Demon, then hang it at the gate of Onigashima!"
"I'll make him understand that the name of the Beasts Pirates is not something a single Marine brat can trample on!"
His roar echoed above the plaza.
The eyes of every pirate instinctively shifted toward the figure still standing at the edge of the giant crater, receiver in hand.
Kaido did not answer immediately.
His alcohol-soaked face was expressionless.
He simply lowered his head, his huge eyes staring at the Den Den Mushi in his hand, which was still chuckling.
Doflamingo's voice continued leisurely, full of the pleasure of watching a show unfold.
"Fuffuffu... Well, Kaido? This news wakes you up better than a hundred barrels of good liquor, doesn't it? That Marine... is called Zaraki. Remember that name! Who knows? Maybe he's the person you've been searching for all this time—the one who can 'kill' you..."
Crack.
A soft sound rang out.
Kaido's fingers suddenly tightened.
The specially made Den Den Mushi in his hand was crushed like a fragile eggshell.
Doflamingo's laughter stopped abruptly.
Kaido slowly raised his head.
His drunken, hazy eyes became clear. Deep within those bottomless pupils, a trace of awakened interest began to churn.
It was like a giant beast that had slept for far too long finally catching the scent of blood strong enough to stir its spirit.
He opened his mouth, revealing rows of terrifying teeth, and a laugh like the grinding of the earth's crust rumbled from deep in his throat.
"Wororororo... wororororororo!"
His laughter grew louder and louder, shaking the entirety of Onigashima until it hummed.
He looked down at Jack, who knelt on the ground and requested battle, his eyes like those of someone looking at an amusing toy.
"War... Demon?"
Kaido repeated the words one by one in a playful tone.
The thick smell of alcohol mixed with his Conqueror's Haki swept across the plaza, making everyone's heart tremble.
"Jack."
He suddenly spoke.
"Yes, Kaido-sama!"
Jack abruptly raised his head, his eyes full of fanaticism.
Yet a malicious smile appeared on Kaido's face.
"What did you just say... you were going to do to his head?"
The question poured over Jack like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing half his fury.
He froze, not understanding why Kaido would ask that.
Just as Jack did not know how to answer and cold sweat began to appear on his forehead, a lazy voice with a somewhat ridiculous tone drifted from behind the crowd not far away.
"Well, well, well... This is troublesome now, Jack. Before you brag, you've got to be ready to get slapped in the face on the spot."
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