On the High Ground of Kings Palace, in the palace conference room.
“That should be enough. Take me to see the situation on the ground.”
Rowen handed the neatly organized documents to Dante, instructing him to immediately return to the Qilin and transmit the files to the Marine Headquarters. Then, he turned to Doflamingo and said, “If the actual quantities and reports don’t match, you know what will happen.”
Not only does the Black Market need to be shut down, but the manufactured weapons must also be surrendered to the Marines.
“Fufufufufufufufu! Naturally, such a thing won’t happen! I am quite sincere in my cooperation with the Marines,” Doflamingo replied with a smirk as he stood up and accepted the feathered coat handed to him by Diamante.
It was at this moment that Rowen noticed Doflamingo, who used to look like a little hoodlum, now dressed in a tailored suit. Not only was he not exposing his chest anymore, but even his trademark flamboyant pink feather coat, which used to be crammed under a spiky shell, had transformed into a slim, knee-length design.
‘Is he… changing his appearance?’ Rowen wondered with confusion.
It seems like in anime, every time the protagonist changes their appearance, it accompanies a dramatic increase in power.
Could this be Doflamingo’s trump card? Has he become stronger? But he’s not the protagonist!
…
“Let’s Go!!”
A golden, intricately carved carriage approached from the direction of the High Ground of Kings Palace, and the residents on both sides of the street erupted in the warmest cheers.
“Doflamingo-Sama!”
“Long Live King Doflamingo!”
The enthusiasm of the people indicated that, at least on the surface, Doflamingo was a qualified king. He smiled and gestured to the residents while remarking to Rowen with emotion, “800 years ago, Dressrosa was our Donquixote Family’s territory. It wasn’t until the establishment of the World Government that we moved to Mary Geoise and allowed the Riku Family to take over the rule.”
“Are you telling me… about the legitimacy of your kingship?” Rowen, without lifting his head, rested his elbow on the sofa as he asked.
“No, I want to tell you that compared to King Riku, I love this country more.”
Rowen turned his head and looked at Doflamingo with a surprised expression on his face, it was as if he is seeing him for the first time, and at the same time, he used his Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) to observe the entire city.
“Love?”
“To hear that word from your mouth truly surprises me.”
Doflamingo can be described with many words— wild, cruel, ruthless, proud, indifferent, arrogant, willing to do anything to achieve his goals, and possessing the aura of a king, and so on.
But no matter how Rowen thought about it, the word “Love” had nothing to do with him.
Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness— Rowen believed Doflamingo had them, but “Love,” he couldn’t see it at all. Perhaps there was once love, but after Corazon’s death, all that remained was an empty heart and a shell which is filled with “Evil and wickedness.”
“Fufufufufufufufufuf… Is that so? It’s quite unexpected,” Doflamingo lightly laughed, his gaze focused in the distance as he spoke. “I love this land deeply.”
“Well then… since you love it so much, let’s talk about a matter concerning it.” Suddenly, Rowen’s tone changed, and a faint smile crept up on his lips as he continued to speak. “How much are you willing to pay to protect Sugar’s safety?”
“What… are you…” Doflamingo’s eyes were filled with disbelief as he stared at Rowen in shock.
“Don’t worry, killing her would cause nationwide chaos. I won’t do it for now.”
“But if the Fleet Admiral learns about this, I’ll have to kill her.”
“Tell me, Doflamingo, just how deep is your love for this land?”
“And tell me in terms of Beli…”
…
Sugar is the most important piece on the Donquixote Family’s chessboard. Without her, Dressrosa would not be in its current state. Just the exposure of government officials and Marine commanders turned into toys would be enough to trigger a cleansing operation by the World Government on Dressrosa.
That’s why Doflamingo has always taken great care to protect Sugar’s information. Apart from a few core members of the family, even the World Government cannot uncover these details.
He never expected that Rowen would know about this!!
As he said, once Sengoku learns about Sugar’s existence, Dressrosa will not be allowed to possess such a terrifying strategic weapon. The purpose of the “Threat Assessment” is to eliminate all potential destabilizing factors, no questions asked!
“Vice Admiral Rowen, you sure know a lot of things you shouldn’t!” Doflamingo took a deep breath before he spoke and his fingers trembling slightly.
Ignoring Doflamingo’s murderous gaze, Rowen nodded. “That’s right, there aren’t many things in this world that I don’t know.”
“I know what I should know, and I don’t want to know what I shouldn’t know.”
“So… put away your little schemes!”
Suddenly, a flash of Killing Intentions flickered in Rowen’s eyes, and a surge of electricity seemed to materialize out of thin air.
Zi Zi!!
Doflamingo trembled all over, and smoke rose from his abdomen. He groaned and took out a charred Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
“You have the confidence to use a listening Den Den Mushi that communicates through electromagnetic waves in front of a Thunder-Lightning Human?”
Just now, after Rowen mentioned Sugar’s existence, Doflamingo quietly activated the listening Den Den Mushi. Rowen didn’t know whom Flamingo would hand over this recording to, nor did he care. He directly generated an electric current by manipulating the magnetic field and killed the Den Den Mushi.
It’s not surprising that Oda places various Devil Fruit powers on different kinds of rubbish. If these BUG-level abilities were obtained by strong characters, the Straw Hats Pirates wouldn’t have stood a chance. Throughout the original work, there was only one exception to this rule.
And that was “Blackbeard,” Marshall D. Teach!
He’s also the ultimate final boss!
Similar to Rowen now, with the support of the Goro Goro no Mi (Thunder Thunder Fruit), as long as it gets enveloped in his Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) range, no one can conceal their external communications from him unless they possess a special ability like Doflamingo’s interference with electromagnetic waves. He even knows the precise location of each Den Den Mushi in his Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) range.
“Damn it!!!” Gritting his teeth, Doflamingo exerted an invisible force that spread through the ground, swiftly crawling along the streets and walls. Solid rocks began to twist and distort, leaving densely packed marks on the surface of the walls.
…
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