"...I am Rogers Daren, Saint Phepros-sama. Greetings."
The Den Den Mushi in his hand transmitted the Vice Admiral's voice, carrying a faint smile, but to Saint Phepros, it sounded like a devil's whisper—eerie and terrifying.
The Den Den Mushi slipped from his hand and hit the ground. Saint Phepros collapsed onto the floor, his face deathly pale, staring at Daren with a look of indescribable horror, as if he had seen a ghost.
"You, you, you... this, this... how is this possible..."
"This emergency button... it's supposed to connect to Pangaea Castle's signal..."
He had never encountered anything before.
"Moshi moshi? Saint Phepros-sama, this is Vice Admiral Rogers Daren from Marine Headquarters. Is there some trouble on your end?"
Daren blew a smoke ring with a smile, feigning confusion as he spoke into the Den Den Mushi in his hand.
At the same time, the Den Den Mushi on the ground echoed the exact same voice.
Saint Phepros' entire body trembled as he shrieked in terror.
"Well, Saint Phepros-sama, it seems you're quite shaken..."
"Please rest assured, I will rush to your location immediately. Protecting the life and dignity of the great Celestial Dragons is the Marines' sacred duty."
Daren ended the call with a serious expression.
Then he turned to Saint Phepros with a smile.
"Saint Phepros-sama, your humble servant has arrived. Is there anything I can assist you with?"
Saint Phepros clutched his head, his eyes bulging, teetering on the edge of madness.
Why did the signal he dialed connect to this guy's private Den Den Mushi?
Why did this guy target him!?
His mind felt like a mushy mess, his body trembling even harder, as a yellowish-white liquid slowly seeped out from between his legs.
"Godfather, you're really going to scare Uncle Saint Phepros to death..."
At that moment, Doflamingo stepped out of the jungle, wearing a twisted grin.
His face was smeared with blood, his eyes filled with savage brutality. A deep, bone-revealing gash on his chest bled profusely, soaking his white shirt red.
Dragging behind him was the corpse of a CP0 agent, so mangled it was barely recognizable. Doflamingo held the body by the ankle, hauling it along like a dead dog.
Doflamingo glanced at the pale and broken Saint Phepros, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
"I think I'm starting to appreciate the beauty of theater. Watching someone fall from heaven to hell in an instant... that impact, that transformation—it really does feel like being in total control..."
Doflamingo's expression turned crazed. He threw back his head, his fingers twitching uncontrollably as he let out a wild, manic laugh.
"It's just like being a god!!"
Before the words even fully fell, Saint Phepros' body suddenly stiffened.
A sudden chill swept across his arm. Staring in stunned disbelief, his frozen pupils caught the sight of a blood-stained arm flying through the air.
Saint Phepros stood there dumbly and lowered his gaze.
His left arm was gone—only a clean, smooth cut remained, exposing bone and torn flesh, while blood gushed out in a torrential spray.
The delayed agony finally surged through him. Saint Phepros clutched his severed arm and thrashed on the ground, howling in unbearable pain.
Doflamingo tilted his head with a grin.
"Just an arm, Uncle Saint Phepros. Does it really hurt that much?"
"Is it worse than the humiliation I endured—the contempt, the curses, the mockery—when you cast me out of Mary Geoise back then?"
He flicked his fingers again.
Blood sprayed as another severed leg was sent flying through the air before thudding to the ground.
Saint Phepros let out an even more piercing scream. Now missing both an arm and a leg, he rolled frantically across the dirt, his body convulsing, eyes rolling back.
After decades of pampered luxury, he had never suffered so much as a scratch—let alone wounds this gruesome.
"I remember it clearly... how you once spat the word 'bastard' at me."
Under Doflamingo's sunglasses, blood vessels crawled like cracks across his eyes. With another flick of his fingers—
Two razor-thin, near-invisible threads cut through the air.
Saint Phepros' remaining arm and leg were severed cleanly!
The heart-wrenching torment finally broke him. His eyes bulged, tears and snot streamed down his face as he sobbed and wailed uncontrollably, his body twitching in a pool of blood.
"What an ugly sight... I liked you better when you still had that defiant look, Uncle Saint Phepros."
Doflamingo raised his hand coldly to finish it, but a firm hand suddenly stopped him.
Daren shook his head.
Doflamingo paused, irritation flashing across his eyes, but followed Daren's gaze toward the jungle.
There, a tall, blood-red figure stood frozen.
"Let him handle it. This is a small attempt."
Daren said calmly, meeting Doflamingo's wild stare.
Doflamingo hesitated, then took a deep breath and silently stepped back.
"I'm sorry, Tiger-san. When we arrived... your comrades had already..."
Fisher Tiger's voice was hoarse as he forced himself to move forward.
He stumbled past the bodies of familiar faces, their lifeless smiles forever frozen, and his strong hands trembled uncontrollably.
"So, this Celestial Dragon is yours."
With that, he turned and started walking toward the coast.
Doflamingo cast a meaningful glance at Fisher Tiger, a sly grin tugging at his lips, before following Daren.
Soon, the clearing—now a hellish scene—was left with only two figures.
The towering, blood-red-skinned fishman stepped toward the wailing Celestial Dragon.
"You... you filthy mongrel..."
"So... so that's how it is..."
"They died... trying to save you..."
Saint Phepros stared at Fisher Tiger with hollow, lifeless eyes, then slowly burst into mad laughter.
Expressionless, Fisher Tiger reached out and seized the Celestial Dragon by the throat, lifting the mutilated man high into the air.
Scarlet blood dripped endlessly from above.
"Cough... heh... hahahaha!"
"What a shame... all those commoners died here... just to save you."
The Celestial Dragon coughed weakly, feeling the grip on his neck tighten. His face twisted grotesquely as he cackled louder.
"Shut up," Fisher Tiger said coldly, a glimmer of life returning to his eyes.
"Hahahaha! They're all dead!" The Celestial Dragon's nose and mouth bled, but he kept laughing maniacally. Google seaʀᴄh novel~fire~net
"Shut up!" Fisher Tiger's eyes widened in fury.
"Hahahaha! Only you survived!"
The sharp snap of bones echoed through the silent jungle.
At the same time, Daren, who had walked several hundred meters away, suddenly stopped.
A faint smile played at the corner of his lips.
"Just as I thought..."
In the distance, a massive flock of birds shot into the sky in fright.
A tremendous, overwhelming pressure swept across the land, stirring the clouds above into a raging storm.
A look of stunned surprise flashed across Doflamingo's face.
"Conqueror's Haki... it awakened?"
p@treon com / PinkSnake