Little Turkey, You've Been Pretty Arrogant Lately

Deep within a prosperous coastal trading port in the North Blue.

At the Donquixote Family estate, the floor-to-ceiling windows stood half open, the salty sea breeze stirring the edges of the curtains.

Doflamingo sat in the main seat with his legs crossed, swirling half a glass of red wine between his fingertips. His deep laughter echoed through the hall.

"Fuffuffuffu... Vergo just sent word. Ron's warship has slowed down. It won't reach shore until tomorrow at the earliest."

Trebol sidled over, sniffling. "Young master, we'd better be careful. We should move everything out of the armory tonight."

Diamante leaned against the wall, his cape trailing on the floor, and grinned unconcernedly. "He's just a fifteen-year-old Marine major. No matter how much the rumors hype him up, can he really take us all down by himself?"

"Don't underestimate him."

Trebol glared at him. "A monster trained by Sakazuki himself is no ordinary field officer."

"That's exactly what makes it interesting."

Doflamingo set down his wineglass, its base tapping softly against the stone table.

The Donquixote Family was not yet the behemoth that would one day dominate the Underworld, but it had already extended its reach into most of the North Blue's arms ports.

It conducted legitimate trade in the open, while secretly fencing stolen goods for pirates and shipping arms for underground merchants. Its influence was expanding rapidly.

Several charts of the North Blue lay spread across the table, with every location circled in red marking a shipping point they had taken over in the past three months.

Whether in kingdom mutinies or pirate ship raids, it was their guns that settled the bill in the end.

Doflamingo liked the feeling. It was as if the entire North Blue was falling into his palm, little by little.

"Move the sensitive ledgers and the core stock first."

"Leave the rest as usual."

"Since this major has come from so far away, we should leave him a little surprise."

"Fuffuffuffu!"

Several people in the hall chuckled along with him.

Only Rosinante, standing in the shadows, remained silent.

He was wrapped in a voluminous black feather coat, his face as cold as ever, but the hand hidden in his sleeve quietly clenched.

Ron had come.

The kid who had been thrown around by Instructor Zephyr until he was black and blue, yet stubbornly insisted he was fine, could now handle things on his own and had tracked them down here.

Rosinante was happy for him.

But the problem was that he was Corazon now, Doflamingo's younger brother, an undercover agent embedded in the family.

If the two showed the slightest familiarity with each other here, the trust he had worked so hard to earn would be gone.

Better not run into him.

Whatever happens, don't—

Click.

A faint, crisp sound suddenly rang out in the center of the room.

Doflamingo's laughter stopped abruptly.

The air seemed to split down the middle beneath an invisible blade, and a door outlined in light slowly opened to either side.

A black military boot stepped out first, landing on the polished stone floor.

Right behind it came a black-haired youth wearing a white Justice Coat.

He casually brushed off his cuff, as if he were dropping by for a visit.

Rosinante's pupils contracted sharply.

This brat! How did he come straight here?!

Ron's gaze swept over Trebol, Diamante, and Pica. It passed over Rosinante without pausing for an instant, as calmly as if he were looking at a stranger.

Finally, his gaze settled on the blond man in the main seat, and the corner of his mouth lifted.

"Yo, you're that Little Turkey, right?"

"You've been pretty arrogant lately, huh?"

The moment he finished speaking, the hall fell so silent a pin could be heard dropping.

The smile on Doflamingo's face froze for half a second.

Vergo had just said the warship was still far out at sea. How had this kid barged straight into the estate?!

"Fuffuffuffu..."

Doflamingo quickly grinned again and tapped his fingers on the armrest. "Major Ron, the North Blue is a big place. I didn't expect you to find us so quickly."

"Find you?"

Ron glanced around, as if inspecting the decor.

"It's not like I had to walk."

Doflamingo pushed up the sunglasses on his nose. "This isn't a pirate den. The Donquixote Family runs a legitimate underground business."

"So?"

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Should I issue you a certificate of good citizenship?"

Diamante's face darkened on the spot, and Trebol's smile vanished too.

Behind them, Rosinante lowered his head, almost unable to keep his expression in check.

"There must be a reason for your esteemed visit, Major Ron?" Doflamingo asked in a low voice.

"There is."

Ron counted on his fingers, his manner casual. "Arms smuggling, inciting armed clashes, fencing stolen goods for pirates..."

He paused when he reached his third finger.

"Oh, right. And setting up an unauthorized port."

He casually slapped a branch report onto the table. "What's already been verified is enough for me to come have a cup of tea with you."

Trebol glanced at it, and his expression changed slightly.

"So you're planning to arrest us?"

"Let's see first."

Ron pulled over a chair and sat down without ceremony. "Let's see whether you're worth arresting right now."

The amusement in Doflamingo's eyes faded.

He hated that look most of all, as if Ron were picking fish at a market, weighing up which one was worth taking home.

A look that showed he didn't take Doflamingo seriously at all!

"Bastard!"

Diamante finally lost his patience. He drew his sword and charged.

"How dare you act so arrogantly when the young master is speaking to you?!"

His longsword slashed straight down, trailing a fierce gust of wind!

Ron raised a hand.

Click.

A small door opened at his side.

He reached in and seized Zhenyuan.

Clang!

The heavy sword, still in its sheath, barred the strike in front of him, catching the blade with precision.

The next instant, Ron pressed his wrist slightly downward.

Boom!

Diamante, nearly five meters tall, sank feet first into the stone floor. His knees buckled, and he nearly dropped to them on the spot.

"You're a swordsman?"

Ron gave him a couple of appraising looks, sounding a little surprised. "With all those flashy clothes, I almost couldn't tell."

"You—!"

Bang!

Zhenyuan swept sideways, sword and sheath together.

Diamante flew sideways, smashed through half a row of tables and chairs, and slammed into the wall, embedding himself in it.

He struggled twice but couldn't get back up.

"Diamante!"

Trebol let out a low roar, his arm swelling enormously as viscous, gelatinous matter shot toward the joints in Ron's arms and legs like venomous snakes.

"Mucus Restraint!"

Click.

Another door opened in front of Ron.

The mucus, filling the air, plunged straight through the door and vanished completely.

Before Trebol could react, the air behind him split open as well.

Splat!

The mucus sprayed back unchanged, wrapping him tightly from head to toe and making him look just like a dark green zongzi.

"Behehe... what?!"

"Keep your own stuff to yourself. It's disgusting."

A muffled rumble came from the corner.

Pica had already merged into the stone wall. The rock walls of the entire hall suddenly bulged, and a giant stone fist came crashing down toward Ron's head with a rush of wind!

Only then did Ron slowly stand and draw Zhenyuan.

Clang—

He gave the blade a light swing.

An exceedingly thin black line appeared out of nowhere between the stone fist and the wall.

Click.

The enormous stone arm broke cleanly off, its cut surface as smooth as a mirror.

Immediately afterward, a second black line slashed into the stone wall where Pica was hiding.

Pica's expression changed, and he hurriedly retreated from the stone.

Rumble!

The entire wall came crashing down.

He stared at the smooth cut, realizing for the first time that even his Stone-Stone Fruit wasn't safe.

Three officers had been beaten until they couldn't fight back, all in the blink of an eye.

Doflamingo quietly raised his fingers.

Several transparent threads, nearly invisible to the naked eye, had already descended from the ceiling.

He finally understood that the young major before him really was qualified to say what he had just said.

Just then, a dark figure suddenly rushed out from behind!

Rosinante!

Without a word, he raised his leg and kicked at the center of Ron's back, the strike cutting sharply through the air.

Without even turning his head, Ron sheathed his sword and swept it behind him with a backhand.

Bang!

Rosinante went flying, crashing through half a partition wall. Broken stones clattered across the floor.

But Rosinante, lying in the rubble, froze for a moment.

Something's wrong.

That strike looked frightening, so why doesn't it hurt at all?

"Rosinante!"

Doflamingo's furious shout rang out.

Rosinante hurriedly closed his eyes and continued playing dead.

"Even with all four of you coming at me, you're still not much to look at."

"Fuff... fuffuffu..."

Doflamingo slowly rose to his feet, his laughter low and filled with a bone-chilling coldness.

The next instant.

Boom!

An invisible, overbearing aura exploded outward with him at its center!

Windows shattered one after another, tables and chairs shook violently, and family members rushing to support them outside the estate collapsed to the ground one by one, their eyes rolling back.

Conqueror's Haki!

Trebol struggled to raise his head, his eyes full of fervor.

"Young master!"

But Ron stood where he was without moving a single step.

His white coat snapped in the gale stirred up by the aura. He looked down at the underlings who had fainted on the floor and actually smiled.

"Good."

Doflamingo frowned. "What?"

"Now they won't get in the way."

As soon as the words left his mouth.

Another aura suddenly rose from Ron, black-and-red lightning bursting from his body!

Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki seemed to hit an invisible iron wall and was forcibly driven back!

Crack!

A fissure suddenly split the stone floor between them.

The fervor on Trebol's face froze instantly.

Diamante used the wall to pull himself to his feet, even breathing becoming difficult.

Doflamingo's pupils contracted sharply, and he took an involuntary half-step back.

Conqueror's Haki?

This brat had it too?!

Ron looked at him and nodded lightly.

"Your Conqueror's Haki isn't bad."

After a second's pause, he added the rest.

"It's just that you're a little weak."

Crack!

The wineglass in Doflamingo's hand shattered in his grip, and wine mixed with shards of glass dripped between his fingers.

The smile finally vanished from his face entirely.

"Ron—!!!"