Who Gave You the Guts?

A short while earlier, in the North Blue, on Minion Island.

Snow fell thickly onto Doflamingo's pink feather coat, quickly melting into little damp spots.

He stared at his younger brother standing in the snow. His eyes behind his glasses betrayed no emotion.

In truth, he had sensed something was wrong with Rosinante more than a year ago.

Ever since his brother had returned to the family, he had become strange.

He went all day without saying a word and could trip and fall for no apparent reason while walking.

Doflamingo had always assumed that the trauma he suffered back then had left him unable to speak.

But ever since that brat named Law joined the family, things had become even stranger.

First, Rosinante had tried everything to drive Law away. Then, as if that weren't enough, he had simply vanished with him, searching all over the North Blue for a doctor.

At the same time, word of several of the family's underground dealings had leaked out, one after another.

Doflamingo had suspected Rosinante wanted to strike out on his own. He had suspected him of setting his sights on the family's money.

The one thing he had never suspected was that he was working for the Marines.

After all, he was his own younger brother.

So he had deliberately let word of the Op-Op Fruit get out, then sent four officers ahead to keep watch.

He hadn't expected Rosinante to actually dare to steal it.

"Fuffuffuffu... so you really did want to leave behind my back."

Doflamingo stopped a few paces away, his voice soft and cold.

Rosinante had been shot in the shoulder, and the blood from his leg had long since soaked the snow beneath him black, yet he still stood straight.

He didn't dare look back.

The wooden crate holding Law was in the corner of the warehouse. Every extra second he bought was another second the child had a chance to survive.

But even now, he couldn't bring himself to believe that the man clutching those strings before him was the brother who had shielded him from falling rocks when they were children.

"Rosinante."

Doflamingo suddenly chuckled. "When did you learn to speak?"

Rosinante didn't answer.

"Forget it."

Doflamingo waved a hand, a mocking smile on his face. "You even dared to steal a fruit worth five billion. Pretending to be mute for a lifetime wouldn't be so strange."

He leaned half a step closer and lowered his voice. "I just want to know, what's so special about that brat Law?"

"You're even willing to throw your life away for him?"

Rosinante wiped the bloody froth from the corner of his mouth, his voice terribly hoarse. "Because he's still a child."

"So?"

"So he should live."

The smile gradually faded from Doflamingo's face.

"For some damned brat you've barely known, you're even turning your back on your own brother?"

"I'm not the one turning my back on you, Doffy."

Rosinante raised his head, snow settling on his eyelashes. "It's the things you've done. I can't keep following you and watching them anymore."

Doflamingo said nothing.

He stared at Rosinante, his hand slowly tightening around the strings.

"Have you forgotten how we survived?!"

His voice rose sharply. "Those people hung us up and set us on fire! Father died, and Mother is gone too! I struggled to get where I am today, and now you're telling me this?!"

"I haven't forgotten."

Rosinante closed his eyes briefly, his voice very soft.

"But the suffering we've endured doesn't mean we can just inflict it on others."

Doflamingo fell silent.

He understood.

And precisely because he understood, he found it even more ridiculous, even more infuriating!

After a long while, he held out a hand, the last trace of patience restrained in his voice.

"Hand Law over. I can pretend today never happened."

"Impossible."

"I'll say this one last time."

"He's already eaten the Op-Op Fruit."

Doflamingo froze.

"...What did you say?"

"Law ate it."

Rosinante looked at him and spoke each word clearly. "You'll never get that fruit now."

Boom—!

Invisible Conqueror's Haki erupted, sweeping out in all directions.

Several pirates who had arrived in the distance rolled their eyes and collapsed into the snow on the spot.

Trebol and the others didn't dare so much as breathe.

That was the Op-Op Fruit he had had his eye on for years!

He had even decided who would eat the fruit.

And then Rosinante had gone and fed it straight to that brat!

Veins bulged at Doflamingo's temples.

The fruit was already gone. Now, the only way to make up for his loss was to capture Law!

The one who had ruined everything wasn't a Marine or a powerful enemy, but the only younger brother for whom he was still willing to show some consideration.

He rushed forward in a few strides and slammed a fist into his brother's face!

Bang!

Rosinante crashed into the snow.

Blood spread through the snow, a glaring red.

"Anything else you want to say?"

Rosinante coughed up blood as he lay in the snow, but he still managed a weary smile.

"You took the wrong path, Doffy."

Doflamingo's hand jerked.

"Where's that brat?"

"He escaped."

"You're lying."

"Think what you want."

Doflamingo could no longer contain his anger. He kicked Rosinante over, drove a knee into his back, and held his head down.

The strings at the fingertips of his right hand were stretched taut, trembling slightly.

"I'm asking you one last time!"

Rosinante's face was buried in the snow, blood running from the corner of his mouth. His voice came in broken bursts, but he still held firm. "He... has already escaped..."

Inside the wooden crate in the corner of the warehouse, Law pounded desperately on its boards.

He opened his mouth wide and shouted until his throat hurt.

But the silence ability Rosinante had left on him was still active. No matter how he shouted, he couldn't make a sound.

He could only watch as Doflamingo raised his right hand.

Just as Doflamingo's hand was about to come down—

Inside the warehouse, the air beside the wooden crate suddenly split open into a door.

Ron had only taken half a step out when he saw the scene in the snow beyond the door.

Rosinante was covered in blood, pinned firmly to the ground by Doflamingo.

Ron's expression darkened abruptly.

He raised a hand and swept it through the air in front of him.

Crack!

A second Spatial Door opened right behind Doflamingo!

A hand shot out and clamped five fingers around the back of his head!

Ron followed immediately, stepping through the Spatial Door.

"Doflamingo."

"Didn't I warn you?"

"Ro... Ron?!"

Doflamingo tried to turn around, but the back of his head was held in an iron grip.

Ron ignored him.

He saw Rosinante lying in the snow, covered in blood, and his fingers tightened sharply.

"Brother."

"Who did this to you?"

Rosinante froze.

The little brat who had once been shorter than his waist and always chased after him asking for snacks had actually come.

The snow was freezing, and his wounds hurt terribly, but when he heard the word "brother," the shoulders he had held tense for months suddenly relaxed a little.

The next second, the corners of his mouth twitched into a slightly awkward smile.

"You got here... pretty fast."

"Brother?!"

Doflamingo's pupils contracted sharply.

"What did you call him?!"

Ron ignored him.

"Rosinante is my own brother!"

Doflamingo gritted his teeth.

"When did you two meet?!"

Ron still didn't answer.

Doflamingo suddenly recalled the family intelligence that had leaked out over the years, one piece after another.

"Wait..."

"Rosinante, have you been working for the Marines all along?!"

"No need to guess."

Rosinante raised his head.

"I'm a Marine."

Doflamingo froze.

Then he suddenly began to struggle!

"Rosinante—!!!"

Dozens of strings burst from his fingertips, shooting straight toward Rosinante!

It wasn't that he had never considered killing the traitor.

Until just now, he had still been thinking of giving his brother one last chance. After all, he was his only remaining family.

But now, the word "Marine" had utterly shattered the last trace of hope in his heart.

Ron tightened his fingers and slammed Doflamingo's head into the snow.

Boom!!

A deep crater exploded in the snow.

"Did I say you could speak?!"