The True Face of the King of Manipulation

The countdown on the sky screen ticked away as voices from across the world joined into a torrent.

"The answer is A. It's definitely A. King Riku was a tyrant."

An old man in Dressrosa thumped his chest as he spoke.

"I saw King Riku's soldiers storm into the residential district and kill people with my own eyes. There were fires and bodies everywhere that night."

"That's right. Lord Doflamingo is our savior."

Such voices echoed through every street in Dressrosa. The people of the island had built a truth they believed without question from ten years of memories.

But elsewhere in the world, opinions were quite different.

Water 7, Mayor Iceburg's office.

Iceburg adjusted his glasses and looked at option C on the sky screen, tapping the desk twice with his index finger.

"The String-String Fruit, an ability that can control people's bodies."

He recalled the information he had about the fruit.

"If a Devil Fruit User who could control people's bodies wanted to overthrow a country's government, what would be the smartest way to do it?"

Kalifa, standing beside him, was about to answer when Iceburg gave his own conclusion.

"Make the king destroy his own country with his own hands, then appear as a savior. That way, he'd have a reputation ready-made."

"Mayor, are you choosing C?"

"I'm not choosing. I just think that if I were Doflamingo, that's what I'd do."

Alabasta, the royal palace.

Princess Vivi stood on the balcony, her hands gripping the railing tightly.

"Father, the method described in option C sounds a lot like what Crocodile did in Alabasta back then."

King Cobra sat in his wheelchair, his expression grave.

"Create chaos, manipulate public opinion, then take over everything as a hero. It's a usurper's most classic tactic."

"Then do the people of Dressrosa know?"

"They don't, just as the people of Alabasta didn't know about Crocodile's plot back then, until that boy in the straw hat exposed everything."

Vivi clenched her fists. She knew all too well what it felt like to be deceived.

The countdown on the sky screen reached zero.

[Countdown ended]

[Correct answer: C]

[On that night ten years ago, Donquixote Doflamingo used the String-String Fruit's Parasite String ability to forcibly control the bodies of King Riku and his army, making them slaughter their own people]

Golden words hung in the sky, every one of them cruelly clear.

All sound stopped in the streets of Dressrosa.

The old man who had said he had witnessed King Riku's atrocities stood with his mouth open, unable to say a word.

"Controlled? What does that mean? Didn't King Riku go mad on his own?"

"The String-String Fruit can control people's bodies? Then King Riku was forced to kill?"

"No way. How could that be..."

Before the voices of doubt could grow, the sky screen began playing the explanation of the answer.

The footage opened on Dressrosa ten years ago. Beneath the moonlight, King Riku knelt in the great hall of the Royal Palace, with Donquixote Doflamingo standing before him.

"Riku, hand over all the wealth of this country. Ten billion Beli, not a single coin less."

Doflamingo looked down at him, his voice full of pleasure at toying with his prey.

King Riku lowered his head. He was an elderly but deeply compassionate king, and his voice trembled as he spoke.

"I can give you the money, but you must promise me you won't hurt my people."

"Fuffuffuffuffu, that depends on your sincerity."

The footage sped up. King Riku emptied the treasury and borrowed from neighboring countries, gathering ten billion Beli.

But the moment he handed it over, a savage smile spread across Doflamingo's face.

Countless transparent threads shot from his fingertips, piercing the night and connecting to the bodies of King Riku and all his loyal guards.

King Riku's arm rose beyond his control, and his hand grasped his sword.

"No... don't..."

A desperate howl escaped his mouth, but his body refused to obey him.

His sword struck the first civilian who came running out to see what was happening.

The footage did not shy away from the bloody details.

King Riku's tears never stopped, but neither did his hand.

He was forced to cut down the people he had protected all his life.

In the streets of Dressrosa, people began to cry.

"King Riku... King Riku is crying."

"He doesn't want to kill them. He's saying no. Look, he's saying no."

"Oh, God, we've misunderstood King Riku for ten years. Ten whole years."

Ten years of lies were shattered in that moment.

In the Royal Palace, Doflamingo watched the sky screen expressionlessly. His officers were more nervous than the last, but no change of emotion showed on his face.

"What's coming will always come."

That was all he said.

The footage on the sky screen continued, growing more and more horrifying.

After controlling King Riku, Doflamingo appeared as a savior and used force to suppress the chaos he had created himself.

Then he did three things.

First, he thoroughly smeared King Riku's reputation, making everyone believe he was a tyrant who had gone mad.

Second, he established an underground Dark-Dark Fruit factory, using people Sugar had turned into toys as a tireless workforce.

Third, he established a supply chain for SMILE Artificial Devil Fruits with Kaido, one of the Four Emperors.

When the second deed appeared on the sky screen, the whole world fell silent.

Because the sky screen showed Sugar's ability.

The Hobby-Hobby Fruit could turn humans into toys and erase everyone's memories of the person.

In the footage, a young father was touched by Sugar and instantly turned into a Little Bear toy. His wife and daughter stood right beside him, but their eyes immediately went blank.

"Mom, what are we doing here?"

"I don't know. Let's go."

The mother and daughter turned and left. The Little Bear toy reached out to grab their clothes, only for a passerby to kick him aside.

The sight sent a bone-deep chill through every person with a conscience in the world.

"Turned into toys? Even people's memories get erased?"

"Then how many toys are on the island now? Were all those toys originally people?"

On the Sabaody Archipelago, Luffy watched the Little Bear toy reach out and get kicked aside on the sky screen. He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.

He said nothing, but the pressure radiating from him made the air around him grow thick.

Zoro turned his head to glance at him. He said nothing either, merely placing a hand on the hilt of his sword.

Some things needed no words. A look was enough.

The system's voice rang out again from the sky screen.

[Supplementary footage concluded]

[Now revealing the complete list of Donquixote Doflamingo's crimes]

Doflamingo finally stood up.

His sunglasses slid down the bridge of his nose, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes.