Under the Birdcage
The verdict slowly unfolded across the sky screen, every line carrying irresistible authority.
[Subject of punishment: Donquixote Doflamingo]
[Reason for punishment: relying on his Celestial Dragon bloodline to usurp a nation, enslave innocent people, and manufacture Artificial Devil Fruits, disrupting the world order]
[Punishment one: forcibly reveal the true identities and number of everyone underground in Dressrosa who had been turned into a toy]
[Punishment two: apply the mark "String Curse," preventing him from using his String-String Fruit powers for the next seventy-two hours]
[Punishment three: publicize the coordinates of the SMILE factory and the complete transaction records with Kaido of the Four Emperors to the entire world]
Each of the three punishments was harsher than the last.
The first tore a hole in the effects of Sugar's power. Although it did not undo the toy transformation, everyone would learn the names and number of those who had been turned into toys.
The second deprived Doflamingo of his String-String Fruit powers for three days, effectively stripping him of his strongest weapon.
The third exposed his relationship with Kaido to the light of day.
In the royal palace of Dressrosa, Doflamingo stood rooted to the spot, his body trembling slightly, but not from fear.
It was anger.
"Fuffuffuffuffuffuffuffuffuffu."
His laughter rose from a low rumble to a shrill pitch, then turned mad.
"Interesting. This is really too interesting."
He raised his hand and tried to release Parasite String.
Nothing happened.
His fingers moved, but no strings shot out.
The familiar feeling of controlling them as easily as his own limbs had vanished, as though his power had never existed.
"Young master."
Trebol's voice changed pitch.
"Let's put the Birdcage Plan into action while the officers can still fight."
"Birdcage? How am I supposed to activate it? My strings don't obey me anymore."
Doflamingo's voice turned cold. With his smile completely gone, he looked even more terrifying.
"Three days. It gave me a three-day window of vulnerability."
He turned and looked at every officer present.
"How many people will come to seize Dressrosa in those three days?"
No one answered, because everyone knew the answer.
The coordinates of the SMILE factory had been made public, and Kaido's transaction records had been exposed.
Kaido would fly into a rage because his supply chain had been cut off.
The Marines would mobilize because they finally had a reason to move against Doflamingo.
The Revolutionary Army would be excited because this was the best chance to dismantle the Seven Warlords of the Sea system.
And the pirates who wanted a share of the spoils would come swarming in.
Within three days, Dressrosa would become the most dangerous place in the world.
"Vergo, did you hear that?"
Doflamingo spoke into the Den Den Mushi.
Silence.
"Vergo?"
A burst of noise came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, followed by Vergo's lowered voice.
"Young master, there's a problem here."
"What problem?"
"The soldiers at G-5 Base saw what was on the sky screen. They know I'm one of yours. I'm surrounded right now."
The corner of Doflamingo's eye twitched.
He hadn't expected the chain reaction to happen so quickly.
The information on the sky screen about using his Celestial Dragon identity to threaten the World Government had indirectly exposed the fact that Vergo was undercover in the Marines as well.
Anyone with a little sense could deduce that a Shichibukai's subordinate was undercover in an important position at the Marines' G-5 Base.
"Retreat. Retreat immediately and come meet me in Dressrosa."
"Understood."
The Den Den Mushi disconnected, and Doflamingo crushed it in his hand.
"All our plans, completely destroyed by one damned livestream in half a day."
His voice was calm, unnaturally calm.
"Young master, what do we do?"
Diamante's hands were shaking.
"What do we do?"
Doflamingo walked to the window and looked out at the streets of Dressrosa, where signs of chaos had already begun to appear. Some people were crying, some were shouting, and others were smashing up shops bearing the Donquixote Family's emblem.
"This is the true face of those humans. Give them a little truth, and they'll use the mouths that once sang your praises to curse you."
He stood with his back to everyone.
"Pica, open the passage to the underground port and let all the dwarves out."
"Young master?"
"It's no use. We can't keep it hidden anymore. Rather than let that livestream keep exposing all my secrets, I might as well do it myself."
He turned around, his trademark smile back on his face, but this time it held the madness of someone who had decided to throw everything away.
"Notify Kaido. Tell him the SMILE dealings have been exposed and let him decide what to do."
"Notify Kaido? Young master, Kaido will kill us."
"Fuffuffuffuffuffu, he can't kill us now, because he has bigger problems to deal with."
Doflamingo's judgment was correct.
On Onigashima, Kaido was watching the sky screen.
He had crushed his sake gourd three minutes earlier, and the liquid ran between his fingers and dripped onto the floor.
The whole world knew the SMILE factory's coordinates.
The whole world knew the records of his dealings with Doflamingo.
That meant the Beasts Pirates' force of Artificial Devil Fruit users, which he had spent years building in secret, had become a target for the entire world as of today.
"King."
Kaido's voice was as muffled as if it had come from beneath the earth.
"Young master."
"Tell me, can this livestream be smashed?"
"According to the information we have so far, no."
Kaido was silent for a long time.
Then he did something no one expected.
He laughed.
"Wuhahahahahahaha, good, good! Things are getting more and more interesting. If we can't cover it up, then we won't. We were going to war sooner or later anyway."
He stood up, his enormous figure blocking the light from the entire room.
"Pass the order. Assemble the entire Beasts Pirates. We're carrying out the original plan ahead of schedule."
"What plan?"
"Raise the lockdown on Wano Country to the highest level. Don't let a single fly in."
His eyes glowed gold in the darkness.
"Then get ready. Within a month at most, the world will be thrown into chaos. That will be our best chance to make a move."
Doflamingo's downfall was only the beginning.
What this string of revelations had truly set in motion was the balance of power throughout the New World.
In a tavern in the East Blue, Lin Qi nearly spat out the peanuts in his mouth.
"Kaido reacted too? Wait, this game's butterfly effect is way too well done."
He wiped his mouth and looked at the new notification that had popped up on the system interface.
[Major plot deviation detected: Kaido has initiated the Wano Country lockdown plan ahead of schedule; the Beasts Pirates have entered a state of war readiness]
[The question setter may choose: continue the countdown of the Ten Great War Criminals, or start a new themed Q&A]
"I'm definitely continuing the countdown. We've only reached eighth place among the Ten Great War Criminals. The biggest ones are still to come."
Lin Qi rubbed his hands together.
"Seventh place, huh?"
He tilted his head and thought for a moment.
"There was another key figure in the Paramount War, always hiding behind the scenes and controlling the bigger picture. On the surface, he was acting for justice, but in reality, he was the director of the entire war."
He typed in a name and pressed enter.
The text on the sky screen flickered as it refreshed.
[Ten Great War Criminals, seventh place]
The entire world held its breath for the umpteenth time.
The golden letters came together stroke by stroke to form a name no Marine wanted to see.
[Fleet Admiral, Sengoku]