The King of Dressrosa

The notice on the sky screen still hung in the air, and the eyes of the whole world were fixed on that sentence.

One of the Shichibukai, whose very existence was a fraud.

Dressrosa, top floor of the royal palace.

Doflamingo sat cross-legged on his throne, his pink flamingo-feather coat spread across the floor. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the armrest, and though a smile still lingered on his lips, it had faded somewhat.

"Young master, should we make some preparations in advance?"

Trebol leaned closer with his head tilted, a long string of snot dangling from his nose, his voice thick and sticky.

"Fuffuffuffuffu, prepare for what?"

Doflamingo pushed up his sunglasses, his tone betraying no emotion.

"That livestream called it a fraud. Who knows what angle it'll take? Maybe it means I got my Shichibukai position by threatening the Celestial Dragons."

"Then all the more reason to prepare, young master. If that gets out..."

Diamante stood nearby, clutching the edge of his cape.

Doflamingo didn't answer. His fingers stopped tapping, and he sat in silence for several seconds.

"What do you think this livestream is after?"

No one could answer that question.

"It started with Garp, then went after that idiot Teach, and then that brat Koby."

Doflamingo rose and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the streets of Dressrosa. People stood in groups of three or five, gazing up at the sky screen with expressions of mingled excitement and fear.

"It's taking apart every participant in the Paramount War, step by step, starting from the outside and working its way to the core."

He turned around, his eyes sweeping over all the officers present from behind his sunglasses.

"I'm not at the core of the Paramount War, but I am at the core of the Shichibukai."

"It named me not because of the Paramount War, but because of the Shichibukai system itself."

Pica spoke up in a high-pitched voice that didn't match his physique.

"You mean it wants to abolish the Shichibukai, young master?"

"Fuffuffuffuffu."

Doflamingo sat back down on his throne, his laughter regaining its usual arrogance.

"Whatever it wants, the cards I, Donquixote Doflamingo, hold aren't so easily exposed by a livestream."

His voice dropped a little.

"Vergo."

"Here."

A cold, steady voice came from the Den Den Mushi.

"Anything unusual over there at the Marines' G-5 Base?"

"No, everything's normal. But Marine Headquarters has gone on highest alert. Fleet Admiral Sengoku issued a gag order, and all discussion of the livestream has been banned."

"Banned? Fuffuffuffuffu, can he really ban it?"

Doflamingo scoffed.

"The whole world is watching. Even if that old man Sengoku sewed every Marine's mouth shut, he couldn't block the eyes of billions."

"Young master, what do you need me to do?"

"Nothing. Stay undercover. If the Marines make any move against me, let me know immediately."

"Understood."

The Den Den Mushi call ended.

Doflamingo turned his gaze back to the sky screen. He was waiting.

Waiting for that so-called god to turn over his cards one by one.

He wanted to see which card it would take to make the world truly afraid.

The preview text on the sky screen faded, replaced by the formal interface for a new round of questions and answers.

Golden text appeared line by line.

[The ten greatest war criminals, eighth place]

[Donquixote Doflamingo]

[Current king of Dressrosa and member of the Shichibukai]

When those titles appeared, a clamor of discussion rose from the streets of Dressrosa, but most people were more confused than afraid.

In their eyes, Doflamingo was the hero who had saved their country, the savior who had overthrown a tyranny.

A war criminal?

How could that be?

The question followed immediately on the sky screen.

[Question: How did Donquixote Doflamingo really become king of Dressrosa?]

[A. He was chosen as king by the people through a legitimate election]

[B. He defeated the previous king, Riku I, and seized the throne by force]

[C. He used the String-String Fruit's power to control the former king, Riku I, and make him slaughter his own people, then seized power amid the chaos]

[D. He reached a secret agreement with the World Government and was directly appointed king]

The four choices appeared one after another on the sky screen.

Choice A had the people of Dressrosa nodding. That was the history they remembered: King Riku had gone mad and slaughtered his own people, and Doflamingo had stepped forward to save everyone.

Choice B was plausible too. After all, King Riku had become a criminal.

But the moment choice C appeared, all the noise on the street vanished.

Control.

The String-String Fruit.

Controlling the former king and making him slaughter his own people.

The scene described in that choice was so specific that it made people's hearts tremble.

In the palace, Doflamingo's fingers stopped on the armrest.

His smile vanished.

Vanished completely.

"Young master."

Sugar raised her head to look at him. The girl who never grew up spoke up of her own accord at an officers' meeting for the first time.

"If choice C is selected, will the people find out about the toys?"

Doflamingo didn't answer.

Trebol, Diamante, Pica—all the officers' expressions froze at the same moment.

If the livestream knew about the String-String Fruit being used to control King Riku, did it also know about the Dark-Dark Fruit factory?

Did it know that Sugar had turned countless people into toys?

Did it know about the enslaved dwarves in the underground port?

Doflamingo slowly removed his sunglasses, revealing the eyes he rarely showed anyone.

"Tell everyone to get ready."

There was no longer any trace of laughter in his voice.

"If this livestream really intends to expose everything, we'll prepare for the worst."

"What's the worst, young master?"

Diamante asked a question he probably shouldn't have.

"Destroy Dressrosa and retreat with all the SMILE factory's records and the records of our dealings with Kaido."

Everyone present fell silent.

On the streets of Dressrosa, the people were still discussing the four choices on the sky screen. Some swore the answer had to be A, while others stared doubtfully at every word of choice C.

But one group of people no longer needed to see the answer.

In the underground House of Toys, the people Sugar had turned into toys, the people stripped of all their memories and identities, were raising their mechanical eyes toward the ceiling.

They couldn't speak or shed tears, but if they could still feel anything, it had to be something called hope.

The countdown began on the sky screen.

East Blue, Foosha Village.

Lin Qi sat with his feet up, watching the reaction data of the various "NPCs" in the "game." He ate peanuts and rocked back and forth with laughter.

"Doflamingo's AI is way too realistic. Look, he's actually started drawing up a retreat plan. That's awesome."

He had no idea that a country's fate was hanging on the Enter key he had pressed.