White Town was now in its final days of glory. The streets teemed with people, and most wore happy smiles. Clearly, they lived quite prosperous lives.
Yet under Doflamingo's Observation Haki, a very small number of people seemed distracted, as though burdened by some hidden worry despite the smiles on their faces.
A look of understanding appeared on Doflamingo's face. "It seems Platinum Lead Disease has already begun appearing on a small scale. There just aren't many cases yet—probably not even a hundred—so it's being covered up."
When you spotted one cockroach, there was already a whole colony in your house. Doflamingo had seen one Platinum Lead patient in the newspaper, but that did not mean only one person here had fallen ill.
Platinum Lead Disease erupted almost simultaneously. Even if there was some variation in timing, patients would appear in batches. It was impossible for only one person to fall ill so far in advance.
The news of the earlier patients had most likely all been suppressed.
"Hm? Is that Trafalgar Law?" Doflamingo's Observation Haki swept over the area and happened to spot a child wearing a black-and-white spotted hat.
After two-dimensional characters were turned into three-dimensional ones, they were often hard to recognize. Still, Law's black-and-white spotted hat was one of his defining features.
After noticing the spotted hat and taking a closer look at Law's face—especially those fierce eyes—Doflamingo immediately confirmed his identity.
"This kid seems deeply worried. Makes sense. If I remember correctly, his father is a famous doctor around here. Maybe he's already discovered the cause of Platinum Lead Disease."
It was precisely because he had discovered the cause of Platinum Lead Disease that he would despair. Heavy metal poisoning was truly incurable unless one possessed the miracle known as Devil Fruit power.
Perhaps there