Return Voyage

"Waaah!" Blood gushed wildly from the giant black bear's chest. It staggered back several steps before collapsing to the ground.

The black fur on its body slowly receded, eventually vanishing completely and revealing the figure of a tall pirate.

"Caught another one. Soldiers, put him in cuffs."

Standing on the pirate ship's deck, Doflamingo casually flourished his sword and shook off the blood. Sheathing Chidori, he spoke to the subordinates who had just climbed aboard from the warship.

"Lieutenant Colonel Steve, we're out of Sea Stone handcuffs!" Kaufmann, standing behind him, said with both excitement and worry.

"Really? We used up all the Sea Stone handcuffs?" Tilting his head, Doflamingo looked at the pirate before him, who carried a 92-million-Beli bounty, and sighed. "Then all I can say is, I'm sorry."

"Wait..." A look of terror suddenly appeared on the heavily wounded pirate captain's face. But before he could finish speaking, Chidori turned into a flash of circular light.

His massive head flew into the air as blood erupted like a fountain. The headless body twitched a few times before falling onto the deck. The flowing blood quickly soaked the entire deck.

"Preserve that head and pack it up. It's Military Merit." Doflamingo reached out and caught the falling head by its hair, then tossed it to Corporal Kaufmann beside him.

"O-okay!" Kaufmann clumsily caught the pirate's head, splattering himself with blood, and hurriedly nodded.

Without realizing it, four months had already passed. Doflamingo glanced at the people aboard his warship. Their excited expressions also carried a faint trace of exhaustion. Other than resting for two days at a few Navy bases and replenishing supplies, they had spent nearly all their time drifting at sea. These Marines were probably already at their limit.

The only reason they did not appear tired now was that the massive amount of merit had stimulated them so much that their bodies had yet to react.

But clearly, willpower was not omnipotent. Fatigue was fatigue, and once it reached a certain point, it could very well crush these Marines all at once.

It's time to go back. Doflamingo looked over the group and came to that conclusion.

After returning to the warship, Doflamingo, having just gotten some exercise, headed straight for the kitchen. A little tail immediately followed behind him.

"Huh? Where did he go?" After turning a corner, Kikyo, who had been peeking around furtively, lost sight of Doflamingo. She hurriedly jumped out and looked around in confusion.

"Looking for me?" A hand landed on Kikyo's shoulder, and she immediately stiffened.

"Hehehehehe," Kikyo laughed as she turned around. "Don't be so distant..."

"Did you eat the chocolate cake I made and left in the refrigerator?"

"Well, um..." Kikyo's eyes darted around wildly at those words.

"Heh, so it really was you." A sinister grin appeared on Doflamingo's face. He clenched both fists, protruded the knuckles of his middle fingers, and began drilling into Kikyo's temples.

"Aaaah! Lieutenant Colonel Steve, I won't do it again!"

Kikyo's mournful cries echoed through the room.

Over half an hour later, Kikyo, her eyes red, tore into the honey-glazed roast meat before her as though it were Doflamingo himself.

But after chewing two bites of the meat, a smile immediately appeared on her face. "Mmm, mmm, it's so delicious! I've never had roast meat this good before."

"If you make me another meal—no, three meals—no, ten huge feasts, then I'll forgive you!" Kikyo said to Doflamingo across from her while burying her head in her food.

Crunch, crunch. Doflamingo chewed up the crispy-boned roast meat, bones and all, then swallowed it. Giving Kikyo a sidelong glance, he said, "Once you're done daydreaming, hurry up and plot the route. We're heading back now."

"Damn it, you're exploiting child labor! And without even giving me a reward!" Kikyo muttered to herself, but Doflamingo could not be bothered with her. He had long seen through her habit of pushing for more whenever given an inch.

Once Doflamingo had eaten his fill, he went back to training. Having failed to bargain for a lavish meal, Kikyo could only sigh and go plan the route home.

During this time, Doflamingo had taken out quite a few pirates. The lucky ones had been spared by Doflamingo. Some had caught Doflamingo's eye because of their strength, and now even the dregs of their souls were on the beach within the Illusion Space.

But at Doflamingo's current level, the training experience contained in those souls could only be described as better than nothing.

Perhaps they had increased his training speed by around five percent?

"Roger will become One Piece next year, and the year after that, he'll turn himself in. If I can get Roger's soul, I'll truly strike it rich in one go."

Absorbing souls did not require Doflamingo to kill someone personally. As long as he spread out the Illusion Space, souls within a certain range would automatically be drawn inside.

With the training experience in Roger's soul, Doflamingo believed he could avoid many detours, saving at least a decade or more of trial and error.

"What a pity. There are still two years to go. I'll just have to wait patiently."

Seven days later.

Doflamingo's small warship approached Navy Headquarters. Before long, everyone disembarked and headed toward Navy Headquarters' Military Merit accounting department.

Along the way, numerous Marines looked at them with astonishment. Of course, what drew the most attention was the long string of pirate captives they were leading.

"Isn't that Clark of the Smoke Pirates?"

"That looks like Darth Maul of the Bloodhand Pirates."

"Look over there, isn't that White Wolf Buck?"

"They're almost all pirates with bounties over 80 million Beli. That's incredible. Did several Vice Admirals set out together?"

"No, that kid should be Steve from the Elite Training Camp, right? He captured so many pirates all by himself!"

"As expected of the famous Navy supernova!"

"He's far more reliable than that guy called Tokikake."

Doflamingo turned his head and glanced at the Marine who had spoken. Interesting. It seemed Tokikake had done something unexpected again.

Of course, Doflamingo did not dwell on it now. He simply brought the pirates over to exchange them for his Military Merit.

In fact, what the Marines outside saw was only about half of Doflamingo's haul. The other half had already become heads, carried in boxes by the Marines.

Altogether, this Military Merit was more than enough to exchange for a Headquarters Captain's rank. He might even be promoted to Navy Commodore.

In the Navy, as long as you were strong enough, rising through the ranks really was easy.