The call had ended, but its echoes still lingered in the air.
Garen had said only a few words to Doflamingo over the phone, yet everyone understood the meaning behind that brief exchange:
This was a declaration of war, a crusade launched by the Knight of Justice against the ruler of the underworld.
There would be no peace until one side was dead, and no turning back.
The fish-men erupted in cheers, and even the air seemed to catch fire with their fervor.
"Are you insane?!"
The slave traders' leader completely lost his mind amid shock and despair, screaming hysterically at Garen:
"You're actually going to wage war against our entire Donquixote Family over something so trivial?!"
Upon hearing that, the residents of Fish-Man Island, the guards of Ryugu Palace, and even the Marine soldiers present—
What they felt was not indignation, but instinctive agreement.
Doflamingo had been in the human trafficking business for twenty or thirty years. He had long since become an industry leader, a giant in the trade. Anyone with eyes knew he was engaged in illegal criminal activity.
Yet neither the legitimate ruler, the World Government, nor the representative of justice, Marine Headquarters, nor even Whitebeard, who nominally protected Fish-Man Island—
Had ever declared war so ruthlessly on such a colossal force entrenched in the underworld for the sake of those weak victims.
After all, in this chaotic and twisted world—
Human trafficking had never been the crime. Being weak was.
At last, one man stepped forward:
"A trivial matter?"
Garen lifted the slave traders' leader as if he were a chick and demanded sharply:
"You think this is a trivial matter?"
Knowing he was doomed, the slave traders' leader simply went mad to the end:
"Isn't it?"
"In front of our Donquixote Family, what are