After the execution ended,
it took Austin about an hour to successfully return to the Sabaody Archipelago.
Unlike when he had left, Austin returned alone.
He walked upstairs into the central hall of the Red-Light District and opened the door. Apart from Sammy, Little Six, and Little Seven,
Rouge and Rayleigh were there as well.
"Lord Austin, you're back!!!"
Little Six and Little Seven were the first to skip over. Austin smiled and patted their heads, greeted everyone, then plopped down on the sofa and crossed his legs.
"Austin, I watched the broadcast of the execution. Roger's body..."
Rayleigh held a bottle of liquor. He had been curious about how Austin had so easily obtained the body from the World Government, and what he had ultimately done with it.
Austin thought about it. There was nothing he couldn't say, and it wasn't some great secret.
After all, everyone present was one of his own.
"Well... I just made a deal with the Five Elders. As for Captain Roger's body..."
"It's already been cremated. His ashes were scattered into the sea."
"I see..."
Hearing that, Rayleigh nodded, a trace of reminiscence appearing in his eyes. "That truly is a fitting end for Roger."
As for the deal Austin had mentioned with the Five Elders, he had no interest in asking about it.
Sammy and the others were the same. Though they could not help being curious about matters between such top figures of the world,
if Austin did not mention it, they would not ask.
They knew when to advance and when to retreat.
That night,
inside a prison cell once used to imprison defiant female slaves,
tap... tap... tap...
a crisp, rhythmic set of footsteps echoed through the hollow corridor.
The sound instantly put Doflamingo, who had been reading the newspaper, on alert. He hurriedly sat up from his bed.
Those footsteps were completely different from the people who normally brought food.
He knew them too well!
Over these past days, the growing pressure that accompanied those footsteps had been engraved into his nightmares countless times, repeatedly jolting him awake in gasping terror!
Cold sweat dripped down from his forehead.
His teeth clenched tight.
But... he did not even dare let his veins bulge.
"Oh... unexpected. Those girls actually haven't given you any private punishment these past few days?"
A teasing voice spoke.
At some point, Austin had already sat beside his bed, looking with interest at the newspaper Doflamingo had just been reading.
"Reading the newspaper is a good habit."
Austin opened the paper and found that it was the most recent edition.
Captain Roger Executed, Great Pirate Era Begins.
At the end was a cold, striking photograph of Austin carrying Roger's body on his back, looking down from the high platform.
Which photographic genius had taken that damn picture?
Why did they always make him look so handsome?
It was not as if he made a living with his face.
Seeing Austin casually cross his legs and flip through the paper as if he did not take him seriously at all,
gulp...
a nervous swallowing sound rang out.
Though Austin appeared quite easygoing,
the moment Doflamingo saw that fiend again, his entire body stiffened. The suffocating feeling seemed to linger, throwing his breathing into disorder.
The more newspapers he read these days, the more terrified he became, and the more clearly he understood just what kind of terrifying existence he had offended.
He had casually infiltrated Marine Headquarters,
been hailed as The 'King' of the Next Generation,
acted without restraint under the noses of the Marines and the World Government, yet neither dared make a move against him—a monster with an extremely high threat level,
the one most likely to rule these seas!
[Black Spear]
Dotol Austin!!!
That was right.
Only a monster who nearly stood above the world could possess Conqueror's Haki that was practically overwhelming.
Just one clash had completely robbed him of any will to resist, leaving nothing in his heart but the instinctive fear of a living creature!
In Doflamingo's eyes, Austin had already become one of the World's Strongest.
Because only by losing to someone like that could he find an excuse to soothe his wounded pride.
Losing was not a reason to collapse.
Losing to the weak was.
"Relax~ I'm not here to kill you."
Austin flipped through the latest paper. Though he did not look at Doflamingo, a casual sweep with Observation Haki was enough for him to sense just how deeply tense the man was.
He had only crushed him once.
Did he really need such a huge psychological shadow? And he had Conqueror's Haki too.
Shanks had been crushed into sleep by him so many times back then, yet his spirit had not shattered like this.
No wonder Shanks could become one of the Four Emperors someday. Even taking a beating required skill.
Only after hearing Austin's words did Doflamingo calm down slightly.
That was right. If Austin wanted to kill him, it would be effortless for a monster like him. There was no need to waste so many words on him.
Unless Austin was some pervert who wanted to use him for entertainment.
He frowned deeply, his gaze solemn as he stared at that casual figure.
"Is that so... Would someone like you really have any use for an insignificant nobody like me?"
"You're no insignificant nobody, Donquixote Doflamingo."
Austin smiled and closed the newspaper.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared before Doflamingo with his hands behind his back, smiling faintly.
"Losing to me doesn't mean you're weak. On the contrary, I think highly of your potential, and I'm willing to invest in your ambition."
His eyes stared straight at Doflamingo's tense expression.
"A Celestial Dragon abandoned by the Holy Land, one who has seen the hell of the human world, yet has now awakened Conqueror's Haki.
Once you fully grow, plenty of interesting things are bound to happen, aren't they~
Let me lend you a hand. You'd better thank me properly afterward."
The corners of Austin's mouth kept rising, his gaze like a cat watching a mouse.
What did this monster want...
Even Doflamingo, who had always been arrogant and unruly, could not help feeling uneasy.
Austin slowly pulled a Den Den Mushi from his clothes.
"Bero bero bero..."
"Click."
A dignified expression appeared on the Den Den Mushi, cold eyes staring forward.
"What is it this time, Austin?"
"If you have something to say, make it brief. We only made time specifically because it's you."
The instant he heard the Den Den Mushi's voice, Doflamingo's pupils shook violently. He stared at Austin, whose face still wore an incredulous smile.
How could this be!?!?
He could never forget those voices for the rest of his life.
They were the voices of the Five Elders—the highest authority in the world—who had formally pronounced the "death sentence" on his identity as a Celestial Dragon!!!
And now,
they were chatting casually with a pirate?
His worldview shattered and reassembled itself again and again.
Before figures who practically controlled the entire world, Austin spoke with utter casualness:
"It's about what we discussed. As the condition for exchanging Captain Roger's body, and as a symbol of peaceful coexistence between us—
I've already found one of the candidates for the [Shichibukai] for you."
(Quick correction: my own memory betrayed me. Turns out the Warp Fruit can teleport other people too. That's what I get for being uncultured.) (T^T)
Before you continue