Gebinz Is a Celestial Dragon?!!

Click, click—

Behind the Execution Platform, heavy footsteps and the clatter of shackles gradually emerged from the blur.

A bare-chested young man dragged Sea-Prism Stone shackles binding his hands as several Marine executioners escorted him up from the dark, bottomless underground.

The glaring sunlight seemed to sting his eyes.

His eyes reflexively shut, then quickly opened again, as if he refused to show weakness in a place filled entirely with enemies.

Step by step, he reached the Execution Platform. Through the gaps in the supports beneath it, he caught sight of the Three Admirals seated directly below, then the densely packed Marine elites across the plaza. His heart sank.

Though he had been kept under strict guard, he had already heard rumors that Whitebeard might come risk everything to save him.

But right now, he absolutely did not want his old man to come!

Thud!

Ace dropped to his knees on the platform and lowered his head of his own accord.

All he wanted now was for the Marines to execute him as soon as possible.

As long as I die, Dad won't have to risk coming for me... Ah, I really don't want to die—

Ace closed his eyes. He accepted his fate.

In those final moments, Luffy and Sabo appeared in his mind.

His promise to Luffy, and Sabo, who had set sail to seek adventure only to be killed by the Celestial Dragons...

"That's the man who may become the fuse that ignites a world-scale war!"

"And now, he's also the culprit holding the world's fate in his hands!"

The Marines below began discussing him.

At that moment, Sengoku appeared on the Execution Platform with a Den Den Mushi in hand.

"Ah, it's about to begin." Zhu Mang leaned casually against the wall, idly drawing incomprehensible circles in the air with one finger as he watched the scene with interest.

"What's about to begin?" Doflamingo asked in confusion.

The execution would certainly not begin before the Whitebeard Pirates appeared.

The Marines had made such an enormous show of force, mobilizing troops from all over the world and evacuating every ordinary resident from the island. If it were truly just to execute Fire Fist Ace, that would be far too excessive.

The others nearby also cast all manner of looks toward him.

The Empress's attention was drawn to Zhu Mang's hand.

For some reason, as she watched his finger draw circles through the air, her chest, waist, thighs, and various other parts of her body began to grow faintly hot, sending strange sensations through her.

She truly had developed immense curiosity toward this man!

He ignored her Devil Fruit power!

He ignored both Armament Haki and Observation Haki!

Even the Fleet Admiral and the Three Admirals seemed incomparably wary of him!

She did not believe those four had refrained from attacking her because of her identity as the Pirate Empress or a Shichibukai.

More importantly, there were his words.

"How about I use the heads of one hundred Celestial Dragons as a betrothal gift?"

The heads of one hundred Celestial Dragons!

Heavens!

What kind of person could say something like that so casually?

A madman?

Or... an absolute powerhouse!

Could a madman make the Marines' four greatest combat powers wary of him?

It had to be said that although their contact had been brief, the curiosity, embarrassment, and faint anticipation Zhu Mang stirred within her had already subtly surpassed what she felt for Luffy!

She simply had not realized it yet.

"Stinking man, he's taken so much advantage of me, yet now he acts as though nothing happened. I really want to..." As she thought about it, several places on her body began warming again, and even her cheeks turned rosy.

"Damn it, I want to see what brilliant insight he has!"

The Empress's bright eyes were fixed entirely on Zhu Mang as she gritted her pearly teeth and thought indignantly.

Hawkeye now had an even deeper understanding of the hidden power Zhu Mang possessed.

He had subdued the Empress and left the Fleet Admiral and Three Admirals helpless.

It seemed he also knew certain even more secret matters.

The late-arriving Tyrant Kuma had by now basically been transformed into a robot—Pacifista Unit 01 PX-0.

Zhu Mang was actually quite interested in him.

Of course, not in Tyrant Kuma's tragic past.

That had nothing to do with him.

What interested him was someone deeply connected to Tyrant Kuma.

The Brain-Brain Fruit user said to possess wisdom five hundred years ahead of humanity: Vegapunk!

That guy possessed the ability to transfer Devil Fruit powers onto objects, one of the things Zhu Mang wanted most in the One Piece World.

He could use the One Piece World's miraculous Devil Fruit abilities without gaining the weaknesses that came with Devil Fruits!

Of course, that was an arrangement for the future.

For now, there was only one priority: enjoying the show.

Zhu Mang said casually, "Mm, probably an ethical question about whether the biological father or adoptive father is my real father."

"The biological father or the adoptive father is the real father?" Doflamingo and the others were utterly baffled.

Just then, Sengoku shouted into the Den Den Mushi atop the Execution Platform.

"Portgas D. Ace, the immense significance of this man dying here today."

"Ace, state your father's name!"

Ace, who had been waiting for death with his eyes closed, shuddered and opened them.

After a moment of silence, he replied firmly, "My father is Whitebeard!"

"Wrong!"

"Nothing is wrong! There is only Whitebeard, no one else!"

At this point, anyone with a functioning brain could see that something was amiss.

Clearly, the pawn the Marines were using to set up this scheme had a true identity far more extraordinary than merely "captain of Whitebeard's second division"!

Doflamingo and the others all looked at Zhu Mang in surprise.

Doflamingo was the most shocked of them all.

He had always believed Gebinz knew absolutely nothing about the state of affairs on the seas, yet he would suddenly say strange things that happened to hit directly upon the truth.

From precisely finding Vice Admiral Tsuru, the great strategist, and trading for the Six Powers and two forms of Haki from the Marines, to taking advantage of the Empress with only a few words and leaving her unable to retort, and now seemingly foreseeing Fire Fist Ace's true identity and even Sengoku's scheme!

Just who was Lord Gebinz?

Why did he know so many secrets?

Yet lack so much knowledge that could even be called basic common sense?

Could he be... a Celestial Dragon?!!

A terrifying guess surfaced in Doflamingo's mind.

Unknown to the world, immensely powerful, aware of many things, yet lacking common sense.

That was it. He had once said that the women of his clan could even erase this world!

It was the power of Uranus!

If he truly was a Celestial Dragon, then everything made sense.

Their lofty status detached them from reality, but their noble identities also gave them access to secrets.

The Celestial Dragons even had their own dedicated intelligence organization—the Cipher Pol agencies.

But Celestial Dragons should not have tails, should they?

Was it because of a Devil Fruit?

But why would a Celestial Dragon disguise himself as a "commoner" and personally come to this execution site?

That was it, he was here to hold the fort!

Doflamingo's body began trembling slightly.

He felt that he had guessed the truth!

Doflamingo: There is only one truth!