"Cover serial: Donquixote Arc—'Welcome back, little brother.'"
"Outside, snow fell thick and fast. By the hotel's warm fireplace, Rosinante sat on the edge of the bed with a conflicted expression. Memories of those years flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. After a long while, he let out a heavy sigh. In the end, he still couldn't forgive that bastard."
"Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the door. Rosinante suppressed his nervous unease. How would he be treated this time? With suspicion? Indifference, or disgust... The door swung open. He looked up to see Doflamingo grinning broadly, his arms spread wide in a warm welcome..."
Sophia was dead.
Her death had been abrupt and unceremonious. A mighty Shichibukai, a notorious pirate whose former bounty stood at four hundred million Beli, had failed to last even five minutes. She hadn't even left an intact corpse.
"My God, he's... he's so strong..."
"That's Mr. Noah for you."
The elite Marines aboard the Thunder Eagle were used to it, but the Marines from the G-5 branch took a long time to recover from the shock of witnessing such an utterly one-sided slaughter.
They weren't even in the same league. Molly's rear admiral adjutant shook his head with a rueful smile. Only now did he realize how needless and laughable his earlier worries had been...
The enormous hand formed from lightning slowly dissipated, and the sky, roiling with dark clouds, gradually settled.
The battle along the shore was drawing to a close as well.
The subordinates Sophia had brought to the New World were all fairly formidable. Even the weakest had a bounty of over a million Beli.
However.
Watching Sophia get slaughtered as casually as livestock had dealt these pirates a staggering blow, both visually and emotionally. The damage to their morale