"Donquixote Doflamingo?"
Hearing the name, Darren froze for a moment. A strange expression soon surfaced on his face.
As a transmigrator, he was more than familiar with that name. In fact, it was practically legendary.
One of the future Shichibukai, "Flamingo"!
The greatest broker in the Underworld, controlling more than half of the world's illegal trade channels—"Joker"!
A major villain who, publicly, was the king of Dressrosa and, in secret, worked with Kaido of the Beasts to stir up turmoil across the world!
But at this point,
the Shichibukai system had yet to be established,
Kaido of the Beasts had yet to become one of the Four Emperors ruling the New World,
and Doflamingo... was still just a yellow-haired brat who had recently arrived in the North Blue with a few underlings to build his power.
"That's right. The brat's background..."
Momonga trailed off, his words vague, with a hint of apprehension.
Darren smiled and bluntly spelled it out:
"He's just a Celestial Dragon who was stripped of his privileges. Now he's like a stray dog in the North Blue, snapping at everyone he sees."
Momonga glanced at Darren. After working with him for so many years, he already knew that Darren was a lawless man who loved nothing more than stirring up trouble.
Still, Momonga couldn't help feeling exasperated at the way Darren sneered at the lofty Celestial Dragons.
"You're certainly calm about this."
He sighed helplessly.
"Though Doflamingo was stripped of his right to continue living in the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, Celestial Dragon blood still runs through his veins, no matter what..."
"Now he's flying the flag of the Donquixote Pirates. I reckon he plans to expand his influence in the North Blue and put down roots here. That's going to make things difficult for us... He might even ruin the plans we've spent the past few years laying."
He looked troubled.
"Darren, should we report this to Headquarters?"
By rights, Doflamingo had raised a pirate flag, so as the Navy in the North Blue, they ought to hunt him down.
But his status as a "Celestial Dragon" made them hesitate to act.
Darren pondered for a moment.
Doflamingo was indeed a tricky one.
After all, in the original story, the lunatic had dared to rob the Heavenly Tribute. Using his status as a "Celestial Dragon," he'd forced the World Government to back down and grant him the title of Shichibukai.
The Navy had been so wary of his status that they didn't dare move against him lightly.
Staff Officer Tsuru had gone after him many times and given him plenty of trouble. Later, Doflamingo even fled at the sight of her ship.
But that alone said enough.
—Because Doflamingo was still at large.
With Staff Officer Tsuru's formidable strength as a Navy veteran, even if she couldn't match Garp and Sengoku in their prime, capturing an underdeveloped Doflamingo should have been effortless.
And yet, time and again, she let him "slip away."
Put simply, it was because she feared the consequences of his Celestial Dragon status.
"No. Leave that brat to me. You don't need to worry about him for now."
"As for Headquarters, I expect old man Sengoku will be unable to sit still for long."
Momonga nodded and turned to leave the residence.
Darren lay quietly in the bone-chilling icy water, lost in thought.
At one point, he suddenly beckoned with his hand.
A faint spark of electricity seemed to flicker between his fingers as an invisible, uncanny field abruptly spread outward.
The next moment, an unbelievable sight appeared—
A coin flew out of the pocket of the uniform trousers hanging nearby. It glided smoothly and steadily toward Darren's palm, then hovered there, as if controlled by some strange force.
Anyone who saw it would have been dumbfounded.
With a curl of Darren's fingers, the metallic coin spun and danced around his hand, like a nimble butterfly.
Paramecia-type: the Magnet-Magnet Fruit!
In the original story, it was the Devil Fruit ability of Eustass Kid, one of the Supernovas of the "Worst Generation"!
It could create magnetic fields, magnetize metal, and control magnetism and electricity to manipulate iron and every other kind of metal.
Darren had seized it as spoils during a Mafia raid. Once he confirmed it was Eustass Kid's Magnet-Magnet Fruit, he'd eaten it without the slightest hesitation.
The Magnet-Magnet Fruit was, in essence, a Devil Fruit with immense potential and an almost limitless ceiling. It had simply been developed like crap by that idiot Kid.
He could have been an elegant showman like "Magneto," but instead, Kid insisted on playing with building blocks and pretending to be a giant robot.
He'd wasted a god-tier fruit that was practically a cheat.
At least in Darren's view, if properly developed, the Magnet-Magnet Fruit's power could rival even the strongest Logia abilities.
And that naturally made it Darren's greatest trump card.
With that thought, he slowly closed his eyes.
He lay there in the freezing water as an invisible magnetic field strangely enveloped the area around him. The metal coin danced nimbly through the air, and faint purple sparks occasionally flashed and crackled.
Under the influence of the biomagnetic field, the wounds on his body healed rapidly. The muscles throughout his body rose and fell, contracting in a steady rhythm.
This was an ability he had only recently developed with the Magnet-Magnet Fruit.
By placing the human body in a biomagnetic field of a certain strength, he could help injuries heal and continuously improve physical fitness.
Of course, even with his powerful physique, he could only last about three hours in this biomagnetic field. The longer he stayed, the more intense the pressure and pain became.
If he exceeded his body's limits, his internal organs would suffer irreversible damage.
Time passed, second by second...
As the biomagnetic field worked,
Darren could sense
his physical attributes
increasing once every ten minutes.
Physique +0.01
Strength +0.01
Speed +0.01
The next day.
Darren changed into a fresh uniform, draped his broad cloak over his shoulders, and headed to the base commander's office. As soon as he arrived, he saw Gion's partner sitting there with dark circles under his eyes, looking listless and yawning repeatedly.
He clearly looked worn out after staying up late to train.
Darren smiled at the sight. It seemed he really had gotten under the man's skin.
"Good morning, Major Gion's partner."
He greeted him.
"Morning..."
Gion's partner answered groggily. Then, as if he finally recognized the voice, he suddenly shuddered and sprang up from the sofa.
"Don't hit me in the face!!"
He took a defensive stance, holding both hands up in front of him.
His face was the main thing he was trying to protect.
He'd really been left with a psychological scar... Darren chuckled and shook his head.
"Relax. I know you make your living off your looks."
Gion's partner eyed Darren suspiciously, then slowly lowered his hands.
As if his pride had taken a hit, he stiffened his neck and snorted.
"At least you know your place."
He paused, then added:
"About yesterday's sparring match, you know, I wasn't using my full strength."
"After all, you're the top man in the North Blue. It wouldn't have looked good if I'd beaten you up in front of all those subordinates."
Darren smiled knowingly.
"Of course. Major Gion's partner is a genius from Headquarters. How could I possibly be a match for you?"
He pulled out a box of cigars and offered one to Gion's partner.
"Obviously!" Gion's partner was pleased with Darren's attitude. He planted one hand on his hip and accepted the cigar with the other, looking proud.
"But Darren, where did you get these cigars? Even at Headquarters, a fine brand like this is hard to come by..."
As he spoke, Gion's partner had already lit the cigar and was happily puffing away.
Darren sat down beside him, crossed one leg over the other, and lit a cigar of his own.
"I've got plenty. If you like them, Major Gion's partner, I'll have someone send you a whole case later."
"A whole... a whole case?"
Gion's partner's hand jerked, and his eyes widened as if he'd been burned.
He wasn't some country bumpkin who'd never seen the world.
These cigars were a luxury brand made for the nobility, produced at the tobacco plantations on the Bellman Islands in the West Blue. Each one cost more than 50,000 Beli to make.
There were ten cigars in a box and twenty boxes in a case.
That meant a single case of cigars cost over ten million Beli!
And his annual salary as a major at Headquarters was less than two million Beli!
Where on earth had Darren gotten the money...?
Before you continue