Doflamingo

"Even if you hide in the sewers like rats, I'll drag every last one of you out!"

Vergo snorted and prepared to board the ship and search for them, but the Navy officers and soldiers had not forgotten their duty.

"Stop him!"

They were too close for the cannons to be useful, so the major drew the blade at his waist while the soldiers below raised their rifles.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

The bullets struck Vergo's body with crisp metallic rings, unable even to slow his descent.

The major leaped down from the lookout tower, but before he could swing his blade, a kick sent him flying into the sea.

"Fuffuffuffuffu!"

As everyone panicked, an evil laugh suddenly rang out overhead, followed by dozens of threads descending from above.

Parasite String!

The threads pierced the Navy officers and soldiers without resistance. Everyone struggled, yet none of them could control their own bodies.

"You still haven't caught them after all this time... Vergo, you were the first Corazon. Have you grown lax over the years?"

Doflamingo landed on the deck, his expression arrogant and naturally intimidating.

Near the shore, a human airplane was flying over with a little girl aboard.

They were reserve officers of the Donquixote Family: Buffalo, the Paramecia-type Spin-Spin Fruit user, and Baby-5, the Paramecia-type Arms-Arms Fruit user.

They had originally come to "recover" Van and the other three, only to find a group of elite Navy soldiers defeated by Vergo.

After learning that things had gone wrong, Doflamingo had no choice but to come personally and inspect the situation, leading to the current scene.

"Sorry! That guy is weak, but his ability is unusual," Vergo explained. "I suspect he has already eaten the Op-Op Fruit."

"I had already guessed as much on my way here." Doflamingo's expression eased slightly. "Was it my foolish little brother?"

"It was the young man who was with Rosinante. His exact identity and background are unknown."

Vergo looked down at the deck, a cold gleam flashing through his eyes. "But they should still be on the ship. Once we find them, we'll know."

The targets were still here, which counted as good news, but Doflamingo was in no good mood.

After a moment of silence, he asked coldly, "So my little brother who betrayed the family is no longer of any value?"

Vergo did not answer. Just then, Buffalo and Baby-5 arrived, interrupting the conversation.

"Find them quickly!"

Doflamingo's Observation Haki could not sense Van and the others either, so they could only rely on a manual search.

"Yes, Young Master!"

Buffalo and Baby-5 immediately took out their weapons and began searching from the upper cabins, while Vergo headed straight into the lower hold.

He was familiar with the surveillance ship's structure and layout, so whenever he saw a place where someone could hide, he smashed it apart, leaving no suspicious spot unchecked.

Doflamingo, who remained on deck, was not idle either. To satisfy his twisted desires and to silence witnesses, he used his threads to manipulate the Navy officers and soldiers into slaughtering one another.

"No!"

"Why is this happening? What have I done?"

"Get out of the way! I can't control myself..."

Their faces were filled with terror and despair. Their minds were perfectly clear, yet they could only watch helplessly as they killed their comrades.

"Bang!"

A large wooden crate in the lower hold was smashed apart by a fist, forcing Van and the other three hiding inside to reveal themselves.

"Keep running, then!"

Vergo's face twisted with fury. As he spoke, he moved to seize Drake and Law, who were closest and appeared easiest to deal with.

"Get them out of here!"

Without hesitation, Rosinante rushed forward with a side kick. Although Vergo struck him away with a backhand blow, he still bought them a little time.

ROOM!

Van seized the chance to deploy his surgical space, covering the entire ship.

Only then did he discover that the deck had already become a living hell. Doflamingo had spotted them as well and was looking toward them with a smile that was not quite a smile.

There was good news, though. The Donquixote Family had sent over two "glass cannons," so they still had a chance to struggle.

Scan!

As his power activated, Van and the other three vanished from the lower hold.

"Ah!"

"Young Master! We found them!"

In the combat meeting room on the ship's second floor, Baby-5 and Buffalo stared at the four people who had suddenly appeared, their expressions a mix of shock and delight.

After shouting the news to Doflamingo outside, they raised their weapons, intending to subdue them first.

But Van gave them no chance. With a curl of his finger, he cut both of them in half at the waist.

Before Doflamingo could come over, Baby-5 had already become a hostage, with even the gun pressed to her head being her own.

"I need you to behave now, all right?"

"O-Okay!"

Baby-5 was not afraid at all. Instead, her face turned red as she shyly agreed to Van's request.

It was a weakness carved into her bones. As long as someone made a request of her, she forgot herself and her allegiance, agreeing without condition.

"Let's go out. The odds are slim, but we have to try."

After calling out to the others, Van carried Baby-5's upper body out of the meeting room.

He used his ability to control Buffalo's body, suspending it outside the rail. The moment he let go, it would fall into the sea.

"Stop immediately, or I'll kill this fat pig first!"

"Fuffuffuffuffu!"

Rather than becoming angry at the threat, Doflamingo revealed an excited smile.

"You only ate the Op-Op Fruit today, yet you can already use it to this extent. What an incredible surprise you've given me!"

He seemed genuinely willing to negotiate. After speaking, he stopped and withdrew the threads controlling the Navy officers and soldiers.

Unfortunately, most of them had already died horribly. The survivors, suffering both physical and mental devastation, collapsed unconscious the instant the support vanished.

"You flatter me!"

Van put Buffalo's body back together and transferred him beneath Doflamingo's feet, completing one side of the deal.

"You seem like a smart man. Do you know that the Op-Op Fruit was a treasure I was willing to offend the World Government to obtain?"

"Now that you've eaten it, killing you won't bring it back. So you must compensate me for my loss."

Doflamingo spread his arms and issued an invitation in a tone that allowed no refusal. "Join the Donquixote Family. Then I can forgive you for becoming family and stop holding you accountable."

"What about the others?" Van neither agreed nor refused. "Can they live too?"

Doflamingo thought Van was tempted, and the smile on his face grew ever more excited. But just as he was about to agree, Rosinante suddenly stepped in to disrupt things.

"Don't believe him!"

At those words, Doflamingo's expression abruptly turned cold, and a terrifying killing intent poured from his body.

"My dear little brother, so you can talk after all!"

"But you've sabotaged the family's plans again and again. Do you really think I wouldn't dare kill you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a thick thread shot from his palm like an arrow toward Rosinante.

Amputate!

At the critical moment, Van activated his power and severed the thread, but that action angered Doflamingo.

"You want to resist me too?"

His hand curled into a claw, and two more threads shot from his palm, one toward Van and the other toward Rosinante.

Van had no time to think. He could only repeat the same move and try to cut them all apart.

But when he actually tried, he realized he had still underestimated Doflamingo.

The threads fired this time were coated in Armament Haki. He could not cut them at all, and it was already too late to move them elsewhere.