Doflamingo's reaction to Crocodile's words-almost an ultimatum, carrying both a threat and an offer of cooperation-was unexpected.
He showed neither anger nor panic. Instead, as though he had heard an incredibly funny joke, he threw his head back and burst out laughing!
"Fuffuffuff... fuffuffuffuffuff!!!"
He rocked back and forth with laughter, even slapping the sofa's armrest with exaggerated gusto. His laughter echoed through the shabby reception room, brimming with mockery and madness.
Yet that laughter cut off abruptly the next second!
Doflamingo suddenly fell silent. His smile vanished without a trace, replaced by utter coldness and menace, and a cold glint flashed across his sunglasses.
"Did you think..." His voice was terrifyingly low, carrying a bone-deep chill. "I wouldn't know about any of this?!"
The instant his words fell, a sharp swish rang out.
Five incredibly fine transparent strings, sharp enough to sever anything-Bullet String (Overheat)-
shot from Doflamingo's fingertips at a speed impossible to follow with the naked eye, crossing over Crocodile where he stood before him!
Rip!
Without any chance to resist, Crocodile's body was sliced diagonally into five clean pieces, as though cut by the sharpest laser!
His head, chest, waist, and legs... all separated, sliding out of alignment!
Standing rigidly beside him like an iron tower, Mr. 1, Daz Bones, felt his pupils contract. Almost instinctively, his arms turned into sharp blades, and he moved to charge at Doflamingo!
"Stop, Daz," a calm voice said.
Even with his body cut into five pieces, Crocodile's severed face still wore that cold smile around his cigar. He could even speak!
Mr. 1 forcibly stopped himself.
The next moment, Crocodile's severed body parts abruptly dissolved into countless grains of yellow sand,
which poured onto the floor before swiftly gathering and taking shape again. Amid a swirling gust of sand,