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Perospero chuckled. On his own turf, he seemed much more relaxed. "No problem. Please get in."
He raised a hand, and several open carriages glided silently up to them.
Pulling the carriages were not fine horses, but plump, round pigs with numbers branded on their bodies. They panted and snorted, looking rather comical.
As the wheels rolled over the frosting-covered streets, a strange silence suddenly fell over their surroundings.
The creatures pulling the carriages and the swaying plants beside the road should have been making sounds, but now it was as though invisible hands had seized their throats.
The barrier Rossi had set up swallowed every unnecessary sound.
Doflamingo's perception swept silently across the entire island.
Buildings, trees, even every petal beside the road revealed their nonliving nature beneath his Observation Haki.
Inside those seemingly living forms flowed captive human souls-beings known as Homies.
"A steady trickle keeps the stream flowing."
Rossi's voice sounded especially clear in the silence.
He picked up the thread, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the carriage's inner wall. "Seizing souls by force would be nothing more than a one-time deal.
Before long, that lady would find herself standing against the entire world."
Establishing a nation and having its residents voluntarily surrender their lifespans in the name of taxation-that was an ingenious method indeed.
Souls could be gathered continuously, and her power would expand along with them.
Compared with that Sister who only used her ability to play at divine miracles, Charlotte Linlin had truly unearthed this Devil Fruit's potential.
Below his sunglasses, the corners of his mouth curved upward.
Doflamingo adjusted the frames, the red lenses reflecting the cloying light drifting past outside. "The number of rank-and-file troops has never been the key."
His voice carried a texture like metal scraping against metal. "What truly