173
Doffy cut him off with a sneer.
"The Family intends to control the entire world. How could pirates like you, cowering in a corner, ever understand?"
"Steal a hook and be executed... steal a kingdom and become a lord..."
Ochoku vaguely recalled an ancient proverb from his homeland, the Flower Country, then suddenly shuddered. With what strength he had left, he struggled to lift his neck-
"Quiet down."
The threads abruptly tightened.
The sensation of threads piercing blood vessels, muscles, and bones was more chilling than death by a thousand cuts.
But it was not the pain that truly made Ochoku's pupils contract-
The old man Diamante dragged over was covered in lacerations, every feather on the half-bird creature over Vergo's shoulder was broken, and Oni carried the bodies of two boys.
"Better to keep everyone together."
His fingers twitched, and the threads abruptly tightened.
The figure who had once dominated Hachinosu burst into a mist of blood, and the sea breeze swept its stench across the ruins.
The Five Peaks Pirates were annihilated.
The news was like ice water poured into boiling oil.
"Ochoku is dead?"
"The Navy? The ** Army? Whitebeard? Big Mom? Or Kaido?"
The fighting among the four major powers abruptly stopped.
Intelligence networks worked frantically, and images of what remained of Hachinosu soon landed on the desks of powerful figures on all sides.
Doflamingo.
When that name resurfaced after seven years without news, many felt a chill at the backs of their necks, as though they could hear the era's ** crushing the old tracks.
On Sphinx Island, the Whitebeard Pirates' ** was only halfway through.
News that two captains had died at the hands of Kaido's forces had already ignited their fighting spirit, but the latest intelligence made everyone pause.
"Whitey Bay sent