[~1300 words]
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"So that's how it is."
After Violet and Sugar finished greeting everyone, Vivi looked at Sugar with open curiosity.
"So you're the loli girl Onii-chan mentioned—the one who never grows up…"
"Ahem!" James pretended to be displeased and patted her shoulder. Vivi immediately pouted playfully in response.
"Anyway, all of you be careful. Once I take away her Devil Fruit, there'll be nothing left to worry about."
"Take it away…? Are you going to kill me…?" Sugar blinked her big, round eyes pitifully, trying to win sympathy from the group.
"Horo horo horo~ That's right~ You'll be leaving this world very soon~" Perona floated forward with a mischievous grin and pinched Sugar's chubby little cheeks.
She even sent a few ghostly apparitions drifting toward the girl for extra intimidation.
The effect was immediate. Sugar turned pale with fright and looked even weaker than before.
Robin chuckled softly and comforted her. "Don't worry, we won't kill you."
"Once your Devil Fruit is taken, you might finally escape that childish body and grow into a proper adult."
"Stop scaring her," James shook his head with a helpless smile. "It won't be good if she faints. She's really timid."
Perona really did enjoy scaring people—especially him.
More than once, she had startled him awake in the morning while he was still half-asleep.
Thankfully, his courage was far beyond ordinary, so her little tricks never actually worked on him.
"The battle here is basically over," James continued. "You all take some people and secure King's Heights. I'll go deal with the fleeing Doflamingo."
"Okay~" the girls replied in unison.
James nodded, then dissolved his lightning form and flashed down to the ground.
Using bursts of White Lightning, he swiftly plundered the Devil Fruits from Buffalo, Gladius, and Pica one after another before sending the defeated officers off to meet their maker.
Of the three, the Spin-Spin Fruit was somewhat underwhelming. The Pop-Pop Fruit was better—similar in concept to Mr. 5's Bomb-Bomb Fruit from Baroque Works, though with decent lethality. The Stone-Stone Fruit was clearly the prize of the bunch. It had great potential for someone agile with sharp instincts.
Creating a massive stone giant and piloting it from within was basically like controlling a Gundam. If the user could coat the entire construct with strong enough Haki, its combat power would be formidable.
...
**Dressrosa – Commercial Street**
"Parasite!"
Doflamingo wore a forced, sinister grin.
He had never expected the usually honest-looking "blue fatty" Jinbe to be this troublesome. On the sea, the Fish-Man seemed to have received some kind of mysterious buff—his attacks were heavy, relentless, and difficult to handle.
After taking a few hits and suffering minor injuries, Doflamingo realized he couldn't win a direct fight and had fled back onto the island. Yet even there, he still couldn't shake Jinbe off.
Furious, he had eventually dragged the battle into the commercial district. Only then did he resort to using civilians as shields, forcing Jinbe and the Sun Pirates to hold back.
"Jinbe, just leave already. With that heart full of benevolence and righteousness, how could you possibly be my opponent?"
"Doflamingo…" Jinbe frowned, unsure what to say.
His strong sense of chivalry made him unwilling to let innocent lives perish. At the same time, the responsibility he carried for Fish-Man Island meant he had to give his all. For now, he could only stall Doflamingo here.
"Boss Jinbe…"
The other Sun Pirates didn't particularly care about human lives, but out of respect for Jinbe's wishes, they refrained from acting recklessly.
"Fufufufufu~ You won't leave? Then let the slaughter begin!"
Doflamingo spread his arms wide, his fingers dancing like a puppeteer playing an instrument as he pulled on his Parasite strings.
"What's wrong with my body…? Let me go!"
"My hands… what's happening?!"
"Damn it! My body moved on its own!"
Civilians under Doflamingo's control grabbed whatever sharp weapons they could find and charged madly at the Sun Pirates, slashing wildly.
"You're too despicable, Doflamingo!" Jinbe roared.
"Fufufufufu~ What a delightful compliment~"
"Fish-Man Karate!"
Jinbe leaped into the crowd, striking with precise, controlled power. A gentle shockwave rippled outward, safely pushing the controlled civilians to the edge of the battlefield.
"It's useless, Jinbe! I can control far too many civilians!"
Doflamingo's smile grew even more twisted. He was about to continue mocking them when a voice suddenly rang out from above.
"Using your own citizens as shields to threaten your enemy? How boring~"
"Who is it?!" Doflamingo snapped his head toward the voice and saw James slowly descending from the sky. "James?!"
Rage surged through him instantly.
"So it really is you! All the chaos in Dressrosa was your doing, wasn't it?!"
"What grudge do you even have against me?! Why do you keep targeting me like this?!"
"Don't tell me it's because of Bellamy—that's just an excuse!"
"Ah, you figured it out," James replied with a teasing smile. "But so what? This world has always been ruled by one simple law: big fish eat little fish, and little fish eat shrimp."
"As long as you remain in this world, you'll always be caught in an endless cycle of conflict."
James's casual, mocking tone made the veins on Doflamingo's forehead bulge with fury.
He raised his hand and made a grasping motion in the air, his eyes cold as he declared Doflamingo's fate.
"And all I'm doing is delivering your eventual defeat a little earlier than scheduled."
"Fufufufufu~ You really have some nerve saying that. Do you have any idea what the consequences of defeating me would be?"
Doflamingo laughed maniacally, though the sound carried clear anger.
"I am the 'Joker' of the Underworld! I deal in slaves, weapons, drugs, and even Devil Fruits across the entire world!"
"Every major figure in the New World's underground has business with me. Even the Four Emperors Kaido relies on my support for his dreams…"
"If the Underworld loses me, the whole world will fall into chaos, and countless people will suffer!"
"Can you withstand their wrath? Do you really dare to tug on the whiskers of an Emperor like Kaido?!"
James sneered, completely unmoved.
"The Underworld? Just a bunch of scum hiding in the gutter."
"People suffering? Doflamingo, you really think too highly of yourself."
"Besides, what does any of that have to do with me? As long as the kingdom I rule stays untouched, that's enough."
"As for the rest of the world falling apart? Why should I care?"
"And Kaido?" James's eyes sharpened. "I'll drag him down from that throne sooner or later."
Seeing James's unwavering confidence, Doflamingo realized he was dealing with a fearless, arrogant upstart who had yet to understand true power.
"You really aren't afraid of biting off more than you can chew with that big mouth of yours!"
"You're too naive. You've never witnessed Kaido's true might, so you have no idea what it means to be called a 'Four Emperors'!"
"Is that so?" James shook his head lightly.
It was precisely because Doflamingo feared Kaido so much that his own potential was limited. After all, one's "heart" ultimately determined how high they could truly rise in the One Piece World.
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