"I've long since stopped being human, Bullet!"
Bullet instinctively took a step back.
For a brief moment, Doflamingo's presence overlapped in his mind with the image of Roger from his memories.
Shaking his head, Bullet tried to shake off the illusion.
A fierce gust of wind swept past, and a fist the size of a barrel filled his vision.
Bullet hurriedly raised his weary arms in defense.
Duang!
A heartbeat later, his fragile guard was smashed through, the punch slamming squarely into the top of his skull without losing momentum.
Crack!
With the crisp sound of bone fracturing, Bullet collapsed backward, unconscious.
His third straight defeat.
"Fufufufufu... That felt damn good!"
Shrugging off the Seastone chains from his body, Doflamingo twisted his neck and shoulders, reveling in the sensation of unburdened movement. His whole body felt light and loose.
With the power he wielded now, most fights hardly excited him anymore.
The last time he clashed with Zephyr, the old man kept dodging and playing tag—only the final moment offered any real thrill.
But going head-to-head with real men like Bullet and Katakuri? Now that was satisfying.
As the battle ended...
The smallfolk, seeing Doflamingo and Bullet fight for the first time, broke into a wild cheer squad.
"As expected of the new Emperor of the Sea, His Majesty Doflamingo!"
"Even someone like Bullet couldn't stand up to you!"
"..."
Tesoro and the others quickly approached with concern.
"Doffy/BOSS, are you—"
"I'm fine. No need to fuss, Tesoro. It's been a while."
Cutting off their worried chatter, Doflamingo strode toward the group.
His form flickered between his string body and humanoid shape, crusted blood flaking off, and his tattered clothes mending themselves into pristine condition.
Enel's eyes lit up at the sight. So that's another way to use a Devil Fruit?
Then he noticed something was off—he could probably copy the blood-flaking move, but the clothes-weaving thing? Not a chance.
Meanwhile, Tesoro's muscle memory kicked in and he began to report.
"Long time no see, BOSS. There are updates... about the Pluton construction—"
Doflamingo pressed his left middle finger against his right palm—a signal that now wasn't the time.
He pointed at the moon overhead.
"It's after hours. Go handle your business. We'll meet tomorrow in Upper Yard for a proper briefing."
The flying warship under construction on Sky Island...
It was no longer the original Ark Maxim.
After obtaining Pluton's blueprints, the ship had gone through numerous redesigns by Caesar and Judge.
It wouldn't be finished anytime soon. Still, Tesoro—
Reporting the moment they met? Was he pushing this guy too hard?
Maybe it was time to give him a break, let him go home and make some mini-humans.
Those genes strong enough to awaken a Devil Fruit shouldn't go to waste.
"Understood." Trebol and the others nodded.
"Good. Now—rest."
With a satisfied smirk, Doflamingo tugged at his collar.
He scooped up Smoothie, turned, and flew off toward Upper Yard.
Even if the blood had flaked off, he still felt like he needed a proper shower.
"Oh, right. Don't forget to get Bullet treated."
If Bullet was willing to go all out, he deserved to be compensated accordingly.
Doflamingo's philosophy had always been simple—contributions should be rewarded.
...
Calm Belt, West Blue.
Heading toward Reverse Mountain.
A floating airship drifted slowly along the currents.
Bursts of laughter echoed across the deck.
"Play it again!"
"Come on, one more time, boss!"
"We have to see Crocodile's humiliated face again!"
The crew clung to Moria's long, shapely legs, begging as they stared at the visual Den Den Mushi in his hand.
Perona clung to the back of Moria's head, yanking on his horn.
"So? One more time?"
Moria hesitated—he hadn't had enough either.
A moment later...
"Doflamingo, you bastard!!!"
As Crocodile's furious roar played again, the group burst into laughter.
"Kishishishi—BOSS will love this when he sees it!"
Nico Robin glanced at the Crocodile in the recording, her expression turning almost sympathetic.
So pitiful. If too many people saw this, he'd never live it down.
"Hehehe~"
Realizing she'd chuckled out loud, Robin quickly covered her mouth.
Noticing no one else seemed to react, a strange emotion flickered in her chest.
...
Sunrise bathed the deserts of Alabasta in a golden glow.
In the port city of Nanohana...
"Yohooo! Let's go! Finally heading home—been ages since I've seen Monet!"
Yamato stood at the bow, waving her kanabo with overflowing energy.
After some time adventuring around the North Blue, she was actually starting to miss the Sky Island a little.
With supplies restocked, the merchant ship set sail toward Mock town.
"Um... Yamato, is it really safe up there? Won't the island fall?"
Baby 5 paused her deck scrubbing, looking up nervously.
She looked much healthier than when Yamato had first met her. Her sickly pallor had given way to color, and she now wore a ghost horn hairpiece Yamato had gifted her. Dressed in a maid outfit, she looked surprisingly well-behaved.
"Of course not! The island is held up by super, super strong clouds! Baby 5, you'll be blown away when you see it!"
Yamato's eyes sparkled as she spun around, gushing with excitement.
She'd seen so many islands, but Doffy's Sky Island was still the coolest!
"Really...? What does sitting on clouds feel like?"
Baby 5 looked dazed—her limited life experience made it hard to imagine.
"You'll find out soon! Also, you're not supposed to be doing this kind of work! You're in the combat reserves now. No more chores for you."
Yamato hopped down beside her and snatched away the mop.
She pointed at the other kids.
"Leave this stuff to them. Our job is to protect them."
After traveling through the New World, then the North Blue, and back to the Grand Line...
Yamato had learned one thing: people are different.
Not everyone could go out and hunt sea monsters.
Some people were just born weak.
And those people needed her protection.
"But..."
Baby 5 still wasn't used to doing nothing. She opened her mouth to argue—
Only for Yamato to grab her by the wrist and drag her off with wild energy toward Buffalo.
"Buffalo! Take Baby 5 for a spin! She's never flown before!"
Buffalo: "..."
Can't you find someone else to bully?!
You've got Geppo! Why don't you just fly?!
I'm not your personal taxi!!!
On the viewing deck, Weevil lay sprawled out lazily, munching on the roasted lizard meat they'd brought from Alabasta.
One thought echoed through his simple mind:
Godfather is rich. Following him means eating good every day.
Though... he had the vague feeling he'd forgotten something.
A moment later, Buffalo—reluctantly—lifted off from the deck with Baby 5 and Yamato in tow.
Inside the captain's cabin...
Senor Pink exhaled a lazy puff of smoke, eyes softening as he gazed at a photo of his baby.
"Another beautiful day."
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg