Sugar has disappeared?
Doflamingo stared blankly at Monet, who had rushed in. The kingly composure he'd been maintaining shattered, his face furious as he fixed his gaze on her.
"How did Sugar disappear? Wasn't she at the factory? Did someone attack it?"
"Doffy, we don't know yet. Sugar just suddenly... vanished!" Monet didn't dare hide anything. "The officers were still watching over her this morning. But once Sugar went into her Toy House, all the toys suddenly changed back. The entire factory descended into chaos, and even when we sent people in, we couldn't find her anywhere!"
"She just... disappeared?" Doflamingo frowned, his expression growing even gloomier. "Who was it? A Devil Fruit user? Or what?"
"Doffy, I don't know! What do we do now? All the toys have turned back, our secret is exposed, and now the entire kingdom is starting to riot!"
"Calm down, Monet. It's bad, yes, but we're not finished yet." Doflamingo took a deep breath. That chilling grin returned to his face. "Fufufufufu."
Then, in an icy tone, "Whoever's scheming against me... they'd better pray I don't find them."
An accident at a time like this?
Most of his family weren't here. This really was when the Donquixote Family was at its weakest.
But, It wasn't hopeless yet.
As long as they got Sugar back, he could make everyone disappear again.
"Monet, send out all the officers to search for Sugar. You must find her." Doflamingo's voice was cold. "I'll seal off the entire kingdom. No one leaves."
"Yes, Doffy!" Monet answered quickly, then hesitated. "And if we can't find Sugar..."
"Can't find her? Fufufufufu~ Then I'll just..." A flash of steel entered Doflamingo's eyes, his face hardening. "Kill everyone."
As he spoke, something seemed to occur to him. "Captain Mock, I've decided to accept your propo-"
He turned around in a hurry as he spoke.
But, the moment he turned.
His mind went blank.
Behind him, the room was empty, save for a half-stripped mural.
He blinked, looking around.
"Where is he?"
Where did that big guy go?
...
"Over here! Over here! Catwalk Man!"
"I told you, don't call me Catwalk Man!" Kuro pushed up his glasses. "You're here?"
He looked calmly at Mock standing before him. "I was starting to think I'd have to storm the Royal Palace to rescue you."
"Wahahaha, do you know who I am? I'm the East Blue Overlord. Why would I need you to rescue me?" Mock laughed loudly, hands on his hips. Then he turned to stare curiously at Kuma, who was carrying a small figure over his shoulder. "So that's the one with the toy transformation ability? Amazing. I thought you'd need my help, but you've already wrapped it up."
"Yes," Kuma nodded, smiling slightly. Kuro brought her out. He looked at Kuro. "You've gotten stronger, Kuro."
"I didn't expect those people in there not to notice me," Kuro said blandly, pushing his glasses up again. "Looks like aside from the top officers, the rest are trash."
But the slight curl at the corner of his mouth betrayed his satisfaction.
Yes. He had gotten stronger.
With the Captain's Aqua Ursa and a Devil Fruit, he was now far stronger than before.
And this Calm-Calm Fruit really was perfect for him.
Sound Erasure, Presence Reduction, thanks to them, he'd slipped in and out unnoticed.
"But you really have gotten stronger," Kuma said with his usual gentle smile. "You should be proud of your efforts."
"Wahahaha, I've gotten stronger too."
"I'm not seeing it," Kuro said, nodding to Kuma, then turned to Mock and sneered. "All I see is your pockets stuffed full."
"Take a look at this." Mock didn't even try to hide it, he proudly showed off his gem, grinning. "That Doffy Bro is seriously loaded. So, what now? Did the Boss say?"
His voice was full of eagerness. "Are we looting the place?"
"..."
'Five minutes ago he'd been calling him Doffy Bro, and now he's already itching to clean the guy out?'
Kuro said nothing and turned to Kuma.
Kuma understood, nodded, and took out a den den mushi. Once the line connected, he said, "Boss, our mission is complete."
"Oh, oh, oh, already? Thanks for your hard work." Dante nodded on the other end, then cast a furtive glance at Kuzan beside him and lowered his voice. "Yes, yes, exactly. I'll leave the rest to you."
He hung up immediately.
Kuzan, watching, felt a headache coming on. Of course he could guess what this kid was plotting: same as in Alabasta, quietly hollow out the Donquixote Family's wealth. He sighed.
"You really don't plan on doing anything yourself?"
"The rest is your job, Admiral Kuzan." Dante nodded solemnly. "I've never set foot in the Kingdom of Dressrosa."
Kuzan stared at him, speechless at the blatant lie.
But he understood.
He now had every reason he needed to step in.
"What a pain," Kuzan muttered, rubbing his forehead. He pulled out his own den den mushi, dialed, and spoke lazily, "Fleet Admiral Sengoku? Yeah, it's me. I've got something. I'm at the Kingdom of Dressrosa, yeah, Donquixote Family territory. Don't panic, just listen first."
A moment later, "That's right, that's the situation. Something big went down. I need support from Marine Headquarters," Kuzan said, looking at the suddenly stern den den mushi. He nodded. "Oh? You'll send Vice Admiral Garp and Vice Admiral Tsuru? Isn't that a bit much? Right, I almost forgot to mention, the East Blue Overlord is here too. Yeah."
He nodded again, seriously.
"Yeah, it's Mock's doing. And I've heard he's planning to rob the Donquixote Family's fortune. What? You're coming in person? You'll be here soon? Sure, no problem. I'll be waiting..."
*Beep, beep*
"Huh? He hung up?" Kuzan stared at the abruptly silent den den mushi, then, sensing something, looked up at the threads spreading over the sky above Dressrosa. "So that's the Birdcage you mentioned. Pretty scary."
Putting away the den den mushi, he looked at Dante. "You'd better hurry~ Fleet Admiral Sengoku said he'll be here soon."
'He's doing this on purpose.'
Dante's eyelid twitched. He gave Kuzan a look of pure exasperation, then corrected righteously, "What do you mean 'you'? It's 'us'. This is the East Blue Overlord's doing."
"...Fine, fine. It's Mock's doing," Kuzan said casually, stretching with a comfortable sigh. "Looks like I've got work to do, so I'll leave you to it."
No sooner had he finished than,
"Please wait, Marine Admiral. Let me come with you!"
Kyros stepped forward, face grim, not entirely sure what was going on but determined all the same. "I want to personally deal with that demon."
"Don't look at me," Law muttered when he felt Dante's gaze. He curled his lip in a cold smirk. "Honestly, meeting you... that guy's really unlucky."
"Watch your mouth, kid."
"I'm not joining the fun," Law waved a hand, his eyes glinting. "But this time, he might really be done for."
Even now, it still felt surreal.
That terrifying man, brought low just like that.
--**--**
Meanwhile,
On Doflamingo's side.
The moment he realized Mock had truly vanished, Doflamingo's face turned green. Without hesitation, he raised the Birdcage.
Right now...
He felt utterly played.
That East Blue Overlord... that was deliberate. Sugar's disappearance... had to be connected to him.
Otherwise, there was no way, unless the bastard really was some walking source of misfortune, dragging everyone around him down.
"Forget him for now. Have everyone search for Sugar!" Doflamingo's eyes were icy as he looked at Monet. He paused, then said, "You must bring Sugar back."
As much as he wanted to skin that bastard alive, now was not the time. Staring outside the Royal Palace, he murmured, "Now it's time I handle-"
He didn't even finish.
Another officer came sprinting in, flustered. "Doffy! Doffy! A Marine Admiral, there's a Marine Admiral here! They say your title as Shichibukai has been revoked, and they're initiating a formal arrest!"
Silence.
Doflamingo tone shifted, teeth grinding. "Put a bounty on that East Blue Overlord. Right now. I want everyone hunting him. I'm going to kill him myself."
That bastard.
===============
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