"What..."
The grin on Doffy's face stiffened, then slowly faded into calm.
He could no longer laugh. He did not even care about the blood-red sunglasses that had been placed back on his face.
Among the ruins, the two figures remained frozen there.
After a long silence, he finally spoke slowly.
"This... is Mr. Ozz's will?"
Tiger closed his eyes.
"No. Mr. Ozz never strictly ordered me who I must save or who I must ignore.
"So I do not intend to save you."
Doffy truly lived up to his reputation as a ruthless hero. He did not fly into a useless rage because of this.
"Why? I don't believe I've ever offended you, Fisher Tiger."
"If I must give a reason, then it is because of your bloodline. In this life, I will never forgive the Celestial Dragons."
"..."
Hearing that reason, Doffy almost broke down.
When a person reached the limit of speechlessness, they could not help but laugh.
"Fuffuffuffuffu..."
"I see."
He had spent half his life desperately pursuing that noble identity as a Celestial Dragon.
And in the end?
He was abandoned because of that very identity?
The life of Donquixote Doflamingo could truly be described with one phrase.
Fate was fickle.
At that moment, a squad of Marines arrived in the distance.
They seemed to have rushed over because of the situation here.
Their leader was an elegant old woman with white hair. Her eyes were calm as she walked forward.
From afar, she saw the cloaked figure standing beside Doflamingo. The two seemed to be talking.
"However... you can rest assured. Aside from the sunglasses, Mr. Ozz said one more thing."
"Oh?"
"Even if you enter Impel Down, you won't stay there for long. The great stage of the future is almost complete. This world needs more actors, or perhaps more spectators."
Hearing those words, Doflamingo froze at first. Then he thought of Ozz's personality.
"I see Then I'm truly looking forward to it"
"Fuffuffuffuffu!"
It was as if he had swallowed a pill that calmed his heart. Doflamingo's feeling of resignation toward being arrested had now become more like returning home.
Hadn't that crocodile bastard been locked up too?
It was nothing serious, right?
Could the Marines and the World Government really dare to kill him?
At that moment, the Marines led by Vice Admiral Tsuru arrived.
She stared at Tiger, who was wearing a wide cloak.
"You injured Marines, and now you're standing beside a prisoner the Marines are about to detain. As expected of an important criminal of the World Government, the legendary hero of liberation."
Earlier, she had received news that Marines along the coast had been wounded, their bodies bearing obvious water-drop penetration injuries.
Combined with the description of red skin...
"In fact, many years ago, when rumors said you were killed by Ozz, I already had my doubts. There was no trace of a body at the time.
"Added to that, during the operation involving Sadgeo, the World Government also noticed traces of a mysterious fish-man. As expected, you really aren't dead...
"Fisher Tiger."
Hearing this, the surrounding Marines were shocked.
"He... he's the fish-man who once caused chaos in Mary Geoise and freed the slaves!"
"The captain of the Sun Pirates, Fisher Tiger!"
"So he wasn't killed by Black Spear after all?!"
Faced with Vice Admiral Tsuru's identification, Tiger did not react much. He merely turned his head slowly.
"I am only...
"Someone atoning for his sins."
...
"Old Man Sengoku, I didn't expect you to come too..."
At the Marine station, Green Bull was still troubled by Sakazuki's questioning. He did not expect to soon meet another former Fleet Admiral.
At this moment, Sengoku was wearing shorts and slippers, eating rice crackers in his hand. He looked completely like a retired old man.
"Aramaki, don't worry too much. We're only here to handle some finishing work."
Beside Sengoku was a tall blond man with curly hair. Strange paint was drawn on his face, and his military rank on his shoulder was not particularly high.
"Old man..."
"No need to rush, Rosinante. Trafalgar Law is also on this island~"
After Rosinante's identity was exposed and Ozz saved him, Sengoku had sent him to serve at a small Marine base.
For all these years, he had lived a peaceful life, far away from the matters of the Donquixote Family.
And now that Doflamingo was about to be taken into Marine custody, Sengoku had thought it over and temporarily transferred Rosinante back.
In a way, it was also to bring things full circle.
Just as Rosinante was about to say something else...
"Boom!"
A loud explosion came from the direction where Doflamingo was.
"What happened?!"
"Vice Admiral Tsuru seems to have just gone there!"
Hearing this, Sengoku was instantly alarmed.
"What?!"
He threw aside his rice crackers and quickly rushed toward the direction of the impact.
Rosinante and the others followed closely behind.
When they arrived at the scene, many Marines were already lying on the ground, their condition unknown. Vice Admiral Tsuru also looked rather disheveled.
The cloaked man who had attacked was also startled when he saw Sengoku arrive.
"Tsuru!"
Sengoku's eyes widened. Golden light immediately bloomed from his hand as he struck toward Tiger.
Tiger did not linger in battle. He used the techniques of Fish-Man Karate, mobilizing flowing Haki like an ocean current.
After clashing with Sengoku's fist, he hurriedly retreated.
"This is... Fish-Man Karate?!"
Feeling the internal damage caused by the flowing Armament Haki in his palm, Sengoku frowned and walked to Vice Admiral Tsuru's side.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
Vice Admiral Tsuru was not seriously injured. Instead, she looked gravely in the direction where Tiger had disappeared.
"Tell the soldiers to withdraw. On the sea, they cannot possibly contend with an opponent like that. After all, he is a fish-man."
"Could that be..."
Tsuru nodded.
"Fisher Tiger. Once regarded as a hero, and now one of Ozz's subordinates."
Hearing this, Sengoku also sighed.
"Ozz... Could he be trying to snatch Doflamingo from our hands?"
"But it doesn't seem like it. Well... that man's temperament is still as impossible to read as ever."
While the two were talking, Rosinante, wearing a Marine justice cloak, walked to Doflamingo, who was lying spread-eagled on the ground.
"You came, Rosinante."
Doflamingo's tone was calm, but his eyes were extremely complicated. There was killing intent, affection, and helplessness.
"Yes, I came."
Rosinante sat down beside Doflamingo.
The two brothers stayed there quietly together.
Only after a long while did Rosinante finally speak.
"Your ambition has ended. And I... no longer want to become a Celestial Dragon."
Doflamingo looked at his younger brother.
He froze for a moment, then laughed again.
"Ended?"
"Not necessarily..."
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