Several days later, early morning.
The sea near Punk Hazard was shrouded in thick mist.
The sun had just risen.
A massive battleship sailed into the harbor. Enel sat idly on the railing, yawning.
As the battleship docked, Enel lazily waved a hand in greeting:
"Yo~ old man."
With some excitement, he leapt straight down onto the port.
Sakazuki gave a light grunt.
Karol smiled warmly, nodding, with a touch of emotion:
"You've grown so fast."
"After just a few years, you're already nearly as tall as Admiral Sakazuki."
Enel chuckled.
At that moment, a voice came from the docked battleship—it was Rosinante:
"Admiral Sakazuki, Rear Admiral Karol."
Sakazuki gave a nod:
"How are your injuries?"
Rosinante replied:
"Completely healed."
"No problem anymore."
After speaking, he waved his hand, and squads of marines escorted several pirates down.
Bound in Seastone chains, they were utterly powerless, drained of strength.
Sakazuki swept his gaze across the captured Donquixote Family members:
"Not bad."
"Looks like they're all here."
Enel nodded:
"Yeah, all the Devil Fruit users are here."
"Those without Fruits—we killed them all."
Sakazuki stepped forward, seizing the thick neck of the towering Pica.
Crack—
His neck shattered instantly, Armament Haki penetrating his spine and destroying the nerves.
His entire body collapsed limply, unconscious.
Four soldiers lifted him into a pod filled with green nutrient fluid and carried him toward the research facility.
Sakazuki then stepped toward the next target...
"Pica!"
"Damn it!!!"
"You—!..."
Crack—
Crack—
Crack—
Boom!!!
Suddenly, an overwhelming wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted from the battleship, surging with boundless killing intent.
Doflamingo's crazed voice roared:
"Stop it at once!!!!"
Though shackled in Seastone, leaving his body weak, his twisted face was like that of a demon as he glared at Sakazuki.
Watching his family fall one by one nearly shattered his sanity.
He tried to rush down, but the escorting soldiers held him back with all their strength.
Sakazuki, gripping the throat of Gladius, looked up at that figure on the battleship.
Crack—
He casually tossed the man toward the nutrient pod prepared by the soldiers.
Sakazuki frowned, turning his gaze toward Doflamingo:
"Utter nonsense."
"How can you unleash Conqueror's Haki in a place like this?"
Boom!
But beside him, Enel suddenly flared with his own Conqueror's Haki, pressing back against Doflamingo's.
Seeing that Enel had awakened Conqueror's Haki without him noticing, Sakazuki's interest was piqued:
"When did you awaken it?"
Enel narrowed his eyes at Doflamingo and said:
"Back when I rescued Rosinante."
"That guy almost killed him... if I'd been a few seconds later..."
"He'd have been... Luckily, I managed to save him in the end."
Sakazuki gave a short laugh:
"Not bad."
He looked toward the soldiers on the ship:
"Bring that bastard down here."
Dragged before him, Doflamingo still glared with a feral expression, baring his teeth at Sakazuki.
Sakazuki smirked:
"A pirate prisoner."
"And yet you dare act so arrogant."
"What gives you that confidence?"
Crack! x2
Both lower legs snapped forward at ninety degrees from the knees.
Rip—
The sound of bone tearing through flesh rang out.
The white bone at the fracture tore the muscle apart, piercing through the skin.
Before he could react, a black-gloved hand seized Doflamingo's throat, choking him silent.
Sakazuki leaned down slightly,
looking at Doflamingo's reddened, vein-bulging face as he struggled in his grasp:
"Hmm?"
"Care to tell me?"
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Even Rosinante on the battleship barely had time to react before witnessing the brutal scene.
Law froze in terror, staring at Sakazuki.
Rosinante snapped out of it, pulling Law behind him, and shouted at Sakazuki:
"Admiral Sakazuki! Wait!!"
"You can't kill him!!!"
Yet even he felt his heart tremble with fear.
After all, aside from a few close allies and fellow hawks, Sakazuki's brutality was well known.
Not only pirates feared him—many marines trembled at the sight of him.
For someone like Rosinante, it had taken years of knowing him to suppress that fear.
But facing him directly... that fear surged once more.
Sakazuki glanced at Rosinante, and Rosinante froze stiff on the spot...
Sakazuki shook his head and gave a cold snort:
"Relax. I don't intend to kill him."
"After all, there are people above who want him alive."
"But still..."
He released him, letting Doflamingo's limp body fall to the ground.
Looking at Doflamingo's twisted, hate-filled face, teeth clenched in silence,
Sakazuki planted his foot on the exposed bone of his knee and ground it down.
Watching him refuse to make a sound, Sakazuki chuckled:
"I like bones that don't break easily."
His black leather shoe moved slowly.
Apart from Karol and Enel, who were used to it, everyone else around felt their knees buckle in dread.
Doflamingo's limbs were crushed one by one under Sakazuki's step.
The sickening crack of bones breaking rang out endlessly.
The entire harbor fell into dead silence...
No one dared to breathe...
At last—
Crack—
His final shoulder bone shattered.
Doflamingo's eyes rolled white, his mind seemingly gone, yet he still gritted his teeth in silence.
Sakazuki nodded:
"Not bad."
He beckoned for the next squad of soldiers carrying a nutrient pod.
He gestured several times before they snapped out of their daze and tried to step forward.
Instead, their legs gave out, collapsing to the ground...
Sakazuki frowned, kicking Doflamingo's limp body directly onto the pod.
The sudden impact jolted Doflamingo awake for a moment.
The panicked soldiers scrambled to stuff him inside.
Submerged in the fluid, Doflamingo instinctively choked, but soon realized he could still breathe.
Even as the liquid filled his lungs, it rapidly began repairing his body.
Sakazuki stepped closer, looking down at him in the pod:
"Don't panic. This is nutrient fluid."
"It's for healing."
"Later, I'll have them put you in the highest-grade pod."
"These injuries will heal in a single day."
"You'll only lose... 'a tiny bit' of your lifespan."
"Tomorrow, we continue."
"I want to see just how hard your bones are."
"In the days ahead, you'll learn what true..."
"Hell really is."
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