Seeing that Doflamingo was about to leave, Corolla forced himself to speak, his voice shaking:
"Excuse me… Doflamingo-sama, could you let me go? I can also provide some assistance to you!"
"Leave?
You don't seriously think you can attack me and still walk away unharmed, do you?"
Doflamingo looked down at Corolla with open contempt. Let him leave? Impossible.
A special Devil Fruit like the Door-Door Fruit, if it wasn't held firmly in his own hands, giving it back to the World Government would be a complete waste.
If the Door-Door Fruit was properly developed, there would be nowhere in this world you could not go, nowhere you could not reach.
Not to mention, it was a perfect tool for logistics, smuggling, and trafficking. There was nothing you couldn't do with it, only things you hadn't thought of yet.
As for Corolla himself, Doflamingo didn't trust him in the slightest. As to how to obtain the Door-Door Fruit's ability, Doflamingo already had an immature idea in mind.
First, lock Corolla up. Once they returned to Skypiea, he would have Caesar Courant help run some "specialized research."
Talent, if not used, was a pity.
He had the members of the God Guard Squad take Corolla away and lock him up. Then Doflamingo once again flew toward the skies above Thunder God Island.
Circling once around the thunderhead clouds shrouding Thunder God Island, Doflamingo realized those clouds were anything but simple. They contained a strange fluctuation of power.
He sat cross-legged within the thunderheads, feeling the changes of the lightning. All at once, he realized his understanding of his powers had deepened.
Doflamingo had a feeling: if he could completely absorb the strange power above Thunder God Island, then take another step and finish reconstructing Thunder God Island's lightning structure, the day that was completed would definitely be the most glorious tomorrow of his life.
Since the people Trebol and Diamante had arranged were not here yet, Doflamingo took out a Den Den Mushi and contacted them, telling them to bring their men to Thunder God Island to rendezvous with him.
After returning to the ship and giving Barrett a few brief instructions, Doflamingo turned back into lightning and plunged once more into the thunderheads over Thunder God Island.
Time slipped by quietly. Before he knew it, three days had passed.
In those three days, the fires of war in the New World burned even more fiercely.
The Marines were delighted to see it, but to prevent accidents, aside from Garp, who was still chasing Roger all over the place, Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral Lei Qiang led a Power Corps battle group dispatched by Fleet Admiral Steelbone Kong to the New World front lines.
Just like the war in the New World, turmoil also erupted among the Celestial Dragons, or rather, within the Gorosei themselves. An invisible war of words raged, so intense that they argued for three days without reaching a conclusion.
The Gorosei split into two factions:
The extermination faction insisted on using absolute force to directly wipe out Doflamingo.
The moderate faction wanted to focus on appeasement. They believed Doflamingo had not yet done anything overly detrimental to the World Government.
Leaving aside the price they would have to pay to kill Doflamingo, even a single failed attempt, letting him escape, was a cost the Gorosei could not afford.
Both sides held their ground, and neither could convince the other.
Another key point of contention was that neither the Marine Admirals nor the Army Generals should get involved in Doflamingo's case.
Those who could make a move were limited to the Gorosei themselves or the God's Knights. As for sending out the God's Knights, that was impossible. Other than direct orders from Imu-sama, they would never take the field lightly.
So the question became: could the Gorosei casually leave the world's center of power? Could they appear openly in the public eye?
Obviously not.
So who else could carry out the mission? Once again, they ran into a dead loop.
On the third day of debate, the War-God of Finance, Nasjuro-sama, finally lost his patience. He took the other four Gorosei and went straight to Imu's residence, where they presented the situation.
Unlike the Gorosei, Imu stood in a different position and thought from a different angle. After hearing about Doflamingo, Imu immediately gave an answer:
"A Celestial Dragon who was lost to the outside world has actually grown to such strength. The prophecy has begun to change. Things are happening that were not within my expectations.
The blood of the gods flows in his veins, yet he is not one of the D. clan. It seems the future is going to undergo great change.
Grant him special privileges. Even if he does not acknowledge his identity as a Celestial Dragon, give him authority equal to the God's Knights."
"Yes, we understand!"
The Gorosei replied in unison. Imu-sama's orders could not be disobeyed.
After the Gorosei left, Imu murmured to themself:
"This world has begun to drift off course. A powerful figure like Doflamingo, wielding the might of a Logia, should never have appeared among the Celestial Dragons.
The will of the world itself has always avoided the Celestial Dragons. Logia-type fruits have never shown them favor.
I didn't expect that little brat Homing from the Donquixote family to have any value at all. But such matters must not be imitated.
Regardless of whether this anomaly will change the future, I want to see whether you, Joy Boy, and the inheritors of your will can overthrow the world under my rule."
When the Gorosei returned to the center chamber of world power, the atmosphere among them was unusually quiet. Even Saturn-sama, who had been most vehement in demanding Doflamingo's extermination, kept his mouth shut.
None of them understood why Imu-sama had chosen to do this. Only Nasjuro-sama faintly guessed a thing or two.
But Nasjuro-sama absolutely did not dare to voice any speculation about Imu-sama. The entire Holy Land was under Imu-sama's surveillance. Any disrespectful words about Imu-sama would immediately be sensed.
In the end, it was still Nasjuro-sama who spoke first:
"Since Imu-sama has already given the order, we will carry it out as instructed. Before Doflamingo-sama contacts us, everything proceeds as usual. In addition, whatever conditions Doflamingo-sama proposes, we agree.
As for Doflamingo-sama's bounty… let the Marines handle it for now. Until we receive a call from Doflamingo-sama, everything remains unchanged."
"Agreed."
The other four nodded in approval.
And if they didn't agree, what could they do? Imu-sama had given a directive, but had not specified exactly how to implement it. The room for maneuvering would have to be decided by the Gorosei themselves.
If they revoked Doflamingo's pirate bounty for no reason, what would the pirates think? What would the military think? What would the people of the world think?
It clearly could not be done too bluntly. There had to be a reasonable transition.
For that transition plan, the Gorosei had no choice but to bring out the Seven Warlords of the Sea system that they had previously considered.
If they first implemented the Seven Warlords system, then granting Doflamingo special privileges would become much easier to justify. Ideally, Doflamingo himself would also accept a position as one of the Seven Warlords.
Time was short and the task was heavy. The Gorosei dared not delay in the slightest and immediately contacted Fleet Admiral Steelbone Kong, instructing him to quickly select candidates, announce them to the world, and intimidate the other pirates.
Receiving the order left Steelbone Kong with a headache. Right now, the New World was engulfed in constant war. Everywhere was looting and slaughter. Pirate crews were fighting to the death over territory.
Even the relatively "better" Roger Pirates were causing trouble everywhere. Recently, over an issue involving a crewmate, they had wiped out an entire island, making it impossible for anyone to relax their vigilance.
On the Grand Line, new pirates appeared one after another. A typical example was the Donquixote Pirates: their captain and officers were terrifyingly strong. After entering the New World, they were basically already at the level of Warlord candidates.
The pirates and underworld across the Four Seas were just as restless, especially in the North Blue, where the Vinsmoke family was active. No one knew where Judge had acquired a new army, but he was rampaging across the North Blue once again, reigniting the flames of war there.
(End of Chapter)
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