In the end, the Thousand Sunny slowly set sail.
Its destination had been forcibly changed—to Dressrosa.
On the front deck stood two men.
Gern Reginald Sigmar and Donquixote Doflamingo.
One appeared completely relaxed, as if enjoying a casual outing.
The other forced himself to maintain composure, though tension lingered beneath the surface.
Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Straw Hat crew—Nami, Chopper, Brook, and the badly injured Sanji—along with Trafalgar Law and Momonosuke, who had already reverted to human form, were all crowded near the cabin entrance, deliberately keeping their distance.
No one wanted to get anywhere near the two monsters standing on the bow.
Gern, for his part, seemed surprisingly interested in the pirate ship itself. His gaze drifted across the deck with open curiosity, examining the Sunny's many uniquely designed features.
"I didn't look too closely earlier," he remarked casually.
"But it's actually quite large."
While Gern leisurely inspected the Thousand Sunny, Doflamingo leaned against the ship's railing, attempting to recover some semblance of his usual confident posture.
At last, he couldn't hold back any longer.
His voice dropped low.
"'Heavenquake'…"
"What exactly are you planning?"
Hearing him speak, Gern slowly withdrew his gaze from the ship and turned toward him.
"Oh?" he replied lightly.
"Aren't you still convinced you're one of the great Seven Warlords of the Sea?"
"I am," Doflamingo snorted coldly.
Though his current position was humiliating, he still tried to maintain firmness when it came to titles and status.
"That system was established by the World Government. They haven't released any official document stripping me of that title."
"That old bird Morgans spreading rumors in the newspapers? It's nothing but a passing breeze."
He paused, attempting to regain a little initiative.
A twisted smile crept onto his lips.
"Or perhaps… you should just tell me directly."
"You went through all this trouble—what exactly do you want from me?"
Gern didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he tilted his head slightly, studying Doflamingo with faint amusement.
"Tell me something."
"Do you think you can beat the Straw Hat boy?"
The question came so suddenly that Doflamingo blinked in surprise.
Then he burst into mocking laughter.
"Fufufufufu…!"
"You're joking, right?"
"That rubber idiot who doesn't know his place?"
"I could crush him as easily as squashing an ant!"
Watching Doflamingo's absolute confidence, Gern simply curled the corner of his mouth upward.
He didn't pursue the subject further.
Instead, he said only one calm sentence.
"Is that so?"
"Well then…"
"I'll be looking forward to seeing it."
"You…" Behind his sunglasses, Doflamingo's eyes narrowed.
The seemingly absurd question had stirred a faint irritation within him.
He couldn't help raising his voice slightly.
"Hey, 'Heavenquake.' With your experience and strength, you can't possibly fail to see the difference, can you?"
"No matter what, I'm still Joker—the man who ruled the underground world for years."
"One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"My strength, even here in the New World, ranks among the top pirates!"
"And Straw Hat?"
He sneered.
"A brat who's been sailing for less than three years."
"Sure, I admit he had his moment at Marineford and awakened Conqueror's Haki, but so what?"
"Conqueror's Haki isn't everything. I refuse to believe that—"
Before he could finish, Gern interrupted him.
"But when he defeated Crocodile and Gecko Moria…"
"He couldn't even use the most basic Haki yet."
"…!"
The rest of Doflamingo's words died instantly in his throat.
He opened his mouth, but for a moment, he couldn't say a single thing in response.
Crocodile.
A former Warlord.
A Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit user.
Once a man who had dared challenge Whitebeard.
Gecko Moria.
Another former Warlord.
A Shadow-Shadow Fruit user.
A pirate who had once clashed head-on with Kaido.
Neither of them had been weak men in their time.
And yet—
Luffy had truly defeated both of them before learning Haki.
That was an undeniable fact.
Seeing Doflamingo's expression freeze for that brief moment, Gern didn't press the advantage.
Instead, he simply added one quiet remark.
"Underestimating an opponent…"
"Especially the kind of idiot who keeps performing miracles in hopeless situations…"
"…usually comes with a price."
"Fufu… fufufufufu!!!"
In the end, Doflamingo's pride as a long-standing powerhouse prevailed.
Years of arrogance.
Absolute confidence in his own strength.
All of it refused to accept that some rubber idiot could truly threaten him—even with past precedents.
So he forcefully suppressed that fleeting sense of unease.
His voice carried restrained intensity as he addressed Gern.
"As long as you don't interfere…"
"I can kill him."
"I'll crush that insolent brat completely."
After saying this, Doflamingo stared straight at Gern.
Then he laid out his condition.
"If I win…"
"You let me go."
"And you stop interfering in Dressrosa or any of my affairs ever again."
From the moment Gern had appeared, Doflamingo had understood one simple truth with absolute clarity.
His life was no longer in his own hands.
It rested entirely on the whim of the man standing before him.
This situation was completely different from the time he had encountered Aokiji on Punk Hazard.
Aokiji might spare someone out of laziness… or personal philosophy.
But "Heavenquake" Gern…
He was impossible to read.
Impossible to predict.
And worst of all—
A man completely free of restraint.
Gern heard the proposal and nodded without hesitation.
"No problem."
Seeing him agree so easily, Doflamingo had only just begun to relax—
When Gern suddenly changed the tone of the conversation.
"But…"
"If you lose…"
He paused slightly.
"…then you'll have to read the newspaper somewhere else from now on."
"Read the newspaper somewhere else?"
Doflamingo frowned slightly.
The future "King of Prison Newspapers" clearly didn't understand the implication.
Gern didn't bother explaining.
Instead, he calmly continued laying out his terms.
"Also."
"Before you and Straw Hat settle your fight…"
"You'll tell me everything you know."
"Every core secret regarding those 'noble' Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise."
"And every movement Marshall D. Teach has been making in the underground world recently."
"Leave out nothing."
"Fufufu…"
Doflamingo grinned.
"Fine."
"Deal!"
The moment the agreement was sealed between them—
A deal that directly determined life and death—
Trafalgar Law, who had been closely monitoring the situation from afar, instantly felt his expression darken even further.
"…Damn it."
He muttered under his breath.
"Trouble."
"What trouble?" Sanji asked immediately, leaning weakly against the railing as he struggled to remain standing.
Law's eyes remained locked on the two figures at the bow.
His voice was heavy as he explained.
"Gern and Doflamingo just made a deal."
"He promised not to interfere or attack Doflamingo."
"What?!"
Nami, Chopper, Brook, and Sanji all cried out in shock.
If Gern didn't intervene—
That meant Doflamingo could return to Dressrosa without fear.
And once there, he could unleash his full power against Luffy and the others.
The tiny sliver of hope they had been clinging to—
That the "final boss" standing on their ship might restrain or even eliminate Doflamingo—
Had just shattered completely.