The enormous deck fell completely silent.
Doll could practically feel her head buzzing.
Faced with Lucas’s bizarre way of thinking, Doll would have absolutely argued with him in the past.
Unfortunately, after personally witnessing the way Lucas operated, she knew him too well.
As long as the money was there, Lucas really would do it.
The only thing Doll felt fortunate about was that Lucas, despite his young age, possessed monstrous strength—and, more importantly, he was one of their own at Marine Headquarters.
Otherwise, with this bonus-obsessed man around, Doll genuinely worried that one day, somewhere out at sea, someone might suddenly tell her how much her bounty was worth.
"Hahaha! This brat certainly does things differently. No wonder Garp took a liking to him and devoted himself to training him. Looks like boarding this ship wasn’t such a bad decision after all. Who knows what kind of fun I’ll run into?"
Naguri took a gulp of liquor and laughed heartily.
"By the way, Brother Fujitora, you’ve sealed your eyes and can’t see everyone’s expressions. That’s a bit of a shame."
Naguri clearly knew something about the secrets surrounding Fujitora’s eyes.
Fujitora shook the bottle in his hand and slightly raised his head in Lucas’s direction.
The two of them were separated by a thick wall.
Yet Fujitora seemed able to see straight through it.
"Heh. I always thought the world’s ugliness would be unbearable to look upon. I never expected that a different kind of radiance could appear as well."
"If I ever get the chance, I’d really like to see what he actually looks like."
At the same time, at the port of the Kingdom of Dressrosa in the New World.
Doflamingo stared at the Warlord Summons in his hand and revealed a sinister smile.
Looking at the Marine Vice Admiral who had come to deliver the summons, he suddenly clenched his right hand.
Crack!
The Warlord Summons was crushed to pieces in his grasp.
Standing at the harbor, Vice Admiral Momonga, who had been tasked with summoning the Warlords of the Sea, immediately turned livid.
This summons had been issued by Marine Headquarters.
Its very existence represented the authority and dignity of Marine Headquarters.
Yet Doflamingo had crushed it without saying a word.
Was he challenging the authority of Marine Headquarters?
"What’s wrong, Vice Admiral Momonga?" Doflamingo asked with a mocking smile. "Do you think I’m insulting Marine Headquarters?"
The instant he slightly bent his body, he vanished like a ghost.
In the next moment, he appeared directly in front of Momonga.
Threads spread from the five fingers of his right hand and shot straight toward the Vice Admiral.
Five Color Strings!
Bang!
Momonga hurriedly drew his sword.
The enormous force struck him head-on, violently sending him flying until he crashed into the warship behind him.
The sudden attack clearly caught everyone off guard.
Even Viola, standing behind Doflamingo, wore an expression of shock.
"Vice Admiral Momonga, are you all right?"
The Marines aboard the warship had not yet disembarked.
Their expressions immediately turned grim as they rushed over.
Before departing, they had been repeatedly warned that, to maximize Marine Headquarters’ chances of victory in the coming war, they had to think carefully before speaking or acting during the Warlord summons.
They absolutely could not give the Warlords any excuse to refuse.
Yet no one had expected that even with Momonga being so cautious, Doflamingo would suddenly attack him.
"Don’t worry. I’m fine."
Momonga suppressed the churning blood in his chest and quickly got back to his feet.
He looked at the amused Doflamingo and spoke in a low voice.
"Doflamingo, I can pretend that destroying the Warlord Summons and attacking me just now never happened."
"But let me make one thing clear. The declaration of war against the Yonko is being taken extremely seriously by both Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the World Government. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have issued the Warlord Summons in the first place."
"Before I departed, Fleet Admiral Sengoku made it clear that the Warlords must be brought back to Marineford. I hope, Doflamingo, that you won’t do anything that leaves me unable to give an explanation when I return."
"Heh. You can’t give an explanation?"
Doflamingo gave a sinister, mocking laugh and looked toward Pica, who stood some distance behind him.
"If that’s enough to leave you unable to explain yourself, then how am I supposed to explain myself to my family?"
"That arrogant Marine Admiral nearly crippled my family members without so much as a disagreement. They’re still missing an arm and a leg."
"If Marine Headquarters thinks that all it has to do is say a few words and I’ll obediently follow you to Marineford to fight, then how am I supposed to maintain my authority over my family?"
"Go back and tell Sengoku this: It’s not impossible for me to go to Marineford and fight."
"But there’s one condition."
"That arrogant Marine Admiral must personally come and invite me."
"Otherwise, don’t blame me for being merciless."
"Viola, see them out."
"Until that arrogant Marine Admiral personally comes to invite me, if any Marine appears within a hundred-kilometer radius of Dressrosa, I will sink them without hesitation."
"Of course, if Marine Headquarters has a problem with that, you can simply strip me of my Warlord title."
"Though I’m afraid that if you do, and the Marines lose the war, you’ll only make an already difficult situation even worse."
Viola’s expression changed slightly.
She had never expected Doflamingo to make such a threatening decision at a time like this.
However, as another pawn in this game, she clearly had little choice.
The only thing she could do was step forward and gesture for the Marines to leave.
As the intelligence squad leader of the Donquixote Pirates, Viola had also heard plenty during this period about the achievements and rumors surrounding the Marines’ Fourth Admiral, Glutton Lucas.
Doflamingo choosing this moment to threaten Marine Headquarters and give the new Marine Admiral a show of force...
The timing itself seemed perfectly reasonable.
But then Viola remembered something.
That Marine Admiral was completely unpredictable when it came to his salary and bonuses.
He had even dared to send a Celestial Dragon flying.
An absurd thought involuntarily surfaced in Viola’s mind.
Could Doflamingo actually be planning to give Lucas a bonus?
"Viola, what are you thinking?"
Doflamingo suddenly spoke.
"Could it be that you think I, Donquixote Doflamingo, would suffer a second loss at the hands of the same person?"
Viola abruptly snapped back to reality.
"Young Master, that’s not what I meant."
"When you told me to send that person an invitation earlier, I already sent it ahead of time. He has also confirmed that he received it."
"So I believe that whatever the Young Master does, there won’t be the slightest oversight."
"Heh. He already replied?"
The smile on Doflamingo’s face grew even wider.
He looked toward the livid Momonga.
"What is it, Vice Admiral? Are you planning to make me repeat myself?"
"I told you to get lost."
"Until I see that newly appointed Marine Admiral, don’t let me see another Marine around here."
"Otherwise, don’t blame Doffy for turning against you."
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