"The warship is here! Hahaha, it’s here! The new Marine Admiral really came! Only Young Master could receive treatment like this!"
"Tch, you people really don’t understand. Our Young Master is the true king among the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The other Warlords only have a seat because the Government needs to make up the numbers. None of them can stand on equal footing with Young Master."
"Have you heard? This time, Young Master actually made the newly appointed Fleet Admiral personally come and invite him. He’s going to make that Admiral pay a heavy price."
"That’s right! This time, our Donquixote Family is finally going to hold our heads high again. No—we’re going to vent all our pent-up anger and make that arrogant Marine Admiral understand exactly who he can’t afford to offend!"
The entire scene erupted.
The cheers of more than ten thousand people were like thunder rolling across the harbor.
Standing at the port, Doflamingo looked at the proud faces surrounding him, and the grin on his face became increasingly sinister and triumphant.
He could almost picture the dignified new Marine Admiral crawling before him like a stray dog.
As the warship gradually drew closer, the excitement on Doflamingo’s face intensified.
When the warship was less than a thousand meters from the harbor, Doflamingo was already laughing sinisterly.
"Hahaha! You arrogant bastard from the Marines. I never thought the day would come when you’d have to rush here like a stray dog!"
"Looks like declaring war on two of the Four Emperors at the same time has put quite a bit of pressure on Marine Headquarters. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have abandoned you and ordered you to come here and know your place."
"But I’ve prepared a little welcome gift for you!"
Boom!
Doflamingo took a single step, and his entire body shot toward the warship like a cannonball.
His speed was astonishing. He crossed several hundred meters of sea in an instant and arrived directly in front of the warship.
His right leg lashed out like an iron whip, sweeping toward Lucas with lightning speed.
Smoker, Tashigi, and the others standing on the deck immediately changed expressions.
None of them had expected Doflamingo to attack so impatiently and viciously.
Three days earlier, when they had received a Den Den Mushi call from Fleet Admiral Sengoku, they had already known that this mission would be anything but smooth.
To successfully summon the Seven Warlords of the Sea to participate in the war, both Smoker and Tashigi had racked their brains trying to come up with a reliable way to make Doflamingo put aside his supposed grievances.
They had thought that perhaps meeting face-to-face would create an opportunity for a breakthrough.
Unfortunately, Doflamingo’s sudden attack had completely exceeded their expectations.
As the attack closed in, everyone instinctively looked toward Lucas.
They desperately wanted to know what Lucas, a Marine Admiral, would choose to do when faced with the greater interests of the Marines.
At this moment, it wasn’t only the Marines.
Everyone at the harbor wanted to see exactly how this Marine Admiral was going to "know his place."
"Flowing Water Crushing Rock Fist!"
Lucas suddenly moved.
But he didn’t dodge.
Nor did he defend.
Instead, under the watchful eyes of everyone present, his right fist shot forward like lightning.
Its speed completely surpassed Doflamingo’s sweeping kick.
The sudden counterattack caused Doflamingo’s pupils to contract violently, and his face filled with disbelief.
This was completely different from the scenario he had imagined.
At such close range, Doflamingo had never expected Lucas—who rarely made a move—to suddenly unleash a punch the instant he attacked.
Everything had gone completely beyond his expectations.
BOOM!
The punch slammed into Doflamingo’s abdomen, causing it to cave inward.
Doflamingo had indeed activated his Armament Haki at the critical moment.
But the Ryuo flowing around Lucas’s fist erupted like thunder.
Pfft!
Doflamingo spat out a mouthful of blood.
His body was sent flying backward like a cannonball, crashing into a pile of cargo several hundred meters away.
BOOM!
The enormous mound of cargo, piled as high as a small mountain, shattered on impact.
Fragments scattered through the air.
The harbor, which had been filled with deafening cheers only moments ago, instantly fell into complete silence.
Whether it was the highest-ranking officers of the Donquixote Family or the more than ten thousand low-ranking members who had been deliberately summoned to watch the spectacle, every single one was dumbfounded.
Even Smoker and the others aboard the warship stood there with their mouths agape, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.
Is this how a defeated dog is supposed to behave?
Why did it look more like Doflamingo was the one playing the part?
More importantly, Doflamingo had kept talking about Lucas needing to "know his place."
Yet not even the slightest trace of that so-called submissiveness could be seen in Lucas!
"Admiral Lucas..." Doll finally couldn’t help speaking. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku told us to invite Doflamingo to participate in the Seven Warlords of the Sea mobilization order. But you attacked him the moment we met. Is... is this really okay?"
Everyone present wore bitter expressions as they looked toward Lucas.
Lucas took out his gourd, took a small sip of Strong liquor , and calmly said,
"Old Man Sengoku gave me a thirty-million-Berry bonus to bring Doflamingo back."
"But he only told me to invite him back. He never said how I had to invite him."
"If Old Man Sengoku had any specific requirements, he wouldn’t have called me only once, would he?"
Doll and the others stood frozen in place.
Faced with Lucas’s reasoning, they were completely unable to refute him.
Could it be that Fleet Admiral Sengoku genuinely didn’t care how Lucas brought one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea back?
"You bastard!"
Doflamingo emerged from the wreckage, his expression twisted with rage.
"How dare you attack me!"
"Don’t forget that it is Marine Headquarters asking me to assist in the war. I’m not the one begging Marine Headquarters for anything!"
"You dare attack me now?"
"Don’t you worry that you won’t be able to answer for this when you return?"
"Answer for it?"
Lucas took another small sip of Strong liquor and spoke indifferently.
"Doffy, you just reminded me."
"If I don’t say my lines properly, I really won’t have the nerve to collect my bonus."
"Doffy, you have two choices."
"First, I invite you to come to Marine Headquarters."
"Second, I invite you to come to Marine Headquarters."
"Which one would you like to choose?"
His voice wasn’t loud.
Yet at that moment, it seemed to contain an invisible demonic resonance that echoed throughout the harbor, lingering for a long time.
Every member of the Donquixote Family present had a completely rigid expression.
They remembered what Doflamingo had said earlier when he gathered everyone here.
Was this really the spectacle they had come to watch?
This so-called "knowing his place" was a little too forceful, wasn’t it?
The veins on Doflamingo’s forehead bulged violently.
His knuckles cracked repeatedly as he clenched his fists.
His entire body trembled uncontrollably.
He had deliberately summoned every one of his subordinates—even his most important guests.
His purpose had been to show everyone what the majesty of a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea looked like.
He had never imagined that the one displaying his might in the end would be the other side.
There was no way Doflamingo could swallow this humiliation.
His expression twisted viciously.
Then he abruptly raised his head, lifted his right hand high above it, and roared,
"Good! Very good!"
"So you’re truly an arrogant new Marine Admiral!"
"Even now, you still dare to act so recklessly!"
"Today, I want to see just how long you can keep acting so arrogant!"
"Let’s see whether you can drag this entire kingdom into your madness and die together with it!"
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