Chapter 22 - The Battle of Dressrosa (Part 1)

As the personal notifications of what happened in Punk Hazard arrived, there was a severe discussion happening in the new Navy Headquarters. Where most of the world's forces that protected justice were situated. This place was inaccessible to any pirate, to any organizations in the world trying to take on the World Government's might. It was safe to say, a war similar to that of Whitebeard's conflict could never happen again while this fortress of strength stood. Not the Emperors, not their minions, could ever stand up to this place. That's what the marines frankly believed. This was a place of honor and pure military might. Built by the new Fleet Admiral Akainu. And it could be said the Navy today was more potent and more robust than ever before.

However, there was a pervasive tension running around this room, full of Vice-Admirals, Rear-Admirals, and high-rank officers.

At the front was Brannew. A man highly regarded in the Navy, having a commissioned position, different from regular Commodores. He was the man in command of tactics, strategy and the man who did seminars and symposiums on challenging targets and how to best combat them.

And now, there was a serious discussion to be had in here.

It concerned the events that had taken place this day on the Punk Hazard island. Reports from it indicated a secret lab built by Joker, one of the Underworld's stars. And now recognized as Doflamingo, one of their Warlords. This lab revealed dark truths that were hard for the Navy to swallow.

"The Seven Warlords of the Sea are so named because they are an extension of our justice. They keep their status and are allowed to do their pillaging within reason in exchange for information, a leash to their necks, and their considerable fighting strength to aid the Navy when called. We have been blessed for recruiting such strong men and women like Dracule Mihawk and Boa Hancock, who rarely, if ever, create trouble for the Government. However, the things uncovered by our secret agents paint a grim picture about Doflamingo. It is stated he produced an illegal substance, one used to produce Artificial Devil Fruits, selling it to an Emperor of the Sea."

Brannew was interrupted as these confident men and women started discussing his speech as well. These interruptions were good for the health of the conversation, so Brannew allowed it.

"So they know how to build those fruits?"

"It needs to be dealt with immediately."

The marines here of high-rank were discussing all around. They were sitting in a line at each side, with their green tea and sushi in front of them. However, their food remained untouched for the present moment as the talking increased in volume, and Brannew watched them for a bit. After a few moments, he resumed his speech.

"Silence. This method of developing an artificial fruit has been analyzed by our top experts, and it paints another bad picture. The method is incomplete, and it often fails to produce fully-fledged Devil Fruit Users. Instead, producing mutants with half-baked powers in most cases. However, these Zoan Devil Fruits still boost a soldier's capability to overpower a normal man. It is more than enough. This is incredibly dangerous in the hands of an army. While normal men could take two or three bullets. These mutants could take double or triple the bullets before perishing. Therefore, we can consider what Doflamingo is doing as highly illegal and dangerous to the Naval forces. Not only is he selling to one of our main enemies, but there are also reports that he's funding both revolts, militia, and terroristic organizations. Furthermore, he's also funding the established countries and their armies alike. Fueling wars and conflicts from both sides of the coin."

"Doflamingo, so he's the one behind the arms trade as well?"

"We lost so many of our men to the wars of revolution, and he's perpetuating those conflicts? He needs to go to Impel Down, chuck him into the lowest level, and then execute him in public. The Underworld businesses need to learn a painful lesson not to mess with the Government."

"Silence. The man working under Doflamingo has been outed as Caesar Clown. Caesar was a man who was part of the Government a few years back. But considering his crimes, Caesar was persecuted because of his anti-ethical means and involvement in Punk Hazard's accident a few years back. This was already confirmed. In any case, it was related to us. He was building a weapon of mass destruction. It was a chemical weapon. We have procured the remains of this weapon ourselves and collected the substance. It is quite frightening. Even gas masks have no effect on it. Release it somewhere, and the whole population will die. This chemical weapon has been classified as a special-grade prohibited weapon. Chemical weapons are also highly prohibited by the Government's law. And anyone intending on producing it, that's not of the Government, will have their rights and freedom taken, and will have a life sentence doled out."

"Chemical weapons. What the hell is Doflamingo thinking?"

"I've heard more than enough. Let's take Doflamingo in immediately."

Brannew was now hesitating to say the following line, knowing how the room would react. But he did, nonetheless. "And finally, the last report concerning the Straw Hats..."

"That crew was involved?!"

"We need to kill all the Straw Hats, KILL THEM. THEIR CAPTAIN NEEDS TO DIE A PAINFUL DEATH!"

"He's the one responsible for G1. Some of my subordinates died there. He needs to be stopped."

"Silence. We have the reports that the Straw Hats meddled with Punk Hazard and killed Caesar Clown and some of the Donquixote Family members. In the light of this, we have surmised that Straw Hat and Trafalgar Law had joined forces and will infiltrate Dressrosa sometime this week. Some of our superiors think they will invade the Kingdom tomorrow. While we are in disagreement with Doflamingo, we cannot let the Straw Hats defeat another Warlord. It has been quite enough. Considering this, we have decided to aid Doflamingo for the time being and kill the Straw Hats on sight. There is no need to hold back. We won't let their volatile Captain have his way on things anymore. After the Straw Hats are annihilated, we will then apprehend Doflamingo for his crimes. And thus, the justice of the Navy will be intact. We cannot let Doflamingo get away with this either."

"That makes sense. We cannot let the Straw Hats or Doflamingo go either."

"It was the right choice not to give Trafalgar the position of Warlord, allying himself with the Straw Hats, a pirate's a pirate, allying himself with damn terrorists."

"We can kill two birds with one stone. Kill the damn Straw Hats, and take Doflamingo in. I can't wait to see that annoying grin be taken from that bastard's face. And I can't wait to see Straw Hat's head on a platter."

"Everything will be decided in Dressrosa then?"

The discussion continued to become even more prominent, with some of the Vice-Admirals primed and ready to hunt down the Straw Hats for the death of their subordinates, friends, and comrades. Many also wanted to avenge Momonga. They wanted to massacre the Pirate Hunter Zoro with their own blades. Brannew had to retake the discussion. At this rate, everyone here would be ready to get their warships and buster call the hell out of Dressrosa at this point. However, the Navy didn't have the entire disposition to go hunting the Straw Hats right now. There was a more important target for them to pursue. Regardless, they wouldn't let the Straw Hats fly free either. This was the end of them all.

"Silence. We cannot allocate that many forces to Dressrosa. And we're still pursuing Ain and her band of outlaws. That search has been quite hard. And we still are losing forces to the Woman of Regression. We cannot spare that many Vice-Admirals to Dressrosa. However, Akainu proposed something that will crush the Straw Hats in one fell swoop. Admiral Fujitora will go. He and his two Vice-Admirals will land on Dressrosa to go forward with the mission. A small force, but an overwhelming one. Admiral Kizaru is still pursuing Ain and her band. And Ryokugyu is in Marie Geoise for the preparations of the Reverie. There are a lot of things to be done this next month. Stay sharp, everyone, and never relent. For the sake of our absolute justice."

"Yeah!"

The Navy had thought an admiral would be more than enough to curb the Straw Hats completely. The same happened two years ago, after all. However, they still didn't know that Straw Hat Luffy had faced Aokiji and remained utterly unscathed.

At this point, an Admiral was more of a dangerous play toy than anything else.

However, Dressrosa wouldn't be that simple for any side.

Fujitora had already left earlier this evening.

And the following day, one battleship followed Fujitora to Dressrosa.

This battleship contained two elderly people.

Sengoku and a stern old woman named Tsuru were on it.

"Why are you so interested in going to Dressrosa, Tsuru?"

"I have tenuous ties with a brat that will be going there."

"What a coincidence. I also have tenuous ties with another brat that will be there too. So, finally, going to confront your grandson? I thought you didn't even like to think about your family."

"I despise family drama. It forces us to do things we hate. Right, shitty brat?"

Tsuru whispered the question to the morning sea.

X❖X

"So, you're going to eat the fruit of snow?"

Luffy had put the fruits for free choosing. It was his friend's decision that would make all the difference. If they wanted to eat them, it was fine. If they did not want to rely on devil fruit powers was also fine. He was okay with them making their own decisions about it. However, one individual came by his side at nighttime, when everybody was sleeping, and he maintained guard. Luffy wondered but then smiled.

It was Kikunojo, a samurai they met in Punk Hazard. Kiku was a powerful woman who could give his most vital crew members a run for their money in the battle department. She was a retainer of Momonosuke's father. A lord from the country of Wano has since passed away. She was accompanying them on their ship until Wano and self-styled herself as a temporary servant for the master of this vessel. In other words, Luffy was her temporary master of sorts. It was only suitable to pay favors with more favors, in her own opinion.

However, she was carrying a fruit—a devil fruit in her hand.

"When I said that my friends could eat the fruits, I was also considering you. If you want to eat it, then that's fine. If you don't want to, then that's also fine. Nobody here is going to blame you if this fruit becomes your power."

The Straw Hats weren't that petty as to not give treasures to friends of theirs. At the end of the day, you could consider Devil Fruits as tools. It may come as weird from a guy who ate 2 fruits, but the fruit itself did not define a person. He could say he was the God Indra, as much as he liked, but at the end of the day, Luffy wasn't defined by the fruit of rubber, or the fruit of exponentials, or the fruit of god. He liked to think he wasn't such a cheap character like that, so much so he used brute strength and Haki for most of his fights, rarely even using the powers that the two fruits gave him. He even walked around with three concentrated Sea Stone bracelets tied to his bicep, just so he remembered that simple fact.

Devil fruits were tools to be used, not their whole identity. So this was why Luffy was alright in letting his crewmates decide for themselves. Though it seems one of the three devil fruits was about to be gobbled up right now. Leaving behind the fruit of gas that was so strong it made him have some internal bleeding. And the fruit of ruptures that could have killed Luffy if the owner had some form of Haki to augment his Devil Fruit's power.

Luffy was sincerely shocked that Kikunojo was considering the snow one since it was the much weaker fruit. He believed people would be jumping at the chance to eat the fruit of ruptures, one of the most devastating ones he'd seen yet. The power of that Paramecia couldn't be overstated.

Along those lines, the gas fruit was also a remarkably strong Logia. Though it was not the most potent one, it would prove a boost because it would give strong invincibility against those that didn't use Haki.

Kikunojo nodded. The snow one was the one for her. It was time she was augmented with more power to defeat that monster.

"Once you bite into it, you won't be able to swim anymore. You'll be next to useless once you touch a Sea Stone material. As I said, not all fruit powers are excellent or make things better for the user. Sometimes, users need to train for months just so they could get their fruit to work. Knowing all of this, are you still going to take the plunge, Kiku?"

"Yes, please let me eat this fruit, Luffytaro-dono."

"Do as you wish. I'm not about to force anything on you."

"Then, let me partake in this meal in front of you."

Luffy was sitting on the lions-head as he watched from behind as Kikunojo took bites of the fruit. She made sick faces as she took bites. Luffy silently chuckled. The fruit tasted horrible. Then after she was done eating it, her body morphed.

And all her body fell on the floor of the deck, a pool of snow there. Moving slowly and yet not able to retain her form right.

All Logias…

She was struggling and was not able to maintain her form.

Luffy looked on gently and then said with a soft and deep voice as he spoke to the snow chunks.

"Don't worry, remember what you looked like, get a good mental image of your human form. Come on, you can do it."

Luffy laughed gently as she finally was able to reconstruct herself.

Devil Fruits were hard.

"This is from my master Ray. Logias are all about imagination. What do you want to look like? How do you wish to use your snow? Those are the main principles of using this type of fruit. Well, I am just parroting my teacher here."

"No, you are right, imagination, strength, imagine what I want to become, and how do I want to use it."

Devil Fruit Users who used the same fruit often differ wildly on how to use it. Sometimes, the powers between them were so foreign, you'd wonder if they ate the same fruit. Some copied the previous user—some went on a different path entirely.

Kikunojo was the latter person.

Because as she huffed, a cold snow pervaded her breath. Her hair was pushed back by the snowy wind. And a giant samurai made of snow appeared behind her. His sword was made of a bluish glow. Luffy looked behind him, and a rush made its way onto his spine as he looked at what she had constructed.

She drew her sword, and the construct made the same motions. Her sword was enchanted by a bluish glow as it absorbed the snow particles all around her. The aura grew violently and sharply. Making even Luffy sweat a bit.

Don't tell me, is she just a natural at this? With this, isn't she already more powerful than Zoro or Sora?

"Dead Snow Parish."

A blue horizon was painted across the front as the giant snow samurai slashed. Then she scored with her own Katana, breaking the blue horizon. Opening the sea into two points at a distance. And then making the sea itself snow up. Yes, the snow was going up to the clouds instead. Luffy looked at the sea as little snowballs were pushed upwards. Starting from the sea, floating towards the clouds.

"Hahaha, this is amazing. AMAZING."

He had a sense of wonder in his eyes as Kikunojo smiled. And the winter samurai was re-absorbed into her body.

She didn't even use Haki for this. And I thought the Snow fruit was inferior. Regardless of my thoughts, I guess true strength really comes from the wielder. Honestly, I am tempted to go search for Aokiji, just so I can kill him, and give her the ice fruit as well.

While thinking such dangerous thoughts, Luffy was still amazed and relaxed as the sights continued.

Both looked at each other and smiled.

Kikunojo approached him and started speaking about her past.

X❖X

"You were together with this Oden, after all. Ever since you were young, you served this guy as his samurai?"

"Yes, we were extremely poor. So my brother and I used to dress fancy and with make-up made with fruits and some clay. We were just children, but we went door-to-door to dance for a bit of money or food. We did this even in the winter. It was just by chance that we met Oden-sama and his entourage while they were passing through our village."

Then, her brother Izo said to her that they should follow Oden-sama. And they did, despite the large man looking so displeased. They stubbornly followed Oden-sama to take advantage of him and have some of his food in his travels. Soon, that stubbornness turned into honest loyalty. They were just following him so they could have some food and live. And before they knew it, they looked up to him like an older brother. Kiku and Izo started contributing more and more, wanting to be sung praises about them. That's how the bit went. Regardless, Kiku was a bit embarrassed after all these years. When you think about it, she started mooching off the Shogun's son, which then turned into loyalty. Sometimes, Kiku felt undeserving of being a red scabbard. She felt like an impostor sometimes. Nevertheless, no one had more dedication than her. Some of Oden's scabbards have lived with him longer and went on more journeys with him. Though, she wanted her feelings to be acknowledged, that she and her blade were primed for Oden, that she was strong, if not stronger than any of her scabbard colleagues. But even that feeling of competition between servants was a shameful one.

"Nobody's going to question your feelings. Kiku. No matter what anyone says, you are extremely powerful in your own right."

"But the end result was that I lost Momonosuke-sama, and I was caught unawares and sliced to bits. If that man's powers did not work like that, surely, I would have been slaughtered at that point. It cast doubts on my skills, in comparison to all other scabbards, and my older brother Izo."

"He was in Whitebeard's ship, right. I don't remember him from the war, but everything was so frantic and large, and I was so laser-focused on my brother at the time, Izo must have been there as well."

"He is unconventional as a samurai. He wields a gun to combat as well. Looking at me, who wields a massive katana, you could say I am the most orthodox one."

There were no secret things to Kikunojo's strength.

All you could say was that her blade could inflict eternal pain even after death. That was incredible. Her skill with a single sword was also marvelous. Her Armament Haki was a thing of wonders. Luffy could safely say that he was intrigued by someone's Haki. Her Armament had a superior quality. As if it broke the limits and reached a new stage. Luffy had also reached a new stage in both Armament and Supreme King's Haki. However, his Armament reached an entirely different stage than hers. It was pretty typical for Haki masters to manifest new powers not found in many other people. New stages parallel to each other. Some of these masters had powers that all others did not have, something unique to them. However, every single parallel stage could be mastered. Haki was present in anyone, other than the Supreme King's, of course. Even if it takes a few hours, days, years, hundred years, or a millennium. A newbie could learn these unique stages. It all depends on talent, will, and drive.

Luffy had reached a stage in supreme King's where he could kill people instead of knocking them out if he wanted.

Luffy had reached a stage in Armament, where his skin wears a black and red suit of armor, with innumerable scales. An indestructible barrier to regular attacks.

Kikunojo had reached a stage where she could deliver Haki towards the innards of an opponent. Destroying their defenses.

She said she learned it from Oden.

She said Oden learned this when he was but 11 years old.

This guy is completely insane. It would have been nice to meet him.

Unfortunately, this guy had died some twenty years ago. Executed by Kaido. Luffy did not tell anyone, but he had seen Kiku's burn marks on her backside. She said to him that the scabbards were to die with Oden, boiled until they died. And yet, Oden saved his underlings by lifting them in the lid while facing the hot boiling waters himself. He stood there, raising his comrades with the lid until he died three days later. Not because of the burns, but because of dehydration. And in those three days, his comrades suffered on his back. Every single scabbard received a burn mark on the back of their legs, their backsides, and their backs. Horrible burns that stood until today, scars that wouldn't disappear, each red scabbard was marked until the day they died. It was only due to Oden's kindness they didn't die.

"On the day of his death, he said he was born to boil, hahaha."

Kiku laughed softly with her lips, and yet loud tears marred her face as she remembered it all—the mark of burns and the tattoo of the Kozuki clan on her back. Those were the marks that made who Kikunojo was today. She was not a saint. She was a samurai that has slain countless men before, but she was still plagued by a lot of thoughts like everyone else. She wasn't an emotionless tool. She served an unconventional lord and was unconventional herself. Though she was a woman, she was still granted the samurai's title. However, outside the scabbards, she was mocked and undermined.

What a guy this Oden is.

Kikunojo was a lot older than Luffy, yet she was now seeking comfort in his arms.

"Can you indulge with me tonight, Luffy-dono, or are you averse to this burned body of mine?"

"I won't say no to spending a night with such a beautiful woman."

Luffy traced his own burned mark, the X mark on his chest, to show it to her that scars did not matter to him. It did not make her ugly whatsoever, symbolizing her strength and the history of her suffering. Luffy would never belittle that, never. If a night with him would make her worries ease a little as they approached Dressrosa, then that was fine with him.

Kikunojo put her hand in her kimono and let it fall on the nightly deck of the Sunny—the only companion to their night was the pleasant wind.

LEMON WARNING

When Luffy thought she would be the submissive samurai that did all her lord asked to, he was utterly wrong. She tackled him with force as her massive breasts smothered his face. She was twice as tall as he was, so it was heaven to be enveloped by such huge breasts. Kikunojo's politeness was thrown out the window as her pale hands drew his head closer, and she kissed him. He had to look up as she took his mouth hostage. Kissing with violence wasn't characteristic of a person who served a lord in the past. But then again, the red scabbards weren't ordinary samurai by any means. Kikunojo, while being extremely orthodox, was born a vagrant, still. And as a vagrant, took whatever she wanted for herself. That personality manifested itself when she was lovemaking.

Kiku enjoyed the mouth of her new lord as she kissed and kissed him more. Her pale shoulders were turning even more white as she got even more excited. Her extremities were turning into snow, pleasantly cooling Luffy and giving him shivers as he enjoyed grabbing her ass. Her ass cheeks were massive because of her tall size, and while there was a big burn mark on them, he didn't let a blemish like that get in the way of thoroughly enjoying Kikunojo as a beautiful woman. Her scars and marks made her even more of a beauty, so Luffy couldn't help but get extremely hard. Kiku was pressing, and she felt an extremely long, thick, and hard thing popping out of his dark shorts. She took a peek down and saw such a huge monster cock pressing against both their abdomen.

Wow, I've never seen one this big before. He's so large, and it's so hot. I can feel my bellybutton warming up. His musky scent is driving me insane.

Kikunojo was extremely fit, so she had rows of abs. They were soft and hard and stimulated the tip of his massive cock as they danced with their tongues. Kikunojo was still taking the initiative, so she pressed her finger on the side of his foreskin, pushing down to reveal the big, engorged tip that was leaking out his male scent.

His cock is sooo manly. I want to play with it.

Kikunojo enveloped his cock in light snow, leaving the sensations even more potent on his cock, and almost making him cum from that. Then her hand grew hot again, making him really sensitive, as he partook sucking on her big breasts and big nipples. And then, she finally crouched and started pumping his cock. She had a light dusting of snow on her boobs as she enveloped his cock in a pleasant cold that drove him insane. Luffy couldn't handle it anymore. He kept fucking her breasts as she circled his cock in the softness of her boobs. There was a fervor in her work that made Luffy really appreciate how domineering Kiku was with sex. She was greedy and lustful, and she was very sure of what she wanted from him.

She saw the tip of his cock, peeking out from the softness of her breasts, and she kissed it, tasting the first hints of his semen. She wanted a physical connection and a physical relief with the most charismatic and strong person on the ship, and that was unquestionably Luffy. And he knew instinctively what she wanted from the moment she appeared. Her pussy was leaking out her juices from how excited and lustful she was about the situation. Luffy lifted her up, not caring she was twice his height and speared her with his cock. Making use of his exponential powers to temporarily increase both their pleasure centers.

Just one thrust sent both to heaven, so much so that Luffy wondered why he didn't use this before. He kept thrusting as his cock kept producing more and more pre-cum.

He kept fucking her until she got too tired of all the pleasure. The night was still going, and he still had many hours until his shift was over.

While increasing the pleasure was great and made them cum multiple times throughout, it was tiring for their brains to keep producing pleasurable sensations. Any more orgasms and a headache would happen.

She already consumed a Devil Fruit today and then mind-blowing sex. Later on, she was dead tired. The days before, she was torn into three pieces, independently working alone, making her even more tired than she was. It was time she truly gave a good rest because fighting would continue tomorrow.

Luffy stayed on the deck and admired the glow of the moons.

X❖X

Luffy was still not going to sleep. He was still on the lookout while all the others slept and prepared for the fight. He did not need rest. He was plenty powerful. However, the others were not as overwhelming as he was, so they needed all the energy required. In the first place, he was going about this in a laisse-fair attitude. Mingo was just a fun distraction. His natural enemies were the Emperors right now. Not some Warlord again.

"…ah."

For the first time ever since he became this powerful, the back of his hair stood. He felt a severe chill in his extremities, and this feeling of terror consumed his frontal thoughts.

There was someone on this ship.

He rushed towards Sunny's lion head.

And there, above Sunny's, was someone. That girl was drinking wine. She couldn't be older than 7.

She had white hair, falling neatly. Her bangs were trimmed horizontally, every day, it seemed. She had black eyes, her pupils were white. Almost as if all light was reflected in her eyes. No light reached those eyes.

"… your eyes are becoming the same thing, you know?"

That intense chill returned as he realized she had just read his mind. That wasn't possible. His mind should be a sea of red, even that Queen couldn't guess at his emotions.

"…I'm not using Haki, you know. My little sister and I are very interested in you. And I just wanted to show you my face, just so you can remember it for later when our games start. We've been bored in the last 800 years ago. However, 20 years ago, our youngest sister had a dalliance with someone. That situation was certainly entertaining."

"…"

"Your dumbfounded reaction is humorous. It seems you consumed some entertaining fruits as well. We'll see each other again, child. Don't be such a fearful infant. The others won't mess with you just yet. Only I am bored enough that I want to talk with you, so I'll be appearing more and more often. You can feel free to hurt me or insult me. That is also entertaining. Our family craves conversations to keep us engaged. Next time don't be such a bore, and speak to me, okay?"

That girl of about 7 just vanished. She appeared at night, without his permission. A presence he couldn't even sense with his Haki. He actually had to rely on his sense of smell to notice her. And she just said some terrible things.

Stuart-Griffins. They are already making contact with me without me making the first move?

He realized who she was by her speech. She was someone of his family, his maternal family—the ones who were at the tip-top of the world. Luffy estimated himself to be as powerful as an Emperor, if not more. If his evil maternal family was like this, then he needed to become more than a monster. From the girl's speech, it seems they wouldn't mess with him. Though whether that was true or not, it remained to be seen. Luffy's mood plummeted a lot after that. In fact, he was pretty angry now that the surprise had worn off. A target of his revenge just appeared and left like an illusion. This girl had controlled the whole conversation and did not even let him get his bearings. She just kept chattering non-stop with her mouth, as though she hadn't spoken with someone in years and just wanted to talk, and then just left as fast as she arrived.

Luffy climbed the head of Sunny and sat on it.

"She was sitting in my special seat."

Luffy sighed.

As expected, family drama was going to kill him. How easy would it be to just worry about the One Piece?

To just abandon all this maturity and only pursue that dream. But even that treasure was a midpoint to him now. They were the endgame. He did not know what their involvement was with the lost century Robin was searching for. But he realized they had their participation tickets since the very beginning. Luffy kept staring at the dark waves crashing on his ship and making white foam.

White hair, unlike him. Black eyes with white pupils, like his?

Luffy clicked his tongue so hard he tasted blood.

Is she my cousin, aunt, or grandma?

He had no clue who in the maternal family she was placed. But he knew that the most significant problems were his aunts.

Youngest sister? Dalliance? She's the oldest aunt, isn't she? Why do I have a tiny girl as the oldest aunt?

Next time, he would just ram a spear of plasma through the phantom girl, see how she liked that as 'entertainment.'

Luffy put a hand in his temple to contain his headache. The family drama was going to be an even bigger headache in the future.

The Monkey D. Family and the Stuart-Griffin Family, huh?

And now he was going on a quest to exterminate the Donquixote Family.

It was times like these where he wished to go back to being stupid like two years ago.

Luffy barely started, but he was already tired of families.

X❖X

Luffy was still overlooking the deck when Law arrived and was by his side. The night where he talked with one of his dangerous aunts seemed just a dream. There was no way to say this correctly, but there were slight differences between Luffy and Doflamingo. Both were fiercely protective of their crew and would kill any enemy in their way. Doflamingo was able to gather such loyalty from his members like that, and rightly that Doflamingo screwed up in the case of Baby 5. The other family members were also fiercely protective of him. Luffy and Doflamingo were almost the same. To Luffy, it was apparent why Law shouldn't have made this alliance with Luffy in the first place. And he wanted to ask Law if he had a wrong opinion of Luffy and just wanted to use his powers in the end. A similar enemy destroying another as it were.

So Luffy struck a conversation while they felt the breeze.

"Strange, I thought that I resemble your great enemy. A big killer who does nothing but lord about. What made you think that allying yourself with me would be a good idea?"

"I don't know. I don't want to talk about it at all. If there was a reason, I wouldn't tell you. However, you're pretty different from Doflamingo in general. True, Doflamingo acts like he cares about his family. He cares about his goals and has no trouble killing his enemies. Doflamingo has no trouble in killing innocent people."

"I see, from our showing in Punk Hazard, I thought you might be just using us to get rid of Doflamingo and secretly hated working with us."

"I hate it, I hate the campy attitude you guys have at one moment, and in another, you turn into brutal killers. I'm a doctor by trade, and I have been coined as the Surgeon of Death. However, in all my life, I only killed 30 people, more-or-less. All those were deserving of that fate, and I don't regret killing them. However, you guys don't care—every enemy in the way needs to be plucked from existence in your eyes. Even when I fought Smoker on the island, I was pretty torn if I was going to kill him there or not. I am different from all of you. I don't go killing the enemy as willy-nilly as you guys and then party afterward like nothing happened. So I cannot relate to your crew very well."

"It's strange, coming from a guy who is worth more than me. I thought once you got to this level, all you have around you is a sea of evil monsters."

"There might be some big monsters all around this sea. But you're not the worst I've seen, trust me on that Straw Hat-ya, there are a lot of people more evil than you in this sea, as countless as the stars, in fact. The newspapers treat you as a dangerous element because you're targeting the justice system of this world. You're targeting the Government, and the Government controls the narrative that is fed on the citizens. Ordinary people will fear you without any reason to do so. Because you're not ever targeting them or their livelihood, you're targeting the Government and your enemies. Not to mention, when you're not triggered, you're quite the softie, quite disgusting in my opinion. Not at all what I expected out of you. I thought you'd be much more insufferable."

"True enough, you're quite smart, Traffy. Yes, normal people will look at me and think I'm the big bad. However, I won't complain about it. People can form their own opinions on me all on their own, and that is completely fine. I just wanted to hear yours. I'm not alright in the head, my actions leave much to be desired, but this is what makes me complete."

"…"

"Hey, what is it that you want to do?"

"…"

"Think about it. I'm going to sleep a bit."

X❖X

Luffy's shift was changed to Franky, Zoro, and Law. Sora was already awake and, in the kitchen, as well. Under the current condition, they would arrive in three to four hours. Luffy was trusting of his teammates' and Law's strength. And he went to get some shut-eye himself. Luffy entered the Captain's quarters, there on the vast bed, was a sprawl of women. Nami, Robin, Kiku, and Baby 5, surprisingly. She had gotten along strangely well with the crew. Almost as though she was lonely for a few years, her only friend took advantage of her repeatedly. Mingo might have thought he was caring for his family. However, he failed to see his own crew's problems, and Baby 5 was severely disenfranchised after a while. Luffy understood that Baby 5 had a damaged mentality, where people could ask anything of her, and she would do it. Even if she were asked to commit suicide, she would readily do it. That wasn't a healthy mindset.

Luffy brushed his hand over her face.

Understanding, talking, and coming to a conclusion with her mentality would be a challenge to Luffy. However, he was willing to do it. Unfortunately, Law drew her to their side out of obligation towards a childhood friend of his, he wanted her to join the heart pirates, but while Law offered friendship and a great place to be, he didn't provide understanding, not yet anyway. Baby 5's mentality was all over the place, and she had just betrayed her family and killed her disenfranchised friend. Even though Luffy himself was a violent and psychotic man, he was still gentle and kind to those he didn't hate or weren't his enemies. It wasn't like he was killing citizens or those who were innocent. There needed to be this clear distinction. If he just went murdering everything and everyone in his way, involving innocent lives, then there would be no one who would follow him. Despite him murdering those connected to the Government, people still followed him, people even admired him, people even loved him.

Luffy was in no way a righteous person.

He was a pirate and acted like a terrorist. He has made his bed, and he was going to lie in it for the rest of his life, no matter how long or how short it might be. Luffy was extremely certain in his final goal, and he wanted to achieve that with hurting the least amount of innocent people and also murdering all of those involved.

Notice the murdering word. Luffy was not playing nice. He knew himself to be formidable. He knew he was a divine presence in a fight between ants. He knew that people who matched him could be counted with his fingers. Those who were not on that concise list had no chance against him. Dueling and killing someone of his caliber and massacring those who did not come close were two different things.

Therefore what he did was murder, massacre.

He targeted the Government and erased everyone in the hopes of causing fear.

He was a terrorist.

Luffy knew all of this. He intimately knew himself. He knew himself, and despite all his evil actions, he was sure of his goal.

What grave sin did the Government commit that he uncovered that would make him act this way?

Or perhaps it was a large pile of more minor sins the Government committed, making him act like this?

The only hints were Luffy's actions after the detonation of the G-1 Base. He did not care for his old marine rivals like Smoker or Coby any longer, which made some of his crew question that attitude, some even going so far as to yell at Smoker to leave the island before the marines could meet with Luffy.

This mystery was still without concrete answers.

Regardless, Luffy would continue to dabble in evil deeds.

But for now, he entered the bed with the sea of women and found himself a spot.

Baby 5 blushed as she saw a man entering her bed. She was still not accustomed to this. Everyone else was sleeping, though. So she tried her hardest to sleep as well.

Luffy found it funny what happened next. Little Momo came up to him, half-asleep, and started sleeping on his arm. With so many hotties surrounding the little boy, he reached for Luffy in his sleep. Even though Momo had been enjoying Nami's boobs earlier, silly kid.

A woman was the best thing to cuddle—they were soft and bouncy and smelled lovely.

If he still had the fruit of rubber, that would be one thing, but he was not rubber anymore.

Men like Luffy only had rough skin, not at all worth the cuddle. What happened next made Luffy involuntarily smile briefly.

"Father…"

"At least call me your older brother, brat."

"Mhm, dad…"

"…Whatever makes your dreams better, I guess."

The little brat mistook him for his father. Again he was being compared to this legendary lord they had. It felt a bit strange. He was only 19 years old this year. Still too young to be a father, and he already promised himself not to be one. He was way too irresponsible to settle down with a kid on some island or whatever. He wanted to continue to sail until the day he died. In the same cloth, he understood he was in no position to be a father. Both Dragon and Roger were the same kinds of dads. Too infamous to ever consider raising a child. Luffy finally understood the lesson from these two, never have a kid you're unwilling to raise. It was bad enough of a life for both Luffy and Ace, without their dads there, as much as Luffy loved Garp, Garp was not the best role model—he was too psychotic and brutal.

Luffy did not want his kid or kids to suffer through the same. So the answer was just not to have them.

"Still a kid."

Luffy, Ace and Ann were siblings, and at this age, they were just three kids playing in a forest and in a dump full of trash. Not plotting to assassinate an Emperor and gain control over Wano again. The scabbards were putting too much pressure and anxiety on a kid. Pinning their hopes so this kid could be just like their old Lord Oden. That was asking way too much. Momo was a shy kid, pretending to be someone else, acting to lord them about. He was forced into a role he wasn't prepared for and wasn't willing to take just yet. Even if Momo wanted revenge on Kaido for executing his dad, he shouldn't be the one calling the shots. He should be the one asking for help. He should be looking for treasure at that age, playing pranks, hunting a few tigers, crocodiles, and snakes for fun, playing ball with someone, insulting their caretakers, being scolded by them in turn, just like how Luffy did with Dadan.

Luffy dozed off while stroking the head of Momo. If Momo wanted Luffy to be the stand-in for his dad, then Luffy would not stand in the way of that.

However, Luffy was not Oden.

Oden could only be Oden.

Luffy could only be Luffy.

If Kiku and Momo thought he could be a stand-in for the person itself, almost as if they never died, then that was plain wrong. Luffy could act like a father to Momo or a lord to Kiku, but he could not be Oden, no matter how much Kiku said he resembled him.

The same could be said for both Ray and Shanks. Luffy knew those two saw Roger in him and believed that he would take the same path and the same steps, like Roger's ghost inhabited a new body.

Luffy abhorred that notion.

Luffy was not Roger, not an incarnation of Roger, not anything like that.

Roger could only be Roger.

Luffy could only be Luffy.

A person cannot become another person.

Luffy wished people would understand that already and stop with their disgusting expectations of him emulating their loved ones from their past.

Having expectations of Luffy was fine by him. Having expectations that Luffy would act like your dearly departed person was absolutely disgusting behavior.

It bears repeating, Luffy was only Luffy, no one else. He could not become someone else for other people's sake. He could become the father, brother, lord, or loved one, yet he wasn't willing to replace someone else.

It was times like these where he remembered the two women who raised him.

Dadan, Makino…

Luffy was feeling a bit nostalgic.

How did they think of him? Did his evil exploits already reach the news?

He never cared about people's opinions of him. If tomorrow his bounty went to a trillion or dropped to zero, he would not care. He was past the point of caring about numbers. It was nice being praised, it was nice getting big numbers, but that was it. Luffy was not going to lose sleep over it. If he was slandered or loved by everyone, he would not care.

Though deep in his heart, he hoped that Dadan and Makino's thoughts about him weren't that bad.

X❖X

The groups were divided, and they put on black clothes and disguises all around. Luffy and the others had wigs and beards to disguise themselves. And Luffy had hidden his straw hat with a black hat on top. Still tied to his white pastel pants. His pants were rolled over until the shins. He also wore a black blazer over a pale pink dress-shirt and still remained without any footwear. By this point, he was more accustomed to feeling the earth with his naked feet. That was just how he liked it. Sora had a black business suit and white thigh highs this time, which turned black whenever she used Haki. Still with her small tie. Kiku now had a widow's cover on to hide her face and was wearing a hat. Zoro had a white mustache and a wig for his green hair. Franky wore a business suit and nothing else.

Usopp looked incredibly stylish with a gangster boss coat and dark glasses. And Robin had a dark dress and white beanie. Though for Law, he was only wearing sunglasses. For a serious-minded guy, his disguise was a bit lacking.

Luffy twirled his fake white mustache. While some laughed at his antics.

Accompanying Luffy were Sora, Kiku, Baby 5, Zoro, and Franky. Attending Law was Usopp and Robin. Theirs was a small infiltrative group, And the larger group of Luffy would eventually go their separate ways. There were a lot of objectives to go through.

Destroying the factory and destroying the palace. As well as saving Kin'emon, who was in this place after Kiku and Momo got separated from him. Another Samurai of Wano was here.

Staying behind was Nami, Chopper, Brook, and Momo. They were to hide the ship, so nobody could get in. And if they were invaded, they would be the ones to protect it.

There was a lot to see on the roads of Dressrosa. Firstly, the streets were all built with beige stones and made beautiful roads that sparkled a light brown sheen. The buildings were open with many arches, there was quite a bustling amount of restaurants all around. However, there was something else that caught their attention. It was the things walking around in town. They were fluffy, or they were plastic. Some had metallic parts to them. Some were made out of wool, others made out of tin. They walked around and acted as though they were humans. And the real humans acted as though they were real people. These things acted like they were pets, friends, lovers, siblings, sons, and parents.

There was a variety of them. Of all sizes even.

They were toys. They spoke, acted, and were accepted as being human.

Luffy scratched his head at that, while others were openly shocked at this development. Unknown by the others. Luffy picked up a little dog toy. The toy struggled but then was asked a question that changed his whole outlook. Luffy had questioned the little toy. And the answers made Luffy pale just slightly. Then Luffy saw the dog toy rush towards the little girl that was his owner. By the little girl's side were her mother and her boyfriend. There were already rings on their fingers. However, they were not married yet. Luffy replayed the dog toy's answers in his mind and looked to the beige stones near his feet. They were warming up the soles, which was quite enjoyable.

"I'm that girl's father. She doesn't remember who I am. Nobody remembers who I am. It was like I never existed in the first place. Get out of this Kingdom, get out of Dressrosa, this Kingdom is cursed."

So it's like that...?

Poor guy, he's the girl's father, yet she treats him like a dog. His own wife doesn't remember him and is now marrying another guy while he watches. So this is the curse of this Kingdom?

And they say I'm the cruel one...

Luffy gave a sad smile and huffed. Walking forward, now knowing better about this island. The toys were all 'cursed' with something. Robin was already piecing it together, and Law right behind her. The others didn't understand what was transpiring and were all enchanted with the talking toys. Though it seemed that Usopp and Sora knew something was deeply wrong.

X❖X

After splitting the group, firstly, Luffy's group wanted to explore the cuisine. They found a hidden gem of a restaurant that served deep-sea bass in olive oil. Chicken in olive oil. Pork in olive oil. Even the bread was coated in olive oil. This Dressrosa really liked its olives. Not that Luffy was complaining. He adored olives as food. And it probably ranked highly on the vegetables he enjoyed eating. They were entering the restaurant while Zoro stayed outside, concerned with something else. Luffy looked back, and there was a blind man walking by. He was going to the same restaurant.

Luffy gave a look and sighed. Luffy entered the restaurant with Baby 5, as she happily guided him to the place she wanted to eat the most.

Zoro still stood outside, staring at the black-haired old man. His face was covered in scars. It was almost like someone took a heavy sword and dragged the blade up to the man's blind eyes, and stopped in the forehead. And then did the same for the other eyeball. Making a weird scar crossing on the forehead. Zoro knew that this man wasn't born blind. He was blinded instead. And then, the blind man crossed the path of Zoro. He wore purple garbs. And the sound of his wooden cane reached Zoro's ears. The tension was enough to cut. Then, the large man passed by. With just a glare on his face. Zoro felt a sweat drop running down his back at that encounter. And that freezing feeling of excitement for a worthy battle. It was a shame the man just passed by.

Zoro wanted that fight badly.

Luffy ate his pasta as the blind man continued to lose and lose. Despite being swindled, and actually winning. Luffy closed his eyes as he heard Baby 5's describing Doflamingo's army. She also felt really, extremely mad about it. As one who was frequently taken advantage of, seeing a blind man get robbed while nobody intervened made her blood boil. Luffy smiled at her and whispered. Luffy arrived at the table where the goons were conning the old blind man.

"Hey, how long are you going to continue this farce?"

"Farce…? what are you saying, young man, now, go along. If you don't, you know what will happen, right? Now, go now before you get shot."

"Oh, I don't think so. All I see is a piece of shit taking advantage of a blind old man. Hey, old man, get out of here. You're being conned. I hope you go to a better gambling place than this."

Luffy grabbed all the chips from the man's side and pushed towards the blind man's hands.

"Hey, you can't do..."

Luffy grabbed the man by the collar and bashed him on the table. Similarly, the disguised Baby 5 did the same to the goons. The other Straw Hat's joined in as the goons started flooding the restaurant. However, the other Straw Hats bashed their skulls in.

"Thank you, young man."

"No, it's nothing. Seeing someone being taken advantage of, and they not being aware of it just makes my blood boil, is all. I didn't do it because it was you."

The old man took his chips, and the Straw Hats forced the attendant to cash in the chips. As he was about to leave with a briefcase of money, the blind man turned around.

"You act like good samaritans, but you are pirates, right? What drives you to help a random old man like me?"

"I just do what I feel like. As I said, I don't care if you're an old man or not. I just hate people being taken advantage of. That's it… Hey? Who exactly are you, old man? Couldn't you have taken them all by yourself?"

"I guess my identity should remain secret for the time being for both our sakes."

"I understand, so it's like that then?"

"Yes, it's like that."

"Then leave. I'm sorry to be so impolite, but get off this island, old man."

"I'm sorry, I cannot do that. There is too much brewing in this Kingdom. The keg is about to explode soon, and I don't know yet where the chips will fall."

"I heard they were recruiting two people for that position. I guess you're one of them. Your presence here makes that keg more dangerous then. If you are what I think you are, then next time we meet..."

"Next time we meet...?"

"Next time we meet, I'll give you another choice, I guess. Goodbye, unnamed old man."

The conversation ended there, and Luffy and Baby 5 rushed towards where Zoro and Sora had run off to while carrying Baby 5 on his shoulder.

Franky and Kikunojo retreated the other way. They intended to question the thugs they had beaten. Their mission was to recover the samurai that was left in Dressrosa, Kin'emon.

Franky and Kiku interrogated the thugs, and after that, Kiku sliced their heads off in the empty and tiny alley. Franky paled. There was Ace's fruit as a prize to the colosseum winner. He was a Straw hat, and he knew that Luffy's brother had died, yet his fruit was never found. It was safe to say that this was the truth and that this fruit was being set up as bait towards Luffy. Kikunojo got her information from the soldiers. She looked at Franky with an analyzing look. She knew that this fruit was somewhat important. But it wasn't until Franky told her that this was Luffy's brother's—Ace's—devil fruit that she got surprised. Then there was a reason to go to the Colosseum and get it.

Franky was tasked with rescuing Kin'emon with Kikunojo, but she stopped him right there.

"Go to the Colosseum. I can rescue Kin'emon on my own. I already gathered so much debt towards you all. Go and collect the fruit for your Captain. I'm sure he'll be thankful for that."

"Are you sure?"

Kikunojo was a kind woman, and she wanted the best for Luffy. If it meant that she had to operate alone to save one of her comrades, then so be it. Her debt towards Luffy was unmeasurable. She couldn't be the chain that holds them back. She had more than enough strength to do this mission alone. Not to mention, all other tasks were much more complicated than what she was doing. Some were going to destroy the factory—the others were going to raid the castle itself. Some were still protecting the ship from invaders. There was just too much to do. And rescuing the red scabbard was her self-imposed mission.

And then Kikunojo raised herself, and the place around her became much colder.

Franky prepared his weapons and flexed his arms. He looked towards the Corrida Colosseum.

The fruit of fire was there.

It was a memento of Luffy's brother.

Franky had no other choice but to enter the tournament.

X❖X

Dressrosa was a place for wine and olives. It was also a place where toys lived as though they were human. The men were flirts, the women were passionate. The familiar words in the news were of men getting backstabbed by their partners. That was what this place was famous for—beautiful women with knives ready to stick onto any unfaithful partner.

Therefore, passionate women dancing to the sound of an old guitar wasn't that uncommon. In fact, they were just witnessing it after Luffy bought some delicious fried fish with lemon and peppers. Zoro was eating a ham sandwich, and Sora and Baby 5 were sharing some churros with chocolate. The group was watching a play in the middle of the streets, with violin and guitar sounds, accompanied by the dance of a curvy woman with a frilly ankle-length dress.

"She's Violet. She is one of the many family members, though... I don't know how to say this. She's the youngest member in terms of when they joined the family. And she was torn from her own family when she was young. It was quite a different treatment once you compare her situation with Monet and Sugar. In contrast, they were saved from abuse. She has been ripped apart from her loving family and entered into a forced, abusive relationship with our family. It's said that she was forced to become Doflamingo's lover for the longest time, along with Monet. I feel pity for her. But this is what it's like to be in this family. Doflamingo cares about our safety on the surface, but he doesn't care about our problems, our suffering. He acts as though we should willingly give him our loyalty because he thinks he treats us well. But I'll be the first one to say it, that monster never felt love. He only pretends to know what it's like."

Luffy listened attentively to Baby 5's words, while you could say that a pirate captain who only uses his crew for business sake and sacrifices them if the situation calls for it is heartless. Pretending to be a family, and abusing people in it, expecting their loyalty, in turn, was much more insidious. At least when you're working under a private only concerned with profit and fame, you know what you're getting into. In this case, you're entering a twisted family that won't let you go, no matter what. They expect you to behave and be like them. They think their actions are the best for you, never really respecting what you think. And when the facade breaks down, you can see the cracks forming at the seams of the 'family.' It was disgusting in every sense of the word. Luffy also felt pity for the woman dancing in the audience. And he had an inkling that this Violet also wanted freedom from this twisted family. Then Luffy would help her then. Luffy always was willing to help those that wished for freedom.

Just because Luffy was a little mad at the Government and that arrogant aunt he met yesterday in his dreams did not mean he was heartless. On the contrary, Luffy was keenly aware of his actions, the consequences of it all, and was very empathetic to a lot of people's plights. That did not mean he wasn't demanding of people. He was also very charismatic and got what he wanted in the end at the expense of his enemies' lives. But Violet wasn't his enemy. He couldn't feel a single drop of love from her once he put on her shoes and saw things from her perspective. Being forced to become the lover of the man that ruined your biological family? Especially when that family was warm hearted towards you? That's the height of madness and rage.

Even Luffy's family drama paled in comparison. Luffy had a self-critical smile as he watched the dance.

"While I can't exactly tell which side she's on. All I can say is that she has a dangerous devil fruit power. She can read minds with a touch, and she's been very adept at figuring out people. After all, she's the main interrogator of the Donquixote Family. She's definitely not an innocent princess stuck in the castle of a villain. Years and years of torturing and slitting people's throats, that's the life that Violet, the member of the Donquixote Family, lived."

Baby 5 was telling that she didn't know whether Violent was happy with her current life or not. When the world gives you riches, you tend to forget past tragedies and relax in the corner, not really thinking of what you're doing, and you start going insane yourself. So Baby 5 didn't know whether Violet was here as a friend or as an enemy.

"Should I shoot her in the head? I can do it from this distance, you know?"

One of Baby 5's arm veins turned into a hidden precision rifle, where she could shoot inside a crowd and not be found as the shooter. Again showing how scary her weapon powers really were. Luffy, however, wasn't looking to kill a potential friend of his. So Luffy grabbed Baby 5's shoulders and shook his head. Baby 5 smoked her cigarette and turned her vein back to normal. She turned around and puffed more. Pretending she was cool and badass but instead was blushing, the handsome and hot Luffy grabbed her shoulder with his rough hands. She was still in shock that he was in her bed, and she couldn't get his scent out of her mind, and then he goes and does things like this to her. What did he think he was? Just because he was mercilessly cool and handsome did not give him a pass to do what he liked in Baby 5's opinion.

Luffy sighed at her reaction. However, it was more of an exasperated one instead of a resignation. Baby 5 still had a long way to go before being adequately considered a sane person. However, that might be hypocritical coming from the most insane mass-murdering psycho on this island right now. Luffy still wanted to fix her mentality where people wouldn't take advantage of her in the future. It was a deep-seated problem that wouldn't go away so soon. But at least, he'd better kick start her journey of self-recovery from the things that happened in her childhood. Luffy couldn't spend years trying to remove that mentality, but he could give her the tools to see the problem and fix it herself. He ought to try at the very least.

Baby 5 said that she was going to join Law's crew. Regardless of that statement, Luffy doubted that would actually happen. Baby 5 was highly attached to Dressrosa for one. And Luffy did not think she would be leaving this place at all. And that was completely fine.

X❖X

After the show, Viola was quite tired.

However, she had garnered the attention of the people she wanted to see. Though they were well-disguised. The main man there, the Captain of them all, wasn't hiding his presence. And his facial structure was well within her mind. She memorized both Trafalgar Law and Monkey D. Luffy's looks yesterday, so it was still fresh in her memory.

Yesterday she also burned the main Doflamingo ship, making them unable to do battle at sea. And unable to follow Doflamingo to Punk Hazard, as a result, the Family was stranded on this island, waiting for their enemy to come. They couldn't go out to sea to fight the Straw Hats before they arrived on the island out of fear of being at a disadvantage. And they couldn't hunt the Straw Hats on the streets of Dressrosa out of fear of losing essential locations like the Factory and the Underground port. And so, the Doflamingo Family wanted to do things safely for them. They had already lost four members. They were cautious not to lose more. And if they were going to drag on the battle for months, they would. They were not taking any more chances. Doflamingo was still in the castle, planning the next move on the chessboard. And there were various traps on the Underground port. Their defense was perfect.

To top it off, there was still a juicy trap waiting for them at the Colosseum. The fruit of flames, belonging to the late brother of Monkey D. Luffy, yet Viola was surprised that the man himself was here and not at the Colosseum. She'd thought he would be more reckless than this. Or perhaps he hadn't heard about it?

In any case, the Doflamingo Family was already castled and was going on an ultra-defensive approach. Acting as a flytrap so the enemy could be picked off one by one. The Donquixote Family argued the enemy was on equal grounds in terms of physical strength, so if they played smart, they could finish this without losing members.

However, they did not account for trouble brewing within their ranks or within their land.

It was time to pick apart the weaknesses of the flytrap and watch it crumble.

She approached the Straw hats with a confident gait and a hopeful smile.

She was not Violet, the Family's interrogator, no she was Viola, princess of Dressrosa.

It was time for the usurpers to get off her land.

This was all for the memory of her late sister, her niece's suffering, and the pain her father endured.

And the words of the Toy Soldier who died for her sake.

She would introduce herself with her name and a smile. And with a plea for help. Because no matter how cunning she couldn't do this alone, the people behind her, as brave as they were, couldn't do this by their lonesome.

After so many years, the Straw Hat's arrival and consequent war with the Donquixote Family was a blessing.

They were, really, such a blessing.

"I'm Viola. Can you people help me?"

""Of course, sweetheart. I'll do anything for you~."

Sora immediately jumped to flirting with the dancing woman. Luffy smiled.

"There the cook goes again. Can't keep herself from doing this."

Of course, Zoro had to argue, their bickering still continued as strong as ever.

"Well, let her. Sora not flirting with women isn't Sora, in my opinion."

After properly welcoming Viola, the others just stood back to watch how the two women, Baby 5 and Viola, would react to the other's presence. Luffy thought they would get along well now the façade was off—they both had somewhat similar circumstances. It wouldn't surprise him if they became fast friends.

"So, you've betrayed the family as well, Violet? No wonder. You were the newest member. I don't think you've liked being in the Family that disgraced your own. Hell, I wouldn't."

"Baby 5? Yeah, I don't want to see Doflamingo ever again. Just the thought of him makes me want to puke."

"What a coincidence. We're the same."

"But I'm surprised. I thought you would never betray the family."

"I've just had enough of them all. The Family took advantage of me for over twenty years. Then have the gall to say that I don't understand their actions. That they are protecting me or whatever. I've been friends with Buffalo and Law since childhood. However, in recent years, Buffalo has turned on me. The friend I knew became a cruel bastard that only took advantage of me. So I ended him. Law is still here, and I'm thinking of joining his crew."

"I see, then that's great."

Luffy smiled at their conversation. There was something special that these two had, and Doflamingo took them too much at face value. He made them feel like garbage without him even knowing, all the while disgusting himself into having a functional, loving family. There was loyalty there, but there was no heart. And the world revolved around love and spite—people who didn't understand that were fools. Doflamingo built a kingdom without any heart. He only needed loyalty, which was why he would fall from his boring throne today. His family would be destroyed by the people he inwardly humiliated in the guise of being a caring leader.

Doflamingo was quite similar to Luffy. It could not be denied. Both were charismatic, both were powerful, both merciless. And yet, Luffy actually cared.

It wasn't just spite.

That was the difference.

And that was why Luffy was going to succeed in his goals, where Doflamingo would fail.

X❖X

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Toys and Dolls. This is no mere event today. No, that's not it. This is a legendary, once-in-a-lifetime scandal! I am honored that you are here today to witness this massive tournament for an extraordinary prize. His Majesty himself has provided the staff at Corrida Colosseum a stunning prize. All for this very day. The legendary man who perished in the paramount war at Marineford two years past. The 2nd Division Leader of the Whitebeard Pirates. The son of the Pirate King, Ace! His flames reached even the very souls of his enemies as he decimated countless foes until his demise. And now, his fruit is here for the one who proves himself to be the best gladiator in today's matches! Behold, the terrible power that has now retaken the form of a fruit. A Logia, the most POWERFUL of all three types. The fruit of flames. Any person who consumes it will gain power and command over the fires of the World itself."

The citizens and the tourists all yelled at the excitement that was permeating the arena. They gleefully looked at the fruit behind the glass panes. It was so beautiful with its swirls. Some in the audience had the momentary need to go and eat it. Some were even thinking of participating in the tournament now. The Corrida Colosseum was quite animated as something like this probably wouldn't happen again. The news of the war between the Straw Hats and Donquixote Doflamingo wasn't even reported in the news story. And the information of Punk Hazard was not so glaringly obvious to those less inclined to read. For everyone here, all they knew is that those murderous Straw Hats stopped a mad scientist in Punk Hazard, on a deserted island not known to anybody. Some were just mocking the Straw Hats for finally acting in a praiseworthy manner. The connection between Punk Hazard and their Monarch Doflamingo was not known to the public.

And so, the days of Dressrosa continued, and of course, the population went to the Colosseum on the holidays. The whole thing was packed more than it could support. The merchants were happily vending their food and racking up profits. Even the old lady who sold water was giggling to herself that she would be able to buy some cakes for tomorrow's birthday for her toy who stood by her all these years without a husband.

"The Colosseum is packed today with mighty warriors from all over the New World, summoned by his Majesty as he invites them to win this prize. However, we won't let them get it for free, NO. If they seek the most valuable rewards for themselves, they must earn them with blood and sweat. The Guardian of the treasure is not any ordinary Gladiator. Defending today's prize. From the Donquixote Family! The Hero of the Colosseum, Mister Diamante!"

When the name was Said, banners fell and stabbed the arena with fervor. Then a huge man jumped into the Marine with his cape billowing in the wind.; With bulls following him. Then he pushed his red cape as the bulls all were entranced by it. Then the man laughed uproariously. And with a billow of his cloak. Every bull was pushed back, with cutting wounds on their body. He danced around the enraged bulls, killing one by one with the four metal spikes he threw on the arena earlier. He waved his red cape again. As the metal spikes turned out to be banners with the Donquixote Family log on them. And as they also waved on the winds, he roared so loudly the wind broke near him. that loudness reached the hearts of the people, and they all jumped in the seats to welcome the legend of the Colosseum. The man over any men in this land. The winner of over 1000 matches. And the undisputed champion of this land. It was Diamante from the Diamante Army. He was one of the three strongest men under their King. Of course, there would be excitement.

"Diamante-sama!"

"Diamante. Diamante. Diamante. Diamante!"

The crowd roared.

"Welcome to MY Colosseum. Welcome to this legendary day! Come all challengers of different lands. Come all rivals for my position. Come all those greedy and foolish enough to enter today's matches. This day will be marked as the great Colosseum of Fools. We have garnered all names across the New World. Big and strong, weak and greedy. All came here to die in this arena. And regardless of their feelings and their pride, only ONE may reach the top. Only one can get the prize. WILL IT BE ME?! Will it be a dark horse sitting under this arena? Just waiting with their claws and weapons ready for BLOOD?! I hope you are excited to find out. I promise you THIS. MY swords WILL DRAW BLOOD TODAY! WHOSE BLOOD?! I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO FIND OUUUUUUTTTT!"

"YES! YES! YES! DIAMANTE, DIAMANTE, DIAMANTE, DIAMANTE!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Diamante's roar reached their hearts again, almost like some sort of frenzy was created due to his incredible charisma and bloody speech that got their hearts pumping to see some mayhem happen. Never before, the public had been so glad to pay to view this day's Corrida Colosseum. Never were they so excited for something to be shown. This was peak entertainment. And they knew that, while the Corrida Colosseum was bloody, it was rare that a combatant would die. Diamante just riled up the masses, but they knew that death wouldn't happen so lightly. A few accidental deaths here and there occurred, and there were a lot of debilitating injuries, but they were okay with that. A man losing an arm or a leg was a reoccurring thing. There were a lot of gladiators who lost their fingers. There were so many rivalries happening in the Colosseum, and they loved to see it organically develop as time went on. But today was different. They would be seeing famous warriors from all over.

There was never a time to be more excited.

On the windows of the gladiators, a woman with pink hair stood. And just watched Diamante's back, with glazed-over eyes. Eyes promising something.

"Diamante… this time…"

Rebecca's voice promised death for what he did ten years ago and five years ago. That man took everything from her. And this time, she would best him.

Below even the watching platform was a hall full of warriors preparing themselves. Some were using martial arts on a sack. Others swing their swords. This place was more of an intimidation hall, where they would show themselves to make the other opponents sweat with fear. But it was mostly bravado and stunk of weakness. True warriors did not even give a single look at those people doing exercises before the match. They were already losers by default. However, some here remained and watched the competition with bored feelings. Some were strategizing like those in the other kingdoms. Some were warriors within an army of some kind. There were a lot of different faces, and not all of them were pirates.

It was this hall that Franky had entered. Or, not Franky anymore. He was now Francis the III. The greatest woodcutter and carpenter that has ever lived.

He even purchased a red shirt and suspenders underneath his open black blazer. And was carrying a woodcutting ax. He had two braided pigtails on his hair and was wearing a bushy fake mustache and beard to go along with it.

Francis the III was ready for combat. His number was 069. Just as he liked it. And he belonged in Block A.

Right now, he would be on the first Block of a massive battle royal to win back Ace's fruit for Luffy's sake.

As he looked around, he saw many famous people and people with powers that even surprised his own.

Franky lifted up his sunglasses and looked around again.

"Maybe, just maybe… am I the underdog here?"

Franky whispered as he walked. Typically, this was where Luffy should have stood and competed. If it was Luffy, there would be nobody here that could ever compete. However, Franky was here instead as Francis. Franky was powerful, yet he knew he had zero chance against his own crew's top dogs. Zoro and Sora were on an entirely different dimension. Franky was not even above 100 million in his bounty. At least, he hadn't seen the bounty increases yet from yesterday and the raid on the four battleships a few days ago. So he didn't know where he stood. However, there were people here far above 100 million. And this was the New World. To get back Ace's fruit, Franky would have to work extremely hard for it.

Franky had called Luffy earlier to tell the fruit was here, and surprisingly, Luffy pushed Franky to compete instead of him. It was an enigmatic decision from their reckless Captain. But Franky welcomed it.

He closed his metal hand.

It was time to show he was worthy of being in this crew.

And as he did, a metallic black sheen covered part of his red fingers and then disappeared.

It was time the world knew that Franky—or Francis the III, was a force to be feared.

X❖X

Usopp was with Robin and Law as they infiltrated the castle.

Hey, why are we on the most dangerous mission of all of them? Isn't Doflamingo and his people crawling about this place?

Why aren't Sora, Zoro, and Luffy here instead?

They were careful not to cause any disturbance. The group built some traps using a few bombs and a few seeds that Usopp had prepared in important rooms full of arsenals. Robin was the assassin of the group. Murdering every guard, they met in apparent silence. Saying all of that, Law, who was allying with the Straw Hats, was also there. His job was to be the heavy-hitter of the group. When they arrived at the penultimate floor, one of the guards almost noticed Usopp.

"…"

Usopp was as silent as a mouse as the guard passed by the vase he was hiding behind. Robin winked and put her dainty index over her lips to signal silence. Then hands sprouted and cracked the man's neck as blood slipped. Before the blood of the dead man could hit the floor. Law, who was on the other side, flipped his fingers, and the man was teleported from the base itself. They prepared several rooms downstairs, where they could teleport the bodies of those they assassinated while also disabling any Transponder Snails along the way. These soldiers wore dark cyan shirts and brown pants. However, they were not soldiers belonging to this island. They were soldiers contracted from another leader in the Underworld.

From what Robin said, the Underworld is a place where information, goods, services, money, and people are shared, though instead of using legal means and legal products and services, everything was outlawed on the surface. The Government also benefited a lot from the Underworld as well, so it was all loosely regulated. These soldiers were the same, mercenaries bound by contracts and not of the good kind of people. Regardless. They were people involved in the slave and drug trade. Some were orphans from war-torn lands who only got on this mercenary business because of bad luck. However, there was no way to distinguish goons here because they got into this business willingly and those who got in because of lousy luck.

In any case, it did not change the fact that Robin had a slight smile full of mirth as she satisfied her sadistic tendencies by killing each and every one of them. Yes, Robin's job was thinning out the soldiers in this massive fortress of a castle. Up top was the ceramic palace, almost like a mansion above construction of stone and concrete. Robin killed more than 1,123 men and women mercenaries as they climbed up. She was doing such a fantastic job. Law was frankly surprised she could be so methodical.

Soon came the point where Law would do the work. Killing Doflamingo in the Ceramic Palace.

However, by the pool of that incredible place was not only the man himself, wearing a pink coat with feathers. But by his side was another big problem. There was a man with a purple robe and a white coat. That white coat belonged to select marines who achieved the highest rank of pure might. That man was an Admiral.

"Hello, I am called Fujitora. I am one of the three Admirals of the Navy."

"Tch, a troublesome one came." Law was now swearing under his breath. Again, he knew that he could beat Doflamingo one-on-one. However, he didn't like at all that an Admiral was here. And knowing how things worked. He was the main target here, being worth 900 million.

"Hey! What are we gonna do here? We're only three people!"

Of course, sensing how bad things were if they stayed here, Usopp started to complain as his heart started beating faster. It was evident that they were at a massive disadvantage. No matter how strong Usopp and Robin were, they were not strong enough to keep an Admiral occupied by themselves while Law dealt with Doflamingo. Everybody in this side pool knew it. There was nothing to do but to retreat. The traps on this castle were already set, and it would cripple the ground forces of Doflamingo. Leaving only his family to pick up the slack and making things more even when the real fight started. The plan was to maybe take the King's head here and now. But now there was a super-queen right next to him. Right now, they had only a Queen and two pawns. Everyone knew that this would just, at best, end in a draw. And Robin and Usopp were unwilling to be sacrificial pawns.

"What are we gonna do? Wh—What are they planning?" Usopp freaked out.

Doflamingo laughed with his mouth closed, that guttural mocking sound that Law hated.

"What else, long-nosed man? I am going to kill all three of you. You killed my subordinates. I hope the little Straw Hat doesn't complain if I do the same. It's only fair, don't you think so?"

"Hey, I am not a subordinate of Straw Hat-ya. Get it right. "

"Oh right, my mistake. In any case, I won't let any Straw Hat live past today. And you as well, Law. You've gone way past being just a runaway brat."

Usopp closed his mouth and gulped. And Robin was with him. Law looked at them and nodded. This was a losing position. They did everything to descend the castle as they were intensely attacked by both monsters. They ran towards the city while the Admiral pursued them. And then there was Doflamingo. Flying arrogantly, hunting them down.

Usopp activated all the traps as they left, making the armory and other essential communications rooms go boom. Finally destroying the home-field advantage, Doflamingo had.

X❖X

Sora ambushed both the Admiral and Doflamingo in the bridge, right as Doflamingo was about to murder Usopp, and Fujitora was about to crush Robin. Law was glad that someone else came, but where was Luffy in all of this confusion?

He did not know yet, that Luffy was again taking a laissez-faire approach and was letting his crewmates free to do as they pleased on this island.

This was Luffy's trial for his crew, to beat an entire Kingdom on their own terms.

Luffy was going to sit on the sidelines and watch them grow into fierce warriors. He couldn't hold their hand in everything, every member needed to pull their own weight. Regardless of their struggles and how hard the walls to surpass were, Luffy had faith in them that they would succeed. And he had belief in Law that he was going to beat and kill Doflamingo on his own terms. Finally, putting an end to the quest for revenge that started when Cora-san died. This was why Luffy put Franky in the Colosseum despite being countless warriors strong enough to beat him. He let Usopp and Robin face the big bad. He sent Sora out to confront both an Admiral and a Warlord at the same time. It was why Luffy sent Zoro to meet the forces of the castle alone after Doflamingo left. Of course, he wasn't about to let Fujitora leave this island alive. He just sent his crew after these people so they could grow alone, away from the big warm, and mighty hand that was Luffy.

If Luffy could resolve everything with a flash, that wouldn't let the others have their moment of glory. Feel like they weren't taking significant steps towards their dreams. Luffy did not want weak-willed teammates that relied on him and him alone to solve their problems.

Luffy was going to stay back, act as a bystander, save those who were not involved, and help the rebellion forces on this Kingdom. His role was not to beat Doflamingo. It was already established it would be Trafalgar Law to do the deed. There was nobody here with stronger emotions except Viola. And Viola had already stated to him she didn't care who finished the job. She just wanted Doflamingo dead at the end of the day.