Vivian stood with his back to the Donquixote Family, his body straight and electric sparks flickering around him, blood gushing from his mouth.
The Marines watched in shock, feeling ashamed of their earlier thoughts.
So… this was the reason?
No wonder…
They had wondered how Officer Vivian could make such a request.
"So, should we leave here first and then call for reinforcements from headquarters?"
They thought that if a captain couldn't defeat a Warlord of the Sea, then a Vice Admiral or Admiral surely could, right?
But Smoker shook his head and said, "Before I came, I tested the waters with my superiors. Fleet Admiral Sengoku ordered me to withdraw and not to interfere with the affairs of the Dressrosa Kingdom…"
"Why?" they asked, puzzled.
"I'm not sure… maybe there's a reason behind it," Smoker said, trying to comfort himself.
Hearing this, Vivian, who was still spitting blood, couldn't help but twitch his mouth.
Why?
What else could it be!
Doflamingo is a Celestial Dragon.
Although he was kicked out of the family, he still has blood ties with the Celestial Dragons. Moreover, Doflamingo has always held shocking secrets about the Celestial Dragons. To get the Navy Headquarters to act based on the evidence they had would be extremely difficult.
So, the only way to get Doflamingo imprisoned in Impel Down seemed to be to defeat him like Luffy did and then make all his actions public.
Knowing that his current strength was still insufficient, Vivian came up with this plan to temporarily get his people out of danger.
"I have no combat ability left… If we let Uncle Issho fight the entire Donquixote Family alone, we would suffer heavy casualties. That's why I made this decision," Vivian said weakly.
"So, please forgive me this time…"
"I, Alfred Vivian, swear here that within the next two years, I will return and completely destroy the Donquixote Family."
"I will liberate the civilians in deep suffering and the war-torn countries…"
His words were powerful and sincere.
Coupled with his blood-soaked and tragic appearance, he truly moved the Navy marine officer to tears.
"Officer Vivian…"
"We're sorry, we misunderstood you!"
"Sniff… sniff…"
Even Kuto and the others bowed their heads, wiping their tears in shame.
Only Smoker cast his gaze at the blind man standing nearby.
Who was this blind man he had never seen before?
…
"Report, Captain Smoker, Officer Vivian, we… we seem to have encountered some trouble."
Near the port of Dressrosa, a Navy soldier, sweating profusely, rushed onto the deck of the warship.
At the same time, Vivian, who had his wounds bandaged, was lying on a deck chair. After refusing Tashigi's offer to feed him juice, he looked at the soldier and asked, "What, did Doflamingo go back on his word?"
"Not exactly…" The Navy soldier scratched his head. "We've taken all the civilians captured by the Donquixote Family onto our ships, but there's one problem… the toys won't come with us."
"Toys?"
Smoker looked at Vivian with a puzzled expression. "What are those toys for?"
He had heard about the toy phenomenon in Dressrosa in recent years, but he thought they were similar to the "Pacifista" robots developed by the Navy, just used for entertainment instead of war.
Toys refusing humans? He couldn't understand.
"Those toys were once residents of Dressrosa," Vivian said.
Smoker: ∑(O_O;)
"You mean those toys were all humans?"
"Yes."
Vivian nodded. "There's a little girl in the Donquixote Family named Sugar, who has the power of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit. She can turn anyone she touches into a toy, and they can't turn back until she loses consciousness."
"That's terrifying!" Kuto and Tashigi, listening nearby, showed shocked expressions.
"Loses consciousness, meaning?" Smoker asked.
"Knock her out. Of course, falling asleep doesn't count. She has to be scared or knocked out to break the spell."
With the Donquixote Family officers protecting her and living in the palace, it was incredibly difficult.
And the most crucial point…
Vivian was also afraid of being turned into a toy by Sugar, as he couldn't use Haki.
"Don't they resist? Do they willingly work as slaves for the Donquixote Family after becoming toys?" Kuto asked.
"The scariest part of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit is that when people are turned into toys, all memories of them are erased."
Once turned into a toy, no one remembers you ever existed, not even your closest family. Vivian couldn't imagine how terrifying that must feel.
Unsurprisingly, the three fell silent, thinking about the horrifying power of the Devil Fruit.
If used well, couldn't it even eliminate pirates of the Four Emperors' level?
"So, I think the reason they don't want to leave with us is because of their families…" Vivian continued.
Even if everyone's memories were erased, family was still family. Asking them to leave their families behind in Dressrosa was impossible for any toy.
So he sighed and said, "In that case, let them be."
Two years…
I hope you can hold on until I grow strong enough to defeat Doflamingo…
Vivian thought to himself.
Meanwhile…
[You have completed the current task]
[Randomly searching for special items]
[…]
[Item Name: Clow Card - The Silent]
[From: "Cardcaptor Sakura"]
[Note: Has the magic to silence the surroundings, can be used infinitely, but consumes energy.]