"Five hundred pirates or criminals, right?"
"Yeah, I got it. Before midnight tonight... no problem."
North Blue, Rubeck Island. Inside the Donquixote family's residence hall.
Momonga put down the encrypted Den Den Mushi and looked up at the blond teenager in front of him, draped in a pink feathered coat. His expression remained calm.
"You heard it too. We'll need your cooperation this time."
"Fufufufufu... Of course, no problem. It's an honor to help godfather."
A sinister gleam flashed across Doflamingo's sunglasses as he let out a twitchy laugh.
"I should be able to deliver around two hundred. A bunch of idiots stirred up trouble in my casino and got caught on the spot by Diamante. I was just wondering how to deal with them…"
Momonga remained indifferent.
"That's not my concern. Two hundred is enough."
He couldn't care less about the Donquixote family's operations in the North Blue—if anything, he was repulsed by them.
But since Daren had tacitly approved it, and Doflamingo had been measured enough not to meddle in the kinds of illegal businesses Daren strictly banned from the region, Momonga turned a blind eye.
Casinos, loan sharks, private banks, pleasure houses, theft, arms smuggling… These old trades couldn't be fully stamped out, and they weren't really under Marine jurisdiction anyway.
So rather than trying to eliminate them, it was better to let Doflamingo monopolize control.
On one hand, it made it easier to collect massive tax revenue—vital for funding the expansion of the North Blue fleet.
On the other, centralized management made accountability simple. If anything went wrong, they could settle things directly with the Donquixote family.
As for human trafficking, organ deals, and drugs—those were absolutely forbidden by Daren.
That was the line he had drawn for the North Blue. No one was allowed to cross it.
"The North Blue fleet will take care of the remaining three hundred."
With that, Momonga picked up a glass of wine from the marble coffee table, tilted his head back, and drank it in one go—his eyes brimming with killing intent.
One could only imagine the bloody storm that simple sentence would bring down on the North Blue.
"Thanks for the hospitality. The wine's excellent."
"And also, Daren asked me to pass on a message—he's very pleased with your recent performance."
"Fufufufufu… That's great to hear."
Doflamingo let out a strange cackle.
"But Admiral Momonga, I do have one question."
As he watched Momonga turn to leave, a defiant smirk tugged at the corner of Doflamingo's lips.
Momonga's steps paused.
"Hm?"
Doflamingo remained seated as a strange, oppressive aura began to seep from his body.
His fingers curled slightly, subtly flexing—like he was manipulating invisible threads in the air.
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just curious…"
"As the current Admiral of the North Blue—do you really have what it takes to inherit the Godfather's position?!"
Before the words had fully left his mouth, he let out a wild, vicious laugh and suddenly swung his arm.
Swish!
It was as if an invisible blade tore through the air.
Shhkk!
Deep, silent gashes appeared along the walls and floor of the hall.
Doflamingo's pupils shrank into thin slits. His grin froze in place—as if he had just witnessed something incomprehensible.
The North Blue Admiral, Momonga, stood completely still with his back still turned.
His body had been sliced cleanly in two by invisible threads.
But not a single drop of blood spilled from the wound.
Where there should have been flesh and bone, there was only a searing, glowing surge of plasma.
"What do you think?"
Momonga's severed head slowly turned to look at Doflamingo, a cold smirk curling at his lips.
In that instant, a bone-chilling cold surged from beneath Doflamingo's feet, sending goosebumps rippling across his entire body.
Then—Momonga vanished.
At least from Doflamingo's vision, the North Blue Admiral's figure disappeared like a ghost into thin air.
Sensing something, Doflamingo's expression changed drastically. He spun around and stood up abruptly—
But it was already too late.
A black leather-gloved hand had already wrapped tightly around his neck.
"Doflamingo, you're Daren's godson. I'll let it slide this time."
With his left hand gripping Doflamingo's throat, watching as the latter's face flushed red from the pressure, Momonga spoke with no expression at all,
"But if there's a next time… and you still have a death wish…"
His right hand, which had been hanging loosely by his side, suddenly crackled with violent blue lightning, flooding the dark hall with a blinding burst of light.
"I won't mind testing out what it feels like to kill a Celestial Dragon."
"To see whether it's really like Daren said… that it'll awaken my Conqueror's Haki."
Doflamingo's eye twitched violently.
Momonga gave a faint smile and released his grip.
He calmly reached out and straightened Doflamingo's disheveled collar, then took a step back, extended a hand, and smiled politely.
"Well then, I'll be counting on your cooperation for the rest."
Doflamingo still hadn't recovered from the shock of what he had just witnessed. His expression was frozen in stunned disbelief, and he reached out on reflex to shake Momonga's hand.
It wasn't until a full minute after Momonga had left the hall that Doflamingo collapsed onto the sofa with a heavy thud.
Without saying a word, he grabbed a bottle of red wine, tilted his head back, and drank straight from the bottle.
Glug, glug...
The blood-colored liquid spilled from the corners of his mouth, soaking and staining his white shirt, but he seemed completely unaware.
Only when the bottle was drained did he slam it down onto the floor.
It shattered instantly, shards flying everywhere, the remaining wine splashing across the pale gray walls.
Doflamingo gasped heavily, sucking in deep breaths, needing several moments to catch his breath.
He leaned back, head resting against the sofa, staring up at the hall's ornately decorated dome—his expression flickering between emotions.
And then, suddenly—
"Fufufufufufu..."
That crazed, obsessive, twisted laughter echoed through the dim and empty Donquixote residence like a devil's whisper.
"How interesting... How truly interesting…"
"The legendary, invincible Devil Fruit..."
"You actually found it... Well done... My most respected Godfather!"
"Are you really that afraid of me?!"
"To the point of giving the Goro Goro no Mi to that worthless Momonga?!"
"Fufufufufufufu!!"
"This game… is getting more and more exciting!!!"
He burst into maniacal laughter, veins bulging grotesquely across his forehead, pulsing like writhing worms.
"Then let's see... whether it'll be you who loses control and kills me first…"
"Or if I'll find the chance to take you out!!"
"Fufufufufufufu!!"