At His Own Pace

The morning edition spreads across the world like a wave. The narration compares it to "SMALL RIPPLES, UNKNOWN TO ALL" that "BEGIN AS NO MORE THAN" tiny disturbances, yet "EVEN THE LARGEST WAVES, CAPABLE OF DESTROYING CITIES" begin that way. Newspapers fly through streets as people shout, "THE NEWS SWEEPS OVER THE WORLD!!" Everywhere, Doflamingo's resignation sends panic through his operations. One underling tries the Den Den Mushi and yells, "NO ONE'S ANSWERING!!" Another says, "JUST NOW... I TRIED CONTACTING THEM, BUT...!!" and someone asks, "HEY, WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO OUR WEAPONS TRADE WITH THE DOFLAMINGO FAMILY?" The fear is practical and immediate: "WITHOUT WEAPONS, WE'LL LOSE THE WAR!!!" Elsewhere, a reader notices old enemies joining forces: "THOSE NASTY ROOKIES FROM TWO YEARS AGO HAVE ALLIED UP!!" The news is not just information; it is the first visible shake in the New World's order.

The news reaches the Kid Pirates' hideout in the New World. One report says, "DOFLAMINGO IS OUT OF THE SHICHIBUKAI!!" and another voice asks, "BUT WHY!? ISN'T THERE ANY MORE INFORMATION!?" Someone shouts that "THEY'RE DEFINITELY PLANNING SOMETHING!!" Kid focuses less on Doflamingo and more on the rival alliance printed in the paper. "HOW DID OUR ALLIANCE GET LEAKED!!?" he demands, while the explanation remains uncertain: "SOME FREELANCER NAMED 'ABSA,' WHO'S HE!?" A voice notes, "HE'S BEEN PUTTING OUT A WHOLE LOT OF SCOOPS LATELY," but the bigger issue is Luffy and Law. Kid says, "THE REAL PROBLEM IS THIS... 'STRAWHAT' AND 'TRAFALGAR'!!" He guesses their target is the same as his: "I BET THAT THEIR AIM IS THE SAME AS OURS - TAKING DOWN ONE OF THE YONKOU!!" Then he grins and asks the crucial question: "BUT WHICH ONE COULD IT BE!!?"

In Dressrosa, the palace Den Den Mushi rings endlessly: "PURU RURU RURU," "PURU RURU RURU," "PURU RURU RURU." The city itself is labeled "DRESS-ROSA," and anxious voices call, "YOUR HIGHNESS!!" Doflamingo finally answers, his face dark and smiling: "IT'S ME... I'VE RESIGNED FROM THE SHICHIBUKAI." The room erupts in disbelief. Someone whispers, "IT'S HIM!" another confirms, "IT'S REALLY HIM!!" and the others scramble to silence themselves: "SHHHH!! SHHHHH!! HE'LL HEAR YOU GUYS!" Doflamingo's resignation is no rumor. He speaks it himself, directly to his own kingdom, and that makes the impossible newspaper headline real. For his subordinates, the voice on the line is not just a report; it is their king and boss personally confirming that the world they depended on has changed overnight.

On the Sunny, Luffy cannot keep quiet long enough for the negotiation to stay clean. He grabs the receiver and announces himself: "HELLO HELLO I'M MONKEY D. LUFFY!!" Then he declares, "I'M THE MAN WHO'S GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!!" Law and the crew shout at him, "LIKE I JUST SAID, SHUT UP!!" while someone snaps, "HEY, MINGO!!" Luffy ignores the restraint and threatens Doflamingo directly: "ARE YOU THAT STUPID CAESAR'S BOSS? THAT GUY CAUSED ALL SORTS OF TROUBLE FOR BROWNBEARD AND THE CHILDREN!!" He adds, "WE'RE GONNA RETURN CAESAR TO YOU, BECAUSE THAT WAS THE PROMISE, BUT... IF YOU EVER TRY SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS TOO!!!" Doflamingo responds with interest rather than fear: "'STRAWHAT' LUFFY...!! IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE YOUR BROTHER DIED... AND THEN YOU JUST VANISHED. WHAT WERE YOU DOING, AND WHERE?" Luffy answers only, "THERE'S SOMETHING I IMAGINE YOU CRAVE MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD... AND I'VE GOT IT."

Caesar, listening nearby, panics at the possibility that Luffy will ruin the bargain and cries, "LUFFY!! GET WITH IT!! WHATEVER HE'S PLAYING AT IS SURE TO BE BAD NEWS!!" Luffy is distracted by food instead: "H... HEY... COULD IT BE SOME AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS MEAT...!!?" Law explodes, "STRAWHAT-YA!! DON'T LET HIM CONTROL THE CONVERSATION AT HIS OWN PACE!!" Caesar tries to reassert the deal: "JOKER!! ENOUGH WITH THIS IDLE CHATTER!! AS PROMISED, WE'LL RETURN CAESAR TO YOU." Law warns Doflamingo, "YES. THAT WOULD BE WISE. BUT EVEN IF YOU BACK DOWN NOW AND TRY TO GET AWAY... THE NEXT TIME WE MEET... WELL, YOU'LL UNDERSTAND." Doflamingo answers, "FUFUFFU!! ANYWAY... FIRST... I NEED TO KNOW THAT MY PRECIOUS BUSINESS PARTNER IS ALIVE AND WELL." Caesar throws himself into the call: "JOKER!! I'M SORRY! ALL FOR MY SAKE, YOU QUIT THE SHICHIBU-"

Law gives the exchange location with cold precision: "EIGHT HOURS FROM NOW!! AT THAT ISOLATED ISLAND TO THE NORTH OF DRESSROSA. ON THE SOUTHEASTERN BEACH OF 'GREEN BIT'!!" Luffy echoes in surprise as Law continues, "WE'LL DEPOSIT CAESAR THERE AT 3 PM. COLLECT HIM AS YOU PLEASE. BUT DON'T COUNT ON HAVING ANY OTHER CONTACT WITH US." Doflamingo laughs at the distance between them: "FUFUFFU!!! THAT MAKES ME SAD... I'D LOVE TO HAVE A DRINK WITH YOU, NOW THAT YOU'RE ALL GROWN UP..." The call clicks off before he can draw them further in. Luffy snaps, "FORGET IT!! JUST HANG UP!!" Caesar realizes how close he came to being psychologically trapped by Doflamingo's stare and voice: "WHEW. THAT WAS CLOSE!! HE ALMOST HAD ME!!" Sanji notices the danger in the eyes too: "HIS EYES!! LOOK AT HIS EYES!!" The deal is set, but Doflamingo's presence still reaches through the receiver.

As the Sunny rides the sea toward Dressrosa, the crew worries about the exchange. Sanji asks, "WHAT'LL WE DO IF HE GOES AND BRINGS HIS WHOLE CREW WITH HIM!!" Law stays calm: "THAT DOESN'T MATTER." He explains the real purpose of returning Caesar: "AS FAR AS THE PLAN GOES, RETURNING CAESAR... IS JUST A DECOY." Franky immediately reduces the plan to his own scale of logic: "IF IT'S A FACTORY, THEN IT'S BOUND TO BE BIG. I'LL SUPER-FIGURE-IT-OUT ONCE WE GET THERE AND THEN I'LL TAKE IT DOWN WITH ONE OF MY BEAMS!!" Luffy asks, "YOU MEAN IT'S ALL JUST SO THAT WE CAN GO AND DESTROY THE 'SMILE' FACTORY?" Law answers, "YES... BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS." Nami catches the real problem: "IT'S THE ENEMY'S PRECIOUS FACTORY, RIGHT? THERE MAY BE SOME SORT OF SECRET BEHIND IT." Law agrees: "IT'S JUST THAT... THE LOCATION, I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET ANY INFORMATION ABOUT IT."

The conversation turns from Green Bit to Dressrosa itself. Kin'emon says, "LAW-DONO... YOU SAID 'GREEN BIT,' BUT..." and asks if Law has been to Dressrosa before. Luffy jokes with the word, "TO DRESS-ROBA?" prompting the note that "ROBA" means "old lady." Law says he has not been there: "I HAVEN'T. IT'S A PLACE DOFLAMINGO RULED OVER AS KING." Luffy immediately lights up: "DRESSROSA - THIS IS GONNA BE FUN!!" He adds, "GREAT WE'LL FIGURE EVERYTHING OUT ONCE WE GET THERE!!" and "SHISHISHISHI, ADVENTURE, ADVENTURE!!!" He also refuses to let go of his other dream: "AND I CAN'T WAIT TO GO TO WANOKUNI EITHER!!" Law tries to keep everyone focused: "DON'T BE AN IDIOT!! WE'VE GOT A PLAN TO FOLLOW HERE..." Meanwhile breakfast requests break through the strategy as Luffy asks Sanji for food, Nami wants tea, and someone asks for a cotton candy sandwich.

Kin'emon refuses to reveal who was chasing him originally, but he does reveal the destination that started his journey: "I SET OUT FOR A PLACE CALLED 'ZOU'." Law reacts sharply: "ZOU...!? DO YOU KNOW OF IT!?" Kin'emon explains, "JUST ONE COINCIDENCE AFTER ANOTHER...!! AFTER RETURNING CAESAR AND DESTROYING THE SMILE FACTORY... MY NEXT TARGET IS ZOU. MY CREW IS THERE." Kin'emon says his own group also aimed for Zou: "THREE SAMURAI AS WELL AS MOMONOSUKE... FOUR IN TOTAL SET OUT FOR ZOU, BUT... WE MET WITH DISASTER." He clarifies, "MOMONOSUKE AND TWO OF US SAMURAI DRIFTED ASHORE ON DRESSROSA." Luffy treats the overlap as good news: "SURE, THAT'S FINE! WE'LL GO AS FAR AS WANOKUNI, EVEN!" Kin'emon asks, "MIGHT I REQUEST THAT WE RIDE WITH YOU AS FAR AS..." but Luffy cuts in casually, "HEY NOW!! ...HOLD ON..."

Kin'emon explains the tragedy that separated his group. Once they reached Dressrosa, he hid aboard an unknown ship, but "ALAS, ONCE THERE, WE WERE PURSUED BY ONE NAMED DOFLAMINGO AND HIS PEOPLE..." He found children seeking a cure and says, "THERE I MET THE CHILDREN WHO SOUGHT A CURE FOR THEIR ILLNESS." Before he knew it, "THE SHIP SET SAIL FOR THAT ISLAND!!" while he cursed, "CURSES!! MOMONOSUKE!!!" Worse, while he covered the escape, "A SAMURAI NAMED 'KANJURO' WAS TAKEN HOSTAGE." Kin'emon says, "HE AIDED IN MY ESCAPE TO SEA, THAT HE DID!!! ... I MUST RESCUE HIM!!!" and insists, "PURSUE MOMONOSUKE!! THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS!!" Then his resolve breaks through again: "I MUST... I MUST GO BACK THERE...!!" Luffy and the others respond immediately: "WUOHH!! WHAT A MAN, THAT KANJURO!!" and "ALRIGHT!! WE'LL HELP SAVE HIM TOO!!"

The scene shifts to the New World near the Red Line, at Marine Headquarters. Commodore Brannew explains the Royal Shichibukai system to the assembled Marines. "THE ROYAL SHICHIBUKAI...!!" he says. "THERE ARE ONLY SEVEN IN THE WORLD!!" They are "PIRATES CHOSEN BY THE WORLD GOVERNMENT AND GIVEN PERMISSION TO DO AS THEY PLEASE!!" The reason for tolerating such criminals is military balance: "IN EXCHANGE, WHEN THEY ARE NEEDED, THEY MUST LEND THEIR OVERWHELMING POWER AND RENOWN... TO SIDE WITH THE GOVERNMENT, AS A CHECK AGAINST THE OTHER PIRATES OF THE WORLD!!" Brannew's explanation frames Doflamingo's resignation as more than one pirate's decision. The Shichibukai are a formal pillar of the world order, and losing one as influential as Doflamingo threatens the balance between Marine HQ, the Yonko, and the pirates.

Brannew lists the remaining Warlords and the scale of what Doflamingo has just disturbed. They include "THE GREATEST SWORDSMAN IN THE WORLD," "HAWK EYES" DRACULE MIHAWK; "THE KING OF DRESSROSA, WITH THE DEVIL'S CHARISMA," "TENYASHA" DONQUIXOTE DOFLAMINGO; and "CURRENTLY, THE MARINES' HUMAN WEAPON," "THE TYRANT" BARTHOLOMEW KUMA. The list continues with "THE CURRENT EMPRESS OF AMAZON LILY," "THE 'PIRATE EMPRESS' BOA HANCOCK"; "FROM 'THE WORST GENERATION,' AND THE MASTERMIND BEHIND THE ROCKY PORT INCIDENT," "THE 'SURGEON OF DEATH' TRAFALGAR LAW"; and "THE LIVING LEGEND, AND THE COMMANDER OF THE PIRATE DISPATCH ORGANIZATION," "THE THOUSAND PIECE CLOWN" BUGGY. Brannew concludes, "THAT MAKES SEVEN... ALONG WITH THE MAN I MENTIONED EARLIER..." The page emphasizes that Doflamingo is one member of a small, dangerous, politically essential group.

Brannew explains that all of those assumptions only held "UNTIL DOFLAMINGO'S SUDDEN WITHDRAWAL!!!" and "UNTIL THIS MORNING!!" The Marines understand that the balance among Marine Headquarters, the Yonko, and the Shichibukai "WILL BE THROWN OFF..." and that "ALONG WITH MARINE HQ AND THE YONKOU, THE BALANCE OF THREE GREAT POWERS OF THE WORLD..." has been disrupted. A Marine asks what will happen to Law as well: "AND GIVEN WHATEVER LAW IS UP TO, WE'LL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO EXPEL HIM FROM THE SHICHIBUKAI AS WELL." The Fleet Admiral answers, "YEAH, WE GOT IT, BRANNEW." He refuses to let Law and Luffy move freely: "WE WON'T LET LAW AND STRAWHAT DO AS THEY PLEASE...!!" He adds that "YESTERDAY WE RECEIVED AN ANNOYING REPORT FROM G-5'S SMOKER...!!" and decides the next move: "WE'LL CONSIDER THE SITUATION FOR ONE MORE DAY. I'VE ALREADY SENT 'FUJITORA'."

Dressrosa is thrown into open confusion. Citizens crowd the streets and call toward the palace: "YOUR HIGHNESS!!" and "PLEASE DON'T ABDICATE!!!" Others look for the Donquixote executives, asking, "TREBOL-SAMA!?" and "WHERE'S TREBOL-SAMA?" while someone says, "YOUNG MASTER MUST BE THINKING ABOUT WHAT TO DO." Another insists, "IF THE MARINES SHOW UP, I'LL FIGHT 'EM!!" and a loyal follower declares, "EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE AS LONG AS WE OBEY THE YOUNG MASTER." Baby 5 looks up and asks about the uproar, and a voice answers, "AH, UP THERE!!" She expects the whole world to be panicking: "NO... THE WHOLE WORLD, I EXPECT!!" Trebol presses his face too close and is scolded, "TOO CLOSE!! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE HAD THIS CONVERSATION!! YOU JUST CAN'T TAKE A HINT!!" He chatters back, "RIGHT? RIGHT? BY THE WAY, WAS ANOTHER FIANCEE OF YOURS BLOWN AWAY? BEHEHE."

Trebol keeps pestering Baby 5 until she snaps. He says, "CAN'T TAKE A HINT!? ...BUT? ...HMM?" and then, "CAN'T TAKE A HINT BUT WHAT? WHAT? HMM." Baby 5 shouts, "SHUT UP ALREADY!! YOUNG MASTER IS CALLING!!" and reminds him, "HE TOLD YOU TO BRING HIM THAT!! GET AWAY FROM ME! YOU'RE DISGUSTING!!" Trebol clings to the idea of being needed and asks, "COULD IT BE, I CAN'T TAKE A HINT, BUT YOU LOVE ME!?" then collapses into melodrama: "DOES HE NEED ME!?" Baby 5 yells, "CUT THAT OUT!!" while Dellinger notes, "YOU'VE JUST BEEN PICKING MEN WHO END UP GETTING KILLED BY DOFFY." Trebol cackles, "AS IF!! BEHEHEHEHE HEHEHEHEH!!" and another voice tells Baby 5, "THE COLOSSEUM IS ALWAYS DOING WELL, THANKS TO YOU, DIAMANTE." Diamante deflects the praise: "HARDLY... WE OWE IT ALL TO YOUR CHARISMA, AS KING."

Inside the palace, Diamante insists on his public role while Doflamingo arrives with a request. Diamante boasts, "THAT'S RIGHT- I'M THE HERO OF THE COLOSSEUM!!" and says, "IF YOU'RE GONNA GO THAT FAR THEN I'LL ADMIT IT!!" Doflamingo calls, "HEY, HEY, HEY," and tells him, "I'VE BROUGHT IT, DOFFY!!" but Diamante's exaggerated modesty continues: "OKAY THEN, YOU'RE NOT..." "THAT'S BETTER... NOW SIT." The silhouettes of the Donquixote executives gather as Doflamingo explains why he came: "IF HE WERE TO KNOW ABOUT ITS EXISTENCE... STRAWHAT LUFFY WOULD SURELY COME FOR THIS. AND THAT ALLIANCE WOULD BECOME NOTHING BUT A BURDEN TO HIM!!" In the shadowed room, the suits of the Donquixote Family face Doflamingo, and the conversation turns from panic to counterattack. Doflamingo is already preparing a lure.

Doflamingo reveals the bait. He tells Diamante, "DIAMANTE, I'M ENTRUSTING THIS WITH YOU." Diamante protests, "HOLD ON NOW, DOFFY. YOU CAN'T GIVE IT TO ME." The old routine of refusal continues: "BUT... I WANT TO." Diamante complains, "CUT IT OUT... TREATING ME LIKE SOME SORT OF GENIUS. BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN ONLY BE DONE BY A GENIUS LIKE YOU. NAW... I MEAN..." Doflamingo knows the game and says that if Diamante is going that far, he has no choice but to admit it. Diamante finally roars, "THAT'S RIGHT - THAT BASTARD, STRAWHAT!!!! JUST LET HIM TRY TO GET IT!!" Doflamingo grins with the fruit in his hand and laughs, "FUFFUFFU I EXPECT HE'LL JUMP AT THE CHANCE..." The prize is named: "TO GET THE FRUIT THAT BEARS HIS BROTHER'S ABILITY, THE 'MERA MERA NO MI'!!"

The island comes into view. From the Sunny, the crew stares ahead and Luffy shouts, "UHO!! WHAT A ROUGH-LOOKING ISLAND!!" The narration says, "THE ISLAND HAS COME INTO VIEW," and then the crew calls out, "DRESSROSA!!" and "WE'RE HERE!!" Law snaps, "KEEP IT DOWN, IDIOT!! DOFLAMINGO'LL HEAR YOU!!" Luffy ignores the caution and yells into the distance, "I'VE COME TO SAVE YOU!!! KANJURO!!" Kin'emon cries the same goal from the deck, while someone quietly says, "I REALLY DOUBT THAT." The island is described as "THIS IS THE COUNTRY OF LOVE AND PASSION... 'DRESSROSA'." The chapter ends with the Straw Hat-Law alliance arriving at the place Doflamingo ruled, unaware that he has already prepared Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit as bait for Luffy.

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