Step, step, step...
Doflamingo admired his handiwork, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
"Fufufufufu... Shanks, this version of you... is much closer to how I remember you."
"Your... memory?"
Gravely wounded and clinging to life, Shanks was filled with hatred—but also confusion. Why had Doflamingo attacked them the moment they met? He remembered seeing him once before, in Loguetown.
Nearby, Mihawk pricked up his ears. If he was going to die, he at least wanted to understand why.
"That's right. In the future I saw, you lived quite well—aside from your own stupidity costing you an arm."
"Seeing... the future?" Shanks' heart skipped a beat.
Captain Roger had once mentioned that glimpses of the future were possible. But what future had Doflamingo seen? And what kind of future had Roger sought?
"No... I read the script."
Doflamingo's grin widened.
This was his favorite part—rewriting the fates of others. The pleasure it gave him was almost too much to bear.
"Script?"
Shanks truly didn't understand.
"Exactly. The future you... your stance was unclear. And you know, an enemy you can see is far less dangerous than a stranger you can't."
It was a truth as old as time—heretics were hated less than the unknown.
Thud!
Vergo dropped down behind Doflamingo, dragging an unconscious Benn Beckman by the collar.
"Doffy, this one's Observation Haki is... unusual."
A Beckman who, in the future, would match Shanks in power?
Doflamingo raised an eyebrow at him.
"Hmm, interesting. We'll get to know him later."
Shanks, barely alive, pushed aside his doubts and struggles. His voice cracked.
"Beckman!!!"
But there was no response.
Shanks' eyes dimmed, his spirit fading away.
As pirates, dying together was a kind of beautiful end. But their voyage... it had barely begun.
Doflamingo frowned at Shanks' lifeless gaze. Dead fish weren't fun to play with.
Just then—
Smoother piloted the Numancia Flamingo into view.
Doflamingo's eyes lit up.
He remembered something he'd prepared.Maybe it would liven Shanks up a little.
"You're amazing, Doffy!"
Smoother's voice carried loudly across the deck, filled with admiration.Then came the high-pitched chorus of the Tontatta people.
"I adore you, Lord Doflamingo!"
"Lord Doflamingo is invincible!"
"..."
"Fufufufufu! Naturally. But first, business."
Doflamingo tilted his chin up proudly. He loved hearing the truth—but he had more important things to handle now.
He waved off Smoother and the Tontatta's enthusiasm, stepping into the main cabin and pulling out three Den Den Mushi projectors.
Only then did he turn back to Shanks.
"Speaking of which... I brought you a gift."
He set up one projector facing Shanks, weaving a white screen out of his strings, then activated two other marked projectors.
The recordings began to play.
"Looking for my treasure?…"
On the screen, the Pirate King Roger—dead for three years now—smiled.
From the other projector came the sound of sobbing.
"Captain Roger... Waaaaah!"
A young clown-nosed boy and a straw-hatted young man bit their lips, crying uncontrollably.
"Captain Roger..."
Despair crept into Shanks' heart. Tears welled in his eyes, a complex mix of grief and bittersweet memories.
He didn't even know how to describe the feelings churning inside him.
Only one thought flashed through his mind:
What kind of absolute bastard is Doflamingo?
"So you've been watching me... since that long ago?"
"Fufufufufu. Of course."
Doflamingo's heart swelled with joy as he captured the twisted, grief-stricken look on Shanks' face. His smile grew even wider.
And that was only his third level of satisfaction.Later, showing this recording to Buggy the Clown would no doubt bring him a fourth.
He continued, voice dripping with mockery.
"Do you like your gift?"
Shanks: ...
"No? Doesn't matter. It's your last gift anyway.The spirit of Roger... ends with you today!"
With a flick of his finger, Doflamingo's strings tightened. Then, as if remembering something, he sneered.
"Oh, right. As a reward for Roger adopting a Celestial Dragon's brat, I went ahead and raised his son for him!"
"What!!!?"
Shanks' eyes widened in horror as razor-thin strings closed in.
Then came pain—blinding, indescribable pain.
A flash of red, and Shanks' head flew from his shoulders, his final gaze sweeping the world he loved.
Above, ships hovered like grim messengers of war, cheering for Doflamingo's victory.
Doflamingo himself was laughing wildly. Beckman lay unconscious at his feet.
The earth was torn asunder. The sky was black as night, rumbling with endless thunder.
It was the glimpse... of a world to come.
...
Nearby, Mihawk stood still, feeling the hot blood splatter on him. A rare flicker of grief crossed his eyes.
After giving Shanks his twisted form of closure, Doflamingo turned to his next guest.
Even before he spoke, Mihawk—feeling Doflamingo's burning gaze—asked coldly:
"What are you trying to do?"
"Me?"
Doflamingo stepped closer, bending down.
In Mihawk's golden spiral eyes, he saw his own reflection, twisted and wide.
"Fufufufufu... What do you think I'm trying to do?"
"A madman's mind isn't something I can understand."
Mihawk's answer earned a small nod from Doflamingo.
"Being a step ahead makes you a genius. Being ten steps ahead makes you a madman. And being twenty years ahead of the world?"
He straightened up, smiling even wider.
"That makes me the madman of madmen. It's only natural fools wouldn't understand. But don't worry—you have the right to know."
"Twenty years ahead of the world... the right to know..."
Mihawk mulled over those words.
Ignoring the fiery gazes of the Tontatta and Smoother, Doflamingo waved the Numancia Flamingo further away.
The next conversation wasn't meant for little ears.
Only then did he continue:
"How about this for a plan—killing every last Celestial Dragon? Fufufufufufufu~"
Mihawk's pupils contracted sharply. He could hardly believe what he was hearing.
Doflamingo—was he really this insane?
No wonder they had to kill Shanks and him first. Compared to the pampered nobles on Mary Geoise, they were much easier targets.
"Oh right—Mihawk, what about your father?"
A flicker of memory surfaced in Doflamingo's mind—fragments of the Holy Land.
Mihawk's father had once been a trailblazer, one of the first to rebel.
Mihawk had returned to his crumbling kingdom. But his father... had chosen a land full of Celestial Dragon victims.
"Dead," Mihawk answered with closed eyes.
His wounds were bleeding him dry. At this point, he only wished for a swift death.
Doflamingo, who had been about to strike, found Mihawk... unexpectedly pleasing.
"How interesting. How'd he die?"
"Pirates. The Navy's reinforcements didn't come in time."
Doflamingo burst into laughter.
"Fufufufufu! What a pity."
...
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg