After the execution,
it took Ozz roughly an hour to return to the Sabaody Archipelago.
Unlike when he left, he came back alone.
He walked into the upstairs lounge of the Red Light District's central hall.
Opening the door, he found more than just Sami and the twins Xiao Liu and Xiao Qi, Rouge and Rayleigh were there too.
"Ozz-sama, you're back!!!"
The twin girls bounded toward him excitedly. Ozz chuckled, gave their heads a gentle pat, greeted the room, and flopped down onto the sofa, casually crossing his legs.
"Ozz," Rayleigh said, holding a bottle of liquor, "I saw the live broadcast of the execution… Roger's body…"
He was genuinely curious. How had Ozz managed to retrieve the body from the hands of the World Government? And what did he do with it afterward?
Ozz thought for a moment. Honestly, it wasn't that big a secret.
Everyone in the room was one of his own.
"Well… just made a little deal with the Five Elders. As for Captain Roger's body…"
"It's been cremated. I scattered his ashes into the sea."
"I see…"
Rayleigh nodded solemnly, a trace of wistfulness in his eyes. "That's a fitting resting place for Roger."
As for the deal with the Five Elders, he didn't pry.
Sami and the others were the same. Even though they were dying of curiosity about such world-shaking affairs,
if Ozz didn't speak, they wouldn't ask.
Knowing when to press and when to pull back this was their golden rule.
Later that night.
In a prison that once held rebellious female slaves,
the sound of footsteps echoed through the empty corridor.
Click… Clack… Click…
Crisp and deliberate, the rhythmic steps snapped Doflamingo out of his thoughts mid-newspaper.
He instantly sat up straight in bed.
That sound wasn't from the usual guards.
No, he knew this sound all too well.
He had heard it countless times in his nightmares.
That oppressive aura creeping in with each step…
Again and again, it had startled him awake in cold sweats.
Beads of sweat trickled from his brow.
His jaw clenched tight.
But he didn't even dare tense his muscles.
"Wow… surprising. None of the girls gave you a little extra punishment all these days?"
The voice came with a teasing lilt.
At some point, Ozz was already sitting at the edge of Doflamingo's bed, casually flipping through the newspaper he'd just been reading.
"Reading the paper's a good habit."
He unfolded it and scanned the front page,
fresh off the press.
Pirate King Roger Executed – The Great Pirate Era Begins
And at the bottom, a photo:
Ozz standing tall, Roger's body slung over his back, coldly overlooking the crowd from the execution platform.
Who the hell keeps taking these damn photos!?
Why do they always make him look so badass!?
He's not even trying to be photogenic!
As Ozz lounged back, legs crossed, flipping through the paper like he didn't have a care in the world,
Doflamingo couldn't help swallowing hard.
Even though Ozz's tone was casual,
just being in the same room with him made Doflamingo feel like the air was thinning again.
The more he read the news these days, the more he realized.
he hadn't just pissed off some big shot…
He had angered a freaking monster.
This man had waltzed into Marineford like it was his living room.
They called him "The Next King."
He stirred chaos right under the noses of the Navy and World Government,
and they didn't even dare react.
A threat level off the charts.
The one with the alias.
"Black Gun"
Dotol Ozz!!!
Yes…
Only someone at the cusp of ruling the seas could wield that soul-crushing Conqueror's Haki.
Just a single clash had utterly snuffed out Doflamingo's will to resist.
It wasn't strategy it was instinctive fear.
In Doflamingo's eyes, Ozz had already become one of the strongest beings alive.
Losing to someone like him didn't even feel humiliating it felt justified.
Losing isn't shameful.
Losing to the weak is.
"Relax~ I'm not here to kill you."
Ozz didn't even look at him as he read.
Still, with his Observation Haki, he could feel how high-strung Doflamingo was tightly wound like a bomb about to go off.
He had only crushed him once.
Was that really enough to leave this deep of a scar?
So much for that big Conqueror's Haki.
Shanks had been smacked around way more than this and still slept like a baby every time.
No wonder he ended up a Yonko guy had real talent for taking a beating.
Hearing Ozz's words, Doflamingo finally exhaled a little.
Of course… If Ozz really wanted to kill him, he'd have done it already.
Why waste time talking?
Unless he was a sadist who liked playing with his food…
Doflamingo scowled, eyes locked on that relaxed figure.
"…You're someone who stands at the top. What use could you have for a nobody like me?"
"You're no nobody, Donquixote Doflamingo."
Ozz snapped the paper shut with a smile.
In the blink of an eye, he was standing right in front of Doflamingo, hands clasped behind his back.
"Losing to me doesn't make you weak.
Actually, I think you've got serious potential.
And I'm willing to invest in your ambition."
He stared directly into Doflamingo's tight-jawed face.
"A fallen Celestial Dragon who's tasted the hell of the real world… and awakened Conqueror's Haki?"
"Once you truly come into your own,
you're going to stir up a whole lot of interesting trouble."
"So let me give you a little push.
Just make sure to thank me properly down the line."
The grin on Ozz's face widened, his eyes gleaming like a cat toying with a mouse.
Even someone as proud and wild as Doflamingo couldn't help but feel unsettled.
He hesitated, then slowly reached into his coat,
pulling out a Den Den Mushi.
"Beru… Beru… Beru…"
Click.
A cold, commanding face appeared on the line, eyes narrowed with disdain.
"What do you want this time, Ozz?"
"If it wasn't you, we wouldn't have taken this call."
The second the voice came through,
Doflamingo's pupils dilated violently.
What?!?
He turned to Ozz's still-smiling face in disbelief.
No way.
No. Freaking. Way.
That voice… those voices…
He'd never forget them in his lifetime.
They were the ones who had stripped him of his Celestial Dragon status,
who had handed down his metaphorical death sentence.
The Five Elders.
And now,
they were casually chatting with a pirate!?
Doflamingo's worldview cracked and reassembled in real time.
Facing the literal rulers of the world,
Ozz just chuckled and said lazily:
"Oh, just following up on our little agreement.
You know, the one we made in exchange for Roger's body
and a symbol of peace between us."
"I've already found one of your candidates…"
"…for the Warlords of the Sea."
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