"Trafalgar Law, you say?" Doflamingo gave an evil laugh and then asked, "So, what do you want with me? You're going to die soon, aren't you?"
"Three years and two months," the brat, Trafalgar Law, said.
"What?" Doflamingo didn't quite understand.
"Three years and two months. I have Amber Lead Syndrome. I only have three years and two months left to live. I came to you for one thing: in these three years and two months, I want to join your crew and kill more people!" Trafalgar Law said, his eyes filled with malice.
It was hard to believe such words were coming from a ten-year-old child.
Sitting in the distance, Smoker watched the boy, his gaze filled with a sense of regret. Amber Lead Syndrome had twisted a child into a monster.
"Fufufufufufu, kill more people? And why me?" Doflamingo asked with a hearty laugh.
"You're the most evil and most powerful pirate in the entire North Blue. That's why!" Trafalgar Law replied.
"How interesting!" Doflamingo said softly, then continued, "Very well. I'll make you one of my subordinates."
With that, Doflamingo turned to look at Diamante and said, "Diamante, take this little... no, take Law and let him rest."
Doflamingo could see that Trafalgar Law was utterly exhausted. How had he escaped from the living hell of Flevance? How had he, with Amber Lead Syndrome, endured so many hardships to find his way here? Whatever the case, he was on the verge of collapse and needed a good rest.
Diamante nodded, then turned to Trafalgar Law, "Since the Young Master has agreed, come with me. From today on, you are a member of the Donquixote Family."
Trafalgar Law's expression remained lifeless, showing neither happiness nor sadness. He simply nodded and followed Diamante away.
After Trafalgar Law had left, Doflamingo remained standing, watching the boy's receding figure, a faint, wicked smile on his face. After a long pause, he finally returned to the sofa and sat down.
"Taking in a kid who's about to die doesn't seem like your style," Smoker said softly, exhaling a thick plume of smoke.
Doflamingo took a sip of red wine and laughed. "It's a good thing, isn't it? In that brat, I see my old self."
"Your old self?" Smoker raised an eyebrow.
Doflamingo seemed to be in a talkative mood, as if he considered Smoker someone he could be open with. He nodded. "That's right. I was just like him when I was a child. That look in his eyes is a look of utter hatred for this world. He wants to destroy the entire world and drag everyone into the hell he's lived through. Just like I did back then," Doflamingo said softly.
"You back then..." Smoker murmured, then asked, "And now? Are you different?"
Doflamingo laughed, taking another sip of wine. "I'm a little different now. Back then, I wanted to destroy this world and make everyone as miserable as I was. But now..."
"Now what?" Smoker asked.
"Now, I just want to drag those damned fools who were once as high and mighty as me into the mud of this mortal world. That's all," Doflamingo said with a hint of melancholy.
"Hahahaha," Smoker laughed out loud. "I thought you were still the same maniac who wanted to destroy the world."
"If I had the power, I would. But that would make the entire world my enemy, and I'm well aware that I don't have the strength to win that fight. It just so happens I'm a man who knows his limits," Doflamingo said with a wicked laugh.
To destroy the world would mean making an enemy of everyone, and Doflamingo knew he couldn't handle that. This idea was just a childish desire for revenge from his youth, not something to be obsessed with.
The one thing he could never and would never let go of was the hatred he felt for those damned Celestial Dragons. He went back to Mariejois, carrying his own father's head, only to be mocked and cast out. The pain of having to kill his own father to return to a place he was born to was incomprehensible to anyone else, and those Celestial Dragons had made his suffering and his act of patricide meaningless and laughable. That was his true hatred!
So he had given up on destroying the world. He had only one goal in his life: to drag those vile, self-proclaimed gods, who sat high above the clouds, down to earth and make them experience what it meant to suffer in this world's misery. They could rot and decay in this damned mud pit!
"Is that so?" Smoker said noncommittally.
There was no reason to believe Doflamingo's story, but he did say one thing that was true: Doflamingo knew his limits.
They had said just about everything they needed to. Spandine had contacted him a few days ago, saying that the arrangements in Water 7 were complete and that once he returned, he could take the shipwrights to the New World. He had already delayed for half a year, and with this thought, Smoker saw no reason to stay in the North Blue.
Just as he was about to bid Doflamingo farewell, Smoker saw a strange figure walk into the courtyard. He was tall and thin, just like Doflamingo, and wore a black feathered coat. To Smoker, Doflamingo's style was already over the top, but this guy was clearly even more flamboyant.
He had a ghastly face, wore an eerie hood, and had a cigarette in his mouth, his hands in his pockets. He calmly glanced at Doflamingo, then at Smoker, said nothing, and walked past Doflamingo into the house.
"Who's that guy?" Smoker asked, curious.
Rosinante's undercover status was even higher than Smoker's. After all, the plan for the Warlord of the Sea system was known to some higher-ups in the Marines. In Rosinante's case, only a few people who had been in contact with him years ago knew, such as Sengoku, Zephyr, Tsuru, Diarmuid, and Kuzan. The others were unaware, and these people would never betray him.
"Fufufufu, that's my little brother. Please take good care of him in the future," Doflamingo said with a laugh, seemingly unfazed by Rosinante's coldness.
He had lost his brother in their youth, and by the time he returned, they were both grown. He didn't know what his brother had been through, but he knew it must have been a lot of suffering. When Rosinante came back, he had become mute.
Doflamingo had taken his brother to many famous doctors, who all performed a thorough examination. They concluded that Rosinante couldn't speak due to psychological trauma. His body was fine, but he had lost his ability to speak after suffering a huge mental shock.
Doflamingo just assumed Rosinante had suffered a lot during the years he was lost. As a big brother, he didn't want Rosinante to relive that pain, so he stopped asking about his past. He kept Rosinante by his side and even made him one of the Donquixote Family's top executives, the Heart seat.
Truthfully, Doflamingo later had the idea of having his brother eat the Op-Op Fruit and, once he had developed his abilities, sacrificing him to perform the Immortality Operation on himself. But that thought only came to him after he received news of the Op-Op Fruit. He couldn't be sure he'd ever find it, and not everyone could wait for a Devil Fruit for more than 20 years on a pirate ship like Marshall D. Teach.
Before he received news of the Op-Op Fruit, Doflamingo had no ill will toward Rosinante. He was his last and only blood relative left in the world, and Doflamingo cherished and loved him very much.
Perhaps in Doflamingo's own mind, Rosinante was the last thing that kept him from going completely over the edge. It was for this reason that Rosinante was able to do whatever he wanted within the Donquixote Family. Rosinante, in turn, passed on a large amount of intelligence about the Donquixote Family and Doflamingo to the Marines. For example, it was thanks to Rosinante that Tsuru was able to quickly discover Doflamingo's amber lead operation.
As for his muteness, it was just a disguise. He was a user of the Paramecia-type Calm-Calm Fruit, which allowed him to silence sound. It was a secret that no one in the Donquixote Family knew.
"Brother?" Smoker was taken aback. He never knew Doflamingo had a brother. Looking at his build and attitude, he seemed to be his blood brother. Given his strange attire, was he an even more twisted and sinister person than Doflamingo?
No, this must be a major secret. Maybe the Marines don't even know Doflamingo has a brother. I need to report this to my superior as soon as possible.
He was already planning on leaving, but now he had an unexpected harvest. Smoker's expression didn't change, as if he wasn't interested in Doflamingo's brother at all. He flicked his cigar ash and stood up. "I'm done with my business in the North Blue. The business between Amway Company and your Donquixote Family will continue to grow. I'll be leaving now."
Without waiting for Doflamingo to speak, Smoker sauntered out of the courtyard. Just as he was about to exit, he suddenly stopped, turned, and looked at Doflamingo. "Oh, and by the way, I hope you become a Warlord of the Sea soon..."
A sinister smirk appeared on Smoker's face, making him look no different from a truly evil and ruthless pirate. Then, he turned and walked away.
Doflamingo looked at Smoker's retreating figure and gave a wicked laugh. "I appreciate the well wishes."
After Smoker left, Trebol walked in from the house and stood behind Doflamingo. "Doffy, should we go back to the New World?"
"No, I don't want to go back to the New World for now. Let's stay in the North Blue," Doflamingo said casually.
Trebol didn't know what his Young Master was planning, but since he had said so, there was nothing to argue about. He nodded and left.
Doflamingo remained seated, completely still, as if admiring the bikini-clad beauties playing in the pool. But after a long while, he whispered, "Trafalgar Law, huh?"
Could Amber Lead Syndrome be cured? Honestly, he saw his past self in that boy, and he didn't want him to die three years from now. If he was trained properly, this kid could become his right-hand man! But it's a real shame about that Amber Lead Syndrome... and Flevance.