Inside the Royal Palace of Dressrosa.
After learning why Nanamo had come, King Riku let out a long sigh.
“So it’s finally happening?”
Thanks to the warning from Fishman Island, King Riku had been keeping an eye on Doflamingo ever since he began appearing frequently in the newspapers.
Plundering the Heavenly Tribute, becoming a Shichibukai—King Riku had followed it all.
Although he did not know exactly what had happened behind the scenes, he knew very well that Doflamingo was making his move.
“Don’t worry too much, King Riku. The Donquixote Pirates aren’t a large pirate crew with vast numbers. Aside from the officers Doflamingo calls his family, they don’t have many people.
We’re confident we can handle them. With Viola helping us monitor their movements, we can keep the damage to Dressrosa to a minimum.”
“Thank you for your help. I’ll cooperate with your operation.”
King Riku did not know how strong Doflamingo was, but considering his ability to seize the Heavenly Tribute and the strength the other Shichibukai had displayed, he could make a rough guess.
Without anyone to help him, his best option would be to try to take Doflamingo down with him using explosives.
Nanamo was not sure exactly when Doflamingo would arrive either, so they simply followed their agreed plan, splitting up and staying in different parts of Dressrosa.
Alber also remained in the Royal Palace as they had discussed.
“What is your position under Nereus…?”
“I suppose you could call me the captain of His Majesty’s personal guards. I know you’re a friend of His Majesty Nereus. I won’t let you get hurt.”
“No, what I meant was, if that man really does break in, don’t worry too much about me. Just protect the others in the Royal Palace. I can look after myself.”
To avoid causing panic, King Riku did not make the news public. He only instructed Dressrosa’s royal army to remain on high alert over the next few days and prepare for a crisis, while telling the citizens not to go out at night.
The trust and prestige he had built up over the years gave King Riku’s words considerable weight in Dressrosa. Over the next few nights, the country remained relatively quiet.
“Father, I see… that flag that looks like a smiling face approaching.”
One night, Viola discovered Doflamingo’s whereabouts using her Glare-Glare Fruit and immediately informed the others through a Den Den Mushi.
Viola herself was with Hermes at the time. Nanamo had originally intended to have Hermes act as their scout.
But when she realized that Viola’s ability was better suited to surveying all of Dressrosa, she adjusted their assignments.
Chloe remained at Scarlett’s home, while Yamato and Hermes formed a support team stationed beside Viola, deciding where to go based on the enemy movements Viola observed.
“Is there anything I need to do?”
King Riku looked at Alber beside him, but Alber simply shook his head.
“Just act as you normally would. See if you can get some information out of him. He might let something valuable slip if his guard is down.”
“Understood.”
This time, King Riku did not go to bed. Instead, he waited quietly for Doflamingo in his study.
Moonlight shone through the glass into the room. The moon was particularly bright that night, yet its light looked somewhat deathly pale against the floor.
Using the strings in his hands to latch onto the clouds in the sky, Doflamingo swung toward the Royal Palace from high above.
With a flick of his finger, a string sliced precisely through the window latch. Accompanied by the creak of its hinges, Doflamingo pushed the window open.
King Riku was sitting at the far end of a long table, his quill suspended above a sheet of parchment. The ink had already spread into an ever-growing black blot.
“Fufufufu… Oh? Still dealing with paperwork at this hour? What a hardworking king…”
“You are…?”
King Riku pretended to know nothing about the situation, hoping to coax some information out of Doflamingo for Alber.
“No shouting, and don’t call anyone over.
I am Donquixote Doflamingo. You should know what that name means.
I’ve come to collect the rent, Riku Doldo III. Dressrosa has been on loan to you for hundreds of years. It’s time to settle the interest.”
“This country owes you nothing. Your ancestors abandoned this place. You’re a pirate now, a wanted criminal.”
“Was.”
Doflamingo corrected King Riku.
“Now I’m a Shichibukai. A legal pirate. A pirate with… a license to plunder.”
“What exactly do you want?”
Doflamingo looked around the entire room, his gaze sweeping over the portraits of past kings on the walls and the armor in the corner before returning to Doldo.
“Didn’t I tell you? I’m collecting interest. This country doesn’t belong to you. It’s time to give it back. If you dare refuse, this country’s soil will be stained red with blood!”
“You…”
“Fuffuffu, don’t be so quick to answer. I’ve looked into you. You dislike war. And I’m no demon, so I’ll give you a chance to buy this country from me.
Just hand over ten billion Berry, and this country is yours.
Whether you scrape together the money to avoid war or fight and let your citizens bleed is up to you. As for the deadline… you have until dawn.”
According to Doflamingo’s investigation, King Riku’s personality meant he would certainly choose to compromise. As for the relationship between Doldo and Nereus…
Even at the meetings of affiliated nations, few people knew about their personal friendship, let alone Doflamingo.
One could hardly expect people in the Underworld to know about the relationship between two kings.
But King Riku’s choice was somewhat different from what Doflamingo had expected.
“Wait.”
King Riku slowly rose to his feet, his back straight. He showed no fear at all, instead tightening his grip on his sword.
But before Doldo could finish, someone frantically pushed open the doors and rushed in.
“King Riku! You need to come with me right—”
“Corazon? You can talk?”
The intruder was Rosinante. When they arrived in Dressrosa without encountering any resistance, Rosinante knew something had gone wrong.
He secretly contacted the Marines to ask what was happening. The nearest Marine branch to Dressrosa was G-5, but when Rosinante heard the voice of someone called Captain Vergo, he realized they were in serious trouble.
The original Corazon had actually gone undercover in the Marines and had already become a captain.
Doflamingo had told them they would act before dawn, so Rosinante used the power of his Calm-Calm Fruit to slip past the other family members, intending to warn King Riku in advance.
Instead, he ran straight into Doflamingo.
Viola had not alerted them to the situation here because Alber had told her not to worry about any enemies inside the Royal Palace. He would handle them all.
[This is bad…]
Rosinante wanted to come up with an explanation, but any explanation was pointless now. He had pretended to be mute for so many years, only to barge into the Royal Palace at a time like this.
“To think that the traitor by my side… was my own little brother!”
Rosinante’s intrusion had disrupted not only Doflamingo’s plan, but also Alber’s plan to have King Riku draw some information out of him.
Alber did not care in the slightest about the relationship between Doflamingo and Rosinante. Since the plan had already been disrupted, there was no reason to wait any longer.
“Imperial Flame!”
From the shadows of the room, Alber, who had been concealing his presence with Observation Haki, revealed himself. With a swing of his weapon, several blazing fireballs flew toward Doflamingo.
“Spider Web!”
The sudden appearance of this presence made Doflamingo assume that one of King Riku’s guards had just arrived, so he did not take it too seriously.
He simply raised his hand and wove his strings into a spiderweb shield, attempting to block Alber’s attack.
If it was only fire, his strings would be enough to stop it.
Whoosh!
Just as that thought crossed Doflamingo’s mind, the scorching flames burned straight through his strings.
His carelessness cost him dearly. Alber’s fireballs struck him directly, blasting him out through the window.
Whoosh!
Several strings shot out, and Doflamingo returned to the room. His feather coat was gone, though his glasses stubbornly remained on his face.
“Who are you? Dressrosa has no one like you. Why are you interfering in our private affairs?”
“Private affairs? What does Dressrosa have to do with you? Your father, Donquixote Homing, was from a branch of the Donquixote family to begin with. Who knows how far down the line of succession he was?
Even if we were discussing who owns Dressrosa, someone stripped of his Celestial Dragon status like you would hardly have a claim.”
“Don’t mention that name! I have no father like that! A lowly wretch like you… has no right to speak of such things!”
Alber’s tone was calm, but every word cut deep, touching on things Doflamingo refused to face.
Although Doflamingo could act like the rightful owner in front of King Riku, in the eyes of the other members of the Donquixote family, he was a disgraceful brat who had abandoned his old life to scavenge through garbage.
The Celestial Dragons in Mariejois had little regard for Doflamingo.
“This country was mine to begin with! I’m just taking it back!”
First, he had discovered Rosinante’s betrayal. Then Alber had struck directly at his deepest vulnerabilities. Doflamingo was now furious beyond measure.
He had cast his original plan aside. All he wanted now was to kill the man before him and make him understand what pain truly meant.
“Overheat!”
Several strings gathered in Doflamingo’s palm, forming a whip that lashed toward Alber.
“Watch out!”
Rosinante shouted a warning to Alber, then lunged toward King Riku beside him. After all, Doflamingo’s attack had caught every one of them within its range.
But Alber did not accept the gesture. In fact, he did not particularly trust Rosinante.
Alber darted forward, kicked Rosinante aside, then reached out to grab the string whip Doflamingo had swung at him.
Even though Alber had not used much force, the kick still sent Rosinante flying, leaving him curled up on the floor like a shrimp.
But when Rosinante struggled to get up, he saw that Doflamingo’s Overheat, which could easily slice through thick stone walls, had been caught effortlessly in Alber’s hand.
“You want to talk about history?”
“Fufufufu, it’s a fact. The noble blood of the Twenty Kings runs through my veins. I am their descendant. This country rightfully belongs to me.”
Doflamingo did not simply retreat in fear. He still had the courage to fight Alber.
But the Celestial Dragons occupied the Red Line and exploited the entire world. Hearing Doflamingo invoke history to justify himself here struck Alber as utterly laughable.
“What a joke. By that logic… you twenty families of parasites are the ones who stole our homeland. Shouldn’t you willingly return the Red Line… to us?”
This was also why Alber had volunteered to come here. When he heard that Doflamingo intended to use this excuse to take Dressrosa, Alber had decided to deal with him personally.
The Red Line had once been the home of the Lunarians. But defeat had ultimately left them displaced and nearly driven them to extinction.
“The masters of the Red Line… I was wondering who you were. So you’re one of those homeless Lunarian curs…”
Unlike Amphitrite, whom the World Government had specifically identified as a Lunarian, Alber’s identity remained relatively mysterious. Doflamingo had yet to realize the greater danger he was facing.
“Riku Doldo… Is this what gives you such confidence? Athlete!”
Dismissing the string whip in his hand, Doflamingo kicked forward again, several razor-sharp strings trailing from his toes. In a sense, his identity as a Celestial Dragon and Alber’s Lunarian bloodline meant they each knew the other’s deepest wounds.
Alber and Doflamingo were striking at each other’s most vulnerable points.
Facing Doflamingo’s attack, Alber remained standing where he was, not even bothering to use Haki.
Although Doflamingo’s string blades sliced through his clothes, they failed to leave so much as a scratch on his skin.
“There’s a flaw in your understanding. Back then, your people were stronger, so my ancestors lost. But you don’t have that strength.
Perish in fear. Nightmare Origin!”
Alber raised his hand and released a strange pulse.
Doflamingo’s offensive power was not particularly outstanding. Although he had developed a comprehensive range of uses for the String-String Fruit, his attacks could not even break through Gear 4 Luffy’s defenses.
And when it came to defense, Lunarians had never feared anyone as long as their flames remained lit.
Even without taking any special defensive measures, Alber could handle Doflamingo’s attacks with ease.
Unfamiliar with Alber’s powers, Doflamingo briefly fell into a daze, as though he had returned to that sea of flames.
The nightmare lasted only a moment, but the searing heat around him did not fade. When Doflamingo came to his senses, a gigantic flame monster had appeared inside Dressrosa’s Royal Palace.
The blazing flames bore a humanlike expression, seemingly mocking Doflamingo before them.
You can read ahead upto 45 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.