"Gecko Moria, I think we took the wrong path again."
The towering magma giant—over a hundred meters tall—completely emerged from the cliffside, stepping onto the earth.
The temperature surged. All the water in the fields had already evaporated.
Crops and trees shriveled and cracked before the eye.
The ground split with loud crack-crack sounds, forming spiderweb-like fractures.
"M-Magma... it spoke!"
"That must be a demon from hell!"
"We're all gonna die!!!"
From a distance, the townspeople began collapsing one by one in terror under the rapidly rising heat.
"Heh heh heh heh... That's what you get for not listening to me. Now let me see..."
A mass of pitch-black mist, condensed to the extreme, drifted out from a massive tunnel behind the magma giant.
It spread visibly, thickening into a dense cloud that hovered over Nanshan Town.
The sunlight was visibly blocked.
The temperature dropped slightly, giving the collapsed residents a brief chance to catch their breath.
A swarm of bats quickly gathered, and Moria appeared in the sky holding Perona in his arms.
When he saw the island and the fallen residents below, he burst out laughing.
"Heh heh heh, Pica, looks like we'll be relocating another batch of civilians!"
"If you can't speak properly, then shut up," the magma giant growled, flames flickering from its nose and mouth.
Every island on the Grand Line had a unique magnetic field.
The Red Line, which had stood over the sea for countless years, was no exception.
Even though Pica was a Stone-Stone Fruit user, boring a tunnel through it had caused him to lose direction many times.
Otherwise, with his power over stone and searing magma, he would've punched through it long ago.
"Heh heh heh, I was just saying..."
After mocking Pica, Moria finally gave an order.
"Perona, cool this place down a bit. And while you're at it, make the civilians take a nap."
"Understood, Moria-sama!" Perona nodded firmly and extended both hands forward.
One after another, small ghosts of different colors emerged from her palms.
"Chill Ghosts!"
"Sleep Ghosts!"
Blue ghosts exploded into the air.
The rising steam condensed slowly.
Snowflakes began to fall as the temperature dropped steadily.
The townspeople, still disoriented from the sudden string of events, soon collapsed into sleep.
Then, bats swooped in to grab them and hung them in the air.
"I'll leave the civilians to you, Moria."
Watching Pica's massive body slowly merge into the cliffside, Moria froze, then shouted in surprise.
"Wait, haven't we already broken through from the West Blue to the South Blue?! Pica, don't tell me you don't know the way through the West Blue?!"
Not long ago, after dumping the Calm Belt tunnel project in the West Blue onto Diamante, Moria had gone on a rampage there—reaping shadows, testing new powers.
Then that crazy hag Tsuru from the Navy found him, and he got chased across the seas by her and some female swordsman.
Left with no choice, he joined Pica in digging through the mountain.
They'd planned to lie in wait afterward and ambush Tsuru—kill those two crazy women!
"Doffy's mission isn't done yet. The West and South Blues are connected—but what about the North and East?"
Pica's enormous body fully merged into the rock.
With him vanished the entire Nanshan Town.
He was now following the rock layer, planning to pass through Reverse Mountain, reach the East Blue, and tunnel through the Red Line that separated the East and North Blues.
Seawater trickled into the massive newly formed tunnel.
"Moria-sama, where are we headed now?!"
Perona poked Moria, who was still stunned.
Moria's expression instantly twisted into a snarl.
"Back to Skypiea!"
That bastard had used him for free!!
He was going to collect Pica's wages—personally.
...
The next day.
Amazon Lily.
"Ugh... Ah..."
With a painful groan, Rayleigh woke up clutching his head.
Doflamingo's nano-stitching threads could mend internal organs for others.
But when it came to the brain—the most important organ—he could do nothing.
So Rayleigh's headache was normal. His brain had to heal on its own.
Pfft!
After struggling for a while, Rayleigh turned his head and coughed up a mouthful of clotted blood from his brain.
Looking at the familiar decorations above, Rayleigh realized where he was and his memories before fainting came flooding back.
This was the palace of the Kuja.
"I lost that fight..."
He lifted the cup and sat up. Glancing at the smile-covered bandages all over his body, Rayleigh muttered with complicated emotion.
Before blacking out, he'd seen Doflamingo's face.
That punk hadn't finished him off—instead, he'd saved him.
But what about Shakky and Tritoma?
"Yeah, we lost."
The door opened. It was Shakky, having sensed Rayleigh's awakened presence.
Seeing that he wasn't seriously hurt, her tense expression eased.
Rayleigh looked her up and down. Seeing she was completely unharmed, he let out a sigh of relief and asked,
"What about Tritoma?"
At the mention of her daughter, Shakky rubbed her throbbing temple and replied wearily,
"Come on, just look for yourself."
"You need to eat anyway."
Moments later, the two of them walked toward the main palace of the Kuja.
As they got closer, a familiar voice grew louder.
"Doflamingo-sama, please try this—Amazon Lily's most exquisite delicacy: corn snake."
"Mmm~ tender and sweet. It's meat, yet has the texture of dessert. Not bad at all."
"Isn't it? Doflamingo-sama, have a sip of this..."
"A nice flavor. It has good market potential."
"Really? Then have a little more! Doflamingo-sama!"
"No need. I'm still hungry. I need meat."
"Catch more for Doflamingo-sama!!"
"Yes, Empress-sama!"
"..."
Hearing the conversation from inside the hall, Rayleigh had a very bad feeling.
He took a deep breath and stepped into the main hall.
The next moment—
Rayleigh's fists clenched with a crack, his teeth ground audibly, and veins popped from his forehead to his temples.
His sweet daughter.
The Empress of the Kuja.
Was practically draped over Doflamingo at this point! What the hell kind of behavior was this?!!
Doflamingo immediately felt the bloodlust aimed at him.
He opened his arms to pull Tritoma closer, and with the other hand, raised his wineglass.
Facing Rayleigh, he gave a flawless smile.
"Good evening, Rayleigh-san."
There was no denying it—women from Amazon Lily were textbook Stockholm cases.
Once conquered completely, they became hopeless romantics.
It was like their brains got reprogrammed: Doflamingo-sama is the best in the world.
Compared to the brainwashed zealots he'd manipulated before, these women were ten—no, nine times more passionate.
"You'd better be very good!!!"
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg