"So it was Dragon."
Looking at the hooded man in the photo, Doflamingo's lips curled into a smile.
He knew just how important Dragon was to Kuma. It seemed he'd caught the right one.
As for Dragon personally coming to investigate—he wasn't surprised.
After all, twenty-something years from now, the bold and skilled Dragon would dare lead an assault on Mary Geoise.
What he was curious about... was whether adorable Rosinante had already joined the Revolutionary Army.
In an instant, Doflamingo had already pieced together Dragon's objective. Perfect—he could spin this to his advantage.
"Dragon?"
Gild Tesoro and the others quietly committed the name to memory. Someone capable of clashing with Bullet...
No matter what, he was someone they had to be wary of.
Seeing that the others still hadn't grasped the situation, Doflamingo took the time to explain.
"This man is the leader the Revolutionary Army has been hiding all this time. By blood, he's related to Marine Hero Garp."
"With a flick of the hand, he could be destroyed—and besides, who's to say he can't be used by me?"
The mention of Garp stunned everyone momentarily.
But in the next instant—
Doflamingo's confidence infected everyone present.
Especially Trebol , Lao G, and the others who had followed him since the beginning.
From a small town in the North Blue, to now a Yonko ruling across the four seas—when had Doffy-sama ever lost?
"Doffy-sama! You..."
"No need for that."
Doflamingo smiled and raised a hand to stop their flattery. The emotion was there—that was enough. No point wasting time on meaningless praise.
He sent off Smoothie and Tritoma.
Spandam, a living gift, was taken away, and the entire CP9 unit was handed over to Lao G.
Then, with Tesoro in tow, Doflamingo returned to the Divine Palace.
Sinking lazily into his oversized cloud chair, he half-closed his eyes and waved a hand.
Tesoro understood and pulled out a Den Den Mushi to activate a visual feed.
"Boom boom boom! Arrest them all! Kill any who resist!"
Boom...
On the screen, several Donquixote Family strongholds were being destroyed by the Marines.
When the footage ended, Tesoro began to report the current status.
"The core members of the Family have already withdrawn in advance, just as you instructed, BOSS. However, the strongholds on the Grand Line... we lost a lot of assets there..."
Doflamingo nodded slightly, signaling that he understood, and motioned for him to continue.
The moment he decided to attack Egghead, he'd already anticipated that the World Government would go berserk with retaliation.
But that was fine. These losses... could be recovered soon.
"Seastone shipments to the sea have been halted. Eighty percent of production is being used to make Seastone bullets."
"Flame Shells are gradually being used to arm the Replicant Soldiers..."
"Production of Laser Shells and Repulsion Shells has ceased. All Wapometal is being funneled into the manufacture of Pacifistas and aerospace warships."
"Judge-san is quite unhappy about this. The Wapometal supply... is still limited..."
Seastone bullets could easily claim the lives of most Devil Fruit users in the Four Seas.
Flame Shells required no special handling—combine them with standard firearms and the fearless, death-defying bodies of the Replicant Soldiers...
That alone could topple most nations made up of ordinary people.
Pacifistas would suppress and secure the islands post-occupation.
With no enemies carrying bounties over a hundred million stirring up trouble, peace under his leadership would naturally follow.
Wapometal output? They'd just have to squeeze a little more out of Wapol—that ten-year-old brat. Youth builds character.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Doflamingo gave a slight nod and issued instructions.
"Judge's complaints don't matter. If he's got a problem, tell him to come to me."
Judge's battle suits were too limited in application—no value in mass production.
"Give Wapol a bit of motivation. For example: every time he completes a ton of Wapometal, he gets to beat up his brother for an hour."
"And while we're at it, draw some blood from Wapol. Send it to Vegapunk—let him try coming up with alternate methods of producing Wapometal."
Wapometal couldn't rely on that pathetic production volume from Wapol alone.
Bullet could synthesize inorganic materials, smelt steel, and forge weapons...
Whether he could fully grasp the structure of Wapometal and turn clay into gold, though, was still uncertain.
Might as well pile on a few more tasks for Vegapunk. There were six of him anyway—he could handle it.
"Also, call Robin and Franky over."
"Understood, BOSS!"
Tesoro turned and left.
...
Not long after—
Robin and Franky arrived from Egghead and the Pluton manufacturing base.
Standing at the bottom of the cloud stairs, they stared at each other.
In the end, it was Robin—slightly more animated than usual—who broke the silence with a hint of confusion.
"Franky... what happened to you?"
Franky's height now looked like it had been inflated with a pump.
Every part of his body—except his brain—was covered in stitch marks.
His legs showed obvious signs of metal reinforcement, and his fists were outrageously massive.
"Huh? Nico Robin?"
Snapped out of his modification brainstorm, Franky pushed up his sunglasses and gave a flamboyant smile.
"This is the super-powerful, ultimate modification! Pluton-Type I!"
"Not the place for a demonstration, but someday I'll show you just how super strong I've become. First, let's go see—"
"Fufufufufu~ No need."
Doflamingo smiled as he looked Franky up and down.
In the original timeline, Franky had been severely injured and had no choice but to reconstruct himself using memories of Pluton.
But now, in a time of stability, he'd willingly turned himself into this.
Hatred... truly was a powerful thing.
He was curious—what could Franky accomplish with access to Wapometal, decades ahead of schedule?
"BOSS!"
Startled by Doflamingo's sudden appearance above them, Franky and Robin quickly lowered their heads and placed a hand to their chests in salute.
"Come now!"
Doflamingo beckoned with his hand. Invisible threads gently lifted their lowered heads.
"Here? BOSS?"
Franky glanced up at the Divine Palace above.
If he damaged the place, would he get beaten to death?
"Fufufufufu~ Interesting. It seems this new form has given you a lot of confidence."
Doflamingo chuckled. Did Franky really think he could cause much damage—here, in his presence?
"Go ahead. Don't hold back. Let me see just how much resolve you've built into that body."
"Got it! BOSS!"
Seeing that there was no way out of it, excitement flashed in Franky's eyes. He dug his feet into the ground.
He raised his two enormous arms, bent the palms outward...
Revealing the 70mm barrel hidden within.
"Wind Cannon!!!"
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg