Inside the reception hall, Doflamingo and Crocodile—having just finalized their deal—did not part ways immediately. Instead, each lingered with ulterior motives, continuing to exchange casual words while quietly probing the other.
"Fufufufu… Crocodile."Doflamingo lounged back against the sofa, his body relaxed, fingers tapping the armrest in a steady rhythm as he spoke in an almost offhand tone."Going through so much trouble to stir up a desert kingdom… even trying to take it into your own hands…That can't be just for a pitiful bit of 'hero' fame and so-called national resources, can it?That country—doesn't it hide something far more interesting?"
He was clearly trying to draw out Crocodile's true objective.
Crocodile, of course, was no fool either. A cigar hung from his mouth, smoke curling lazily upward as his eyes—obscured behind the haze—remained dark and unreadable. He, too, was carefully weighing Doflamingo's ambitions.
"Hmph. My business is none of your concern, 'Joker.'"Crocodile exhaled a thick plume of smoke and sneered, smoothly turning the tables."After all, your reach isn't exactly short either.So eager to build connections and link yourself up with the 'Beasts' in the New World…What, don't plan on conquering the Grand Line step by step? You want to latch onto a Yonko instead and jump straight into that meat grinder they call the New World?"
False smiles hung on both their faces. Every word was edged with hidden barbs, each trying to feel out the other's true cards and ultimate ambitions.
However—at that critical moment of mutual probing—
"Wooooom—!!!"
A terrifying pressure, impossible to describe—something that felt as though it originated from the deepest layer of the soul itself—swept in without warning from outside the base.Like an invisible yet crushing tidal wave, it pierced straight through the walls and enveloped the entire reception hall!
This Haki was not being directed at them deliberately—merely the natural spillover—yet it was already enough to make both Doflamingo and Crocodile, veterans with formidable Observation Haki, change expression instantly!
Doflamingo's fingers froze mid-tap against the armrest.The corner of Crocodile's mouth tightened around his cigar.
Their pupils constricted almost simultaneously. Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on their foreheads as a powerful, instinctive sense of danger clenched around their hearts!
Such overwhelming Haki?!This level of pressure… who the hell just arrived?!
The same shocked thought surged through both their minds as their gazes snapped—perfectly in sync—toward the source of the pressure.
The reception hall's door.
"What's going on…?"Doflamingo's voice carried a faint, involuntary dryness.
Crocodile reacted swiftly. Though just as shaken internally, his expression quickly returned to composure. He immediately issued an order to the man standing guard like an iron tower nearby.
"Daz. Go see what's happening."
Mr. 1—Daz Bonez—had not sensed the true, terrifying magnitude of that Haki the way his boss had. He simply obeyed, loyal as ever, nodding expressionlessly.
"Yes."
He strode toward the reception hall door with steady steps, his right hand already instinctively transforming into a gleaming blade, prepared to respond to any sudden attack.
The moment he pushed open the heavy wooden door—
In that instant!
The terrifying pressure that had merely filled the air seemed to find an outlet at last.Like a solid warhammer, it struck with perfect precision, slamming directly into Mr. 1's mind!
"Ugh—!"
His vision went black as if his brain had been smashed by a siege ram!All thought, all consciousness, was violently scattered in less than a thousandth of a second!
He didn't even get a clear look at who stood outside. Only a single, garbled syllable escaped his throat—
"Not—"
Thud!
Before the word could finish, the man who was considered one of the top assassins in the first half of the Grand Line collapsed as if every bone in his body had vanished.His eyes rolled back, white showing, foam spilling from his mouth as his massive frame pitched forward and crashed heavily onto the floor—completely unconscious.
At the same time, the reception hall door fell fully open due to his collapse.
Inside the room, Doflamingo and Crocodile stared at Mr. 1—instantly neutralized, sprawled motionless on the floor.
Their faces darkened at once. Their bodies slipped instinctively into their highest state of alert.
A loyal, powerful elite officer—taken down in a single instant. No warning. No struggle.Discarded like trash, without a sound.
Their hearts sank straight to the bottom.
This is bad.Really bad.
The one who had come…Was absolutely a monster-class existence.
And far stronger than they had ever imagined.
...
"Ngh… Do-Do-fla…"Trebol's voice trembled like a leaf in the wind. His sticky body quivered violently with fear."A… a super terrifying guy just showed up, heeeeh!!"
That trembling cry splashed over Doflamingo and Crocodile like a bucket of icy water, jolting them partially back from their shock.
Behind his sunglasses, Doflamingo's eyes flickered violently. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the pounding in his chest.
His first instinct had been suspicion—was this Crocodile's trap?
But the moment his peripheral vision caught Crocodile's equally grim expression—one that even carried a trace of disbelief—that thought was immediately dismissed.
Crocodile's shock and vigilance were no less than his own.This wasn't an act.
So… not him…Doflamingo swallowed with difficulty, his throat dry.
He forced his lips into a grin, trying to summon his trademark manic laughter—but what came out sounded strained, brittle.
"Fufufufu… fuf…"The laugh was uglier than crying."Looks like… today's getting lively. Besides you, another quite extraordinary 'guest' has arrived."
His gaze fixed on the reception hall door, as if it could pierce straight through the wood and see the presence downstairs—the source of that despair-inducing aura.
After instantly knocking out Mr. 1, that terrifying Haki had not continued to spread.Instead, it remained steadily on the first floor.
The meaning was obvious.
The other party was waiting for them to come down.
Doflamingo inhaled deeply, then turned toward Crocodile, whose face was dark as storm clouds, and made a proposal that sounded half like an invitation—and half like dragging someone down with him.
"So? 'Ally'…"He stressed the word slightly."Care to go down together and welcome our uninvited guest?"
Facing something of that level, Doflamingo had no intention of going alone.If he could pull Crocodile—a fellow Shichibukai—into it, that meant a bit more confidence.
Or at the very least… a better shield.
Crocodile frowned deeply, nearly biting through the cigar clenched between his teeth.
He didn't want to go down there.That presence below stirred a long-forgotten sense of lethal danger—the kind of pressure he had only felt when facing peak monsters in the New World!
Every instinct screamed at him to turn intangible and slip away through a window.
But…
He glanced at Doflamingo. Then at Mr. 1 lying unconscious on the floor.
If he backed out now, not only would the cooperation they'd just established collapse instantly—his reputation as "Sir Crocodile" would be utterly ruined. More importantly—
He would immediately lose Doflamingo as a potential and extremely valuable weapons supplier.
Weighing the pros and cons, a ruthless glint flashed in Crocodile's eyes. He exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke, then finally nodded grimly.
"Hmph… Fine. Let's go see just what kind of god or demon it is."
The two would-be tyrants reached an unspoken agreement. Rising at the same time, power quietly surging to its peak within their bodies, they headed toward the stairs—one after the other—with grave expressions.
Each step felt like it was pressing directly onto their hearts.
The staircase leading to the first floor now looked to them like nothing less than an entrance to the abyss.