"Damn bastard, you whipped me every day! I'm going to kill you!"
"Darling! Darling! I just accidentally forgot about you, that's all! But you can be step-father, Consider this expanding our family!"
"Donquixote Doflamingo is a demon!"
"Kill all the Donquixote Family officers!"
The moment Sugar was knocked out, the entire Kingdom of Dressrosa plunged into chaos. Countless people who had returned to human form from toys began launching frenzied revenge against the Donquixote Family members who had once whipped and enslaved them.
Having lost the vast majority of their officer ranks, the remaining low-level members of the Donquixote Family were utterly incapable of stopping the hatred that had built up for so many years.
Chaos shrouded the whole of Dressrosa.
Everyone restored from a toy was settling old scores, unleashing every grievance.
In the midst of that turmoil, a tall, powerfully built figure stood among the crowd. A helmet gleaming with silver light covered his entire head, and over his shoulders hung a worn-looking blue cloak. He stared at the scene before him, excited yet lost, his eyes brimming with tears. "What is going on?"
Just moments ago he'd been thinking about what to have for lunch, whether his poor granddaughter was eating properly, and how his daughter was faring under the Donquixote Family.
Then he turned around and...
The people were in open revolt against the Donquixote Family?
Who was this benefactor who had saved the Kingdom of Dressrosa?
"Was it Kyros?" The instant he turned human again, his memories had come flooding back. Tears spilling over, he said in a shaking voice, "Was it you? Did you do it?"
Just as he was about to rush off to find Kyros,
Suddenly.
The sky went dark.
Countless strings stretched down from above, and in mere moments, they covered all of Dressrosa.
'Wh-what is that?'
As he stared in confusion,
"What is that?!"
Fresh screams ripped through the already chaotic streets.
He couldn't help whipping his head toward the sound.
And then, His eyes flew wide, stunned by what he saw in the distance.
Buildings and houses were sliced through in an instant by those suddenly appearing strings, neatly severed into sections. People, too.
In only a few heartbeats, those who had been exacting revenge on the Donquixote Family officers all froze where they stood, eyes bulging at the sight.
"Run!"
Countless people bolted toward the center of the city, civilians and fighters alike.
But they were only ordinary people. Faced with this sudden calamity, how could they possibly outrun Donquixote Doflamingo's power?
A scene of chaotic tragedy unfolded.
Everyone wished they had two more legs, desperate to escape the terrifying strings.
In that instant, with Donquixote Doflamingo's Birdcage descending, Dressrosa fell into even deeper turmoil.
What had begun as chaotic vengeance against the Donquixote Family became a catastrophe engulfing the entire kingdom.
To stay alive, the fleeing masses began to shove and crush together, the weak toppled underfoot.
In a single moment... countless people flooded into the streets, fleeing in wild panic.
"Out of the way!"
"Move it!"
"So slow? Get out of my way!"
Crushing, trampling, and screams erupted all across Dressrosa.
"Stop! Everyone, stop, don't do this!" Seeing the misery before him, the burly man shouted at the top of his lungs. "The strings aren't here yet, you can all get away! Please, stop this!"
Though for all these years he had been misunderstood, as the former King of Dressrosa he could not bear to watch his people die so pathetically.
Yes. He was the King of Dressrosa who should have been dead, King Riku.
Except, "If you don't want to run, then die!"
"Why are you blocking us?!"
"Get out of our sight!"
In their panic, no one listened to him. To them, this helmeted man was just another obstacle.
"I... I..."
Seeing this, hearing the curses thrown at him, King Riku faltered, at a loss for words.
But as his people continued to ignore him, roaring and shoving, King Riku's jaw tightened beneath his helmet. Then, as if making up his mind, he tore the helmet off.
"I don't know if you still resent me or not, but..." With a strained smile and pleading in his eyes, he faced them. "Will you listen once more to your former, incompetent king?"
The words had barely left his mouth,
The frantic crowd fell silent, staring at King Riku in disbelief.
"K-King... Riku?!"
"King Riku is still alive! Didn't the Donquixote Family say he was dead?"
"You're not an incompetent king, it was us who misunderstood you!"
"King Riku, please save us!"
At the sight of him, the people of Dressrosa remembered, all at once, their gentle king. The moment they turned human again, they had understood... they had been deceived.
Deceived by that demon.
"Thank you... thank you, everyone!" Feeling their faith in him still alive, King Riku's eyes filled with tears as he bit his lower lip. "Please move toward the center in an orderly way. You'll be fine, you must be fine. Please, believe in us one more time! And please, do everything you can to stay alive!"
"We believe in you, King Riku!"
At his words, the kingdom seemed, for a moment, to return to what it had once been: a merciful king, and a people who trusted him.
The streets that had been in uproar began to settle into order. The citizens of Dressrosa started running toward the center in organized lines.
Watching this, King Riku allowed himself a relieved smile. He then turned to look toward the distant Royal Palace, confusion and... fear flickering in his eyes. But within moments his gaze hardened with resolve, just as the sound of synchronized footsteps approached.
From within the crowd, a disciplined unit came running. King Riku blinked, then stared in astonishment at the formation. "Tank, and all of you... you're all alive?!"
Led by a burly man wielding a meteor hammer, the group rushed up to King Riku, and dropped to their knees as one, shouting with the same trembling excitement, "King Riku!"
King Riku was alive.
The King of Dressrosa still lived.
"King Riku!" Tank Lepanto, Captain of the Dressrosa Self-Defense Force, looked up at him with tearful eyes. "That demon turned us into toys and we've been trapped working in the underground factory. But for some reason, today we turned back. We never imagined you'd still be alive too, this is wonderful! Was it you who saved us? Now we can finally take revenge on the Donquixote Family and drive those demons out!"
"It wasn't me." At Tank's words, King Riku fell quiet for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know who exposed Donquixote Doflamingo's scheme."
'Kyros... was it you?'
"I see... we still don't know who our savior is." Tank bowed his head for a breath, then looked up, his gaze firm. "King Riku, were you just now on your way to settle things with Doflamingo? Please lead us. Let us help drive out those demons. Our benefactor might be fighting Doflamingo right now, we can't let our benefactor fight alone!"
"You all... I... very well!" Meeting the unwavering eyes of his soldiers, King Riku's resolve solidified. He nodded heavily. "In that case, let's drive those demons out together!"
He raised his head again toward the Royal Palace, his gaze steady now, and full of gratitude.
"As King of Dressrosa, I must thank our benefactor personally."
'Just who are you...?'
However, just as the soldiers rose, fired up and ready to march with King Riku to settle accounts with that demon,
A colossal light screen bloomed in midair.
Everyone froze, heads lifting in unison. Even King Riku stared up in confusion.
A den den mushi broadcast? Who was using it?
As bewilderment spread,
"Fufufufufu!"
A peculiar, all-too-familiar laugh echoed out.
"Right now, there must be countless people resenting me, hating me, isn't that right? My dear subjects!"
That loathsome, familiar figure appeared within the light screen.
"It's... Donquixote Doflamingo!"
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