The next morning, Luo Xing met Doflamingo again.
The latter acted as though nothing unusual had happened the night before, greeting him with his trademark grin.
"Lord Luo Xing! I trust you rested well? I hope Dressrosa's climate suits you?"
Luo Xing answered evenly,
"Your country lives up to its name as the land of passion and fairies.
I took a walk last night—your people certainly know enthusiasm."
His tone was mild, but Doflamingo instantly caught the undertone.
The muscles in his jaw twitched; behind his sunglasses, his eyes went cold.
He's mocking me… mocking Viola.
Trebol, noticing the gathering tension, hurried to whisper,
"Doffy, don't lose your temper! A great man doesn't fuss over trifles."
Doflamingo unclenched his fists, forcing his smile back into place.
"Fuffuffu… Lord Luo Xing really does have a sense of humor."
But inside, rage burned like acid.
The Beast Prince had taken his woman and then joked about it—in public!
Even for a man of Doflamingo's arrogance, this humiliation was nearly unbearable.
Still, a man with grand designs must endure what others cannot.
He swallowed the fury whole.
Luo Xing, watching him, almost admired that level of restraint.
He thought idly, With that much patience, maybe he'd look good with green hair to match.
But he said nothing. It wasn't yet time to break the alliance; the Senzu Bean auction hadn't started, and the money wasn't in hand.
The Arena of Dressrosa
They walked together to the grand colosseum, the venue for the auction two days later.
On the central stage, dozens of prisoners were forced to battle each other—entertainment for the crowd, slaves for the arena's fame.
Among them was a pink-haired girl, barely more than a teenager, wearing little more than a chainmail of gold links.
Luo Xing's gaze passed briefly over her, then turned to Viola among the Donquixote officers.
She stiffened under that look.
His words from the night before echoed in her mind, and a chill ran down her spine.
He knows everything.
If she could, she would have screamed across the colosseum:
"Rebecca, run! He's even scarier than Doflamingo!"
But she didn't dare.
Viola knew too well—Doflamingo hadn't dared touch her yet only because of Luo Xing's presence.
If she couldn't resist this man, her niece Rebecca certainly couldn't either.
The Coast of Dressrosa
On the sun-bright shore, a few idle Donquixote sailors lounged, gossiping.
Suddenly one of them pointed at the horizon.
"Oi! Look at that ship—mahogany hull, gold trimming… and that flag—!"
Their eyes went wide.
"No way… that's the Kuja Pirates!"
"Standing on deck—it's her! The world's most beautiful woman, Warlord of the Sea—Pirate Empress Boa Hancock!"
Even hardened sailors stared in awe.
"She's even more stunning than Lady Viola!"
"But why would the Pirate Empress come here?"
"Idiot! What else? For the Senzu Bean auction, of course!"
News spread through the island like wildfire.
Dressrosa was already swarming with powerhouses hiding in the shadows,
but none had arrived so openly, so magnificently, as Boa Hancock.
Observation from the Shadows
High above the port, inside a watchtower, a middle-aged man in a Marine officer's coat lowered his telescope, frowning.
"Boa Hancock… What business could the Pirate Empress have here?
Amazon Lily is isolated by the Calm Belt—no one dares attack it."
He thought for a moment, then ordered the soldier behind him:
"Report immediately to Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
Tell him Hancock has entered Dressrosa."
"Yes, Vice Admiral Momonga!"
The man watching her was none other than the Marine Headquarters' elite—Vice Admiral Momonga, one of the strongest beneath the Admirals, secretly sent to monitor the situation.
Another Corner of the Island
Behind a cluster of seaside rocks, a young man lounged with a pipe in his mouth, chewing on a reed.
"The ever-aloof Pirate Empress, coming here herself?" he murmured.
"That's unexpected."
Beside him crouched a girl about his age.
When she saw Hancock's ship, her face grew tense.
"I think I know why she's here," the girl said quietly.
"Oh?" The young man—Sabo, Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army—turned toward her.
"Why, Koala?"
Koala hesitated, then answered:
"You know I was captured by the Celestial Dragons when I was little.
Hancock… was there too. We were imprisoned together."
Sabo froze.
"The Pirate Empress… was a slave of the Celestial Dragons?!"
It was a revelation that shook him.
After a long silence, he muttered,
"Then her purpose here is clear. She wants a Senzu Bean… to erase the brand they burned into her back."
He looked at Koala, eyes resolute.
"And I'll get one too—so you can be free of that mark as well."
Koala blinked, stunned, before smiling softly through the sting in her eyes.
The wind off the sea carried their quiet vow toward the city where titans were gathering.
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