After saying that, he slowly turned around, that familiar carefree smile returning to his face in an instant.
Yet behind that seemingly relaxed expression hid endless resolve and ruthlessness.
"Prepare my most treasured bottle of red wine," Doflamingo said, enunciating each word clearly.
"And summon everyone."
Every syllable seemed to carry tremendous weight, landing heavily in the hearts of everyone present.
"We have no choice."
His voice was firm and decisive, leaving no room for doubt.
Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened.
A cloud silently covered the bright moonlight.
Darkness settled over the land, adding a suffocating gloom to the entire scene.
Reflected on Doflamingo's sunglasses were the lights of Dressrosa slowly going out.
The city's former prosperity and clamor were fading little by little, leaving only endless silence and fear behind.
As the underground world's "Joker," he understood better than anyone that in the storm about to sweep across the world, they were standing on the edge of a cliff.
Either they seized the opportunity and rose with the wind, using it to fulfill their ambitions…
Or they would be dragged mercilessly into the vortex and crushed to pieces.
With the issuance of that Kill Order, like a death sentence handed down by the Grim Reaper, the entire sea seemed to have been struck by a bomb. It fell into an unprecedented state of panic and turmoil.
The waves surged violently, crashing against the reefs along the shore with deafening roars, as though mourning the disaster that was about to come.
Whether they were tyrannical pirates, defenseless civilians, or the various powers ruling their own territories, all of them clearly realized one thing—
A new era, one even crueler and bloodier than the Great Pirate Era, was slowly raising its curtain like a vast black shroud.
In this world filled with uncertainty, no one could remain untouched. Everyone would be swept into the heart-stopping current of history.
...
The next day.
The horizon had only just begun to pale, and the hazy dawn was still locked in struggle with the last traces of night, when the sharp, piercing cries of the News Coos suddenly cut through the quiet morning like blades.
The sound carried an invisible force, spreading instantly to every corner of the world.
Immediately afterward, that day's newspaper exploded across the entire globe like a massive bomb whose fuse had been lit.
On the front page, Charlotte Linlin's overwhelming face was printed in full force.
Her face was covered in thick, gaudy makeup.
Heavy foundation, exaggerated eyeshadow, and blood-red lipstick came together, making her expression look especially fierce and forceful.
Her enormous face nearly filled the entire page, and she was grinning wildly, her laugh seeming to carry madness and arrogance that made people shudder.
Beneath her portrait, a line of bold text was printed in huge characters, as striking as a thunderclap shaking the entire world.
It was a declaration that stunned the seas.
"From this day onward, all members of the Big Mom Pirates voluntarily become vassals of the Eternal Divine Kingdom! — Charlotte Linlin"
Every character seemed to carry the weight of a thousand tons, striking hard against people's hearts and throwing the world into shock.
The news was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up wave after wave.
Because of this declaration, the entire world fell into an unprecedented uproar.
...
Sabaody Archipelago.
Grove 13 was like a hidden pearl wrapped in mist.
In the early morning, the soft light of dawn had not yet fully dispersed the thin fog lingering in the air.
Wisps of mist drifted slowly like a light veil, giving the area a dreamlike hue.
Rayleigh walked at an unhurried pace, just as he did on any ordinary day, leisurely making his way toward the newspaper stand he often visited.
His figure appeared and disappeared within the hazy fog, blending naturally with the quiet surroundings.
He had been thinking of buying a fresh newspaper, pairing it with his favorite morning drink, and enjoying this brief moment of peace.
At that moment, he was still softly humming the bold and stirring sea shanty once sung by the Roger Pirates.
The familiar melody flowed from his lips, carrying the flavor of years long past.
The brass pipe in his hand glowed rhythmically with each breath.
As the ember brightened and dimmed, thin curls of smoke rose into the air and slowly scattered, as if recounting stories from the old days.
Just then, a loud and urgent cry shattered the tranquility.
"Big news! Big Mom announces submission to the Eternal Divine Kingdom!"
The newspaper boy shouted with all his strength, his voice echoing through the quiet street.
Then came an even more shocking cry.
"The seat of the Four Emperors changes! The balance of the New World has shifted dramatically!"
Before anyone could recover from the shock of the first piece of news, a third shout exploded like thunder.
"Of the four Emperor crews, three have joined the Eternal Divine Kingdom! Shocking news!"
The string of earth-shaking announcements was like one massive stone after another thrown into a still lake, freezing the air across the entire street in an instant.
The relaxed atmosphere vanished completely, replaced by deathly silence and tension.
When Rayleigh heard those words, the pipe in his hand slipped free and fell to the ground with a clatter.
The refined and expensive mouthpiece, inlaid with Seastone, did not survive the fall. It shattered, the fragments scattering across the ground and glinting with a dull light.
This man, the "Dark King," who had weathered countless storms and seen every kind of great wave, had always been calm and steady.
Yet now, he froze in place like a wooden post nailed to the earth, his eyes filled with disbelief and deep shock.
He even forgot to brush away the ash that had fallen onto his trouser leg. For that instant, all his senses seemed to stop working.
"Hey, old man, your newspaper…"
The newspaper boy's slightly childish voice finally snapped Rayleigh out of his daze.
He slowly came back to himself and mechanically reached out to take the newspaper.
When his gaze fell on the page, Charlotte Linlin's laughing face, occupying nearly half the spread, came into view.
That glaring smile was like a sharp blade stabbing straight into his eyes, making them ache.
As a powerhouse of the old era who had clashed with Big Mom several times on the sea, Rayleigh understood her all too well.
He knew clearly that this woman was no kind soul.
Her personality was obsessive, her actions were insane, and she looked down on everyone.
In her world, there was nothing she would not dare to do.
For the sweets she loved, she could destroy an entire country without the slightest hesitation.
She was a true tyrant through and through.
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