Chapter 31: The Pink Guy
( 3rd POV )
Rewinding to a time before Vanze and Azel could successfully flee the snowy island, another vessel with a design reminiscent of a pink flamingo lay anchored on the opposite side of the island. Various individuals disembarked, making their way toward the island's center, led by a tall blonde-haired man sporting red sunglasses. The chilly wind caused the pink fur coat of the man to flutter as he held a Den Den Mushi in an attempt to contact someone.
"Tsk, Vergo is not picking up his call now," he says, putting down the den den mushi after a failed attempt to call someone named Vergo.
A young girl dressed as a maid took the Den Den Mushi from him, while an unsightly man with excessive mucus was about to commented before being cut by their leader.
"Two naval warships came right after to Swallow Island after we landed on this one. It's really suspicious," Doflamingo said.
They managed to escape from that island in time and realize that their rendezvous point has been leaked by someone. He wanted to ask Vergo about it, but he doesn't answer the call.
"Maybe he's too busy right now in the navy; he needs to stay low as to not be discovered by them after all, Doffy," he said to the blonde-haired guy called Doffy. Apparently, he is the leader of the Donquixote Pirates, Donquixote Doflamingo.
"Hmm, let's go then. We can't stay here for too long. Search for that bastard Diez, seize the Ope - Ope no Mi from him, and find out where the hell is my dear otouto and Law's whereabouts before the marine old woman catches up with us," Doflamingo instructed the crew while advancing toward the ruins on the hill. He plans to ask Vergo about it, but he can only compromise for now.
Doflamingo stretches out his arm and opens his palm; he seems to compress his devil fruit power, and there is a bunch of strings on it. He clenches his palm before he opens it again, and a lot of sharp thin strings shoot out to the sky. They spread out, forming a giant caged dome, trying to trap their enemies within.
Barrel's crew looks at the phenomenon in the sky with a confused and bewildered expression. A few of them who are on the edge of the town try to escape after realizing their situation, but it's too late, and they finally being trapped inside of it.
Doflamingo also uses his parasite string to control other people who are trapped inside the caged dome to kill each other. Because of his action, pandemonium breaks out in the ruined base camp. A fire burns the buildings, the giant cage traps them, and a massacre happens all at the same time.
"Yes, young master!"
They all responded simultaneously and initiated their movements. Their target was the Diez Pirates, who is obstructing their path, and each member showcased their unique abilities.
The ugly guy with a lot of mucus all over him shoots a somewhat sticky substance from his right hand and traps his victims before killing them with a pistol.
A tall skinny guy that holds a sword in his hand suddenly launches an attack; he flattens the blade of his sword with his devil fruit power, and it extends itself while moving like a snake towards the target in front of him to cut them.
What's even more outrageous is that a big man wearing a helmet on his head can assimilate himself with the ruins around them that are made out of stone and control them. He can make a giant palm or fist made of stone and crush the enemy in front of him.
Other crew members fought alongside them, assisting their young master in clearing the way toward the Barrels pirates' hideout.
Doflamingo and his crew finally manage to reach the building where Diez Barrels and a remaining few of his crew are still alive.
Doflamingo waves his hand toward the door and sends sharp thin strings to destroy it.
Diez and his crew sense the door being broken so suddenly; they glance at the scene before seeing a few strangers coming in. At first, they seem surprised before they realize who has just entered and start accusing Doflamingo's crew of something.
"Doflamingo...! So, it is you who caused the chaos and stole the Ope - Ope no Mi from me!" The big man with brown hair declared upon their entrance.
He showed no fear, advancing toward Doflamingo with a threatening gaze. His crew, sensing the tense atmosphere, tightened their grip on their weapons.
Doflamingo looks at the idiot in front of him with displeasure shown on his face; veins on his forehead are apparent to see.
"Parasite..." Doflamingo murmured softly.
With a wave of his hand, a multitude of thin strings shot up from his palm, attaching themselves to the Diez man. A slight movement of his finger set those people in motion, turning them against each other—a tactic he'd already employed on others outside.
"W-what just happened!?"
"Stop, why are you attacking me, damn it!"
"I don't know, my body is moving on its own."
*Argh...!"
Diez, hearing the screams of his crew, looked back at their situation before seeing they started to kill each other. Realizing the source of the chaos, he lunged toward the pink-clad man, ready to confront Doflamingo.
"You basta...!"
But before he could even get closer to Doflamingo, Diez's body also couldn't move according to his own will. Doflamingo had already used his devil fruit to control his movement.
"If it was me, I wouldn't have to go through all of this!" Doflamingo retorted, feeling irritated by the idiot's accusation.
"How dare you let it be stolen, you drunken idiot!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Doflamingo vented his rage on Diez before pointing a gun at the idiot's head. He shot Diez multiple times in his head, causing him to scream and die tragically. Doflamingo just watched this with cold eyes behind his red sunglasses.
Outside the buildings, several of the Donquixote members were already looting everything valuable from Diez's treasure room. A man with mucus all over him carried a bag full of belly before tossing it onto the piles of treasure in front of them.
"Hey, carry all of the treasure carefully, Machvise!" He said.
"This is great, Diamante!" A big man with blonde hair and a red cap named Machvise got reprimanded while opening the treasure chest.
"Not bad, not bad! They've got quite a lot." A slim tall man came right beside Machvise after being called. They both examined the treasures they had just gotten.
"Stop fooling around, you guys! Look for Corazon!" An old man suddenly yelled from behind them. They got back to their senses and focused on their primary mission.
Up high in the sky within the giant cage, a very big man could be seen flying with his devil fruit power while carrying a little girl on his back. The girl looked down from the sky, trying to find Corazon.
"Buffalo, Baby 5! How is your guys' search from up there?!" The old man shouted to the sky, asking for their information.
"It's all burnt; I don't think there are any survivors, Lao G old man!" The big guy replied.
The little girl named Baby 5 listened to the small den den mushi in her wrist that could intercept the Marines' intelligent.
"I picked up a message! The Marines are already approaching this place, and the other two warships on Swallow Island are also heading to this island!" She said, relaying the information to the people below.
"Search more thoroughly, you brats! We don't have much time!" Lao G said, shouting to the kids in the sky.
"Hai~~~"
Diamante, who was leaning toward the door where Doflamingo is, heard the news and realized the precarious situation for the family.
"Corazon, that fool, where the hell is he hiding? Or has he already dropped dead!?" He said, complaining.
Doflamingo near him just stayed silent while crouching and looking down at a familiar pistol on the ground. He recognized it and it brought back a lot of bad memories to him. He simply picked it up and headed to the outside building followed by Diamante before a big man wearing a helmet approached him.
"Doffy! We still don't find any traces of Corazon's whereabouts until now." He informed with a high-pitched sound. His voice sounded so funny to the others, but the Donquixote family already got used to it.
"We can't stay here much longer, Doffy. Maybe they are already outside the dome or taking shelter with the Marines now," the man with a lot of mucus all over him stated.
"But didn't the young master say that Ope Ope no Mi is our main objective, and we also can't let that rat Corazon free? He is a threat to our family." Lao G voiced his words. He couldn't tolerate a traitor who could harm the family's interests running away.
Hearing his subordinates' opinion, Doflamingo felt irritated, but what they had just said also made sense.He desired to confirm their suspicions with Vergo, but he was now out of reach. He finally chose to compromised and abandoned his search for that fruit for now.
"I'll undo the Torikago; let's go back and try to catch a few Marines to interrogate while on the way. Maybe the Marines know something," Doflamingo instructed the crew. He realized they didn't have much time; someone like Tsuru wouldn't be easily deceived by him, and maybe she is also already heading to this island. After all, he regards her as a formidable enemy.
Hearing the young master's order, they started to pack up all of the loot and walked back to their ship. As Doflamingo already undid the cage, so a few Marines outside managed to get in, and without knowing, they also met the Donquixote crew.
As the Donquixote family observed several Marine personnel approaching them, they swiftly initiated their counteraction.
Diamante utilized his devil fruit power on his sword, transforming it into a whip-like form before launching an attack.
"Hmph, courting death! Viper Glaive!"
The strike landed on the unfortunate Marine soldiers, the sword extending and piercing their shoulders and legs, rendering them immobile. Witnessing this, a man covered in mucus activated his devil fruit power. He released a considerable amount of sticky mucus, further restraining the Marines and cutting off their escape routes.
"Nice shot, Trebol," Diamante commended, acknowledging the mucus-covered man. Once they had captured the soldiers, they closed in, preparing for the interrogation.
Doflamingo, feeling increasingly irritated due to his plans going awry, ran out of patience. He kicked one of the soldiers and glared menacingly.
"I will ask one thing: did you Marines find two refugees consisting of a man and a child on this island or not!? You only have one chance to answer!"
"Doflamingo! You pirate scum, don't hope we will answ...!"
Bang!
Before one of the soldiers beside them was done talking, Doflamingo shot him in the head with the familiar pistol he just found. He didn't even turn his head while doing that and continued to stare at the poor Marine in front of him. He also let out a bit of his Haoshoku Haki to intimidate those soldiers.
"It's been a long and stressful day for me, so what is your answer now, ant...!" He said with a tone full of threat. The remaining Marine soldiers also shivered after seeing the ruthless action of the pink man in front of them. In a life-and-death situation, they decided to answer his question in the end.
They blurted out all of their knowledge to him; they didn't actually know the situation on the coast clearly because they got busy trying to enter Doflamingo's cage, but they said that maybe there are people who managed to run away before he launched his skill.
Hearing useless information from the ants in front of him, Doflamingo didn't hesitate to chop off their heads with his strings. Those poor soldiers didn't expect to get killed so suddenly after telling him the information.
"A bunch of trash! Let's go back; we don't have much time," Doflamingo said to his crew before walking away.
The crew behind him just stayed silent, sensing their young master's mood. They didn't want to bear his wrath after all.
As they walked towards the coast where their ship is docked, they were just about to take off from the island and not far from them, two naval warships were heading their way and shooting cannonballs toward them.
Boom! Boom!
"Fire! Don't let the Donquixote pirates' escape!" One of the female Marines shouted the order on the naval warship, and they continued to fire on the pink ship.
Doflamingo saw them approaching and attacking; he also tried to cut those cannonballs with his strings. Seeing one of the ships sail with the name Tsuru, he decided to run away as fast as they can. "Tch, that old Tsuru is really coming. You guys, sail faster!" He said, entrusting his crew.
Finally, all of those ships were sailing to the sea, and marking the end of the chaos on Minion Island's coast. However, it also signaled the beginning of a pursuit between the Marines and the Donquixote family.
.....
Up high in the sky, concealed by a lot of clouds, there is a giant ship trailed both parties and watching their Tom and Jerry-like games below without being noticed. A man with white hair and purple eyes is grinning while holding a piece of white paper that seem moving slightly, watching the event below before a girl with pink hair approaches him.
"Vanze, we need your help with their injuries. Robin said your devil fruit power could at least help."
"Even you can save him?"
"Didn't I say before I am a poison master, not a doctor..."
"Sigh, fine. Let's go then; I can only slow down his wound."
Both of them go walking back to the cabin together; they are heading to one of the rooms consisting of three unconscious people, one of them has severe injuries on his body, and he is dying.
"This is why we need a doctor, sigh..."
.....
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone