"Fufufufufu... An interesting way to put it."
Ashu grasped the cigarette between his fingers, his hand resting on the hilt of his famed blade. Beside him, Amande also raised her gaze.
A pink feathered coat loomed over them, vast enough to blot out the sky.
Beneath an open-chested shirt, powerful muscles bulged, exuding an almost tangible sense of strength.
Scarlet sunglasses concealed the deep, malevolent intent of their owner.
It was none other than Donquixote Doflamingo, a rising force in the underworld.
In unison, the two spoke.
"Doflamingo, are you looking to make an enemy of the Big Mom Pirates?"
"Fufufufu... I've come with a sincere proposal. Unlike those fools."
Watching their wary expressions, Doflamingo's gaze flickered over their well-defined figures as he spoke with a playful tone.
"But the slower an attack, the more instability it contains. Wouldn't you agree, my lovestruck little wolf?"
"Sincere?" Ashu and Amande exchanged looks, momentarily taken aback.
Then their expressions shifted as they turned toward the figure behind them.
Jack.
He had just swallowed a tenfold dose of a secret drug.
In an instant, blood-red fury overtook his gaze.
The gaping wounds on his body pulsed, as if alive, rapidly regenerating and intertwining together.
Amande could already sense the ominous shift through the blade in her grasp.
Exchanging a brief glance with Ashu, she slowly slashed forward with White Fish, sending a razor-sharp arc through the air.
At the same time, Ashu unsheathed the blade.
A conical slash of icy blue shot out, carrying a bone-chilling cold as it surged toward the transforming Jack.
Jack, now utterly consumed by madness, swelled like an inflated balloon. In mere moments, a colossal wolf, standing six meters tall at the shoulder, loomed in his place.
The fresh wounds left by strike seemed insignificant against his massive frame.
Faced with two incoming slashes, the mindless beast made no attempt to evade.
"Awoooo!"
With a deafening roar, he charged straight in.
His fangs, longer than an average man's height, glinted with a metallic sheen as he bit down, shattering one of the slashes entirely.
The other carved a deep gash from the corner of his eye down to his front leg, ice spreading from the wound.
Yet in the next instant, the frenzied regeneration of flesh forced the wound closed before their eyes, pushing the ice shards out.
Amande and Ashu remained unfazed, calmly maintaining their distance while unleashing a relentless barrage of slashes.
They were well aware of the so-called "enhancement drugs" that had become the latest craze among pirates.
Unlike the information-starved Beasts Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates were far from ignorant.
This kind of artificial strength would fade—and bring death—with time.
The more one consumed, the faster they perished.
All they needed to do was hold out.
The true danger wasn't Jack—it was Doflamingo, who hovered in the sky, unreadable.
...
Minutes later, the port lay in ruins. Jack had been reduced to a pile of flesh, nourishing the Mangroves below.
As Amande and Ashu turned their attention back to Doflamingo, the man smirked.
He was under no illusion about what he looked like—clearly, not a good person.
Spreading his arms wide in a non-threatening gesture, he put on a warm smile and pulled out a recording Den Den Mushi, pressing play.
On the screen, winged figures bustled about, going about their daily lives.
Amande and Ashu's pupils contracted.
This was precisely what they had come for.
Doflamingo grinned. "This is my sincerity—or, rather, a birthday gift for Lady Charlotte Linlin three months from now. Fufufufu... I'd like to meet her in person. I have a rather lucrative business deal to discuss with her."
"How about it, Charlotte Amande, Charlotte Ashu?"
"Hah..." The two sisters simultaneously took a slow drag from their cigarettes.
This turn of events had caught them off guard.
What was supposed to be a simple mission—cutting people down and seizing cargo—had turned into something they might not be able to handle.
Moreover...
As the Minister of Nuts, Amande wasn't surprised that Doflamingo knew about her.
But how did he know Ashu's name?
Ashu had always kept a low profile, barely appearing on the Navy's radar.
Eventually, it was the colder, more composed Amande who stepped forward, her voice steady.
"Speak, Doflamingo. What do you really want?"
They didn't believe for a second that he simply wanted to "meet Mom."
Even they, as her children, feared her—let alone an outsider.
Doflamingo chuckled, his tone laced with amusement.
"I'm a dreamer. And like any businessman, I require compensation. Fair trade, wouldn't you agree?"
"But as for the finer details... those can only be discussed with Lady Charlotte Linlin herself."
"She'll agree once she sees it."
With that, he casually tossed the recording Den Den Mushi toward them.
Amande caught it with ease, her voice carrying a veiled warning.
"I hope you're not trying to deceive Mom. If you are... you won't want to find out what happens next."
With those parting words, she turned, motioning for Ashu to follow her as they headed back to the Numancia Flamingo.
As Doflamingo watched them walk away, his mood soared.
His plan was off to a promising start.
He grinned at their retreating figures.
"Fufufufu... Relax, lovely Charlotte sisters. See you in Totto Land."
Hearing his flippant remark, Ashu and Amande both furrowed their brows, fists tightening instinctively.
In unspoken unison, they both thought—
If Katakuri were here, this smug bastard would already be dead.
...
Under the careful guidance of the Chess Soldiers, the special coating once again enveloped the Numancia Flamingo.
The ship slowly sank beneath the waves.
Watching the disappearing vessel, Doflamingo turned and flew toward his family's base on Island #1.
It was time to check on the condition of his little "gift."
The Charlotte Family's visit was something he had anticipated.
After all, one of Charlotte Linlin's greatest desires was to—no, not give birth to—but collect every race in the world.
A rare Sky Islander appearing at an auction? There was no way she'd let that slip through her fingers.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have tried recruiting King of the Beasts Pirates.
But that raised an interesting question.
The Charlotte Family had a scarecrow, Charlotte Kato, and a pig-headed man, Charlotte Kantine.
So why had they never acquired a Mink?
Was it because Charlotte Linlin discriminated against them?
Or...
Was Big Mom simply not into furries?
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+145 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg