North Blue, aboard the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
Kaito stood at the bow of the ship, arms crossed and brow furrowed, deep in thought. Kalifa, standing nearby, noticed and asked softly,
"What's wrong? Are you worried about this mission?"
"Yeah... I just have a bad feeling. Something still doesn't sit right. Forget it—I'll go on ahead. You and Ain go inform Vice Admiral Tsuru and the others."
With the Zephyr incident as a painful lesson, Kaito knew he couldn't rely too heavily on the information he remembered from the anime. His presence had already drastically altered the trajectory of this story.
With that, Kaito shot into the sky, flying toward Minion Island.
...
On a nearby warship, Tsuru squinted at Kaito's figure as he disappeared into the sky, murmuring to herself,
"Let's hope you succeed... Kaito."
...
On Minion Island—
Corazon excitedly held out a heart-shaped Devil Fruit to Law. He looked in good shape, and everything had gone surprisingly smoothly—at the very least, he hadn't been injured while stealing the fruit.
"Law! This is the Op-Op Fruit! The Marines will be here soon. Quick, eat it! Once you do, you can cure your Amber Lead Syndrome!"
Trafalgar Law—future Super Rookie with a 3 billion Belly bounty, the one who would fight both Kaido and Blackbeard—was now still just a scrawny boy under twelve, his body covered in pale white blotches.
Looking at Corazon, who seemed even more excited than himself, Law couldn't help but feel deeply moved.
But with his current personality, he didn't say anything. He simply reached out with both hands, ready to take the Op-Op Fruit—his one chance at life.
Just as Law's hands were about to touch the fruit, a blurred attack suddenly shot through a gap between them and slammed into a boulder behind, cleaving it clean in two with a mirror-smooth surface.
The unexpected strike stunned both Corazon and Law. Corazon reacted first, turning his head in alarm.
Law stiffly followed his gaze.
A tall figure in a pink feather coat stood with hands in his pockets, slowly walking toward them—none other than Corazon's brother, Donquixote Doflamingo.
For now, his steps were still within the bounds of normal—he hadn't entered full unhinged mode yet.
Behind him followed nine officers of the Donquixote Family, all still young, including a child-aged Baby-5.
Right now, veins pulsed visibly on Doflamingo's forehead. The usual twisted grin was gone, replaced by a terrifying scowl. It had been a long time since he'd been this furious.
Corazon had mentioned that the Marines were arriving soon. How did he know they had left early?
Doflamingo only knew because of Vergo, his undercover man in the Marines. So Corazon... his identity as a Marine spy was now crystal clear.
Yes—Kaito had overlooked something: the existence of Vergo within the Marines. It had simply slipped his mind; after all, it had been a long time since he last watched the anime. Some things were bound to be forgotten.
Vergo hadn't arrived at Minion Island yet, but he had already passed along word of the Marines' early deployment to Doflamingo.
Had Corazon merely given the Op-Op Fruit to Law, Doflamingo could have overlooked it. If Law had eaten the fruit, at most he'd punish Corazon a little and then brainwash Law into a puppet.
But if Corazon was a Marine… that changed everything. That was pure, utter betrayal.
Doflamingo clenched his fists tightly in his coat pockets at the thought.
"Law, eat the fruit! Now!!"
Corazon desperately tried to shove the Op-Op Fruit into Law's mouth, but in the next second, Doflamingo appeared and stomped him into the ground, snatching the fruit into his own hand.
"Corazon!!"
Law, furious, rushed forward and threw all his strength into punching Doflamingo's shin over and over.
"Don't disturb the Young Master, Law."
Sticky goo suddenly spread beneath Law's feet, binding him and covering his mouth, slamming him to the ground—Trebol had used his Sticky-Sticky Fruit to restrain him.
Ignoring Law, Doflamingo stared coldly at his brother, who was now pinned beneath his foot.
"So you really are a Marine spy... My foolish little brother. Do you know what happens to traitors?"
Corazon, facing him, showed no fear.
"You've completely lost your humanity. Staying by your side would only lead to ruin."
Doflamingo's expression grew even colder.
Unlike in the anime, he didn't let his underlings torture Corazon. He simply pulled out a pistol and pointed it at his brother's head. He wanted this to end quickly.
"Mmmph!!" Law thrashed, desperately trying to stop him, but wrapped in goo, all he could do was roll helplessly on the ground.
Corazon looked at Law with a trace of unwillingness in his eyes. He hadn't been able to get Law to eat the Op-Op Fruit… All he could do was pray that after his death, Doflamingo would give it to him.
But then—
Silence.
Nothing happened.
Corazon noticed Law staring blankly above him, so he looked up too.
And saw a Marine in a Justice coat standing behind Doflamingo, one hand pressed against his back.
It was Kaito—he had arrived.
Looking at the flamboyantly dressed man in front of him, Kaito said calmly,
"You really shouldn't move."
Doflamingo sensed the person behind him and scoffed without turning around.
"A Marine?"
Kaito didn't answer.
Doflamingo smirked and began to pull the trigger.
VMMM!
A violent repulsion exploded from his back, and Doflamingo was launched into the sky, vanishing from sight. The Op-Op Fruit dropped neatly into Kaito's hand.
Kaito studied the fruit in his palm and muttered,
"I told you not to move. Controlling my strength is such a pain."
The Donquixote officers stared in a daze, unsure what had just happened. Trebol, closest to Kaito, finally came to his senses and screamed,
"Y-You're that Marine Vice Admiral—Kaito!?"
Kaito turned coldly and gave the disgusting snot-man a look. In the next instant, his figure vanished and reappeared above Trebol.
He drove a fist straight down on Trebol's head.
Trebol didn't even get the chance to scream—his entire body was crushed down to one-tenth its size, transformed into something resembling a trash can.
"Annoying."
Landing beside the deformed mass, Kaito kicked it away, sending the "Trebol-trashcan" flying in the same direction Doflamingo had vanished.
In just seconds, another Donquixote Family member was gone. The remaining officers finally snapped and charged at Kaito together—even the child version of Baby-5 transformed her arm into a gun and attacked.
Kaito didn't move.
A burst of overwhelming Haki surged from him. The charging officers all rolled their eyes back and collapsed to the ground mid-charge.
Honestly, with his current ocular power, Kaito could've just used Almighty Push to crush them all.
But some of their Devil Fruits had decent potential. Even if he didn't use them himself, he could save them for his allies. After all, his Door space had plenty of extra fruits in storage.
On the ground, Corazon and Law were both dumbfounded—especially Corazon.
It was his first time seeing this newly promoted Marine Vice Admiral up close. Until now, he'd only read about Kaito in the papers and had no real sense of his strength.
But now?
Kaito had shown up and instantly blasted Doflamingo away.
One hit KO'd Trebol.
This kind of power… was beyond anything he could imagine.
With all threats dealt with, Kaito walked over to Corazon, knelt down, and checked his injuries. Seeing that he was fine, Kaito relaxed.
He extended a hand with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Commander Corazon."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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