The wall lamps in the dilapidated hall flickered, casting swaying shadows across the room.
In young Doflamingo's eyes, the Marine sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed appeared half-lit and half-shrouded in darkness, his smile twisted and ominous.
"I have good news for you."
Daren smiled.
"You won't die today. Neither will your subordinates. In fact, you'll have a chance to live better than anyone else."
"I just want to have a simple chat."
Doflamingo froze.
This guy... was he serious?
"What do you want to talk about?"
A glint flashed beneath his sunglasses as he rasped out the words.
Staying alive was still better than dying.
Seeing Doflamingo cooperating, Daren smiled with satisfaction.
"Tell me—what is your ambition?"
"You have the bearing of a Conqueror, and you're one of those 'noble' Celestial Dragons, yet you ended up in this godforsaken place, the North Blue... What exactly are you after?"
"Tell me the truth. That's all I want to hear."
The Marine Captain stared intently at the blond brat wrapped in bandages.
If you want to raise a vicious wolf, you have to ignite its hunger for blood and flesh.
Come on, Doflamingo.
...
Doflamingo fell silent at Daren's question.
Images flashed rapidly through his mind.
Fire. Screams. Curses. Hospital beds. Corpses. Gunshots. Severed heads. The Celestial Stairway...
"Listen well... Doffy... You are a king."
Countless memories flickered like a carousel before finally condensing into one sentence, overflowing with hatred and rage.
He suddenly looked up, locking eyes with Daren.
Teeth clenched, his gaze fierce and unwavering as he growled:
"I... want to destroy this world!!"
Smack!
Daren slapped him hard, sending him flying several meters.
Doflamingo's body slammed into the pockmarked wall, carving out a deep dent as old plaster rained down.
His face swelled up instantly. Eyes wide in disbelief, he stared at the Marine who'd suddenly struck him.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
Doflamingo shouted in anger.
Daren looked down at him with a scornful, mocking gaze.
"I'm disappointed."
"I thought you'd say something earth-shattering. But that? That was just pathetic."
"Destroy the world? The world hasn't done anything to you."
"...You don't know anything!!"
Doflamingo cut him off, eyes bloodshot with rage.
He struggled to get up. As he moved, the wounds on his body tore open again, blood seeping through the bandages.
"I saw both heaven and hell in this world when I was just ten years old."
He stood on trembling legs, gasping for breath.
In his mind, the fire that had spread to the city walls flared back to life.
Distorted faces flickered in the flames.
They were cursing.
It's hot... too hot...
"I should have lived in paradise—standing above the clouds, looking down on the world from on high!"
"But because of my foolish father's decision, my life plummeted from heaven straight into hell!"
As if the pain had dragged up nightmares buried deep in his memory, Doflamingo suddenly lost control and roared.
"Filthy commoners... worthless scum... they dared to treat the great Celestial Dragons like pigs and dogs, hurling us off the city walls!"
"They burned us! Shot us with arrows! Threw rocks at us!"
"They did everything they could to torture us!!"
"Fufufufufu... They wanted me dead... but I survived!"
He burst into manic laughter.
"I lived!!"
He lifted his head, trying to find any trace of shock or surprise on the Marine's face.
But he froze.
He failed.
There was nothing.
That same scornful, dismissive look still lingered on the Marine's face.
"That's it?"
He said it so casually.
That's it...?
Doflamingo stood there, stunned.
That kind of twisted, miserable, torment-filled life... and to this man, it meant nothing?
No...
A sudden wave of rage slammed into his throat. Shaking with fury, Doflamingo shouted:
"Isn't that enough!?"
"Because of my father's stupidity, my whole family was thrown into poverty!"
"I lost everything! I was so hungry, I had to dig through trash just to eat!"
"You don't know what I've been through! No one else has had a life as cruel as mine!!"
"Are you done?"
Daren cut him off coldly.
Step by step, he approached Doflamingo. His towering frame cast a long, dark shadow, completely engulfing the boy who barely stood at one and a half meters tall.
"You think your life is tragic? Full of suffering? That no one else could possibly compare?"
The Marine Captain sneered.
"Isn't it?" Doflamingo gritted his teeth and shot back.
The Marine's oppressive presence made him instinctively take a step back.
"I've seen plenty of tragic lives. Twisted ones too. Believe me, Doflamingo—"
The Captain's smirk deepened.
"There are far more people out there whose lives are more miserable and more twisted than yours."
"In the North Blue, gunfire rings out every day. The harbors and shores are always littered with rotting, stinking corpses..."
"I've seen people sell out their blood brothers for money. I've seen men trade their wives for power. I've seen people saw off their own legs just to survive. I've heard so many stories... I'm sick of them."
"But you know what?"
"Even those poor bastards, living worse than dogs, don't whine and sob like you do, crying and complaining like a damn girl..."
"How old are you? Five? Three? Why not go home and suckle from your mommy and daddy?"
Daren stared down at the pale-faced Doflamingo, his contempt laid bare.
When a wolf's bloodlust is awakened, its first target will be its master. That's when you have to stomp it into the ground—shatter its pride, break its will.
Doflamingo clenched his fists. Eyes bloodshot, teeth grinding hard.
"My mother died of illness."
"Then she was lucky," Daren sneered. "At least she didn't have to listen to your endless whining anymore. You're nothing but a spoiled little brat. And if I'm right, she probably heard more of your crying than anything else before she died."
He scoffed.
"Or maybe... she died from listening to your whining."
Doflamingo stood dumbfounded.
His face burned, as if he'd been slapped again.
"You bastard!"
He let out a beast-like roar and moved to snap his fingers.
Bang!
A fist smashed into his gut.
Doflamingo doubled over. His back slammed into the wall, eyes shot with blood, and he vomited a mouthful of it.
"A true strong man never complains. Even the common folk have more backbone than you."
Daren grabbed Doflamingo by the collar with one hand, lifting him up until they were face to face.
"I've never seen a real powerhouse spend all day whining about how unlucky they are."
"And you think someone like you could destroy the world?"
Doflamingo bit down on his bloodstained teeth and thrashed violently.
Daren's eyes narrowed.
Almost there. The timing was just right.
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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