Chapter 19

Doflamingo watched the retreating warship with a face that shifted between dark and uncertain.

"Forget it, I'd better speak up first. Otherwise, the news will reach Kaido ears sooner or later. Delivering it myself might spare me his wrath."

Doflamingo expression turned grave.

He dialed the Den Den Mushi of the Yonko, Kaido.

Despite being an underworld broker who controlled countless black-market operations, he was deeply afraid of that particular Yonko.

***

At that moment, near Wano Country, on an island shaped like a monstrous horn, in a certain location, a burly man with shoulder-length black hair, a pair of fearsome dragon horns and a dragon-scale tattoo on his left arm held a Den Den Mushi.

"Doflamingo, what's the situation?"

"K-Kaido... I have bad news..."

"Hmm?!"

Kaido face instantly darkened.

As he listened to Doflamingo report over the call, the fury in his eyes grew increasingly intense.

Suddenly, Kaido let out a furious roar.

"MARINES! HOW DARE THEY CAPTURE MY MEN!"

With a violent squeeze of his right hand, the Den Den Mushi in his grip was crushed!

The next moment, a tempest erupted, lightning flashed, and thunder roared! His body underwent a sudden transformation.

He morphed into a colossal azure dragon, flames swirling around him as he seized the clouds and soared into the sky.

Streaking toward Marine Headquarters at breakneck speed.

***

Click!

Hearing Kaido hang up, Doflamingo set down the Den Den Mushi with a solemn expression.

After a moment of silence, Doflamingo stood up. He glanced at his subordinates, who had already regained consciousness.

"Go, retrieve the surveillance Den Den Mushi from the docks!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

Soon, the footage of their earlier battle was brought to him.

Without a word, Doflamingo extended nearly invisible threads into the sky, latching onto the clouds.

He stepped onto the threads and ascended rapidly, streaking toward the distance!

Before long, he arrived at Punk Hazard.

He swiftly made his way to the island factory.

In no time, Doflamingo stood before a bizarre man with deep purple-blue hair and a pair of ram-horn adornments on his head.

"Shurorororororo... What brings you here, Doflamingo!"

The man turned to look at him, toxic fumes swirling around his body. It was the evil scientist Caesar Clown, secretly kept under Doflamingo wing.

"No time for chatter. Take a look at this!"

Doflamingo handed the surveillance Den Den Mushi to Caesar.

Seeing Doflamingo act so out of character, Caesar took it with a puzzled expression and played the footage.

"Hmm?"

As he watched, Caesar froze.

"Marine Vice Admiral Momousagi?"

"And some kids? No... these kids couldn't be..." Caesar face twisted in shock.

"Impossible! How could they be from the Lunarian Tribe?!"

As a former member of the MADS and a colleague of Vegapunk, he was well aware of this rare race.

Long ago, they had learned that the only remaining member of the Lunarian Tribe was King, the Calamity of the Beasts Pirates.

Where had the Marines found these ten Lunarian children?

"No, they're not true Lunarians. Keep watching and you'll see."

Doflamingo spoke in a heavy tone.

Though the rest of the footage would cost him some respect—after all, he had been thoroughly overpowered. But he refused to accept that an eight-year-old could outmatch him in technology.

So he clung to a sliver of hope, wanting Caesar to replicate these Humanoid Weapons!

If replication was possible, then the losses he had suffered, the lost artificial Devil Fruits and even Kaido as a trading partner would all become insignificant.

"Oh?"

Caesar, filled with curiosity and shock, continued watching.

"Huh? They actually dare to target Jack? They're moving fast, but isn't this just suicide... WHAT?!"

Before he could finish, Caesar saw Jack body being sent flying like a cannonball!

Instantly, his eyes widened in shock!

"How can this child possess such strength?! Impossible! While the Lunarian Tribe is naturally stronger than other races, it shouldn't be to this absurd degree.."

Caesar face was full of disbelief.

But then, he saw Little Aokiji and Little Jinbei simultaneously extend their palms... A blinding light flashed.

"Huh? This is..."

Caesar suddenly shuddered, his face filled with incredulity!

"BOOM!"

A laser beam shot out from the projection, striking Jack body!

"That really is a laser beam... They're actually Humanoid Weapons!!"

Caesar exclaimed in disbelief.

No wonder Doflamingo was so out of character—these children speed and strength far surpassed that of the Pacifistas!

Doflamingo chimed in darkly from the side.

"Correct. These are the Navy new Humanoid Weapons, called Seraphim."

"Seraphim..."

Caesar muttered, still visibly stunned. But his eyes remained fixed on the projection.

As they spoke, the projection showed Little Mihawk swinging his sword!

"This... they even possess advanced swordsmanship?!"

Caesar watched, utterly dumbfounded. But before he could recover from his shock, the so-called Seraphim in the projection moved again!

Displaying extraordinary martial arts— The Marine Rokushiki!

"They... they've even mastered the Marine advanced martial arts, the Rokushiki?!"

Caesar was utterly astounded.

As a fellow scientist, he knew exactly how difficult it was to implant these programs!

Just getting them to display martial arts was hard enough, let alone applying them fluidly in combat.

But it didn't seem to end there...

"Jack is about to go all out. These Humanoid Weapons should be defeated soon... What?! No way! That's Armament Haki?!"

Caesar looked as if he'd seen a ghost, grabbing his own hair in disbelief.

"If they have Armament Haki, does that mean they also have Observation Haki?"

Caesar rewound the footage, scrutinized it for a while, and confirmed with a face full of awe: These Humanoid Weapons—the Seraphim—truly possessed Observation Haki!

"How is this even possible?! How can invented Humanoid Weapons master both types of Haki?!"

Caesar was completely baffled! This defied all scientific logic!

"Gah! They can even recover rapidly..."

One ability after another was revealed, leaving Caesar too stunned to speak. It took him a long time to regain his composure.

"After I left, has Vegapunk technological prowess advanced to this level?"

Caesar expression was dazed.

The man who had always been so self-assured, believing himself Vegapunk equal, now fell silent.

"No..."

Doflamingo shook his head at this moment.

"These Humanoid Weapons weren't invented by Vegapunk."

The moment these words were spoken— Caesar froze.

Wasn't it invented by Vegapunk? Then who else could have invented it?

Doflamingo expression darkened slightly as he spoke slowly.

"A member of the Navy Science Division, Kizaru younger brother Leon!"

"Leon? Kizaru younger brother? How come I've never heard of him?" Caesar looked utterly confused.

"He only appeared recently and the most unbelievable part is that this Leon is just eight years old!"

Caesar entire body trembled violently.

His eyes widened in shock, his face filled with astonishment!

After a long silence, Caesar finally gritted his teeth and turned to Doflamingo with difficulty.

"Doflamingo, get me some blood samples from that kid for my research..."

At this moment, Caesar was filled with extreme unwillingness.

He didn't even acknowledge Vegapunk superiority, how could he accept being outdone by an eight-year-old child!