Perhaps because the village he grew up in was destroyed by pirates, from the moment Sakazuki joined the Marines, he displayed an extreme loathing for pirates.

No matter the mission—rescuing hostages, annihilating pirate crews, maintaining order—if even a single pirate appeared before Sakazuki, there was only one fate awaiting them.

Death!

Beaten to death with Armament Haki, shot dead with bullets, burned alive by magma, drowned after being thrown into the sea...

In Sakazuki's presence, one could witness pirates meeting their end in all sorts of gruesome ways.

Sometimes, pirates would use civilians as hostages, hoping this tactic would force Sakazuki to hesitate and give them a chance to escape.

This strategy worked on most Marines, as in the eyes of many, the lives of civilians were far more important than capturing pirates.

But Sakazuki didn't see it that way.

He believed that if pirates could take hostages right in front of the Marines, it meant they had done this before.

He even had reason to suspect that after escaping, the pirates might kill the hostages anyway, mocking the Marines for their incompetence and stupidity.

If things played out like that, not only would the hostages die, but the ruthless pirates would escape once more, only to wreak havoc elsewhere.

So, in such situations, Sakazuki would choose to eliminate the pirates—hostages included.

This way, only one group of hostages would die.

Otherwise, letting those pirates live would mean countless more hostages suffering in the future.

Though it was unfair to those hostages, Sakazuki knew that to reduce the number of pirates, he had to cut off their aspirations at the root.

He wanted to hammer home one truth, "Once you become a pirate, no matter what you've done, the only fate waiting for you is death!"

Only when this belief was ingrained in every civilian's mind could the transition from civilian to pirate be stopped.

The moment Doflamingo saw Sakazuki, his entire body went numb.

At the same time, Trebol's voice came through the Den Den Mushi.

"Doffy, stop arguing with Aokiji! Retreat now, or once the other Marines arrive, it might be too late! This time, it's not just Aokiji—Black Arm Zephyr, Hero Garp, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru have all arrived in the North Blue! Akainu even used his Devil Fruit powers to speed up his ship. If my intel is correct, he might already be there!"

"So come back immediately, Doffy! If you run into Akainu, that madman will really kill you!"

Trebol's voice was loud, and the Den Den Mushi's expression was comical, but the only one who could laugh at this moment was Jake.

Doflamingo didn't respond, and this dead silence was already the worst answer for Trebol.

The next moment, a trembling voice came from the other end of the line.

"Doffy, h-have you already run into that bastard Sakazuki?"

Before Doflamingo could answer, a deep, hoarse voice replied to Trebol's question for him.

"Yeah, he's already run into me. How did you know about the Marines' movements?"

Hearing Sakazuki's voice on the other end, Trebol felt as if the sky was collapsing.

He didn't know how to answer that question—all he knew was that he might soon become the last survivor of the Donquixote Family.

Doflamingo stared at Sakazuki, who now stood before him, towering several heads taller.

Gone was the arrogance he had shown earlier with Aokiji—his expression and demeanor had completely changed.

Jake watched from a distance, unable to suppress the smirk on his lips.

To him, Doflamingo now seemed like a child who had been acting up in front of their doting mother, only to immediately change their tune the moment their father arrived.

"Sakazuki, I've already joined the Shichibukai! I'm a government-sanctioned, legalized Pirate now! You have no right to harm me!"

Despite the fear gnawing at him, Doflamingo forced himself to remain composed.

He lifted his head and met Sakazuki's furious gaze, struggling to voice his argument.

Sakazuki merely glanced at him before reaching out.

Before Doflamingo could react, the contract in his hand was reduced to ashes.

The next moment, a deep, raspy voice rang out as the surrounding temperature slowly rose.

Thick, molten drops dripped from Sakazuki's fist, sizzling as they hit the ice.

"Right now, I don't know anything about you joining the Shichibukai, nor do I care about your 'real identity.' To me, you're just another Pirate trying to kill Marines!"

Without a second's hesitation, Sakazuki raised his arm and swung straight for Doflamingo's head—ready to give him a magma-powered fist.

Doflamingo froze in shock.

Was this guy actually insane?!

He had heard about Sakazuki's obsessive hatred for Pirates, but even as the magma neared his skull, he didn't truly believed Sakazuki would go this far.

After all, he was involved in far too much—his lineage, his dealings with the Emperors, the black markets spanning the entire Grand Line.

Any one of these things should be enough to make the Marine Headquarters take notice.

And yet, here he was, holding all three, about to be killed in a place like this?

He couldn't believe his eyes, but the searing heat on his head forced him to accept the reality.

Most of his hair had already been burned away by the magma.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Doflamingo wasted no time—he launched a counterattack against Sakazuki while simultaneously trying to save himself.

His golden hair was mostly severed by strings and his flamboyant flamingo attire now resembled that of a disheveled crow.

Staring at Sakazuki's expressionless face, he felt as though the sky was about to collapse.

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