Chapter 58

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Chapter 58: The Strong Never Complain

The wall lamps in the dilapidated hall flickered, casting firelight on their surroundings. Young Doflamingo watched as the Marine sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, a strange smile playing on his lips. Half of his figure was illuminated by the light; the other half shrouded in shadows.

"I have good news for you," Darren said with a smile. "You will not die today, and neither will your subordinates. You can even live better than anyone else. I just need us to have a brief chat."

Doflamingo was taken aback. Is he serious? he thought.

"What do you want to talk about?" Doflamingo's eyes flickered beneath his sunglasses as he spoke in a hoarse voice. Being alive was better than being dead.

Darren smiled contentedly upon seeing Doflamingo's cooperation. "Tell me, what is your ambition? You have the courage of the Conqueror's, and you are the 'noble' Celestial Dragons. Yet, you've come to the watery sea of North Blue... What exactly are you planning? Tell me what I want to hear...the truth."

The Marine Colonel stared intently at the bandaged blond kid. If you want to raise a ferocious wolf, you must stimulate his desire for flesh and blood. Come on, Doflamingo.

Upon hearing Darren's question, Doflamingo fell silent. Memories flashed in his mind: flames, shouts, curses, hospital beds, corpses, gunshots, heads, and a staircase to the sky. 'Listen... Joker...you are a king,' a voice echoed among the memories. They flickered like a kaleidoscope, converging into a sentence filled with resentment and anger.

He looked up suddenly, meeting Darren's gaze. Doflamingo's eyes were fierce and stubborn. "I... want to destroy this world!"

Snapped!

Darren slapped Doflamingo, sending him flying several meters. Doflamingo's body slammed into Madara's barren wall, creating a huge crater as large chunks of old plaster came crumbling down. His face visibly swelled as he stared at the Marine with disbelief. 

"What are you doing!?" Doflamingo asked angrily.

Darren looked down at him with contempt and sarcasm. "I am disappointed," he said coolly. "I thought you would have some earth-shattering ambition, but you're talking about such a dull thing. Destroy this world? This world hasn't provoked you."

"--What do you know!!" Doflamingo interrupted the Colonel Marine with eyes red from anger.

He struggled to stand, reopening wounds on his body that began to bleed afresh. He stood, legs trembling, breathing heavily as the fire that spread to the city wall in his mind flared up once more. Distorted faces appeared in the flames. They were cursing, and it was unbearably hot.

"I should have lived in heaven, I should have stood on clouds, looking down on the world with disdain!" Doflamingo raged. "But because of my stupid father's decision, my life fell from heaven to hell in an instant!"

The pain evoked a hidden nightmare, and Doflamingo yelled, losing his composure. "A mere commoner... a mere outcast... had the gall to treat the great Celestial Dragons like pigs and dogs on a wall. They attacked us with fire! With arrows! With stones! They tried everything to torture us!"

He laughed maniacally, the sound echoing in the hall. "I survived! I survived!"

He lifted his head, wanting to see a look of shock or astonishment on the Marine's face. But to his surprise, he failed.

He couldn't see it.

The disdain on the Marine's face remained.

"That's it?" he asked.

What is "this"...

Doflamingo stood frozen.

Was his life so tortuous, so miserable, so tortured... and yet so worthless to this Marine?

No...

A surge of unexplained rage welled up in his throat, and tremblingly Doflamingo screamed, "Isn't that enough!?"

"Because of my father's stupidity, we became poor!"

"I lost everything! I've even dug through trash cans because I was hungry!"

"You don't understand my past, no one can live a life as tortuous as mine!"

"Have you said enough?" Darren interjected coldly.

He moved toward Doflamingo step by step, his shadow cast by Gundam completely enveloping the latter, who was only about 1.5 meters tall.

"Do you think your life is miserable? It's tortuous? No one can compare with you?" the Colonel Marine asked with a sarcastic smile.

"Isn't it?" Doflamingo responded, teeth clenched.

The oppression from the Marine in front of him made him take a step back unconsciously.

"I've seen many miserable and tortuous lives. Believe me, Doflamingo," the Colonel Marine's sneer grew, "many people are far more miserable and tortuous than you."

"In the waters of the North Blue, gunfire sounds every day, and rotting corpses float in the harbors and coasts..."

"I have seen people betray their brothers for money; I have seen men sacrifice their wives for power; I've seen individuals sever their own legs to survive; I've heard countless different stories... I'm tired of them."

"But do you know?"

"Even those people, whose lives are worse than animals, they don't cry and complain like you, like a whiner..."

"How old are you? Five? Three? Why don't you go home and ask your parents to breastfeed you?"

Darren looked down at Doflamingo, whose face had turned pale, the disdain in his eyes clear.

After a wolf's blood is stirred up, its first attack is likely its own master. At that moment, it must be crushed, its pride shattered, its wildness destroyed.

Doflamingo clenched his fists, his eyes red, his teeth grinding, "My mother died of illness."

"Then she is really lucky not to hear your constant whining anymore! After all, you're nothing but a spoiled brat. If I'm not mistaken, she probably heard your complaints the most, right?" Darren taunted.

"Or did she die because she was sick of your whining?"

Doflamingo was aghast.

He felt a burning sensation on his face as if he had been slapped.

"You want to die!" he roared, about to move his fingers.

Boom!

A fist had struck his stomach.

Doflamingo bent over and collided with a wall, his eyes bloodshot, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

"The strong never complain. Even ordinary people outdo you in that regard," Darren said, grabbing Doflamingo by the collar, lifting him to face him, a sneer on his face.

"I've never seen a strong person who goes on about his misfortunes all day."

"With your stamina, you want to destroy the world?"

Doflamingo bit down on his bloodied teeth, struggling violently.

Darren's eyes narrowed further.