CHAPTER 631: CHAPTER 150: MEETING THE GODFATHER

"Purple suits you."

With that, Darren buried himself in the food again, eating with uncomplicated joy.

Stussy stared, almost choking on her own breath. That brute. Was she hosting a banquet or a feeding trough? And that "compliment" had been tossed off like a crumb. She took a few sharp pulls on her cigarette, chest rising and falling with irritation. The poise and atmosphere she’d so carefully arranged had been ruined by Darren’s brazen boorishness.

No.

She clenched her teeth. She was here to savor victory, not watch this oaf gorge.

"Are you finished yet?" she asked, voice cold, brows arched into a frosted blade.

Darren blinked, gnawed through the last of a roasted beef shank, flicked the bone aside, and let out a satisfied burp. "Mm... barely half full."

He wiped his hands, lit a cigar, and smiled lazily. "What’s wrong, Your Majesty? Can’t wait?"

"But speaking of which—"

He winked. "You do look stunning tonight."

"Hmph." The sharp line of Stussy’s brows eased by a hair. She waved the attendants and dancers away. When the hall stood empty but for the two of them, she let a proud little smile curve her lips.

"So, Vice Admiral Darren," she purred, "have you perhaps forgotten something?"

"Forgotten?" He looked innocently puzzled. "You invited me. Was I supposed to bring a gift?"

Still pretending. Stussy twined a lock of hair around her finger, her cool smile deepening.

"Hee-hee. Vice Admiral Darren truly has the memory of a goldfish. Have you already forgotten our little... wager?"

She leaned forward, soft curves pressing into the table’s edge, lashes flicking as she breathed the word again, low and amused. "Wager."

The air seemed to warm around them.

"The wager..." Darren frowned as if dredging it up. "By our agreement, the final Shichibukai selections fall to me."

He ticked them off, eyes narrowing. "Of the six already confirmed, five—Douglas Bullet, Moonlight Moria, Crocodile, Dracule Mihawk, and Fisher Tiger—were my candidates. Even strictly by the letter... shouldn’t I be the winner?"

"Not so fast," Stussy said, eyes glittering. "Wasn’t the sixth just confirmed?"

She watched his face darken by degrees and licked her crimson lips, savoring it. "Vice Admiral Darren, allow me to introduce you to a friend. What do you think?"

"I don’t need any more friends," Darren said, smiling without warmth.

Her smile bloomed wider.

Yes. That guarded look—perfect. He couldn’t possibly imagine she’d already struck an alliance with his enemy, even gone so far as to recommend him to the Gorosei for a Shichibukai seat. And she had brought him here, now, to crown the moment.

Watching Darren’s tension, Stussy felt triumph flood her, hot and dizzying. Finally—finally—she could grind this man beneath her heel. Her cheeks flushed; a tremor ran through her.

"Hee-hee... you don’t get to choose."

She rose, violet fishtail gown flaring like a flower, and extended the hand holding her cigarette. "Vice Admiral Darren, allow me to present my esteemed partner..."

A playful light touched her eye as a triumphant smile unfurled.

At her cue, a side door swung open. A man in a black suit stepped aside, and an arrogant figure sauntered out of the corridor’s shadow, hands in his pockets, lips peeled into a cruel grin.

Stussy’s gaze pinned Darren.

Well then, Darren. I’ve prepared too long for this. Let me savor your humiliation.

As the footsteps drew near, her smile grew almost feral.

Almost—

"The esteemed Shichibukai... ’Flamingo’ Donquixote Doflamingo!"

Click.

The golden-haired youth stepped into the light. The flamboyant pink feather coat flared; the chandelier crowned his short blond hair.

He glanced at Stussy, then stopped dead at the sight of Darren.

"Heh heh heh... so that’s how it is."

"Indeed," Stussy purred. "Doflamingo, this is the friend I wanted to introduce—Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters—"

"I know him," Doflamingo cut in, a playful sneer curling his mouth.

Stussy blinked. Something was wrong.

All trace of wariness drained from Darren’s face, replaced by a look she couldn’t read—something like... mockery.

What?

Confusion crashed through her.

"Doffy," Darren said lightly, raising his right hand with the ease of long practice.

D–Doffy?

Her breath hitched. That form of address—

Before she could think, the newly seated Shichibukai—the brazen thief of the Heavenly Tribute, the man who dared steal from the World Government and the Gorosei—stepped forward, dropped to one knee before Darren, and, with reverent care...

kissed the back of his hand.

"I greet you, Godfather," he murmured.

G—Godfather?!

Stussy felt the world crack down the middle.

Her mind went blank.

To be continued...