Diving into the mind of the Marine who was searching for her, Viola looked at Bill’s life as a series of still pictures starting from the time she had touched his head.

She saw Bill talking to an older Marine, a friend of her father’s, who she had met as a teenager.

She heard, or rather ‘felt’ the argument between the two men, an argument over helping her family.

She felt one man resist and the other one plea. She saw when the Marine in front of her agreed.

Finding out what she wanted almost immediately, a long history of being an interrogator for Doflamingo had made ‘Violet’ an expert with her Devil Fruit.

And being an expert with the [Glare-Glare Fruit] meant that she was an expert at mind reading.

She would always start with the most recent memories because they were the ‘freshest’ and the easiest to access – but to her surprise for the Marine in front of her didn’t seem to have any narrowing of his memories.

The memories of most people were like rivers, the closer to the present, the wider and stronger they were. Then, like a river, the further back she went the smaller and more insignificant they were until the point that they couldn’t even be called streams… drying up into nothingness.

In the split second that she touched Bill’s head, Viola saw that he had no such thing. If she had time, and he wasn’t prepared, she was sure that she could read his entire life like a book.

But she didn’t have time.

After seeing his recent memories, she knew he wasn’t a threat, but having the power to read minds was a hard power to resist, and in another fraction of a second Viola saw Bill’s life as a series of pictures.

She saw his ship, she saw a teenage girl, she saw the crew he had sailed to the New World with.

She saw New Haven, she saw the Neo Marines, she saw images of Bill’s tireless work in his department.

She saw an image of an Island Eater that she had never thought truly existed! She saw the Marine toss the Island Eater something, but before she recognized what it was, she saw the ‘golden city’ of Gran Tesoro and saw the unknown Marine in front of her pull it across the Grand Line!

Peering back further, Viola saw images of what had truly happened on Gran Tesoro…

‘This Marine worked with the Revolutionary Army and killed a Celestial Dragon?!!’

If she hadn’t willingly accepted the role of a Torturer for a decade to protect her family this would have shocked Violet enough to make her lose focus!

Fortifying herself instantly, the images of pictures flooded into her mind.

She saw him kill a couple Cipher Pol Agents and finally Gild Tesoro himself.

She saw him work tirelessly, saw him protect his people, saw him interact with the Celestial Dragon and ‘felt’ what he felt when he saw his friend had been abused.

‘That’s why he did it?!’ she thought.

She looked back further and saw images of the Island Eater again and saw the object the Marine had given to it was actually the legendary ‘Pure Gold’!

‘He could have BECOME a Celestial Dragon with that!!’ she thought, almost doubting what she had just seen.

Time was relative, and for every fraction of a second that Viola touched Bill’s head, she could see images at a quickened rate.

Normally, she could see a person’s entire life of memories in about five minutes. It would take longer if she wanted to see their emotions, but that typically wasn’t needed.

By now, less than a half of one second had passed since she touched Bill’s head, and instead that she wanted to see more, she began to skip large sections of memories.

She saw Bill hold up an island in the sky.

She saw him kill Shiki the Golden Lion.

She saw him betrayed by a Marine Vice Admiral; one she knew all too well.

She saw him raid an island infested with Pirates.

She saw him kill a traitorous Marine.

She saw him get beaten half to death by the ‘World’s Worst Criminal’.

She saw him on an island made of clockwork gears that extended far into the clouds

She saw him younger, saw him pick up the teenage girl that she had seen several times earlier in his memories.

She saw a shipwreck and two massive monsters fighting.

She saw him as a preteen training with his father…

‘His father is an Admiral?!’

On the face of it, this was one of the least surprising things Viola had seen in Bill’s mind, but when added on top of the rest, it was a major discovery.

In a few words, it meant that he wasn’t alone!

Looking back further she was amazed to see him, as a little kid, fighting a pirate who had since been recruited to join his faction – and looking on with a clear eye and clear mind, Viola could only reasonably call Bill’s ‘department’ a Faction.

Whether or not he used it in such a way, Viola saw that the amount of power the Neo Marines held should have never been allowed!

‘It would be fine if he was weak, but do the Marines actually understand what this person is?!’

Going back further, she was almost to the ‘end’ – she saw Bill’s mom and their home at Vallipo Archipelago.

She saw images of Ms. Angie and the various people he knew there…

Peering back further, she saw images of him as a baby.

‘He can remember being a baby?’

At this point, something told her to stop looking.

She saw him laugh and saw him struggle. She saw his friends and saw his enemies. She saw him succeed and she saw him fail.

In the split second that her hand touched his head, she had seen everything she needed to see… but the power to read minds was tempting, and feeling that she could do so, she went back further.

Then, Viola saw something she had never seen before.

Looking far back into the reaches Bill’s mind, she saw [Chaos].

It was a being made of interlocking wheels; it was a being with countless eyes.

There was nothing in the real world that could describe it, but for that tiniest fraction of a second, when Viola looked into Chaos…

Chaos looked back.

****************************************************************

Facing the man who had killed dozens of Marine Recruits – mere teenagers who had their whole lives ahead of them – Zephyr’s lip snarled into a frown.

He wanted revenge… no, he corrected himself.

He wanted Justice.

“Hee hee hee hee! Isn’t this one hell of a lineup that found its way to this little beach!!”

Out of the four, the first to speak was Doflamingo who opened up his arms and gestured around: “There’s a traitor who hitched his wagon to the wrong horse!
There’s a Marine Admiral who is assuredly here over some bad intel!!
And!!!” Doflamingo looked directly at Zephyr:

“There’s an old fossil who didn’t learn his lesson last time!!!!
He even brought more students along with him!!!!!”

Then turning to Yoko and the others who were quite far away, Doflamingo held his face in one hand and laughed hard: “Hee hee hee hee!!!!!!”

Zephyr wasn’t laughing at this.

He naturally saw Yoko and the others on the edge of the jungle, which was disappointing because he had sent them away on purpose, but now, all that meant was that he couldn’t fail.

As for Yoko and the others, they knew who Doflamingo was, and while none of them wanted to back down, they knew they had to be careful.

To fight a Warlord of the Sea was incredibly dangerous, perhaps if it was on a full moon night Yoko could justify putting her people in that danger – because 150 Monkey Minks in their Sulong form was also incredibly dangerous – but that wasn’t the case, and as the four men started talking, she began to whisper to her crew members.

“I guess you’re all here because I ‘Quit the Warlords’, right?!”

“YOU LIE!!!” Interrupted Law, who had a bad look on his face – nobody knew what Doflamingo was capable of more than him – but what confused him was how Doflamingo could have possibly spread such a rumor.

“You used the strength of the World Government to deceive the ENTIRE WORLD?! And all to gain an advantage over a couple dozen people?!!

HOW?!!!”

Laughing at Law’s question, Doflamingo continued to ignore the two Marines and walking closer to Law said: “I’ve told you before we’re in a new era!!! It’s only your rigidity of the mind that makes you assume that I can’t!!

That’s your blind spot, Law!!!”

With a face downcast, Law looked at the two Marines and then thought of something…

“Even as a Warlord of the Sea, you can’t possibly have THAT much influence… anyone who could pull off something so preposterous would have to be…

A CELESTIAL DRAGON?!”

“Hee Hee Hee!!
Now we’re getting to the deeper truth of it!!!”

Then slightly slowing down his walk, Doflamingo stopped and smiled widely.

He said: “… I guess I just really, really, WANTED TO KILL YOU!!!”

After Doflamingo said this, Zephyr watched as the pirate Trafalgar Law threatened him with the life of a mass-murdering criminal known as [Caesar Clown] and watched the Marines brought over by Admiral Fujitora scramble as they contacted New Marineford.

He then watched a play where Doflamingo turned Fujitora’s attention on Law, in one part amazed and in one part infuriated by how inadequate the new Admirals knowledge was.

When Fujitora revoked Law’s Warlord of the Sea Status, Zephyr couldn’t stay quiet no more.

“Joker!” he shouted, causing all eyes to look in his direction.

The Marines knew who he was, Doflamingo knew who he was, only Law had a vague idea of the importance of the old Marine… recognizing that he was not some rank-in-file sailor.

“Hee Hee Hee!

YOU should know better than anyone to not get your elbows dirty!! Now dog of the World Government, do you JOB and apprehend Law and return my subordinate!!!”

“Your subordinate? Nonsense!

There are no records of Caesar Clown belonging to the Donquixote Pirates!! You think your word alone can pardon anyone?!

Furthermore!!” Zephyr continued speaking without letting anyone interrupt and revealed his true purpose for coming to Dressrosa Kingdom after learning about the fate of his old friend:

“You are under investigation for the disappearance of King Doldo II and are suspected of conspiring against a Royal Family under the protection of the World Government!!!

Now, answer for your crimes!!!!”

Hearing what Zephyr had to say Law was shocked, Fujitora hummed, and Doflamingo had an ugly look on his face.

“So what?” he asked…

“Don’t you know what I- “Being a Celestial MUTT would not protect you here!!!”

“You are nothing!!” continued Zephyr: “Your father Donquixote Homing GAVE UP that position and you are nothing but a want-to-be, a JOKER in the eyes of the World Nobles!!!”

Of course, Zephyr’s claims were half-truth and half-false.

True, Warlords of the Sea could not pardon anyone just by making them their subordinate – that would be foolish, after all, could Monkey D. Dragon or the Revolutionary Army be given a pardon for simply claiming to work for a Warlord? Impossible.

True, Warlords of the Sea had the right to plunder, but that did not extend to Kingdoms associated with the World Government – not even a decade ago that was proven when [Sir Crocodile] was arrested for inciting rebellion on the [Kingdom of Alabasta].

False, Donquixote Doflamingo was subject to ‘normal’ Warlord of the Sea regulations.

As long as Doflamingo was useful to the World Government, he could commit almost any crime thanks to his ancestry.

Zephyr knew this better than anyone, and he was reminded every time he looked at his stump of an arm.

He was reminded every time he closed his eyes and remembered how Doflamingo and his goons murdered dozens of Marine recruits all for the insignificant plunder of a simple Devil Fruit.

For the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, a Devil Fruit found by Zephyr on a training mission, Doflamingo had slaughtered a Marine war ship.

And, in his arrogance, he left the commanders of the ship alive.

His punishment for such an atrocity? He was censored and told not to do it again.

So yes, Zephyr knew what Doflamingo could get away with, but he also knew what to say to get the mad man to lash out.

And true to Zephyr’s predictions, for a moment, Doflamingo forgot about Law and turned his full wrath to the old Marine who he should have killed 15 years before.

****************************************************************

Screaming bloody murder, Viola pulled away from Bill as her fastest speed and instinctively tried to hide.

Shaking violently, she looked as if she had seen a ghost but after a split second couldn’t understand her own actions.

While Sanji started fighting back harder, screaming about what Bill had done to his ‘love’, and Bill was becoming fed up with the swirly-eyebrow cook of the Straw Hats nonsense, Viola sat several feet away and felt like she had forgotten something as her soul-clenching fear turned into a general confusion.

This feeling of confusion itself did not last long either, as the sight of Chaos was either buried or faded away into nothing, Viola began to process the images she had seen in Bill’s mind.

What she had seen in his mind caused her to rethink and reassess everything.

Looking at the big man in front of her, fighting off a superhuman while not allowing any normal person to get hurt, for the first time in her life she felt that she had found a reliable man.

Something she could say that she had never come across in her life.

Looking at Bill, the former princess who had been forced into becoming a torturer and spy felt something that she had never allowed herself to feel.

She felt hope.