"Not good!"
"Fall back, quickly retreat!"
The sudden burst of threads expanded rapidly along their path, creating a terrifying commotion that caused the pirates on both sides, even those at a distance, to change expression drastically and retreat in panic.
"Doffy…"Vergo also took two steps back, looking at Doflamingo with a heavy expression.
The pressure from a Marine Headquarters Admiral Candidate was overwhelming—barely had the fight begun, and Doflamingo was already forced to unleash one of his trump card techniques…
On the other side—
Nao looked at the fast-approaching Falling Ruthless Strings, shook his head, and didn't even bother to draw his sword. Instead, he simply raised his right hand and flicked a finger.
Buzz!
The single flick caused the very air to twist and tremble.
A blinding blue flash erupted from his fingertip, forming a terrifying shockwave like a roaring thunder dragon that crashed head-on into the Falling Ruthless Strings.
In less than a heartbeat, all of the threads were torn apart and consumed by the lightning, disintegrating into motes of white light before vanishing into nothingness.
"What—?!"
Doflamingo's pupils contracted. Before he even had time to show disbelief, the spreading shockwave was already howling toward him.
It was too late to dodge. Doflamingo reacted instantly—both palms splaying wide, spitting out tens of thousands of transparent strings, weaving them together into a massive protective barrier before him.
"Spider's Web—Wall!"
Boom!
The lightning slammed into the web, setting the entire barrier trembling violently as strings snapped and vanished one after another. Yet somehow, barely, it managed to hold off the brunt of the blast.
But Doflamingo didn't even have time to breathe in relief.
Because at that very moment, Nao casually flicked his finger two or three more times. Each flick unleashed a thunderous shockwave, several times stronger than the last, sweeping out again.
This time, without its force diminished, the might of the thunder was something the Spider's Web Wall could not withstand.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
In just a few seconds, the densely woven web wall split and shattered from the center outward.
The roaring lightning sent Doflamingo's hair whipping wildly, and his sunglasses shattered into pieces.
"What kind of sick joke is this?!"
Grinding his teeth, Doflamingo frantically spewed out more strings to hold the collapsing wall together, but his heart was filled with shock.
After all—
Though thin and delicate in appearance, the Spider's Web Wall was incomparably tough. When compressed together, its hardness was astonishing, impervious even to water. It was his strongest defensive technique.
In all these years, no one had ever broken through it—not pirates with bounties over 100 million, not even the Marine officers he'd fought against.
And now…
This man had shattered it effortlessly, as if brushing away flies, with a few casual flicks of his finger?!
Crackle!
The lightning grew ever more dazzling, and there was no time left to think. Taking advantage of the fraction of delay his barrier had bought him, Doflamingo lashed a string to the ceiling of the lightning cage and swung himself high, narrowly dodging the blast.
The instant he steadied himself in midair, he slashed with his right foot, pouring all his strength into it. A colossal transparent string surged downward.
"Whip Kick Thread!"
The massive string, coated in dense Armament Haki, tore through the sky at terrifying speed, cleaving straight down from a height of over a hundred meters, aimed directly at Nao standing on the ground.
"So this is all you're capable of…"
Nao looked up at the giant thread hurtling toward him and shook his head with faint disappointment.
To him—
A decade from now, when Doflamingo awakened his String-String Fruit, his abilities would be on a completely different level.
Moves like Ever White, Billow White, Break White, Off White, and the devastating God Thread: Sixteen Holy Assassin's Bullets pushed imagination and destruction to their absolute limits.
He hadn't expected Doflamingo to have already reached the stage of Devil Fruit awakening, but he had still been curious—just how far could this guy go at his current level?
But now…
It was clear that the twenty-something Doflamingo was destined to disappoint him.
Even when forced into a life-or-death battle, the man's techniques were nothing more than petty tricks, far too dull and unimpressive to make the stage.
"Looks like it ends here…"
Nao murmured softly.
At the moment his words fell—
The fiery sunset clouds overhead, once tinged gold and crimson, suddenly turned pitch black. Rolling thunderheads spread across the sky, lightning flashing violently.
Boom!
As if the end of the world had descended, the dark storm clouds churned with frightening intensity.
More than a dozen massive bolts of lightning split the heavens, crashing down all at once, illuminating the entire darkened sky.
The giant thread Doflamingo had kicked down was instantly overtaken by one of those lightning bolts, swallowed whole by thunderlight, and dissolved into nothing midair.
Other lightning bolts slammed into underworld bosses and pirates at the harbor, while the rest streaked straight for Doflamingo himself.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A continuous series of deafening explosions rang out.
Doflamingo, despite doing his utmost, managed to evade the first two bolts. But he was eventually struck by the remaining lightning.
The terrifying power contained within was utterly futile to resist, even though he had hardened his body with Armament Haki.
In that instant—
Doflamingo felt as if his body were being ripped apart, searing agony coursing through every nerve and bone.
Unable to endure, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and, with a groan, was blasted from the sky, smashing into the ground near the shore and carving out a massive crater.
Within the crater, he lay on his back in a spread-eagled position, charred black.
His pink feathered coat was completely burned away, his hair and eyebrows were nothing but blackened stubble, so wretched he was almost unrecognizable as human.
"Young master…"
The watching pirates felt their hearts tighten. To them, Doflamingo had always been a proud, untouchable young king, sweeping through the North Blue without equal. Never before had they seen him suffer such a devastating defeat.
Someone instinctively stepped forward to help him up, but the memory of how he had shoved others aside earlier made them swallow hard and stop, frozen in place, watching tensely from several meters away.
Two seconds… three seconds… more than ten passed, and still there was no movement from the crater.
If not for the faint rise and fall of that charred chest, they might have thought Doflamingo had been killed outright by the lightning.
Get up, young master!
Some clenched their teeth, unwilling to accept it.
Others looked up at the godlike figure in the sky, faces filled with despair.
Vergo, his expression hidden by sunglasses, remained outwardly calm—but his fists were clenched tight.
Finally—
Cough, cough…
The sound of harsh coughing rose from the crater. Under countless anxious, expectant gazes, Doflamingo at last opened his eyes, gripped the crater's edge, and struggled to his feet.
"Your vitality is surprisingly tough…" Nao raised an eyebrow from the sky.
His Heavenly Lightning Pull was an attack even pirates with bounties of 200–300 million in the New World might not withstand. The fact that Doflamingo could still stand afterward was unexpected.
But almost at once, Nao dismissed the thought with a shrug, his voice calm:
"If you've still got the strength to stand, then keep going. At a life-or-death moment, you should be breaking through, awakening something. So—can you show me anything new… Doflamingo?"
That tone…
It was clear he had never once taken the young master seriously.
It was as if—
As if he were just humoring a child at play.
The surrounding pirates felt bitter inside, but they had to admit—this kind of top figure from Marine Headquarters did have the right to act that way.
Still… wasn't the young master being humiliated to the extreme? To be treated like this, filled with rage yet unable to vent it at all…
"Fuffuffuffuffuffu…"
That familiar laugh broke their thoughts. The pirate executives turned in shock, seeing their young master with his head lowered, squinting slightly at his own charred and miserable state.
His shoulders trembled, and the corners of his mouth stretched almost to his ears—he was… smiling?
"Fuffuffuffuffuffu!!!"
Doflamingo finally raised his head, laughing madly without restraint. As his laughter spread, a terrifying aura gathered within him, rising higher and higher.
Though his mouth laughed, his eyes burned with unhidden hatred and killing intent.
Who was he?
A former Celestial Dragon, the dark overlord controlling most of North Blue's underworld—Donquixote Doflamingo!
Countless people revered me! Feared me! Trembled before me!
I am the man born with the bearing of a king, destined to stand atop the world as an emperor!
No one in this world has the right to trample my dignity from on high!
Not the Marines!
Not the World Government!
Not those foolish "kin" in the Holy Land!
And you, White Dragon Nao—especially not you!!!"
Boom!
His aura erupted like a storm, a domineering pressure sweeping in every direction, sending ripples through the air.
The whole world seemed to tremble!
The once warm evening breeze abruptly turned into a raging gale. The sea around the harbor began to violently churn, stirring up towering waves.
All the pirates beneath the dome of the lightning cage felt an irresistible mental force crash down on them. Their vision went black, and they almost instantly lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground in a faint
In almost the blink of an eye, except for Rosinante, Vergo, and a mere handful of other senior family executives who could barely hold on,
Everyone on the harbor had fallen like wheat before the scythe.
Conqueror's… Haki!
This terrifying power, rarely seen in one out of a million people, was now being unleashed to its fullest by Doflamingo, who was born with the qualities of a king!
"I've never seen Doffy push his Conqueror's Haki to this extent," Vergo raised his arms to shield his face, his voice full of shock as he muttered, "Has his rage truly pushed him this far…?"
He instinctively turned his gaze skyward.
Such overwhelming Conqueror's Haki—surely even White Dragon Nao couldn't have escaped its effects… right?
But then—
Vergo's pupils contracted sharply.
Because he saw Nao above, looking down at Doflamingo releasing his Conqueror's Haki with abandon—not the slightest trace of awe on his face. Instead, his brows furrowed, and he shook his head, still wearing that look of disappointment…
And then—
Wummm…
A dreadful, soul-chilling aura suddenly spread outward from Nao, rippling across the heavens.
It made no sound, carried no violent pressure. Compared to Doflamingo's earlier outburst, it seemed almost subdued.
But in that instant, the crashing waves went still, the shaking buildings steadied, the howling dust fell silent to the ground…
And the raging tide of Conqueror's Haki that Doflamingo had just unleashed—now recoiled in terror, retreating into him like a frightened tide fleeing from its predator.
In a mere instant.
Everything by the shore returned to calm.
Even their Conqueror's Haki isn't on the same level?
Vergo's throat tightened. . If their Conqueror's Haki were roughly on par, their collision should have created a scene that made the heavens change color, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring.
But here…
He twitched at the corner of his eye, turning back toward the crater's edge.
He dared not imagine what must be going through Doflamingo's heart—when even his proudest, kingly spirit had been crushed so completely…
As expected.
Doflamingo stood dazed at the edge of the crater, his features twisted in a way that sent chills down the spine.
It seemed the last shred of his dignity and confidence had been utterly smashed; his reason was beginning to fracture…
"Natsuya Nao…" Doflamingo ground out the words, syllable by syllable.
Vergo's guess had been precisely right — the humiliation and unwillingness roiled like a demon, devouring his sanity. Driven by that madness, his eyes flashed with a murderous chill. Suddenly he ripped open the skin of his chest; from his torso burst forth coils of white thread that tangled together, then explosively unfurled into countless massive translucent threads, slicing outward in every direction.
"Fufufufufu…"
That same eerie, cold sneer curled his lips, but this time the smile had a crazed edge.
"If I can't live today, then this harbor… no, everyone on Cartier Island — Marines, pirates, underworld bosses, civilians — we'll all perish together! Consider it… my funeral!"
"Fufufufufu!!!"
He spread his arms, letting the threads bursting from his chest drain his last bit of life. His arrogant, unrestrained laughter echoed across the entire dome.
But in the next instant, the laughter abruptly stopped.
The lightning-cage at the shore — without anyone noticing when — began to collapse. Each arc of lightning chased down one of Doflamingo's threads, forcing it back until the tangle re-wove itself.
Thud!
Nao had somehow appeared in front of him. Dofflamingo gaped as the man casually shoved the snarled mess of threads back into his chest.
"Self-destructing and littering? Spouting a load of nonsense to yourself... Who said you could die?"