"Damn, it's the admiral Aokiji!"
"What do we do? The young master's condition doesn't look good. After all, he's up against that man."
"Damn it, why is this happening?"
"It's all because of Law, that brat. We should've never saved him. Letting him escape was a mistake."
Unwilling, furious, and full of dread, the expressions of the Donquixote officers twisted between whispered curses and silent panic. They looked pale and helpless.
Facing Admiral Aokiji, not one of them dared to make a move.
After years navigating the Grand Line, they knew full well how terrifying the man in front of them was. Aokiji wasn't someone they could take lightly. He could annihilate all three of them with ease.
So, they redirected their hatred toward Law. If it weren't for him, none of this would have happened. Kaelen Tsukishiro and Aokiji wouldn't have arrived in Dressrosa.
It was over.
Everything they'd worked to build was crumbling.
If Doflamingo died, it would all be lost.
The three looked at each other in silence, thoughts aligning. Their expressions hardened with determination.
If Doflamingo was going down, they would go with him.
Years of working together created unspoken coordination. Almost simultaneously, the trio lunged forward, launching an all-out assault on Aokiji.
As top officers of the Donquixote Family, they weren't weak. Each possessed a Devil Fruit power, their strength rivaling that of a Marine Vice Admiral.
Trevall wielded the Sticky-Sticky Fruit. Pica, the Stone-Stone Fruit. Diamante, the Flutter-Flutter Fruit.
Their combined attack was explosive. The ground rippled violently. Sticky bombs filled the sky. Giant stone spears burst from the earth.
Under normal circumstances, their combined assault could overwhelm most foes.
But this was Aokiji.
The admiral lifted his head slowly. His expression remained hidden behind his glasses, his demeanor unmoved.
Then, in a flash, ice surged outward from where he stood.
Everything froze in an instant — the ground, the sticky projectiles, the stone spears. All of it was encased in a layer of ice.
This was Aokiji's domain, and he ruled it with absolute control.
His figure blurred and vanished.
He reappeared behind the three officers before they could react.
Sensing something was wrong, they turned — too late.
Ice exploded upward beneath their feet, swallowing them whole. In seconds, three lifelike ice sculptures stood where they once did.
...
Elsewhere, Doflamingo struggled to use his String-String Fruit to repair his internal injuries.
Kaelen Tsukishiro's quake-infused strike had dealt more damage than it appeared. Most of it was internal.
Kaelen's use of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was unlike Whitebeard's. Where the old man was raw and overwhelming, Kaelen was refined and precise.
A single punch from Kaelen could reduce internal organs to pulp without leaving a mark on the outside. Mountains shattered silently under his blows.
So, even an air punch caused devastating damage to Doflamingo.
Though everything had happened quickly, from the moment Doflamingo had tried to flee until now, not even half a minute had passed.
Kaelen didn't intend to give him a chance to recover.
He raised his right hand.
[Float Float Fruit Activated]
Invisible waves pulsed outwards. Rubble and debris from the surroundings rose into the air and condensed quickly.
In moments, a mountain of stone, dozens of meters tall, formed in the sky and came crashing down on Doflamingo.
"Lion Seal!"
The technique was Kaelen's tribute to the legendary Golden Lion, the original user of the fruit.
Boom!
The air trembled as the massive stone mountain hurtled downward, swallowing everything within tens of meters.
Doflamingo's eyes widened at the shadow looming above him.
"Are you kidding me? Is this guy even human?!"
He wasn't Garp. He couldn't punch out mountains.
"Sixteen Holy Bullets!"
With a solemn expression, Doflamingo launched a desperate counterattack. Sixteen massive white threads surged from the ground, forming spears that shot up toward the falling mass.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The two forces collided violently.
One crashed down from the sky. The other pierced upward.
Explosions rang out with each impact.
After the sixteenth strike, the stone mountain finally cracked apart and exploded.
Doflamingo panted heavily. Sweat streamed down his face as he allowed a brief sigh of relief to escape.
Then his eyes widened again.
The shattered debris began reassembling mid-air, reforming the mountain.
Once more, it came crashing down.
"..."
Exhaustion hit him like a wave.
He couldn't do this again.
Maybe once. Maybe twice. But he didn't have the stamina to keep it up.
Kaelen would outlast him.
He wasn't going to survive this.
The realization crushed him.
Laughter escaped him — hollow, bitter, humiliated.
"Fuffuffuffu..."
Suddenly, a roar echoed in the distance.
A massive blue dragon burst through the clouds.
Its long whiskers flowed, fangs gleamed, and thunder danced across its scales.
Majestic. Fearsome. Absolute.
"Kaido...!"
"Kaido-sama!"
"It's the captain — Hundred Beasts Kaido!"
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