At Dressrosa's Royal Palace, within the grand banquet hall, tension crackled through the air like electricity.
Without waiting for Doflamingo to speak, Kai deliberately seated himself in the main chair at the long table, crossed his fingers with casual arrogance, propped his legs up on the polished surface, and remained silent while quietly staring at Doflamingo with calculating eyes.
Jack, Ulti, Page One, and Speed positioned themselves behind Kai like loyal guards, their presence adding weight to his authority.
Kai's condescending attitude instantly enraged the other Donquixote Family executives who had accompanied Doflamingo for this crucial meeting.
Since they had found Young Master Doffy and developed their organization to this impressive level, when had they ever been treated with such blatant disrespect?
"Too arrogant!"
"We must show them what happens when you cross us!"
The executives glared at Kai with obvious ill intent, muscles tensed and ready to move at a moment's notice.
They were simply waiting for their Young Master's command to make these Beast Pirates visitors bleed on the spot.
"Uninvited guests with clearly ill intentions," Kai's lips curved into a mocking sneer of superiority.
"Actually, you are the guests here," Speed reminded him in a low voice.
"Is that so?" Kai feigned complete surprise at this revelation.
Too much insolence!
A mere All-Star, not even holding vice-captain rank, dared to display such an attitude toward him!
Kai and Speed's casual performance made prominent veins bulge with rage across Doflamingo's forehead.
He had come seeking cooperation with the Beast Pirates, not to be treated like some subordinate slave!
Doflamingo suppressed his mounting anger and squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: "Is this Kaido's direct intention?"
Kai scoffed with obvious disdain: "Doflamingo, do you honestly think I traveled here to enjoy a pleasant meal with you? You wouldn't think an Emperor's dignity is so easily offended, would you? No way, no way..."
"Must we make this situation unpleasant?"
Doflamingo's brow furrowed deeply with frustration: "Cooperation between the Beast Pirates and me would absolutely create a win-win situation for both parties. With my network, the Beast Pirates' weapons can be fully distributed to all four seas. This is something that previous waste could never accomplish!"
"Are you completely finished?"
Kai pulled back his feet, stood up with deliberate slowness, and began stretching his arms: "Since you've achieved your stated purpose, now it's time for you to help me complete my assigned mission."
Doflamingo's expression stiffened with growing concern: "What exactly do you mean?"
Kai grinned widely and mimicked Kaido's distinctive voice perfectly: "Go test that clown's actual worth for me."
"There you have it. That's what Kaido-san said personally." Kai smiled with false politeness: "Please don't make things unnecessarily difficult for me, Mr. Clown."
Faced with Kai's blatant provocation, the Donquixote Family executives couldn't contain their fury any longer.
"Young Master, let's do this!"
"That's right! They're just the Beast Pirates!"
"Let them witness the true power of the Donquixote Family!"
The executives shouted with building enthusiasm.
"Fufufufufu..."
Doflamingo covered his face with one hand, veins pulsing visibly on his forehead as his furious laughter echoed through the spacious hall: "I've been conducting business for so long, I almost forgot I was a pirate."
Since they were all pirates, they should naturally resolve their disputes using the traditional pirate method.
If verbal negotiation proved useless, then they would settle everything with their fists.
The next moment, Doflamingo's gaze sharpened dangerously, and powerful Conqueror's Haki burst from his body, heading straight for Kai's group with devastating intent.
Just Conqueror's Haki? Who doesn't possess that ability?
Kai's expression remained completely unchanged as equally powerful Conqueror's Haki erupted from within him.
BOOM!
The two violent Haki forces collided with tremendous impact, and terrible shockwaves swept through the entire hall like a natural disaster.
Centered on the two opposing Haki forces, waves of black-red lightning spread outward like an intricate spider web.
CRACK!
The long table positioned in the center of the hall was the first casualty, breaking apart under the immense pressure.
Then the hall's ornate ceiling and the marble columns supporting it cracked one after another, debris raining down like hail.
THUD!
Donquixote Family executives collapsed one by one, foaming at the mouth with their eyes rolled back in unconsciousness.
The remaining executives swayed unsteadily like small boats facing raging ocean waves, their faces etched with panic and disbelief.
"Such absolutely terrifying Conqueror's Haki!"
Trebol, wearing his distinctive cloak with half a string of snot dangling from his face, gritted his teeth and desperately held on, horrified by what he was witnessing.
This was the first time he had ever seen a man whose Conqueror's Haki could match Doffy's power so evenly.
But facing Doflamingo's back, he couldn't observe the increasingly ugly expression developing on his leader's face.
"Ugh!"
Within just a moment, Doflamingo's body uncontrollably leaned backward, his face becoming extremely ugly with strain.
He was losing. He was actually losing in a direct Conqueror's Haki clash!
"Doffy!"
Pica, wearing his armor with distinctively wavy hair, quickly moved to support Doflamingo and prevent him from showing weakness before their enemies.
Looking at Kai's perfectly calm expression, Pica felt even more shocked by the implications.
This looked like Kai hadn't even exerted much effort!
What surprised the Donquixote Family even more was that not only Kai, but even Jack's entire group remained completely unharmed throughout the intense Haki clash.
Even Speed, who possessed the weakest combat strength among them, remained in excellent condition under Kai's intentional protection.
They had lost decisively.
The Young Master had lost in the Conqueror's Haki confrontation.
Even the most stubborn family executives were forced to acknowledge this harsh fact when comparing both teams' current conditions.
I haven't lost yet!
Conqueror's Haki alone couldn't determine a person's true combat strength.
Doflamingo shook off Pica's supporting hand and forced himself to stabilize his posture.
"Don't get too cocky, you bastard!"
Doflamingo curved his fingers slightly with practiced precision: "Five Color Strings!"
Nearly transparent, razor-sharp threads extended from his five fingertips, then Armament Haki coated them with deadly black energy.
Following Doflamingo's finger movements, five pitch-black threads moved aggressively straight toward Kai's exposed neck.
The String-String Fruit might sound completely useless by name alone, but under Doflamingo's years of dedicated development, these seemingly soft strings could cut stone and split gold with ease!
Die, you arrogant fool!
Unable to accept that he couldn't even defeat one of Kaido's All-Stars, Doflamingo's eyes flashed with pure bloodthirsty light.
On the other side, Ulti, who was observing the battle with growing interest, frowned with confusion.
"Huh? Why isn't Kai using his Devil Fruit abilities yet?"
Even though she wasn't directly facing Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki, from the earlier aftershocks she could sense that Doflamingo wasn't just any ordinary opponent.
Even among the exceptionally talented Beast Pirates, he would easily be worthy of a Tobiroppo position.
"Hmph, just trust in Kai's abilities." Jack crossed his arms, showing absolutely no worry on his stoic face.
Among everyone present, no one understood Kai's true strength better than him.
That was a genuine monster who could use him as a training punching bag!
SIZZLE!
The five pitch-black strings slid across Kai's neck with deadly precision but only produced a brilliant shower of sparks.
What's happening here?
Why wasn't there the usual satisfying feeling of cutting into flesh?!
Doflamingo widened his eyes behind his red sunglasses with complete disbelief.
Throughout the four seas and across the Grand Line, even when opponents had mastered Armament Haki, they absolutely couldn't defend against his razor-sharp strings.
"Is this really all you've got, Doflamingo?"
Kai shook his head with obvious disappointment and gently extended one pitch-black hand to grasp those five deadly strings.
With just a slight application of pressure from his fingers, the five strings snapped like brittle crackers in Kai's powerful palm.
"How utterly disappointing. You can't even force me to use my Devil Fruit abilities?"
Looking at Doflamingo, whose spirit was clearly shaken before him, Kai finally understood the source of Kaido's joy in these confrontations.
No matter what methods his opponents used, he remained completely unmoved.
That refreshing feeling was like playing an overpowered character in a game, standing perfectly still while enemies exhausted themselves, waiting patiently before casually ending the fight with a single devastating counterattack.