"Tsk, tsk…"
"Impressive destructive power."
"Unfortunately, if it doesn't hit the target, it's meaningless."
"Are you wasting your strength, Doflamingo?"
Kai reappeared on the other side of the casino. Looking at the spot where he had just stood—now torn apart by Doflamingo's attack—he clicked his tongue in mild admiration.
Then his gaze shifted back to Doflamingo.
"Again!"
Kai grinned with excitement.
Using Shave, he vanished once more.
"There!"
Doflamingo had already activated Observation Haki, so Kai's Shave would not catch him off guard so easily.
The moment he sensed Kai's position, he activated his Devil Fruit without hesitation.
"Five-Color String!"
His right hand clawed through the air.
Whoosh!
Five tough threads shot from his fingers and slashed down mercilessly toward Kai.
The threads were razor-sharp.
Like blades.
Filled with terrifying cutting power.
"Not bad reaction speed."
Kai smiled faintly.
He clenched his right fist.
His Armament Haki-coated fist blasted forward.
Boom!
The punch erupted with a piercing sonic boom.
It slammed into Doflamingo's Five-Color String, forcibly blocking the descending threads and knocking all five lines away.
Rumble!
Kai's feet sank.
The force from Doflamingo's attack caused the floor beneath him to collapse uncontrollably.
Their battle was incredibly fierce.
A clash between top-tier fighters carried terrifying destructive power even in ordinary-looking attacks, leaving the surroundings devastated.
In less than a few minutes, the enormous casino was covered in cracks and holes.
It was a horrifying sight.
Everywhere the eye could see had become ruined debris.
Kai and Doflamingo's exchange grew faster and faster.
The shockwaves from their clashes were enough to crush fragile objects nearby.
Even the floor tiles cracked and collapsed like they had been struck by an earthquake.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Within five minutes, Kai and Doflamingo had exchanged over a hundred blows.
Neither side could suppress the other.
Both had begun to bleed.
Doflamingo's threads had sliced Kai's arm, leaving a wound several centimeters deep, nearly cutting across the entire limb.
Doflamingo, meanwhile, had taken one of Kai's punches to the ribs. Several of his ribs had clearly cracked, and sharp pain kept affecting his movements.
Yet no matter how they fought, their bodies moved like teleporting shadows.
They were too fast.
Ordinary eyesight could not capture their movements at all.
Both were top-tier monsters of the sea.
Their battle was far beyond what ordinary people could follow.
The three Donquixote Family officers inside the casino, along with the five pirates trembling near the wall, could only barely glimpse the moments when the two briefly paused.
They could not see the actual exchanges.
"Too… too strong!"
"So this is what top monsters of the sea are like?"
"This is absurd!"
"Doflamingo being this strong makes sense. He's a pirate who has ruled the seas for years, with a bounty of 340 million berries."
"But can someone explain…"
"Why is that five-year-old brat just as strong? Is Fist Demon Kai really that terrifying?"
The five pirates trembled in fear.
Watching Kai and Doflamingo fight only magnified the terror in their hearts.
They finally understood the gap between themselves and true top-tier fighters.
Heaven and earth.
A difference beyond comparison.
"In front of monsters like this, we probably wouldn't last even a single exchange."
"No wonder…"
"That one-armed idiot Derry was killed by Fist Demon Kai in an instant."
"Now that I think about it, him getting one-shot was completely normal."
"After all, that was Fist Demon Kai—the monster fighting Doflamingo evenly!"
The pirates whispered, their voices filled with fear.
On the other side, Trebol, Pica, and Diamante looked at the battlefield with horror, shock, and worry.
"Pica, can you see them clearly?"
Trebol could not help asking.
He certainly could not.
These two were far too strong.
They were monsters.
"I can't."
Pica shook his head heavily.
"Even you can't?"
Trebol's eyes widened in shock.
Pica was the strongest officer in the Donquixote Family besides Vergo, who had been sent undercover into the Marines.
And yet even Pica could not see their movements clearly.
Was the gap truly that enormous?
"The Young Master being this strong is natural."
"But why…"
"Why is that five-year-old monster this strong too?"
"Is Fist Demon Kai really this terrifying?"
Trebol clenched his fists, worried for Doflamingo.
"He's strong. Very strong."
"I underestimated that brat before."
"He is far more terrifying than I imagined."
"If the Young Master had not arrived in time and I had fought that monster…"
"I have a feeling I wouldn't have lasted three minutes before being killed."
Pica spoke with lingering fear.
When he remembered that he had almost attacked Kai before Doflamingo arrived, his heart chilled.
If Doflamingo had not arrived in time, he might already have fought Kai.
And if that had happened?
The result was obvious.
Seeing Kai fight Doflamingo like this, Pica understood that if he had fought Kai, death would have been certain.
Not only that—
He might have been crushed and killed in a completely one-sided battle.
Against Kai, Pica saw no chance of victory.
Kai was too strong.
Strong enough to make Pica despair.
"A five-year-old brat…"
"Strong to this extent…"
"It's unbelievable."
Pica took a deep breath and forced down the unease in his heart.
Then he had to admit one thing.
"He truly deserves the title of the strongest genius in Marine history."
"Fist Demon Kai really is an unbelievably terrifying monster."
Even Trebol could not refute those words.
He believed Doflamingo would not lose.
But even he could not deny the truth.
Kai was strong.
If he were not, he could not be fighting Doflamingo to a standstill.
Neither side had gained the upper hand.
Neither side could suppress the other.
"If this continues, who will win?"
Diamante suddenly asked.
"Hard to say."
Pica's mood grew heavy.
At first, he had believed that once Doflamingo personally appeared, everything would be settled.
Given enough time, Doflamingo would surely take down Fist Demon Kai.
But after watching the battle, he changed his mind.
He had miscalculated one thing.
Fist Demon Kai's strength was terrifying.
Even someone as strong as Doflamingo might not be able to take him down with absolute certainty.
And even if Doflamingo won in the end…
The price would be devastating.
"Young Master, you must win!"
"He's just a brat…"
"You are the born king of this sea!"
"I have always believed that you are the man who will become Pirate King!"
"As the future Pirate King, how could you lose here? How could you lose to a five-year-old brat?"
"That is impossible!"
Trebol, one of Doflamingo's most loyal supporters, began sweating anxiously.
His heart was filled with extreme tension and unease.
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