High above in the sky, the winds and clouds churned violently. Against the black-and-red backdrop, patches of space were gradually being overwritten, turning a deep purple-black.
Two overwhelming waves of Conqueror's Haki collided fiercely, like gigantic beasts roaring and howling as they fought for dominion over the heavens.
Behind Doflamingo, enormous strands of thread rose into the air. Purple-black lightning crackled around them as Conqueror's Haki flowed through each one, radiating endless brilliance. At that moment, the sky above Mock Town changed color before everyone's eyes, smothered beneath a suffocating aura of fear.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Each thread resembled a tail extending from Doflamingo's back. Their tips were razor-sharp, coated in dense Armament Haki and wrapped in violent purple-black lightning from Conqueror's Haki.
Conqueror's Haki Infusion!
It was a shocking sight. No one had expected Doflamingo to still have such a trump card. At this moment, he had actually unleashed the supreme technique of Conqueror's Haki Infusion. Without a doubt, he was far stronger than in the original story. He now possessed the qualifications to compete with the Four Emperors who ruled the seas.
Across Mock Town, gigantic threads erupted from the ground itself. Purple-black lightning danced around them as Conqueror's Haki surged through their lengths, imposing and tyrannical. In the blink of an eye, Doflamingo shot into the sky and arrived before Kojin.
"Fufufufufufu!"
"The strong decide the course of victory, and the victors decide what justice is!"
"Power is the eternal theme this world has always pursued!" Doflamingo laughed wildly.
Around him floated thirty-six gigantic, wave-like threads infused with Conqueror's Haki, overflowing with dense Haki as they charged toward Kojin.
"You once said... 'Haki transcends all things!'"
"You were right! All these years, I never stopped exploring that power. It truly is incredible!" A look of intoxication appeared on his face. "So this is the ultimate power possessed by the strongest people in the world? It's truly beyond the imagination of ordinary men!"
Suddenly, his eyes sharpened.
His mastery of Conqueror's Haki Infusion was still crude; he had only recently reached the level where he could control and use it, so mistakes and failures were common. Fortunately, at this very moment, he had succeeded in bringing out its full power.
"Thirty-Six Divine Demon Bullets: Demon Execution!"
With a thunderous roar, the thirty-six colossal threads stretched across the sky for nearly a kilometer, like thirty-six giant dragons soaring through the heavens. Then, they snapped taut, their speed reaching its limit in an instant.
Bzzzt!
Even space itself trembled. Kojin's surroundings were completely sealed off, leaving him without a single opening to evade through.
"You really do keep surprising me," Kojin muttered softly, suddenly grinning.
His right hand clenched tightly, and black-and-red lightning erupted, illuminating the entire sky.
Crack!
The moment he clenched his fist, space itself seemed to crack apart as an invisible, savage force spread silently outward.
His eyes widened, and a colossal phantom suddenly emerged behind him. Within only two breaths, it expanded rapidly, seeming to merge with the clouds themselves until the entire cloud layer twisted and shifted shape.
Doflamingo's pupils contracted violently. The monster appearing behind Kojin, even as nothing more than a phantom, had already grown large enough to cover all of Mock Town. Its size had reached an unbelievable level.
Heavy. Majestic. Ancient. Weathered. Grand. Boundless.
Countless indescribable emotions flooded through Doflamingo's Observation Haki.
"Fist Bone!" Kojin threw a punch.
Black-and-red lightning burst outward, spreading thousands of meters in every direction. The grin on his face grew wider, carrying a hint of madness.
"Whale Sea Collapse!"
The punch shot forward. Behind him, the phantom that blanketed the entire sky let out a deep roar, and its single bellow scattered the clouds across thousands of miles.
BOOM!
Brilliant light exploded outward. Invisible shockwaves spread in all directions, colliding head-on with the thirty-six giant threads.
Crack!
Fractures appeared in space itself. The thirty-six threads shattered apart, exploding into countless bolts of lightning and streams of light that shot toward the horizon. Every bolt that struck the ground triggered violent tremors and explosions. The entire Mock Town shook violently, trembling as though it might collapse.
Doflamingo stood in midair, his whole body trembling. The instant their attacks collided, he had clearly felt the terrifying power contained within Kojin's punch. It wasn't merely Conqueror's Haki Infusion; there was also the pure physical strength erupting from that body.
What monstrous power!
Nearly a kilometer separated them, yet more than ten seconds after the punch had been thrown, the resulting hurricane still whipped his clothes violently and distorted the skin on his face. He had never witnessed such brutal strength.
Back during their battle more than ten years ago, he hadn't even been qualified to glimpse the limits of Kojin's power. Only now, ten years later, did he barely possess that qualification.
Yet an even greater shock filled his heart. For the first time, Doflamingo felt a trace of despair. The man before him... his limits were nowhere in sight. His strength seemed endless.
But soon, the madness returned to Doflamingo's blood-red eyes.
"If you represent the limit of this world... the very summit itself... then let me see what the view from the peak looks like!"
At that moment, an even stronger fighting spirit and desire surged from Doflamingo's heart. His feathered coat fluttered behind him as he abandoned the support of the String-String Fruit and charged forward personally. The intensity of his will caused his Conqueror's Haki to grow even stronger.
Two breaths later, Doflamingo was face-to-face with Kojin. Laughing loudly, he threw a punch with all his strength.
"You want to see the view from the summit?" Kojin was smiling as well. "But with your current qualifications, I'm afraid you'll only be able to glimpse it for a brief moment."
Doflamingo froze for an instant before bursting into laughter. "Fufufufufufu! A moment is enough!"
Their encounter more than ten years ago had allowed him to touch a world he never could have seen before. And now, he wanted to see an even higher mountain. If he survived today, who could say he wouldn't someday reach the same height as the man before him?
"I can feel your intense desire. Then let me show you!" Kojin laughed heartily.
His body shook. Black-and-red lightning wrapped around his right fist as Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki surged together. The sheer volume of Haki and its terrifying level of compression made Doflamingo's heart tremble.
Then Kojin punched.
The speed was absolutely terrifying, and the trajectory was impossible to evade. In the blink of an eye, the fist was already in front of him.
Doflamingo's pupils shrank. He raised his own fist, unleashing Conqueror's Haki Infusion as well. But to his shock, it failed. It was as though his Conqueror's Haki had been completely suppressed by Kojin's, to the point where even activating it became difficult.
BOOM!
The next second, the enormous fist arrived before him. Even with dozens of meters still separating them, he could already feel a terrifying force like a raging tsunami or an erupting volcano.
In an instant, Doflamingo's world went dark.
Crack!
Every bone in his body let out a clear snapping sound. His body shot downward like a cannonball, crashing into Mock Town and causing the entire island to shudder.
The sea surrounding the island also trembled. Massive waves rolled outward in every direction, growing larger and larger. Wave after wave piled atop the last until a small tsunami formed, throwing countless ships into a panic.
Among them was a small boat over ten kilometers away from Mock Town.
A man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a giant cross-shaped sword on his back suddenly raised his head and looked forward.
"I sense an unmatched power. Who is it? I haven't even seen him yet, but my blood is already boiling. It's been a long time since I've felt my fighting spirit stir like this."
His eyes were as sharp as a hawk's. Then he saw the discolored sky and felt that boundless, terrifying aura.
"Other than Whitebeard... to think there's another man this powerful in the world," Mihawk muttered softly.
Almost unconsciously, his hand reached behind him and gripped the hilt of the cross-shaped blade on his back. A moment later, he loosened his grip. Beneath him was a small, coffin-shaped boat, lit by a white candle burning with a green flame.
"The time has come to see this unfamiliar powerhouse for myself." As he spoke, a rare look of seriousness appeared on Hawk Eyes' face.
Back on Mock Town…
Clang... Clang...
Only after the island finally settled down did the people on the ground dare swallow nervously.
"The man who fell just now was one of the Seven Warlords, Doflamingo!"
"Who is that Marine?"
"He's too powerful! He could probably overturn the entire island by himself!"
Terrified voices echoed throughout the town.
Among the crowd was a Marine in plain clothes. He stared at the muscular Marine descending from the sky, eyes wide with shock.
"Who is he? I've never seen any records about a senior officer like this before. Wait! He looks like...!"
The undercover Marine felt as though he'd been struck by lightning. The man's face gradually overlapped with a photograph he had accidentally seen years ago in a top-secret file. It was because of that accidental glimpse that he had been transferred away from Headquarters and sent here to handle intelligence work.
Yet now, he was seeing the real person with his own eyes.
"The legendary figure sealed away in the highest-level classified records... the leader of the Four Admirals... Admiral Kojin!" The Marine sucked in a sharp breath, his entire body trembling.
At the same time, members of every faction present engraved the scene into their memories. Doflamingo had been defeated in Mock Town by a mysterious Marine. If news of this spread, it would shock the entire world.
Before long, Mock Town returned to its usual calm, but the impact of that battle lingered in everyone's hearts.
(End of Chapter)
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