CLANG!
The sharp sound of a blade being drawn suddenly rang out, instantly attracting everyone’s attention at the harbor.
The moment they saw Kibin suddenly draw his sword and slash at the Marine recruit in front of him, everyone’s expression changed dramatically.
"Kibin, don’t be rash! Even if the recruit said something wrong, it’s nothing that can’t be resolved."
Another Commodore responsible for receiving incoming vessels, Chas, hurriedly shouted.
Kibin suddenly came to his senses.
"No! My body is completely out of my control! Get out of the way!"
But by the time he finished speaking, the katana in his hand had already descended toward the recruit.
The young Marine had clearly never encountered anything like this before. He stood rooted to the spot, staring helplessly as the attack rapidly expanded within his pupils.
He simply couldn’t react in time.
It seemed that blood was about to spray across the harbor in the next instant.
"Wash-Wash Fruit: Gentle Washing !"
An elderly voice suddenly rang out.
A wave of white bubbles surged forward from behind, arriving first despite being launched later, and crashed directly into the descending blade.
The blade, which had moments ago gleamed with a cold edge, instantly softened upon coming into contact with the wave of bubbles.
When it struck the Marine recruit, the gruesome scene of blood splattering never occurred.
Instead, the blade drooped limply like a deflated balloon.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru! My body suddenly went out of control, so—!" Kibin hurriedly explained, relieved to have survived the ordeal.
"Commodore Kibin, I know what happened. This has nothing to do with you."
Tsuru coldly looked toward the pirate ship that had forcibly entered the harbor entrance.
"Doflamingo, you’ve gone too far."
"What if something goes wrong? Aren’t you worried that Marine Headquarters will hold you accountable?"
"Fufufu... Vice Admiral Tsuru, you’re still going strong."
A figure wearing a flamingo-feather coat despite the sweltering weather stepped out from the pirate ship, walking with his trademark swagger.
"I thought you were already too old to move. I never expected you’d still be able to chase me across the sea like you did more than a decade ago."
The moment this Warlord of the Sea appeared in full view, many of the Marines immediately tensed.
They could clearly hear the thick hostility in the exchange just now.
And after witnessing Kibin being inexplicably controlled and nearly forced to kill someone, everyone was afraid they might become the next victim.
"Hmph. I am indeed getting old, but I’m still more than capable of dealing with you."
Tsuru snorted.
"As for the matter you’re talking about, didn’t we already make everything clear over the Den Den Mushi?"
"Your subordinate was the one who attacked the Marines’ new Admiral first. The fact that we’re sending him back to you alive is already more than generous."
"Sending him back to me alive is already more than generous?"
Doflamingo covered half his face with his right hand and burst into laughter, his entire body trembling.
"Tsuru, it seems you’ve remembered only the privileges we Warlords possess."
"But you’ve forgotten just how terrifying the Warlords of the Sea can be."
"Don’t forget. We were chosen as Warlords of the Sea precisely because we possess enough power to make Marine Headquarters take us seriously."
"We’re also a bunch of utterly ruthless criminals."
"My subordinate has had one arm and one leg cut off."
"If you don’t give me a satisfactory answer today, don’t blame me, Heavenly Yaksha Donquixote Doflamingo, for becoming unpleasant."
BOOM!
An explosive surge of Conqueror’s Haki erupted from Doflamingo’s body.
The resulting shockwave swept across the harbor, instantly knocking the Marine soldiers unconscious.
Even Commodores Kibin and Chas turned pale as they struggled to remain standing.
Tsuru’s expression turned cold.
"Doflamingo! How dare you attack people at Marine Headquarters! Do you really think Marine Headquarters doesn’t exist?"
"Hmph. It seems our Warlords have gone too long without making a move."
Doflamingo laughed arrogantly.
"You Marines seem to have forgotten just how terrifying we are."
"If you don’t give me a reasonable answer today, don’t blame me for coming to Marineford every day and using Conqueror’s Haki to give your recruits some ’training.’"
BOOM!
The dormant Conqueror’s Haki within Doflamingo erupted once again.
This time, its range was clearly even greater.
Seeing Marine soldiers collapse unconscious one after another, Tsuru’s face became ashen with anger.
However, before she could make a move, an indescribable sense of danger suddenly swept over them.
It came from the distant sea.
Doflamingo, standing aboard the pirate ship, clearly sensed the incoming aura as well.
His expression changed dramatically.
He hurriedly turned his head toward the sea behind him.
The sight before him caused his pupils to contract.
A blood-red torrent of Conqueror’s Haki, seemingly tangible enough to stir the clouds overhead and churn the enormous waves across the sea, came crashing toward them with overwhelming force.
The sight was so violent that everyone watching felt as though a primordial beast had suddenly appeared before them.
"T-That guy! He’s back!"
Pica, who had lost one leg and one arm, was currently using his Devil Fruit ability to recreate his missing limbs.
But the attack from that day had still left him wrapped in bandages.
Now, faced with this eerily familiar attack, he was the first to show an expression as though he’d seen a ghost.
"Young Master, whatever you do, don’t clash with him head-on!"
Trebol and the other members of the Donquixote Family also turned pale.
For a moment, everyone’s eyes fell upon Doflamingo.
Doflamingo’s expression stiffened.
Under normal circumstances, being the center of everyone’s attention would have been something he enjoyed.
Right now, however, it felt unbearably uncomfortable.
Just moments ago, he had been loudly proclaiming how terrifying the Warlords of the Sea were.
He had even declared that he would use Conqueror’s Haki to cause trouble at Marineford every single day.
But now he was facing another form of Conqueror’s Haki that was clearly different from his own.
If he chose to dodge, he feared he would lose all face in front of the entire sea.
With that thought, Doflamingo’s expression instantly turned cold.
He snarled,
"Good! What an arrogant rookie!"
"How dare you look down on the Warlords of the Sea like this? Do you really have no idea just how powerful we are?"
"Then I’ll see for myself whether your Conqueror’s Haki is truly as different as the rumors claim."
BOOM!
The instant his words fell, Doflamingo unleashed the Conqueror’s Haki within his body to its absolute limit.
As one of the few Conqueror’s Haki users among the Warlords of the Sea, Doflamingo had never feared even the Four Emperors.
And he certainly wasn’t unfamiliar with clashes between Conqueror’s Haki.
However—
The instant the two enormous waves of Conqueror’s Haki collided...
Doflamingo’s expression suddenly froze.
His own Conqueror’s Haki shattered like glass.
The overwhelming aura rushing toward him crashed down like a colossal wave.
When the two forces of Haki collided—
Even the pair of sunglasses perched on Doflamingo’s face shattered with a sharp crack.
Now that’s what you call a clash so fierce it shattered even the sunglasses!
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