Doflamingo

"Ron!!"

Doflamingo flung his five fingers open, sending five nearly transparent threads hissing through the air straight at Ron's face!

"Five Color Strings!"

Ron tilted his head and turned sideways, sweeping Zhenyuan out.

Clang—

Black Armament Haki suddenly spread over the blade, snapping all five threads at once. The severed strands scattered in midair.

"Don't get cocky!"

Doflamingo sneered and raised both hands.

"Parasite String!"

More than a dozen threads as fine as hair dropped from the ceiling, silently winding toward Ron's limbs.

Doflamingo grinned.

He wanted to see whether the brat could still hold his sword.

But Ron merely glanced up and made a slight movement with his fingertips.

Swish!

The space around him abruptly contracted, and every thread winding toward him was simultaneously shredded by invisible spatial rifts.

"Trying to make me fight myself?"

Ron raised an eyebrow. "You sure know how to save yourself some effort."

Doflamingo's expression darkened, and his fingers flicked in rapid succession.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several threads snapped taut and shot toward Ron one after another like bullets, moving so fast they left afterimages.

"Bullet String!"

With a soft click, a door in space opened out of thin air in front of Ron.

Every Bullet String plunged into the door without making a sound.

The next second, the air behind Doflamingo split open as well.

"What?!"

He jerked sideways out of the way.

The threads originally fired at Ron grazed his shoulder and slammed into the wall, leaving a cluster of holes.

Ron rested Zhenyuan on his shoulder and smiled.

"Got anything else?"

"Bastard!"

Doflamingo knew he had met a tough opponent and stopped holding back.

He jerked his hand backward, and countless threads wound together, twisting into a long whip as thick as an arm. It lashed down fiercely, shrieking as it tore through the air!

"Overheat!"

Boom!

The whip split the hall apart, and the damaged stone walls crashed down, dust instantly swallowing Ron's figure.

But before the dust had settled, a figure in white had already smashed through the floor and charged out.

With Zhenyuan on his shoulder, Ron moved so fast he left an afterimage, closing in on Doflamingo in an instant!

Doflamingo reacted swiftly, sweeping his leg up as sharp threads sprang from his toes and sliced straight at Ron.

"Athlete!"

Clang!

Zhenyuan smashed down sideways, scabbard and all, precisely blocking the threads.

Ron turned his wrist, driving the heavy sword down along the threads toward Doflamingo's chest with crushing force!

Bang!

Doflamingo instinctively crossed his arms to take the blow. The moment the tremendous force struck, the stone beneath his feet exploded, and spiderweb cracks spread several meters outward.

"Argh!"

He grunted, his arms going numb, his bones seeming to groan.

Ron looked down at him, his tone flat. "Little turkey, did picking on small fry give you that much confidence?"

"Is that all you've got?"

Before the words had faded, he drove his knee up, then kicked Doflamingo in the lower abdomen.

Bang!

Doflamingo doubled over like a shrimp and crashed through the wall like a cannonball, tumbling into the courtyard outside and kicking up a towering cloud of dust.

He knelt on one knee, clutching his stomach and drawing a couple of breaths as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

If the fight continued, he would be the only one to suffer.

The bastard hadn't even seriously used that strange black slash yet!

"Fuffuffuffu..."

Doflamingo suddenly looked up and laughed. He clawed fiercely at the sky, and invisible threads caught hold of the clouds high above.

"Sky Walk!"

With a whoosh, the pull sent him soaring into the air. In a few bounds, he flew out of the estate and became a speck on the horizon.

Trebol had just broken free of the mucus on his body, and his eyes lit up at the sight.

"Behehe! The young master got away!"

"As long as the young master escapes, it doesn't matter even if you capture us!"

Ron, however, stood where he was and looked up at the sky. He even took the time to straighten his windblown collar.

"Got away?"

Above Commercial Port.

Doflamingo flew along his threads at high speed. He glanced back and, seeing no pursuer, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fuffuffuffu... he's still just a brat in the end, too inexperienced."

But just as he turned back—

Click.

A door opened without warning in the air ahead.

Ron stood in the doorway, Zhenyuan resting on his shoulder as he looked down at him.

"Where are you going?"

"?!!"

Doflamingo's pupils contracted sharply, and he yanked his threads to force a change of direction.

Click.

A second door opened in his new path.

"You—!" He gritted his teeth and changed direction again.

A third door opened, and Ron poked his head out, sounding a little puzzled. "Is your sense of direction that bad? Want me to draw you a map?"

"How long are you going to keep following me?!"

Doflamingo was so angry his voice changed, and he flung out more than a dozen Bullet Strings.

But the scabbard moved faster than he did.

Bang!

The black heavy sword, still in its scabbard, whipped through the air and slammed into his shoulder and back.

Doflamingo's whole body jolted, and he plummeted from the sky like a kite with a snapped string.

Ron casually opened a door and put Zhenyuan away.

The next instant, he emerged from a door in space below Doflamingo.

Bang!

One kick sent him straight back into the air!

Before Doflamingo could steady himself, a second door opened at his side.

Bang! Bang!

After several kicks, Doflamingo was sent flying through the air again and again by Ron, like a pink ball.

Finally, he crashed back into the estate courtyard with a boom, landing face-first and smashing a large crater into the ground.

Trebol's mouth was still hanging open when the shower of broken stones sent him scurrying for cover with his arms over his head.

"Y-young master?!"

The Air Door slowly descended beside the crater. Ron stepped out and looked down at the dust-covered Doflamingo at the bottom.

"I hear you're pretty good at running away?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Come on, let's see you do it again."

Bracing his hands on his knees, Doflamingo slowly stood up in the crater.

One corner of his sunglasses was cracked, and his coat was covered in dust, but a smile still lingered on his lips.

"Fuffuffuffu... so what, Ron?"

"Do you dare kill me?"

His former status as a Celestial Dragon, the secret of the Celestial Dragons he held, and the underground network in the North Blue that was growing ever larger... he didn't believe the Marines would really dare touch him so casually.

"Don't flatter yourself."

Ron smiled. "It's not that I don't dare kill you. Sengoku told me to spare your life for now."

Doflamingo's smile froze.

"I can't be bothered with how you people in the Underworld fight over territory."

Ron's smile faded.

"But don't let me catch you trafficking people or doing business with civilians."

"As for the arms case, I'll still investigate everything that needs investigating."

He raised a hand and pointed at Doflamingo, his gaze turning cold. "Got that?"

Doflamingo sneered. "You think you can control the whole North Blue?"

"I can't control the whole North Blue. Being able to control you is enough."

Doflamingo stared at the pointing finger, his back inexplicably tensing.

"Can you always find me?"

"You can try." Ron lightly tapped the air beside him. With a click, a narrow crack of a door flashed into existence and vanished.

"I'm not like Vice Admiral Tsuru, chasing your ship for half a month."

"If I want to find you, I can do it anytime."

Doflamingo said nothing. That strange and unpredictable door-opening ability had indeed left a psychological scar on him.

Ron turned and surveyed the wreckage covering the ground, then suddenly raised a hand and pointed.

"That mute, come here."

Doflamingo turned sideways.

"What do you want Corazon for?"

"To inspect the warehouse."

"What?"

Ron waved the branch notice in his hand.

"As for the arms smuggling, I have to take a look at the goods, don't I?"

"Have him lead the way."

Doflamingo's expression darkened slightly.

"There's nothing you're looking for in the estate."

"I won't know until I've looked."

Ron smiled.

"What, you don't even dare let me inspect the warehouse?"

Doflamingo stared at him for a moment, then finally snorted.

"Corazon, take him there."

Rosinante nodded silently, then turned and led the way.

The two passed through a corridor and entered an abandoned warehouse.

Ron swept the surroundings with his Observation Haki, confirming that no one had followed them.

Rosinante then deployed the Silent Field.

The next second—

"You little brat! Did you make all that commotion on purpose just now?!"

Rosinante brushed the bits of stone out of his hair.

"I almost got buried in there and couldn't get out!"

"Wouldn't we have been exposed if I'd gone easy?"

"Oh, so you think you're in the right?"

"You're still standing here cursing at me, aren't you?"

"You little brat!"

Ron laughed. Ten years had passed, and it was still just like this.

Rosinante cursed him a couple more times, then suddenly stopped and studied him carefully.

"We haven't seen each other for over half a year, and you've grown so tall."

Ron looked up at Rosinante, who stood over four meters tall. "It's not like you're short yourself."

"You've learned to talk back."

"Learned it from you."

Rosinante was about to retort when Ron suddenly asked, "Where's Hibari's candy?"

"Huh?"

"She's been thinking every day about the North Blue candy you promised her."

Rosinante froze, then scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "That girl still remembers..."

"She remembers it very clearly."

"How's Fleet Admiral Sengoku?"

"He's doing well. He's got plenty of energy when he's yelling at people. He's just worried about you."

Rosinante lowered his head and smiled softly.

But Ron's smile faded.

"Brother."

"Hmm?"

"Don't die here."

Rosinante froze. "Why bring that up all of a sudden?"

"Just a feeling."

Ron looked at him, his expression serious. "Doflamingo isn't the kind of person who'd forgive betrayal just because you're related by blood."

Rosinante fell silent.

He remembered the day his father fell, and the gun in Doflamingo's hand that was still smoking.

Ron took a tiny Den Den Mushi out of his space and pressed it into his hand.

"It's for emergencies. Keep it turned off normally. If something does happen, call me immediately. You don't need to say anything."

"It has my personal space mark on it. I'll get there as fast as I can."

"Don't worry about affecting the mission."

Ron patted his arm. "If the mission fails, you can always try again."

"But once your life is gone, it's really gone."

Rosinante looked down at the tiny Den Den Mushi in his palm, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

He suddenly remembered how, ten years ago, that little brat had gotten stuck on top of the training ground wall while climbing over it and called for him to help.

And now, of all things, the brat was the one pressing a life-saving Den Den Mushi into his hand.

Rosinante tightened his grip on the Den Den Mushi and nodded solemnly.

"Don't worry. I still owe Hibari a bag of candy."

Ron smiled.

"You need to buy two bags."

"One for her. What about the other?"

"Mine, of course."

"You little brat!"

The two exchanged a glance and burst out laughing at the same time.