Initial Battle

Doflamingo casually drew the swift blade at his waist and charged forward without hesitation.

As he rushed in, he cast an illusion over himself, turning into an inconspicuous merchant ship sailor to attract less attention.

With his Illusion Fruit ability, he could easily wipe out this laughable Three-Headed Hydra Pirates in one go. But it was rare to encounter an opponent not too far from his own strength, so Doflamingo's first thought was naturally to use this chance to train.

Leaping into the air, Doflamingo immediately used Geppo. He bypassed the chaotic melee among the grunts and brought his blade down at the Pirate Crew's leader.

At that moment, the Pirate Crew leader was like a humanoid tank on the battlefield. With a single sweep of his broadsword, he sent several sailors flying.

Fortunately, everyone in the Pirate World was tough as nails. In an ordinary world, that slash would have cleaved them in two.

As for the merchant ship captain, he was being held back by the leader's two younger brothers. Facing two opponents at once, the captain had fallen into an absolute disadvantage.

Sensing the blade aura above him, the Pirate Crew leader immediately looked up and swung his sword.

The two blades crossed. A moment later, Doflamingo was forced back. When he landed, he stepped on a pirate and made him cough up blood.

"What strength!" Doflamingo casually shook his wrists. He had gripped his blade with both hands just now, yet his opponent had sent him flying with one hand, leaving both wrists numb and aching.

"Another stamina monster. There are way too many freaks like this in the Pirate World."

Doflamingo groaned inwardly. Although this Three-Headed Hydra was far inferior to the truly powerful figures of the seas, his brute strength was already astonishing. After that direct clash, Doflamingo's hands were still a little weak.

That one exchange had drawn Three-Headed Hydra's attention. Now, gripping his broadsword, he charged over like a rhinoceros.

"Brother, we'll help stop him... Pfft... Aah!" Two sailors rushed forward, intending to help Doflamingo, but Three-Headed Hydra did not even spare them a glance. With a savage charge, he sent both men flying.

Doflamingo rolled his eyes. Well, thanks a lot!

Three-Headed Hydra brought his blade down, but Doflamingo's figure flickered and vanished from beneath it. It was Soru, one of the Navy Six Styles.

This time, Doflamingo was not foolish enough to clash head-on with Three-Headed Hydra again. With his Observation Haki fully unleashed, he used Soru and Paper Drawing to toy with Three-Headed Hydra, occasionally slashing back and leaving a bloody gash on his body.

However, each cut only sank two or three centimeters into the flesh. With Three-Headed Hydra's massive build, such wounds probably did not even count as superficial injuries. They merely looked more serious and did not affect his combat ability at all.

Still, it was like bullfighting. Even if it did not weaken him, it hurt. After several such strikes, Three-Headed Hydra, whose mind had never been particularly sharp, was completely enraged.

With a furious roar, Three-Headed Hydra wildly swung his broadsword, then simply rammed forward with violent momentum.

Yet the more frantically he attacked, the easier Doflamingo found it. Of the Navy Six Styles, Soru was the move he had trained best. Mainly because he was still young and not very heavy, he could use it with greater agility.

With Observation Haki and Soru working together, Three-Headed Hydra ultimately failed to touch even a corner of Doflamingo's clothes. Instead, the sailors and pirates around them were completely cleared out in a wide circle.

But simply leading Three-Headed Hydra around like this would not earn Doflamingo victory. With Three-Headed Hydra's stamina, even if he kept it up for a full day and night, he probably would not achieve anything.

"Ha!" Once again dodging the downward slash, Doflamingo viciously thrust his blade toward Three-Headed Hydra's abdomen. But with a clang, he saw that the man's abdomen had turned jet-black. Doflamingo's swift blade only threw off a few sparks.

"Armament Haki?!" Doflamingo narrowly dodged Three-Headed Hydra's return slash, his expression turning even uglier. "How did he break through in the middle of battle?"

Under Doflamingo's Observation Haki, Three-Headed Hydra's vitality had suddenly surged upward. He had clearly made a breakthrough in battle.

Doflamingo had already had little way to deal with Three-Headed Hydra before. Now that he had awakened Armament Haki, Doflamingo was even less of a match for him.

With Armament Haki, Doflamingo could no longer leave even flesh wounds on Three-Headed Hydra. Looking around, the sailors and pirates were still locked in a stalemate, but the captain was clearly about to lose his ability to hold back Three-Headed Hydra's two younger brothers.

"I don't want my first real battle to end in such an easy defeat." Gritting his teeth, Doflamingo raised his sword to block the descending broadsword, only to be nearly crushed to his knees by his opponent's strength.

"Guhahahaha, you're finished." Laughing loudly, Three-Headed Hydra raised his broadsword again, intending to bring it down once more.

Doflamingo's eyes lit up. Raising the broadsword so high completely exposed the man's abdomen.

Rolling along the ground, Doflamingo directly abandoned his swift blade and extended a finger. "Six Styles, Finger Pistol!"

"Guhahahaha! Even your blade can't pierce my body, so how could your finger... possibly...!"

Pfft! An enormous amount of blood gushed from Three-Headed Hydra's abdomen. It was not merely Doflamingo's finger—his entire forearm had plunged deep into Three-Headed Hydra's stomach.

"What... happened? My... Armament... Haki..." Three-Headed Hydra's face was full of confusion, while Doflamingo calmly pulled out his arm and gave it a casual shake.

Blood instantly surged wildly from Three-Headed Hydra's abdomen, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

"So this is the power of Hollowing!" Looking at the arm that was mostly free of blood after a few shakes, Doflamingo smiled.

Just then, his use of Finger Pistol had been a feint. In reality, he had used his Illusion Fruit ability to perform Dream Hollowing on his arm. After thrusting it into Three-Headed Hydra's abdomen, he turned it solid again.

This move completely ignored Armament Haki and tough flesh defenses, instantly gouging a huge hole in Three-Headed Hydra's stomach.

"Wah, wah, waaaah!" Three-Headed Hydra, sprawled on the ground, threw aside his broadsword and immediately began wailing.

Doflamingo wore an indescribable expression. Such a vicious, burly man was lying on the ground crying after getting hurt? Well, what else could he expect from all the oddballs in the Pirate World?

With such a huge hole in his stomach, anyone in the real world would have long since stopped breathing.

But in the Pirate World, for someone at Three-Headed Hydra's level, all he needed was some bandaging and medical treatment. After some time, he would be good as new.

For someone even more formidable, it might not even affect their combat ability. They could bear that wound and still fight you for another three hundred rounds.