Return to Headquarters

After absorbing the cultivation experience of that Great Pirate, Doflamingo's Haki training improved somewhat. However, he also realized that his Haki training was showing signs of reaching its limit.

It was not that his Haki could only reach this level, but rather that he was limited by his age. No matter how much he trained his body, its strength was still somewhat lacking.

Haki was a power formed at the intersection of the body and will. If the body was not strong enough, Haki naturally had little room to improve.

With the cultivation experience gained from the absorbed soul, Doflamingo had practically pushed both his Haki and physical training to the limit for his current age. To improve further, he would have to wait for time to strengthen his body.

In fact, he was already far stronger than the original Doflamingo. Setting aside his Devil Fruit, in terms of physical strength and Haki training alone, sixteen-year-old Doflamingo was now approaching the peak strength of the forty-year-old Doflamingo.

But in the end, the original Doflamingo had only become a Shichibukai, a major underworld figure who thrived in both legitimate and criminal circles. At the end of the day, that was all he amounted to.

Wanting to overthrow the World Government with that little strength was simply wishful thinking.

The fleet sailed for more than ten days, climbed the Red Line, then took ships from the other side of the Red Line back to Navy Headquarters. At last, the Marines had some time to rest.

Akainu gave his subordinates half a month of leave, while also preparing to have Doflamingo select a new warship.

With Doflamingo's strength, having him stay aboard the same ship was truly a waste. Akainu had only brought him along at first because he wanted to guide a newcomer. Now, he would certainly have to assign Doflamingo his own warship.

But before Doflamingo could choose a warship, a major event threw Navy Headquarters into an uproar!

The Navy Hero Garp had captured the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger! (In truth, he had turned himself in, but Navy Headquarters certainly would not publicize that.)

The entirety of Navy Headquarters boiled over because of this. Yet Garp, who was said to have captured Roger, hardly showed his face at all.

Of course, Doflamingo understood this clearly. Garp evidently disdained this "credit" that had been pinned on him and even felt a little contempt for it.

Doflamingo was not particularly interested either. Gol D. Roger was nobody to him. So what if he had been captured? What the hell did it have to do with him?

Oh, right. After Roger was captured, it seemed that some flying rooster would soon come to see his buddy and cause a huge disturbance at Navy Headquarters.

Then Sengoku and Garp would beat him senseless and send him to Impel Down to keep his buddy company. In the end, he would only escape in a sorry state after cutting off both his own legs.

Judging by the timing, it was probably this year or next year that a certain flying lion would descend upon Navy Headquarters.

Hmm, should I stay far away when that happens? Or can I make something of this?

After thinking about it for a long time, Doflamingo shook his head. His current strength was still too weak. Even counting his Devil Fruit ability, he was only around the level of a First Mate or Admiral Candidate, perhaps even somewhat weaker.

If Golden Lion really came, he could protect himself. But trying to take advantage of the opportunity to pull something off would be extremely difficult.

Still, Doflamingo touched the ring in his pocket.

Honestly, Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit was absurdly strategic. If anyone's Devil Fruit had the power to destroy the world, it definitely would not be Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, but Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit.

All he had to do was gather enough islands, raise them high enough, and drop them. By repeating that process, if no one stopped him, destroying the world would take at most a few months.

That was only because the Pirate World was physically very different from the real world. In the real world, a single strike would likely be enough to wipe out the entire ecosystem.

And to stop Golden Lion, they would have to fight him in the air. But aerial combat against a legendary pirate with the Float-Float Fruit ability? Even if they threw in everyone from the Fleet Admiral to the Navy Admirals, they would probably just be feeding themselves to him.

If Golden Lion had not lost his mind and insisted on fighting Sengoku and Garp head-on at Navy Headquarters, the Navy would not have caught him even in another hundred years.

"What a pity. After storming Navy Headquarters, Golden Lion's fortunes plummeted all the way, and in the end, he was even beaten flat by Luffy, the Child of Destiny who had only just set out."

Shaking his head, Doflamingo cast aside his jumbled thoughts and first went to Navy logistics to claim a warship.

As a Rear Admiral, his warship was no longer a small vessel with barely over a dozen people. It was a medium-sized warship with dozens of crew members, nearly a hundred in total.

He had not abandoned his former subordinates, however. Especially his little Navigator, whose talent was exceptional enough to make her stand out across the entire Navy.

Because he had gone to sea aboard Akainu's warship this time, he had not brought Kikyo with him. She was quite dissatisfied about that and kept pestering Doflamingo for compensation.

Well, what she really wanted was a lavish meal.

Eat, eat, eat. Sooner or later, you'll turn yourself into a fat pig! With malicious thoughts in his heart, Doflamingo made her a huge pile of sweets. Watching her eat with great delight, he thought to himself.

Now that he had his own warship, Doflamingo no longer needed to act alongside Akainu. Unless there was some major operation, Akainu would not summon him.

Having only just returned, Doflamingo did not want to head out to sea again so quickly. Instead, he planned to stay at Navy Headquarters for a few more days.

He did not intend to waste this time either. Now that he had become Akainu's subordinate, he naturally would not pass up such a powerful sparring partner.

Sakazuki had no intention of refusing Doflamingo's request for combat training, and they agreed to spar every afternoon.

Sparring with Sakazuki was completely different from sparring with Kizaru. Kizaru's most troublesome trait was his speed. Although his strength was also formidable, far beyond that of ordinary Vice Admirals, it was still far inferior to Sakazuki's.

Sakazuki was the sort of powerhouse who had developed in every aspect and possessed no obvious weakness. His explosive power was especially outstanding, while his Haki cultivation surpassed Kizaru's by more than a single level.

Moreover, unlike Kizaru, who mainly focused on evasion in battle, Akainu essentially relied on ruthless moves that traded injury for injury.

Doflamingo could fight Kizaru for two hours before being defeated, but Kizaru would not suffer much injury.

When fighting Akainu, Doflamingo would basically be beaten down in just over half an hour, though Akainu would also suffer a few superficial injuries.

Of course, this was when neither side used their Devil Fruit ability. Doflamingo refrained from using his Devil Fruit ability to train himself. Sakazuki refrained because even he could not fully control the destructive power of the Magma Fruit.

If Doflamingo was careless enough to take a punch from the Magma Fruit, even with Haki defending him, he would be severely injured on the spot. If he was unlucky and neglected his defense, it could almost be said that death was certain.