Power of Hollowing

In truth, Doflamingo's physical talent could only be considered excellent, but because his cheat ability had gone out of control, he had nearly reached a shocking level in Devil Fruit development. The illusions he created could easily make even an army of a million collapse completely.

"Unfortunately, among the Three Colors of Haki, I've only awakened Observation Haki. My physical strength still hasn't reached the standard for Armament Haki, and I have no clue about Conqueror's Haki."

"The Illusion Fruit's abilities don't rely solely on Mental Energy. Activating them also consumes a certain amount of physical strength. Otherwise, with my current Devil Fruit development, I wouldn't need to fear even an ordinary Navy Vice Admiral."

Doflamingo sighed inwardly. In truth, anyone who saw his current Devil Fruit development would never believe this was the Illusion Fruit. Yet due to his lack of physical strength, he could not bring out the Devil Fruit abilities he had developed to their full limits.

He extended one hand. Under his gaze, the entire hand suddenly became hazy and illusory, as though it were part of a dream.

"Dream Hollowing... I can still only use this ability on certain parts of my body. There's no way to hollow out my entire body."

As he spoke, he lightly extended his illusory arm through the wooden crate beneath him. The arm then solidified again. When Doflamingo withdrew it, a round hole had appeared in the crate.

If anyone else saw this, they would probably go completely mad. Did this ability have even the slightest thing to do with the Illusion Fruit?

Yet for Doflamingo, who possessed limitless imagination and powerful Mental Energy thanks to his out-of-control cheat ability, this was not particularly difficult. If not for his physical strength, hollowing out his entire body might not have been impossible.

"So my physical strength is still the greatest restriction on my power?" Doflamingo muttered with a frown.

"The current Navy Admiral, Black Arm Zephyr, should have stepped down from the position of Admiral six years ago and become the Navy Chief Instructor."

"If one were to search the seas for the best teacher, then Zephyr would undoubtedly be among the very best. And if I want to resist the Celestial Dragons and win the Navy's support, he'll also be the most promising and influential choice in the future."

"However, my illusions may be able to deceive ordinary people, but they won't work at Marineford, Navy Headquarters. My identity as a Celestial Dragon is bound to greatly affect my plans."

Being a Celestial Dragon had both advantages and disadvantages. Doflamingo wanted to poach talent from the Navy, which meant that the Celestial Dragon identity, as conspicuous as a spotlight, would inevitably bring him tremendous inconvenience.

"I'll lie low for a while first and find a Navy branch to join. This ship happens to pass by the Navy G-2 Branch, so I'll try it there first."

"After another two years, I'll be nearly fourteen. With my level of illusion skills by then, plus a few disguise techniques, I should be able to infiltrate Navy Headquarters."

"Unfortunately, I'm still just a little short of learning Life Return. Among the Navy Six Styles, Iron Body is the only move I haven't mastered proficiently."

Over the past five years, aside from swordsmanship, Doflamingo had long since learned the Navy Six Styles. The other five styles had been manageable, but Iron Body was something he had always struggled with.

The reason was simple. Iron Body was much like the so-called Golden Bell Iron Cloth Shirt. The best way to train it was to endure constant beatings, but as a Celestial Dragon, how could his bodyguard Bell dare truly beat Doflamingo half to death?

Under such circumstances, if he could not master Iron Body, it could only be called fate.

Closing his eyes, Doflamingo had no room to train aboard the ship, so he could only practice his techniques in the Illusion Space.

He did not want to waste even the slightest amount of time that could improve his strength.

The Illusion Space soon became a massive training ground. Doflamingo stood in the middle, looking at the opponent spawned before him. It was Bell, who had trained him for five years.

There was no helping it. Bell was the only opponent he had ever fought. Though he could do anything in the Illusion Space, it was all based on his own knowledge, so Bell naturally appeared in every training session.

However, while the opponent was indeed Bell, there was not just one Bell, but three!

"Begin!" Doflamingo said, waving the short blade in his hand.

He only said it aloud out of habit. In truth, everything in the Illusion Space was under his control. Before he even spoke, the three Bells had already charged at him.

Shave! The three Bells and Doflamingo all opened with this move. In an instant, their figures vanished from the training ground.

Bang! Blades flashed and sparks flew. Doflamingo barely blocked the three Bells' consecutive strikes before being sent flying.

Even against one Bell, Doflamingo had no certainty of victory. The reason he could win in reality was because Bell was intimidated by his Celestial Dragon status, defending more and attacking less, never fully displaying his strength.

Against three Bells working together, Doflamingo had no ability to fight back at all. He could only barely hold on beneath their continuous attacks.

After fighting for more than ten minutes, Doflamingo, covered in wounds, let his guard down for an instant and was pierced through the heart by a blade.

In an instant, Doflamingo turned into countless fragments of light and vanished into the air. Soon afterward, a new Doflamingo reappeared in the training ground.

Raising his blade, Doflamingo's expression turned cold. "Again!"

After dying three times in a row, Doflamingo finally rubbed his head and stopped.

After three exchanges, his best result had only been cutting off one Bell's arm, and that had only happened because he had performed far beyond his usual limits.

Death in the Illusion Space would not cause his real body to die, but the pain was no different from reality. It still placed a certain burden on his mind. If he continued fighting, his condition would only worsen, and it would no longer serve as training.

Still, training in the Illusion Space had indeed greatly improved Doflamingo's techniques. In terms of pure skill, he had now surpassed Bell by a level.

Opening his eyes, Doflamingo still seemed able to feel phantom pain spreading through his body. Unfortunately, as he was aboard an unfamiliar ship, he did not dare fall into a deep sleep. Otherwise, he could have recovered easily.

"Forget it. I'll sleep normally for the next few days. In another half month, I should be able to head to G2 Base."

With that thought, Doflamingo went up to the deck and found the Captain's room. With a casual use of illusion, he claimed the best room on the ship.

Five or six days passed quickly. The Grand Line's weather was unpredictable, but this was not the New World farther ahead. Furthermore, the merchant fleet was already very familiar with this route and had an excellent Navigator, so they encountered no danger over the past few days.

Until this day, when the entire fleet arrived at a small island called Malin to resupply.