The Melee Begins

With a thunderous crash, the threads in Doflamingo's hand condensed into a black shield, blocking the spear Katakuri thrust at him, but moments later, his face flushed red as he was pushed back two steps.

Clearly, Doflamingo's strength was still slightly weaker than Katakuri's.

Doflamingo's expression turned ugly. Having just stepped into the New World, he hadn't yet truly been taught the lesson of Kaido's "kingly" dominance. Though he was deeply wary of the Yonko Crew, he hadn't yet felt genuine fear—until this battle today, when he realized that even crossing hands with a Yonko Commander like Katakuri had put him at a disadvantage.

"Is this the foundation of a Yonko Crew?" Despite his grimace, Doflamingo wasn't one to admit defeat easily. After all, he had risen from weakness to strength, enduring countless hard-fought battles along the way. Winning against a stronger opponent wasn't something he'd never done before.

After all, before Luffy made his entrance, young Doflamingo could, in a loose sense, claim a bit of that protagonist's halo treatment.

Moreover, in the Pirate World, as long as the gap between combatants wasn't absolute, the final outcome was never set in stone. Abilities like Haki were closely tied to one's spirit, willpower, mental state, and resolve—they were, in essence, something that grew in the heat of battle.

Katakuri, on the other hand, remained composed, speaking calmly: "Give up. Everything you do is laid bare before my Observation Haki!... Your next words are, 'Don't underestimate me!' What?"

"Don't underestimate me! What?" Doflamingo first shouted in anger, then exclaimed in surprise: "The legendary Observation Haki that sees the future? Someone can actually reach that level?"

"There's plenty you still don't understand! Though your strength is considerable, in this New World, you still need to learn respect!"

As his words fell, the ground beneath Katakuri's feet transformed into a sea of mochi, and countless fists emerged from it, wrapped in black Armament Haki, raining down on Doflamingo.

Though doubt had begun to creep into Doflamingo's heart, he refused to back down. He activated the awakened power of the String-String Fruit, sending waves of white threads surging against the raining mochi fists. The earth shook, and the entire battlefield was engulfed by their awakened abilities.

Charlotte Daifuku and Charlotte Oven, leading Minos and the others, quickly retreated. Then the two exchanged a glance, their gazes shifting to the remaining members of Doflamingo's crew.

Doflamingo's subordinates wore grim expressions. Though they seemed to have the numerical advantage, aside from Doflamingo himself, none of them could match Charlotte Daifuku or Charlotte Oven.

These two were major officers of the Charlotte Pirates, second only to the Sweet Commanders. Even Doflamingo himself wouldn't claim a 100% chance of victory against them in a two-on-one fight, let alone these small fry.

Still, the two didn't strike immediately. Instead, they looked at Talon and Minos: "Each of you pick an opponent."

Talon grinned and pointed at Pica: "Then I'll take the big guy! Looks like he can throw a punch."

"Oh~ That must be Doflamingo's top executive, right?" Charlotte Daifuku nodded. "You've picked a good opponent!"

Yeah, a good opponent who'll beat you into a pulp! Minos rolled his eyes. Talon's strength wasn't bad—among Doflamingo's men, he probably ranked in the top five.

Unfortunately, the Pica across from him happened to be the strongest of Doflamingo's crew! And he had a strong advantage against pure physical fighters. This time, Talon was probably going to get flattened into a little pancake.

Feeling the others' eyes on him, Minos scanned the field. Though he really wanted to pick an easy target like Buffalo, for the sake of his image, he finally pointed at Diamante.

"I'll take this one!"

"Good. Then leave the rest to us," Charlotte Oven said.

"How dare you look down on us!" Lao, wearing a pointed hat, shouted angrily. Though not a top executive, this old man's combat strength actually ranked among the top in the Donquixote Family. Aside from Pica and Vigo, no one could claim they'd definitely beat him.

"Find your own opponents. I guarantee the rest won't disturb your fight."

But Charlotte Oven ignored them entirely, simply saying that to Minos and Talon.

Then he swaggered toward the Donquixote Family, swinging his large blade to unleash a flaming Flying Slash.

"Naginata Flame Slash!"

The scorching Sword Qi instantly split Doflamingo's group apart, leaving only Pica and Diamante standing.

"Ohhh! I'm going in!" Talon shouted and charged forward.

"Using me as a whetstone, brat? You've picked the wrong opponent," Pica screeched in a high-pitched voice.

Hearing Pica's voice, Talon nearly tripped and fell. "What the hell is that voice? Hahahahaha!"

Yes, despite Pica's burly appearance—with bulging muscles and a helmet that made him look like a Terminator-style tough guy—his voice was incredibly shrill, almost like a nasally eunuch.

Hearing Talon's mockery, Pica's eyes turned red, veins bulging on his neck. "Don't—laugh—at—my—voice!!!"

Boom! With a terrifying gust of wind, a massive fist wrapped in black Armament Haki smashed toward Talon's head.

Talon reacted instantly, swinging his Great Mace to block the attack, though he was sent stumbling back several steps.

"Is that all you've got?" Talon taunted. "So-called Shichibukai are still far beneath the Yonko! Even their top executives are nothing but this level."

Though he was slightly at a disadvantage, Talon had already gauged his opponent. This fight, he could win!

"You asked for it!" Pica shrieked, then suddenly sank into the ground.

A moment later, the earth trembled. A massive stone hand, dozens of meters wide, burst forth from the ground, followed by a colossal stone giant hundreds of meters tall.

The shadow climbed upward, eventually engulfing Talon entirely. Staring up at the terrifying giant, as massive as a small mountain, Talon swallowed hard. "Uh... this ability might be a bit over the top. Did I pick the wrong opponent?! Can I switch?"

"Little insect, die!" The answer came in the form of a giant stone hand crashing down from above.