The Melee Begins

With a thunderous boom, the strings in Doflamingo's hand condensed into a black shield, blocking Katakuri's spear thrust. Moments later, his face flushed red as he was forced back two steps.

Clearly, Doflamingo was somewhat weaker than Katakuri.

Doflamingo's expression darkened. He had only just entered the New World and had yet to truly experienced Kaido's crushing power. Though he was immensely wary of the Yonko Crew, he had not yet come to fear them.

It was only after today's battle that he realized that even against a Yonko Commander like Katakuri, he was at a disadvantage.

"Is this the foundation of a Yonko Crew?" Though his expression was grim, Doflamingo had no intention of admitting defeat so easily. He had risen from weakness to strength through countless brutal battles. Defeating stronger opponents was hardly something he had never done before.

After all, before Luffy made his appearance, Doflamingo had more or less enjoyed a bit of protagonist's plot armor.

What was more, in the Pirate World, so long as the gap between two fighters was not utterly insurmountable, the final outcome could not be decided in advance. Abilities such as Haki were closely tied to one's spirit, resolve, willpower, and state of mind. They themselves grew through battle.

Katakuri remained perfectly composed as he said calmly, "Surrender. Nothing about you can escape my Observation Haki!... Your next words will be, 'Don't underestimate me!' What?"

"Don't underestimate me! What?" Doflamingo first shouted in fury, then said in astonishment, "The legendary Observation Haki that can see the future? Someone really managed to reach that level?"

"There is still much that you do not understand! Your strength may already be formidable, but in this New World, you must still learn reverence!"

The moment he finished speaking, the ground beneath Katakuri's feet turned into mochi. Countless fists stretched out from it and smashed toward Doflamingo, wrapped in black Armament Haki.

Though Doflamingo's resolve had begun to waver, he still refused to be outdone. He likewise activated the awakening of his String-String Fruit. White threads like crashing waves collided with the incoming Mochi Fists. The earth shook and the mountains trembled as the entire battlefield was enveloped by their awakened abilities.

Charlotte Daifuku and Charlotte Oven led Minos and the others back repeatedly. Then the two exchanged a glance and turned their gazes toward Doflamingo's remaining subordinates.

Doflamingo's men wore ugly expressions. Though they held an absolute advantage in numbers, aside from Doflamingo himself, none of them could deal with Charlotte Daifuku and Charlotte Oven.

These two were major officers of the Charlotte Pirates, second only to the Sweet Commanders. Even Doflamingo himself would not dare claim a one-hundred-percent chance of victory against them working together, much less cannon fodder like them.

However, the two did not attack immediately. Instead, they looked at Talon and Minos. "You two, pick an opponent each."

With a smile on his face, Talon pointed at Pica. "Then I'll take the big guy! He looks like he can fight."

"Oh~ That should be Doflamingo's top officer, right?" Charlotte Daifuku nodded. "You picked a good opponent."

Yeah, a good opponent who'll beat you until you piss yourself. Minos rolled his eyes. Talon was fairly strong; among Doflamingo's subordinates, he could probably rank around the top five.

Unfortunately, Pica happened to be Doflamingo's strongest subordinate! He was also extremely effective against pure physical fighters. Talon was probably about to get flattened into a pancake.

When everyone else turned to look at him, Minos scanned the group. Though he really wanted to choose a weakling like Buffalo, for the sake of his image, he ultimately pointed at Diamante.

"I'll take this guy!"

"Very well. Leave everyone else to us," Charlotte Oven said.

"Damn it, you dare look down on us?" Lao, wearing a pointed hat, said angrily. Though he was not one of the top officers, this old man's combat strength still ranked among the best in the Donquixote Family. Other than Pica and Vigo, no one could truly claim they could defeat him.

"Go find your respective opponents. I guarantee that the rest of them won't interfere with your battles."

Yet Charlotte Oven did not pay them any attention at all. He merely said that to Minos and Talon.

Then he swaggered toward the Donquixote Family. With a slight swing of the great blade in his hand, he unleashed a Flying Slash wreathed in blazing flames.

Naginata Flame Slash!

The high-temperature Sword Qi instantly split Doflamingo's group of subordinates apart, leaving only Pica and Diamante behind.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm going in!" Talon shouted as he charged forward.

"You're actually using me as a whetstone? Brat, you picked the wrong opponent," Pica screeched.

Hearing Pica's voice, Talon nearly fell flat on his face. "What kind of voice is that? Hahahahaha!"

That was right. Though Pica looked like a burly powerhouse, with his massive muscles and helmet making him seem like some Terminator-like brute, his voice was unbelievably shrill, sounding almost like an effeminate eunuch.

Hearing Talon's mockery, Pica's eyes immediately turned red, and veins bulged across his neck. "Don't—mock—my voice!!!"

Boom! Amid a terrifying howl of wind, a gigantic fist wrapped in jet-black Armament Haki smashed toward Talon's head.

Talon reacted at once. With a swing of his Great Mace, he blocked Pica's attack, though he was still forced back several steps.

"Is that all you've got?" Talon taunted. "The so-called Shichibukai are still far inferior to the Four Emperors! Even their top officers are only this much!"

Though he was slightly at a disadvantage, Talon had already made up his mind. He could beat this opponent!

"You brought this on yourself!" Pica shrieked, and his entire body suddenly sank into the ground.

Moments later, the ground trembled. A massive rocky hand dozens of meters wide abruptly burst from the earth, followed by a gigantic Stone Giant hundreds of meters tall crawling out.

A shadow stretched upward and finally completely engulfed Talon. Looking at the terrifying giant before him, as huge as a mountain, Talon swallowed hard. "Uh, isn't this ability a bit over the top? Did I pick the wrong opponent?! Can we switch?"

"Little bug, die!" The answer he received was a gigantic rocky palm descending from the sky.