You Recover

Watching Doflamingo close the distance to within a dozen meters, Zhu Mang couldn't help but marvel at how tall the people in the world of One Piece truly were.

Although Saiyans were not a particularly tall race, the Doflamingo before him was a good head and shoulders taller. Perhaps some of that was a visual trick caused by his flamboyant attire, but even by a rough estimate, the guy had to be at least three meters tall!

"No, actually, I'm a Glasses-man who ate the Glasses-Glasses Fruit. Could you lend me your glasses for a moment?" Looking at this flamingo, a sense of mischief suddenly bubbled up inside Zhu Mang.

"Glasses-Glasses Fruit?" Doflamingo raised an eyebrow. He had studied the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, which recorded a vast number of fruits, but he had never heard of any Glasses-Glasses Fruit.

Could it be a lower-tier version of the Mirror-Mirror Fruit?

He felt a flicker of interest, curious to see what effects this never-before-seen fruit might have.

If it proved useful, perhaps he could recruit this person into the Donquixote Family.

At the very least, the man could fly.

Since the Glasses-Glasses Fruit didn't sound related to flight, that was likely his own innate ability, a technique similar to Geppo.

That alone was enough to prove that the man before him was no weakling.

However, he didn't take off his own glasses; instead, he pulled an identical pair from his coat pocket and tossed them over.

Zhu Mang caught them, feeling slightly regretful.

He had simply been thinking of an internet meme from his past life, which claimed that beneath Doflamingo's glasses lay a pair of beady eyes that completely ruined his aura, which was why he never took them off.

"Fufufu~ Don't just stand there. Show me your fruit ability! If it's suitable, I might invite you to join the Donquixote Family and become an executive, fufufu~"

"Sorry, I'm actually not a fruit user," Zhu Mang said, tossing the glasses aside and shrugging.

Watching his glasses plummet rapidly toward the sea and seeing the expression on Zhu Mang's face, Doflamingo's expression darkened instantly.

"You dare toy with me?!!"

He considered himself, the Heavenly Yaksha, to be quite famous throughout the world, so it hadn't even crossed his mind that someone would actually dare to play him for a fool.

And a nobody at that!

"You've got guts, kid! I take it you're a rookie who just entered the New World? But do you know that a while back, on Sabaody Archipelago, those so-called Supernovas suffered over fifty percent casualties before they even stepped foot in the New World? To those of us in the New World, those so-called Supernovas are nothing but flowers in a garden, fit only to..."

Swish!

Five-Color Strings!

Doflamingo suddenly splayed his fingers, and five threads of string shot toward Zhu Mang at high speed.

"...serve as fertilizer for the garden!"

As the Five-Color Strings reached Zhu Mang, the rest of his sentence echoed.

"Too slow!" Zhu Mang's battle blood began to boil—a passive ability of his Saiyan heritage.

He loved to fight!

Boom!

A massive surge of ki erupted from his body.

Zhu Mang vanished from his spot, leaving a brilliant trail of energy in the air as he appeared behind Doflamingo in the blink of an eye.

Snap!

The flamingo was seized by the back of his neck by a pair of large hands.

His entire body stiffened.

How long had it been?

Ever since he had awakened his String-String Fruit ability, how long had it been since he had experienced this feeling?

The threat of death!

However, as a proud flamingo and a dangerous Heavenly Yaksha, Doflamingo was clearly not the type to surrender easily.

He immediately activated his String-String Fruit ability internally, preparing to use Black Knight to swap himself out.

The so-called Black Knight involved using strings to create a perfect clone of himself, which could be used for combat or, naturally, as a decoy to die in his stead.

Yet, at that moment.

"Mingo, don't move around~"

The person behind him whispered into his ear.

Then.

Whoosh!

A palm-sized ball of light flew from his hand, descending toward the sea below.

BOOM—!!!

The surface of the ocean erupted in a blinding white light. Within a radius of several kilometers, the seawater instantly vaporized into white mist, and the rising, salty, pungent steam choked the air.

The scorching heat wave brushed past Doflamingo's face, leaving him chilled to the bone and his hair standing on end.

In truth, looking at the world of One Piece, it wasn't as if no one else could pull off such a feat.

For instance, the skill Ikoku used by Big Mom and the giants can produce a similar effect.

However, that is a "skill" that requires a series of prerequisites and a significant amount of effort to unleash!

Yet, the one just now...

It looked like nothing more than a casual flick!

"Who exactly are you..." Doflamingo's voice turned slightly dry.

"Me? I'm just a Saiyan passing by," Zhu Mang grinned.

"Saiyan?" Doflamingo's mind raced, searching for any mention of this strange race in the world.

But he came up empty-handed.

"Don't waste your energy thinking about it," Zhu Mang saw through his thoughts and let go. "Actually, I have no malice toward you. Otherwise, do you think you'd still be standing here?"

Doflamingo fell silent.

It felt like the charity of a superior, and he was deeply unwilling to accept it.

But he had to admit it.

The man before him was right.

Judging by the sheer power of that casual strike, perhaps even the Four Emperors could not rival him.

He had no idea where this monster had suddenly popped out from...

However, Doflamingo had one advantage.

He was not some arrogant, self-important overlord.

He was a cunning schemer!

He could humble himself when he was weak.

To grow his own strength, he could cooperate with Kaido, manufacturing artificial Devil Fruits for him and building the Gifters.

His philosophy was to "bend and stretch as needed."

Besides, if he changed his perspective, if he could build a good relationship with an "Emperor-level" powerhouse who had never appeared on the seas before, would the future rewards be small?

Thinking of this, Doflamingo's gloomy face brightened once more.

"I don't know how to address you, and is there anything I can do for you?"

"Call me Gebinz," Zhu Mang thought for a moment and said.

Zhu Mang was his name as a pure human in his past life, while this was the Saiyan name of his current body, following the consistent naming style of the Saiyans—likely derived from green beans.

Since One Piece was also a Japanese manga, he might as well do as the locals do.

"Doflamingo..."

"Lord Gebinz, you can just call me Doffy," Doflamingo lowered his posture significantly.

"Alright, Doffy, where are you headed? Marine Headquarters?" Zhu Mang asked curiously.

"Yes, the Navy is going to publicly execute Fire Fist Ace at Marineford. The Whitebeard Pirates have already gathered all their subordinate fleets, determined to make a move on the day of the execution. I am one of the Shichibukai, and the Navy has asked me to help out, fufu~"

"That's perfect, I was just planning on heading to Marineford myself!"

"Uh... but you were flying in the other direction earlier..."

"Hmm?"

Doflamingo immediately shut his mouth and obediently took the lead.

"Oh, right, Doffy."

"What is it?"

"I still prefer the way you looked when you were arrogant and unruly. Why don't you go back to that?"

Doflamingo: ...