Get Back to How You Were

Watching Doflamingo gradually approach to within a dozen meters of him, Zhu Mang could not help but sigh. People in the One Piece World were really tall.

Although Saiyans were not an especially tall race, Doflamingo before him was more than half a body taller than he was. His exaggerated outfit might have created some visual distortion, but even by eye alone, the guy was at least three meters tall!

"No, actually, I ate the Glasses-Glasses Fruit and became a glasses person. Could you give me your glasses?" Looking at this flamingo, Zhu Mang's mischievous side suddenly surfaced.

"Glasses-Glasses Fruit?" Doflamingo raised a brow. He had read the Devil Fruit encyclopedia, which recorded quite a few Devil Fruits, but he had never heard of a Glasses-Glasses Fruit.

Could it be an inferior version of the Mirror-Mirror Fruit?

His interest was piqued. He wanted to see what abilities this never-before-seen Devil Fruit possessed.

If it was suitable, perhaps he could recruit this man into the Donquixote Family.

At the very least, he could fly.

And the Glasses-Glasses Fruit did not sound related to flight, so perhaps that was his own ability—a technique similar to [Geppo].

That was enough to prove that the man before him was not weak.

However, he did not take off the glasses on his face. Instead, he pulled out another pair in the same style from his coat pocket and tossed them over.

Zhu Mang caught them and felt slightly disappointed.

He had merely thought of an internet meme from his previous life. Supposedly, beneath Doflamingo's glasses were a pair of mung-bean eyes that utterly ruined his aura, which was why he never took them off.

"Fufufu~ Don't just stand there. Hurry up and let me see your Devil Fruit abilities! If they're suitable, I can invite you to join the Donquixote Family as one of my officers, fufufu~"

"Sorry, but I'm not a Devil Fruit user." Zhu Mang casually tossed the glasses away and spread his hands.

Watching his glasses plummet rapidly downward, then seeing Zhu Mang's expression, Doflamingo's face immediately darkened.

"You dare toy with me?!!"

He considered himself fairly famous across the entire world as the Heavenly Yaksha, so it never occurred to him that someone would actually dare to toy with him.

And some insignificant nobody at that!

"You've got guts, brat! You must be a rookie who just entered the New World, right? But do you know that not long ago, at the Sabaody Archipelago, those so-called Supernovas suffered more than fifty percent casualties before they even set foot in the New World! To us people of the New World, so-called Supernovas are nothing more than flowers in Paradise, fit only to..."

Whoosh!

[Five-Color Strings]!

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

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

His final words rang out just as the Five-Color Strings reached Zhu Mang.

"Too slow!" Zhu Mang's fighting spirit rose slightly. This seemed to be a passive ability of the Saiyan bloodline.

A love of battle!

Boom!

Vast ki erupted from his body.

Zhu Mang vanished from where he stood, then carved a gleaming trail of ki through the air and appeared behind Doflamingo in the blink of an eye.

Crack!

The flamingo was seized by the back of the neck in a large hand.

His entire body stiffened.

How long had it been?

Since awakening his String-String Fruit powers, how long had it been since he had felt this?

The threat of death!

However, as a proud flamingo and a dangerous Heavenly Yaksha, Doflamingo was clearly not someone who would surrender so easily.

He immediately activated his String-String Fruit ability in secret, preparing to use [Black Knight] to replace his real body.

The so-called [Black Knight] was a clone made entirely of strings, identical to himself. It could be used in battle and, naturally, could also die in his place.

But then—

"Mingo, don't move around~"

The person behind him leaned close and whispered into his ear.

Then—

Whoosh!

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

Boom—!!!

The sea surface exploded in a blinding white flash. Seawater within several thousand meters instantly vaporized into white mist, and the steaming salty stench rushed into their nostrils.

The scorching blast swept across Doflamingo's face, yet it made his scalp tingle and sent chills through his entire body.

In truth, looking across the One Piece World, there were others capable of creating such a scene.

For example, Big Mom and the giants' technique, [Ikoku], could produce a similar effect.

However, that was a "technique" that required a series of preparations and considerable effort to unleash!

But that just now...

Had looked like nothing more than a casual flick of the hand!

"Just who are you..." Doflamingo's voice became slightly dry.

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

"Saiyan?" Doflamingo's mind raced as he considered where in the world such a strange race might exist.

But he came up empty.

"Don't bother thinking about it." Zhu Mang saw through his thoughts and released him. "I don't mean you any harm. Otherwise, would you still be standing here?"

Doflamingo fell silent.

It sounded like charity from the strong, and he was deeply unwilling to accept it.

But he had no choice but to admit it.

The man before him was right.

Judging by the power of that casual attack, perhaps not even the Four Emperors could match him.

Who knew where this monster had suddenly crawled out from...

Still, Doflamingo had one virtue.

He was not some arrogant tyrant.

He was a ruthless schemer!

When he was weak, he could humble himself before others.

In order to strengthen himself, he could cooperate with Kaido, manufacture Artificial Devil Fruits for him, and build the Gifters.

He knew when to yield and when to stand tall.

And looking at it another way, if he built a good relationship with a "Four Emperor" who had never appeared on the seas before, would the rewards he could gain in the future be small?

At that thought, the gloom on Doflamingo's face brightened again.

"May I ask how I should address you, sir? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Call me Gebinz," Zhu Mang said after thinking for a moment.

Zhu Mang was the name he had borne as a pure Earthling in his previous life, while this was the Saiyan name of this body. It followed the Saiyans' usual naming style and was probably derived from green beans.

Since pirates were also from a Japanese anime, he might as well follow local customs.

"Doflamingo..."

"Lord Gebinz, you may call me Dof," Doflamingo said, lowering his stance considerably.

"Fine, Dof. Where are you headed? Marine Headquarters?" Zhu Mang asked curiously.

"Yes. The Marines are going to publicly execute Fire Fist Ace at Marineford. The Whitebeard Pirates have already gathered every fleet under their command and are bound to make a move on the day of the execution. As one of the Shichibukai, the Marines asked me to lend them a hand, fufu~"

"Perfect, I was planning to go to Marineford too!"

"Uh... but earlier, you were flying in that direction..."

"Hm?"

Doflamingo immediately shut his mouth and obediently led the way.

"By the way, Dof."

"What is it?"

"I still prefer the way you were before, all wild and unruly. Get back to that."

Doflamingo:...