His First Clash with Tsuru

"Fufufufu..."

"Come on! Let's teach the enemy who's about to arrive a lesson they won't forget." Laughing wildly, Doflamingo led the family toward the docks.

The family's base wasn't far from the docks to begin with. Even at a leisurely pace, ten minutes was more than enough.

The Donquixote Family arrived at the docks and waited for the enemy, making no effort to hide their preparations.

Doflamingo stood at the front, with Diamante first on his left and Pica first on his right.

They were Doflamingo's right-hand men, and their positions also represented their status.

As for the others, there wasn't much to distinguish between them. After all, they were all family officers, with no strict hierarchy among them.

Aside from Gray, all the little brats stood at the back, with Jora in charge of them.

The sea breeze gently stirred everyone's hair. The whole group looked like a gang of villains, and anyone who saw them would get that impression at once.

"They're here!" The others didn't have to wait long before a black speck appeared on the horizon, rapidly approaching.

"Binoculars!" Doflamingo held out a hand. Trebol pulled a finely made monocular telescope from beneath his oversized blanket.

At this distance, binoculars were certainly more useful than Observation Haki.

After all, when the target was too far away, all you could sense was its presence. You couldn't see what was happening.

"How could it be her!" The moment he saw the figure on the other ship's deck, even Doflamingo couldn't help breaking into a cold sweat.

"Everyone, prepare to retreat!" Without time to wonder why Tsuru had come, Doflamingo immediately gave the order.

"What!" Though confused, Trebol hurried off to gather Jora, Baby 5, and the others so they could pack up.

"Diamante, Pica, Lao G, Senor, Machvise, Gladius, Gray."

"You'll fight alongside me to hold them off. Everyone else, prepare supplies for going to sea and pack up anything important. We're abandoning this base."

"Yes, Young Master!"

After Trebol and the others left, Diamante was the first of those remaining to ask in confusion, "Doffy, who's the enemy?"

"We're actually giving up this outpost!" Diamante's confusion was understandable. Although it was only a branch base, they had spent a year building up many things on the island from scratch.

The amount of Beli they had spent was enough to make even the Donquixote Family wince if they had to pay it all at once.

"Vice Admiral Tsuru, chief of staff at Marine Headquarters!" Doflamingo's answer left everyone speechless.

In this world, the Marines were the greatest military force apart from the World Government. Vice Admiral Tsuru, their chief of staff, was renowned throughout the world.

As the Underworld Emperor of the North Blue, they might not know exactly how formidable she was, but even an idiot could tell that they were in trouble.

"Hey, hey! We're really going to fight a legend like her?"

"I heard she was active in the same era as Fleet Admiral Sengoku, former Admiral Zephyr, and the current Marine hero, Garp."

"Fufufufu..." Doflamingo couldn't quite describe how he felt. He was worried they wouldn't be able to win, but he was also eager to see how powerful a legendary figure like her was.

"Don't be afraid. I'll keep her occupied. You just deal with the Marines she brought along."

"Understood!"

"Phew..." This was the first time in his life Gray had faced such a powerful enemy. Even though he already knew how things would turn out, he could hardly contain his excitement now that they were about to meet.

His ability to fly meant he could retreat at his leisure. All that remained was to test his current strength.

As Vice Admiral Tsuru's personal guard, they were all women Marines. But that didn't mean they were any less elite, or that they could be underestimated.

Aside from her personal guard, Tsuru's ability was also troublesome.

Her Paramecia Wash-Wash Fruit could wash away the evil and wicked thoughts in someone's heart if she caught them. By the time she was done, they might become saints—it all depended on Tsuru's mood.

"So I absolutely can't let Tsuru's ability affect me. Especially since I still haven't learned Armament Haki."

No outsider could know what was going through everyone's minds. As they waited tensely, the Marine warship Tsuru was aboard came into clearer view.

"Prepare for battle!"

At this distance, Doflamingo could finally see with his Observation Haki. He also saw the female Marines aboard the warship adjusting the cannons and loading cannonballs.

That told Doflamingo that Tsuru had come with hostile intent. There was no chance of negotiating.

Whoosh, whoosh—

A Sky Crystal Flying Wheel rose behind Gray. As he spun up his Magnetic Field Rotation faster and faster, sparks of electricity began to flicker across the wheel.

The electricity looked much like the static produced by the Mink Tribe.

This was already Gray's limit. His young body prevented him from growing stronger quickly, and spinning the magnetic field any faster would consume too much stamina.

He extended his right hand, and the rapidly spinning Sky Crystal Flying Wheel hovered above it.

With electricity crackling around him, Gray looked like a superhuman who could command lightning.

"Eight-Fold Light Wheel!" Gray swung his arm, and the Sky Crystal Flying Wheel shot toward the warship's mast like a streak of lightning.

At the same moment Gray attacked, everyone who had stayed behind to fight launched their own attacks.

The enemy had entered cannon range and already opened fire, sending cannonballs toward them.

"Five-Colored Strings!"

"Blast!"

"Throw the boulder!"

"Flying Slash Wave!"

"G!!!"

Those without ranged attacks used their brute strength to throw the stones Pica had created.

Boom!!!

Cannonballs landed nearby, and whatever destruction they caused had nothing to do with Gray, because he had taken to the sky.

Who among them could fight at an altitude of three hundred meters and use Geppo?

And even if they could use Geppo, would they have enough stamina?

If they had all that, they wouldn't be elite female Marines. They'd be Commodores—or even Rear Admirals.

The wheel's lightning flashed past. Just as it was about to fly over Tsuru's head and smash into the mast, everything vanished.

"No! It didn't vanish—the power on the wheel was washed away!" Gray had kept his Observation Haki trained on Tsuru and realized why his attack had failed.

"She can wash away attacks too?" Once again marveling at how troublesome her power was, Gray decided to bring back the Sky Crystal Flying Wheel.

"Hm?" Gray tilted his head in confusion. He tried again, and finally felt the powerful resistance against the Sky Crystal Flying Wheel.

"She didn't just wash away the attack. She washed the Sky Crystal Flying Wheel too?" Since he couldn't retrieve it, Gray stopped wasting his strength.

At that point, Gray widened his eyes and narrowed the range of his Observation Haki, so he could clearly see how Tsuru and the female Marines would deal with the Donquixote Family officers' attacks.

Unfortunately, their attacks met the same fate as Gray's: plenty of noise, but no effect.

Every attack vanished without a trace as soon as it entered the range of Tsuru's ability.

Even Doflamingo's Five-Colored Strings, reinforced with Armament Haki, turned as soft as yarn and fell into the sea.