Successful Escape

When Gray reached the secret port at the rear, Trebol and the others were hurriedly moving supplies.

"Gray!"

"Gray-sama!"

"Keep doing what you're doing. Let me rest for a bit, and bring me some food while you're at it!" Before anyone could ask what had happened, Gray had already stopped them.

All Gray could feel now was hunger!

Even though he'd just finished breakfast that morning, the fierce battle had drained him so much that his stomach was already completely empty.

"Yes, Gray-sama!"

A subordinate hurried off to get food. Jora held Dellinger and stood guard over the supplies with Buffalo.

Meanwhile, Corazon was standing guard nearby with the awkward Luo.

Only Trebol was holding the inventory list, checking the supplies and transferring the family's important documents and most of its wealth.

"Gray-sama, your food's here!"

"Good!" Gray didn't even have time to speak. He grabbed the food with both hands and started stuffing his face.

The battle at the main port was raging fiercely, buying them more time to escape.

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud crash came from beside their ship, and seawater sprayed everywhere.

"Who's there?"

"Don't panic. It's Shark Chili!" Gray, who had sensed what was happening with Observation Haki, stopped the subordinates from panicking.

"Keep moving the supplies. Faster!" Trebol urged them on again. He was frantic inside and out, and had even forgotten to use his usual annoying catchphrase.

"One minute. We leave in one minute!"

"Yes!"

"Hahaha, you did a great job this time, Shark Chili!" Gray praised it, patting the head that had poked up beside the ship, and fed it the food in his hand.

"Chirp!"

"I know, I know! Keep doing it like that from now on. Once you've destroyed the bottom of the ship, don't stick around. If you keep fighting, you'll be in danger while you're still so young!"

"Chirp!" As it ate the food and enjoyed Gray's affectionate pats, Shark Chili felt like it was getting two treats at once.

The minute was up. The subordinates hurried back aboard, while Trebol took out a flare and fired it.

Boom~

A huge burst of colorful fireworks rose into the sky. Doflamingo and the family's officers stood on the shore, locked in a standoff with Tsuru, who was on the wreckage scattered across the sea.

After Gray left, Tsuru, no longer held back by Doflamingo, had returned to organize the Marines' rescue efforts. She now faced the combined attacks of every Donquixote Family officer.

"Fufufufu... Looks like you failed, Chief Staff Officer Tsuru!"

"Are you going to keep this up?" Tsuru showed no fear. Her expression remained calm as she said, "I know your abilities now."

"Next time we meet, you won't be so lucky, brat!"

###!

Doflamingo took a deep breath and forced down the urge to keep trading words with her. "Fufufufu... Bring it on!"

This battle had taught him a lot.

He had not only witnessed the technique of emitting Armament Haki, but also had his inflated ego brought back down to earth.

The pond that was the North Blue couldn't raise a dragon!

No matter how much they ruled the roost here, they were still small-timers in the eyes of the New World's strong.

And the New World had it right to call them that!

The Donquixote Family was powerful, but having two types of Haki and Devil Fruit abilities wasn't enough to compete with the strong in the New World.

You couldn't strengthen your Armament Haki by fighting nobodies in the North Blue.

"Retreat!"

Doflamingo waved his hand and led the others away. With Tsuru here, they were no match for her. If the female Marine hadn't been holding Tsuru back earlier, Tsuru could have taken on the entire Donquixote Family by herself.

"Raise the sails!"

Everyone hurried back aboard. The moment the ship left the port, Doflamingo collapsed.

"Doffy!"

"Young Master!"

"Doctor! Get the doctor, now!"

Tsuru had dealt Doflamingo a grievous wound, and now he had finally fallen.

At the start of the battle, he had been forced to fight fiercely to buy the family time to escape, and had only used his ability to crudely stitch together the fragments of his internal organs.

Once they were safely away, Doflamingo, who was bleeding heavily internally, could no longer hold on.

After Doflamingo collapsed, the atmosphere aboard the ship grew much heavier.

Aside from Gray—and baby-5, whose every thought was focused on him—all the other officers looked glum.

They had even lost their usual clearheadedness. They couldn't even decide where to retreat to.

"Hopelessly useless!" That was Gray's assessment of the Donquixote Family's officers.

They lacked both strength and potential, yet these people still thought they could make Doflamingo the Pirate King?

They were treating piracy like a game.

The original story had shown that when their group reached the New World full of confidence, they acted like businessmen and showed no ambition to conquer anything.

After they developed the Artificial Devil Fruit, Kaido took notice of them. Kaido must have given them a good beating; otherwise, Doflamingo wouldn't have been so afraid whenever Kaido came up.

After that, Doflamingo became one of the Underworld Emperors, but that was as far as he got!

His Armament Haki never reached the advanced technique of Internal Destruction. His Conqueror's Haki made no progress at all, let alone Advanced Conqueror's Haki.

There wasn't much to say about his Observation Haki, either!

The only thing worth mentioning was that he had awakened his Devil Fruit ability.

"Forget it. What they do has nothing to do with me." Gray stopped thinking about it and turned his attention back to himself.

This battle had helped him figure out where he stood.

His attack power was probably somewhere between a Marine Headquarters Commodore and a Rear Admiral. If he fought an enemy in the air, he could hold off a Vice Admiral for a short time.

But with that style of fighting, Gray estimated he'd run out of stamina after half an hour. And against a Vice Admiral, his frail body couldn't afford to take even one hit.

That meant he had to keep Observation Haki spread over the entire battlefield. Even that put a strain on his mind.

So, all things considered, if an aerial battle lasted half a day, he could hold his own against a Commodore.

Actually defeating his opponent, though, probably wasn't realistic.

He'd give it twenty to eighty!

Twenty for Gray, eighty for the enemy!

After all, Gray's full-power attacks could still threaten a Commodore.

"This battle showed that my offense is fine, but when it comes to defense... aside from flying out of the way, I don't seem to have a proper defensive move yet!" The fight had made Gray clearly aware of the weaknesses he'd exposed.

First: stamina.

There was nothing he could do about that. His body was still young, and he'd only been training for a year. Being able to live freely under six times the gravity was already proof that Gray hadn't slacked off.

Second: a lack of defensive techniques.

"Come on, genius brain, think of something. How can a Spin-Spin Fruit user develop a defensive technique..."