Minion Island Incident

With the Navy's attention fixed on the New World and the Donquixote Family keeping a low profile in the North Blue again, the region returned to peaceful times.

Without the Donquixote Family stirring up trouble, the kingdoms—apart from the pirates and criminal gangs—finally had a rare chance to recover and rebuild.

The Donquixote Family members didn't care about the changes outside. Fresh from Tsuru's lessons, they threw themselves into training and couldn't pull themselves away, entering a period of rapid growth.

It wasn't that they hadn't trained before. It was just that their strength hadn't grown much, and they'd been basking in the false glory of being invincible in the North Blue. They hadn't trained with any real effort; a halfhearted workout had been the most they could manage.

The Donquixote Family's silence wouldn't affect the world's course. Everything carried on as usual.

In the New World, pirates fought pirates, the Navy fought pirates, and pirates fought the Navy.

They kept fighting until they were at each other's throats, and the world never knew a moment's peace.

And so time passed amid all that fighting.

In Marine Calendar 1509, Corazon had been sailing from place to place with Luo, searching for doctors. After nearly half a year of seeking treatment, he came across an important piece of news.

On Minion Island, former Marine Barrels, now captain of a pirate crew, was secretly arranging to trade the Op-Op Fruit to the World Government for five billion Beli.

"Luo! You can be saved!" After years together, their relationship had long since gone from hatred to one of complete trust.

Corazon had even told Luo about the fruit he'd eaten and the secret that he could speak. He had done so because Luo's name included a "D"!

"No, wait—we need to get there right away. We can't let them trade that fruit!" Suddenly seeming to realize something, Corazon grabbed Luo and set off.

"Fuffuffuffu! Doffy, word came from the Underworld not long ago that a pirate crew got their hands on the Op-Op Fruit and plans to trade it to the World Government."

"But they don't trust the World Government, so they plan to have the Underworld handle the deal and pass the fruit along to them."

"Should we take the job?" Trebol didn't understand the Op-Op Fruit's true value. He thought it was just a lucrative deal.

After all, five billion Beli meant a huge cut for them.

"What? The Op-Op Fruit?"

As a former Celestial Dragon who knew a little about the Five Elders' secret to immortality, Doflamingo understood the fruit's value very well.

Though puzzled by Doflamingo's reaction, Trebol confirmed, "Yes, it's the Op-Op Fruit."

"Set sail!" Doflamingo didn't have time to ask for details. He immediately gave the order. "All the family officers are coming with us. We're taking the Op-Op Fruit back."

"Right away, Doffy!"

Trebol promptly sent his men to notify the officers, then got ready to set sail with them.

When Gray was called to join the voyage, he was completely bewildered!

Only after they were aboard and underway, when Doflamingo explained the reason, did Gray understand what was going on.

"The Minion Island Incident. The Op-Op Fruit, huh?" Once he knew the situation, Gray relaxed. This incident had little to do with him.

He had no objection to Luo eating the Op-Op Fruit, and he wasn't planning to steal it now.

As he'd said before, he'd take the fruit only after completing his Devil Fruit rebirth experiment.

For now, it could stay with Luo.

The crew hurried along—or rather, their ship nearly smoked from going so fast—and at last reached Minion Island after pushing hard to make up time.

Gray followed behind them and witnessed in person a scene from the anime. He didn't expose the fact that Luo was hiding inside the box behind Corazon.

After Doflamingo killed Corazon, just as they were preparing to retreat, the Navy caught them by surprise.

"We meet again, members of the Donquixote Family!" Just as in the original story, it was Tsuru who had come.

This was the second time their Donquixote Family had crossed paths with Tsuru.

"You old hag, back again!" Doflamingo was overcome with grief after killing his own younger brother. In a foul mood, he shouted at Tsuru and charged at her, as if to vent his anger.

"Five-Colored Strings!" He coated his strings in Armament Haki. After two years of hard training, this was the moment to test their results.

"Tsuru, let me handle this!" Knowing they'd be going to the North Blue, Tsuru had remembered what happened last time and brought Gion along.

Clang!

Kompira, coated in Armament Haki, met Doflamingo's string attack head-on. The two clashed, and a metallic ring rang across the island.

Boom!

A shock wave swept past. Gray and the others behind him raised their left arms to shield their eyes from the sand kicked up by the wind.

But the blocked view didn't stop them from seeing the battle. Within the range of their Observation Haki, they could clearly make out what was happening on both sides.

"Foot Kick String!"

"One-Sword Style: Iai!"

Clang! Clang!! Clang!!!

The two continued trading moves in the air. Their Armament Haki clashed, while Observation Haki covered the entire battlefield, making it impossible for either to land even a scratch on the other. They were simply wearing each other down.

That was the most normal thing in this world.

When two powerful fighters clashed and their Armament Haki was evenly matched, the deciding factors were Observation Haki, swordsmanship, physical combat, and Devil Fruit abilities. In the end, it all came down to stamina.

The one with greater endurance and the ability to recover quickly would be the one left standing.

"Doffy's gotten even stronger!"

"Fuffuffuffu! Of course he has! He's our king!"

Gray: ...

Seeing them start praising Doffy again, Gray hurried to remind them of the situation. "Doffy's fighting up there. What about us?"

"Tsuru's brought a warship. Are we going in?"

"Should we?"

"Let's do it!"

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely!"

"Well, then, we've got no choice!" Now that they'd made up their minds, Gray could only go along with them. Tsuru didn't look like she planned to let them go, either.

While Gion kept Doflamingo occupied, Tsuru had already led the Marines ashore and was heading toward them.

"In that case, let's show her how much we've grown over the past two years!"

"Yeah! I'm fired up!"

Finally back in a real fight, Gray had only one thought:

Combat—this is great!

"Eight-Fold Light Wheel!" Two Sky Crystal Flying Wheels floated behind him. When he activated his Devil Fruit ability, it took just three seconds for the wheels to spin so fast that electricity covered their entire surfaces.

Two years ago, he'd needed to go all out to reach this level. Now he could manage it with a casual spin—and this was only a greeting.

The two Sky Crystal Flying Wheels shot toward Tsuru, crackling with electricity and carrying immense cutting force.

"Blast!"

"Stone Giant!"

"Half-Moon Funeral!"

"Dion Fist, G!"

"Sticky Whip!"

Aside from Trebol's rather disgusting attack, everyone else went all out, unleashing every kind of technique at Tsuru.