Pirate: I Loaded the Game Panel

Adrian narrowed his eyes. The hem of his suit snapped in the blast of Conqueror's Haki, but he stood as immovable as a rock.

"A born king, are you? Saint Donquixote Doflamingo, that really is an incredible gift! You're nothing like those worthless parasites who do nothing but eat and wait to die!"

At the sound of a title he had not heard in decades, Doflamingo's pupils contracted.

Male Celestial Dragons added "Saint" to their names, while female Celestial Dragons added "Lady," marking their exalted status.

In the holy land of Mary Geoise, this was common knowledge. Outside it, only those who had dealt with Celestial Dragons up close knew the forms of address.

Aside from the Donquixote Family's top officers, plenty of people in the world knew he had once been a Celestial Dragon. But it was not something a stranger could simply appear out of nowhere and say!

"What else do you know? Are you scum sent by the World Government?!"

If Doflamingo's voice had held any human warmth a minute ago, it was now as cold as the depths of hell.

"If you want to know, come ask me yourself!"

"With pleasure!" Veins bulged on Doflamingo's forehead as he grinned viciously. "I'll find the answers in your dismembered body myself!"

Five Color Strings!

Doflamingo thrust out his right hand, fingers curled like a beast's claws. Five razor-sharp, resilient threads shot from his fingertips toward Adrian, ready to tear through anything in their path.

"What an impolite way to put it!"

Adrian neither dodged nor blocked. He let the blade-sharp white threads slice through his body.

To Doflamingo, the Five Color Strings seemed to pass through empty air. They left his opponent completely unharmed.

Behind Adrian, however, the Donquixote Auction House, which had stood for decades, was cut into six sections by the attack's lingering force. It crashed to the ground, throwing up a vast cloud of dust.

"An attack at that level won't work on me!" Adrian brushed nonexistent dust from his clothes, his expression earnest. "If that's all you can do, the Donquixote Family's history may end today!"

"Heh heh heh heh..."

His first strike having missed, Doflamingo showed no discouragement. He laughed low in his throat and swept his right hand high behind him. Dozens of nearly transparent threads sprayed from his palm. Under the control of his Devil Fruit power, they wound tightly together into a braided whip, which he lashed at Adrian with all his might!

Overheat!

"Heh..."

Adrian chuckled. Trusting his max-level Ghost Body to ignore physical attacks, he took Overheat head-on without a scratch, though it could have carved a deep trench through the earth.

Doflamingo's face finally darkened, and his habitual arrogance fell away.

"What kind of power is that? Are you a Logia Devil Fruit User?"

"Don't bother fishing for information," Adrian said calmly. "Since you've mastered Conqueror's Haki, Mr. Doflamingo, I doubt the other two types are unfamiliar to you. I've been looking forward to that power called Armament Haki for a long time!"

That was right!

Adrian had chosen this moment to provoke a conflict with the Donquixote Family for more than a chance to show his strength. He had another, far more important reason.

He wanted to test how effectively [Armament Haki] countered the [Hollow-Hollow Fruit]!

There were likely many Armament Haki users across the four outer seas, but Adrian could confirm and reach only two of them at present—perhaps even just one.

The first was naturally the twelfth leader of the Flower Country's Happo Navy—Chinjao the Drill!

But Chinjao the Drill's level was far too high. Only a few years earlier, he had still been a legendary great Pirates capable of holding his own against Garp for a short time.

Though Adrian was now a top-tier Devil Fruit User, his base level and his strength, agility, and endurance were still relatively low. He had little chance of being taken seriously by Chinjao.

If Adrian rashly challenged Chinjao and Armament Haki truly posed a grave threat to the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, only two outcomes awaited him.

He could exploit the Hollow-Hollow Fruit's properties and wear Chinjao down from a distance until he died, or Chinjao could catch him and defeat him instantly with Armament Haki!

The margin for error was too small. That plan could only serve as a backup.

The other person in the four outer seas who was highly likely to possess Armament Haki stood right before him: Saint Donquixote Doflamingo!

As for Haki, Doflamingo had awakened Conqueror's Haki as a child. After years of growth and careful guidance from Trebol and the others, he was highly likely to possess the other two types as well.

As for Devil Fruits, Adrian was confident that the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, with two skills already maxed out, would utterly overwhelm the String-String Fruit.

As for raw strength, Doflamingo was only in his twenties. He was not yet the Heavenly Yaksha, the Shichibukai, or JOKER who would dominate the seas in years to come. Even if he proved stronger than expected, the difference would not be too great. Adrian could handle it.

Doflamingo was the ideal opponent for Adrian's current Haki test!

"Heh heh heh heh... It seems someone's looking down on me!"

Rage erupted in Doflamingo's chest. He raised both arms and brought them down hard. A thread so fine it was nearly invisible sprang from each fingertip. The ten threads crossed as they hurtled toward Adrian.

Fallbright!

Unlike the Five Color Strings from moments before, every thread in this attack was coated in black Armament Haki!

Adrian did not dare take this one lightly. He extended a finger and released his Mini Hollows.

Mini Hollow: Nova Fire!

Hundreds of white, spherical hollows swarmed upward like insects to meet the Fallbright threads descending from above.

Adrian's eyes widened. He watched every detail.

The instant a Mini Hollow touched a thread coated in Armament Haki, it exploded.

But it was not the kind of explosion triggered by reaching its target. It was more like...

It had been detonated early!

Testing How Haki Counters the Hollow-Hollow Fruit

What was that supposed to mean?

Adrian frowned and instantly entered a Ghost state. As a Free Ghost, he took flight and evaded the ten impossibly sharp Fallbright threads stabbing toward him.

The threads, sheathed in black Armament Haki, punched ten bottomless black holes into the open ground. Their power was terrifying.

Flying overhead, Adrian worked to recall what he knew about Armament Haki.

Armament Haki could greatly improve a person's defense and attack power. It could also strike the physical bodies of Logia Devil Fruit Users, though unlike Seastone, it could not prevent users from activating their powers.

To an extent, Armament Haki could even defend against certain Devil Fruit powers, provided it was stronger than the opponent's Haki.

A clear example was Trafalgar Law, the future Supernova and one of the new Shichibukai known as the "Surgeon of Death."

With the Op-Op Fruit, Law could establish an "operating room" in which he controlled everything: Shambles ROOM.

Everything inside that operating room was his to command.

Against weaker enemies, Law could effortlessly cut apart their bodies or even swap their souls.

But against enemies with overwhelmingly strong Haki, his "scalpel" could not even break their skin!

In the future Battle of Dressrosa, Law fought Doflamingo. His "scalpel" could not cut Doflamingo's body, though he could still use his "operating room" to swap places with him!

It was not that Law had chosen not to cut him. His Armament Haki was plainly weaker than Doflamingo's, so he simply could not do it!

By comparison, Vergo, who seemed to have trained his Armament Haki to an extraordinary level, was cleanly sliced into several pieces. That was the difference...

Doflamingo kept one hand loosely clenched, maintaining his attacking stance while continuing to probe with words.

"Heh heh heh heh... You can fly? And what was that power just now? Are you a Paramecia Devil Fruit User?"

Adrian ignored him and released more Mini Hollows to test the power of Armament Haki.

"Five Color Strings!"

The Mini Hollow bombs once again met threads coated in Armament Haki.

This time, Adrian saw it clearly. He finally understood what was happening!

The [will] he used to direct the Mini Hollows was being [canceled out] by the Armament Haki, which carried its own powerful force of will!

That was the real reason the Mini Hollows had detonated early!

If Armament Haki truly countered the Hollow-Hollow Fruit's power, the threads should have simply "popped" the Mini Hollows like balloons. They should not have exploded at all!

Yet their explosive effect remained intact!

In other words—

This was not a counter!

Even if it was, the effect was nowhere near as pronounced as he had imagined!

As Adrian relaxed a little, his thoughts raced.

Mini Hollows were among the few Ghosts capable of launching [physical attacks], and Armament Haki could detonate them early. What, then, would happen to the emotional Ghosts that could [reach into the depths of the soul]?

Could Conqueror's Haki, which also embodied mental strength, counter them?

There was only one way to find out!

Given the Negative Hollow's debuff—"little damage, immense humiliation"—Adrian thought for a moment and chose another emotional Ghost. Its outward effects were subtler, but it was just as effective.

Melancholy Hollow: Sage Time.

"Sage Time" was an emotional Ghost series exclusive to men.

An enemy struck by this Ghost would begin thinking with his upper head and enter a relaxed, desireless state of detachment. He would instinctively avoid anything risqué or indecent. In severe cases, he might even start contemplating the true meaning of life.

A Melancholy Hollow glowing faintly blue sped toward Doflamingo.

"Changing tactics?" Doflamingo's gaze shifted. He snapped his hand upward into a defensive stance. "String Shield!"

Countless threads wove together. In an instant, they formed an enormous white shield three meters tall before Doflamingo.

Doflamingo's response was reasonable. That did not make it right.

Unlike a Mini Hollow, an emotional Ghost had no physical substance. In a mere instant, it passed through the String Shield.

At such close range, Doflamingo could not react to the Melancholy Hollow's speed. Unable to dodge, he was pierced straight through by the Ghost.

"What—"

Doflamingo's face changed in shock. Then he realized the blue Ghost had caused no physical injury. He was about to mock Adrian when—

A faint shudder ran through him, and suddenly nothing seemed worth the bother.

Enemies, battles, Celestial Dragons—Doflamingo forgot them all. The only thought left in his head was that he wanted a cigarette afterward.

Several seconds later—

"Are—you—kidding me?!"

Veins sprang up on Doflamingo's forehead, and his eyes narrowed sharply. A ferocious presence surged from his body in every direction.

In an instant, a terrifying wave burst outward, leaving the onlookers drenched in cold sweat.

"Doffy... He's never unleashed such a terrifying presence..." Trebol was stunned, then broke into ecstasy. "Under pressure from Conqueror's Haki this powerful, that guy doesn't stand a chance!"

"Doffy... This is what it means to be chosen! This is our [king]!" Diamante, who had already struggled free of the Negative Hollow's influence, watched with fervent eyes.

Every Donquixote Family officer still conscious was filled with confidence in their young master.

Among the spectators, only Tommy, who had hidden off to the side early on, was weighed down by worry. He watched the battle continuing in the sky, his heart racing with anxiety.

By then, Adrian had gathered the data he needed on how [Conqueror's Haki] affected emotional Ghosts.

It was much as he had expected.

As an innate quality of the soul, Conqueror's Haki could indeed resist the influence of emotional Ghosts.

Even if someone was struck by an emotional Ghost before they could react, they would inevitably suffer its negative effect. But by unleashing Conqueror's Haki, they could drastically shorten its duration.

Against an enemy already releasing Conqueror's Haki, with mind, body, and spirit intensely focused, emotional Ghosts would probably have little effect at all...

"That leaves just one test." Adrian exhaled. "How effectively Haki counters the Ghost Body!"

Mini Hollow: Nova Fire!

Once more, he released a mass of Mini Hollows toward Doflamingo, whose power was still surging.

Doflamingo, no longer daring to be careless, answered with a dense barrage of thread bullets. Fine strands formed at his fingertips, curled into tight balls, and fired like musket shots, picking off large numbers of Mini Hollows before they could reach him.

A scattered few slipped through the barrage and reached Doflamingo.

He quickly coated his foot in Armament Haki, ready to kick the troublesome Ghost bombs away.

But at that very moment—

Demon Swordsman!

Adrian used his power to instantly swap places with a Mini Hollow. At the same time, he activated two more abilities.

[Six Powers: Life Return: Iron Body: Iron Fist]!!