An eerie laugh

The two rested for a while in the frozen training ground before finally catching their breath.

In truth, they had only been testing each other. Otherwise, how could half an hour have been enough? Besides, they were on good terms and would never seriously try to hurt each other.

Even so, the results shocked them both, as well as Sengoku and Kizaru, who had been watching. Before this, Garp had always been comfortably stronger than Aokiji. Aokiji had never gotten the better of him in their sparring sessions. Whenever neither went all out, Garp had easily overpowered him.

Yet this time, they had fought to a standstill. With Garp holding back his true killing moves, Aokiji had even seemed to gain a slight upper hand!

Wasn't that far too much of a boost?

Kizaru suddenly shivered, partly from the cold and partly from lingering fear. If he had gone up there earlier, wouldn't he have been beaten into running all over the place?

He had originally thought the Cloth only granted the strength of a Vice Admiral. With a finishing move comparable to a Great Swordsman's slash, that would put it at roughly the level of a top-tier Vice Admiral. He had never expected that even someone as powerful as Aokiji could grow stronger by wearing it, let alone by so much!

The gap between Aokiji and Garp was far greater than anything a single Vice Admiral's strength could account for!

"Ha ha ha ha! Well done, kid! You actually managed to leave me looking this sorry!"

Once Garp recovered, he burst into hearty laughter. He didn't care how bedraggled he looked; instead, he was happy that Aokiji had grown stronger.

Seeing Garp's tattered clothes, Aokiji had felt awkward and apologetic. But Garp's laughter broke the tension, and he scratched the back of his head before shrugging.

"Sorry, sir. I didn't know it would be this powerful."

"It's fine, it's fine! Bwahahaha! This Cloth really is impressive!"

The two then headed up to the stands to join Sengoku and Kizaru. Traces of astonishment still lingered in the latter pair's eyes. The effect was certainly impressive, but that explosive boost had cost them seven Devil Fruits. Even if they had only been the most ordinary Zoan Devil Fruits, it was hard to say whether they had gained or lost out...

As things stood, it seemed that only Aokiji could use this Cloth. Or rather, it seemed practically tailor-made for him.

That was actually deliberate on Su Yu's part. He had thought it over: of the Navy's Three Admirals, one wielded light, one ice, and one fire. Both ice and fire had matching Cloths among the five main heroes: Cygnus for ice and the Phoenix Cloth for fire. But when Su Yu read the manga, Akainu had always rubbed him the wrong way.

Sure, Akainu was a believable character, with the ruthlessness of a hard-line soldier willing to use any means necessary. But he was far too lacking in humanity. He was like a robot built solely to kill pirates, no matter how many innocent soldiers had to be sacrificed along the way. That made him thoroughly loathsome, and Su Yu disliked him.

Besides, did he need a reason to dislike someone? No!

Compared with Akainu, Aokiji seemed more human, even though he too had plenty of flaws and had made mistakes.

So Su Yu had decisively ruled Akainu out and chosen the Cygnus Cloth.

The Cygnus Cloth really was formidable when paired with Aokiji. Even without fighting to the death, he could contend with Garp. At the very least, that put him a notch above Red Dog.

Sengoku, however, thought that since the Cloth worked so well, he had even more reason to hope Vegapunk could discover something from studying it. If they really managed to extract some core technology from it, wouldn't they be able to mass-produce Vice Admiral-level fighters?

Or perhaps they could even upgrade the Pacifistas and turn them into true weapons of war!

Su Yu could only chuckle at that. If you manage to figure anything out, I'll admit defeat!

But since the Cloth had gone on with a single whoosh, how was he supposed to take it off? Would it come off with another whoosh?

Just as Aokiji thought about removing the Cloth, it gave off a gentle glow. Sure enough, with another whoosh, it peeled away from his body. Piece after piece of armor turned into streaks of light, then gathered together and reassembled into the swan that had radiated cold air before.

Sengoku coated his hand in Armament Haki again and touched the Cloth. He discovered that although it was still freezing cold to the touch, it no longer encased his hand in ice.

That made Sengoku breathe a sigh of relief. If it still froze whoever touched it, how the hell were they supposed to study it? Even powerhouses like them couldn't withstand it. Wouldn't an ordinary man like Vegapunk turn into an ice pop the instant he touched it?

Now things were better. It was still icy, but at least it wasn't life-threatening.

The Cloth was then wrapped up, and Sengoku called for someone to deliver it to Vegapunk. Naturally, Kizaru would accompany it again.

The Fierce Wolf Pirates had been wiped out, their captain slaughtered. And the culprit was a skinny youth wearing a strange suit of armor.

Although the Fierce Wolf Pirates weren't a particularly powerful crew, they had backing: Doflamingo, one of the Shichibukai. As long as they didn't go too far, most people wouldn't dare provoke them.

Yet this time, the entire crew had been wiped out. It was enough to make everyone's eyes pop out.

Soon, the news reached the Donquixote Family, then Doflamingo himself.

In a room on the top floor of the royal palace in Dressrosa, Doflamingo sat before an enormous floor-to-ceiling window, sipping red wine.

His expression, however, didn't suggest he was savoring the taste. Although he still wore a smile, it never reached his eyes, giving him a chilling air.

That was because he had just received a report from his subordinate, and the news had displeased him: a pirate crew under his protection had been wiped out.

He didn't care about that crew with "wolf" in its name. If they were dead, they were dead. The problem was that, according to his subordinate, the captain of that little wolf crew had invoked Doflamingo's name before dying. Yet the attacker had ignored it outright and stomped the jackal's head apart. That was practically grinding Doflamingo's own face into the dirt!

Now it was no longer a question of whether he wanted to act. He had to, or his reputation really would be ruined.

"Doffy, let me teach that arrogant brat a lesson!"

A shrill voice rang out beside Doflamingo. Its owner had a muscular build utterly at odds with his voice, wore a rather suggestive-looking suit of armor, and had long, wavy hair beneath a helmet with a cross-shaped face guard. He was Pica, one of the Donquixote Family's four top officers. A stone man who had eaten the Stone-Stone Fruit, he possessed a remarkably powerful ability. Although it was a Paramecia, it was close to a Logia.

Though angry, Doflamingo remained calm. "Fufufufufu. It's been a long time since anyone acted this arrogantly! Pica, have someone investigate that brat first! Fufufufufu..."

His cold laughter sent chills down anyone's spine, but Pica was clearly used to it. He acknowledged the order and left.

Doflamingo was now alone in the room. He gazed at the scenery beyond the glass, his thoughts unknown.